St Hugh’s is the partner church of Southwark Cathedral. We meet in our modern church in the shadow of Guy’s Hospital at SE1 3PT. We are a joyful congregation from many backgrounds and communities.
We meet for worship on Sundays at 9.30, and lots of community groups use the church space and the Rainbow Room throughout the week.
The Rainbow Room hosts a variety of community-based activities for families, children and young people, as well as for older people and is available for meetings, events and children’s parties.
Clergy and Readers
Fr Thomas Sharp TSSF SCP is the parish priest at St Hugh’s. He also works at Southwark Cathedral as the Succentor. Fr Thomas is a Third Order Franciscan and a member of the Society of Catholic Priests, which works for inclusive catholic evangelism in the CofE. He is coordinator of the Young Anglican Theology Project, which networks young theologians around the Anglican Communion. His partner Evan is also a priest. Contact thomas.sharp@southwark.anglican.org
Mary O’Neill and Iris Tomlins are Licenced Lay Ministers (Readers) at St Hugh’s. They support Fr Thomas in the ministry in the parish, and can be seen on Sundays wearing blue scarves as a sign of their office.
Fr Alun Ford is chaplain to the Bishop of Southwark, and serves at St Hugh’s on the first Sunday of every month.
Staff and Church Officers
Alan Palmer is the Operations Manager at St Hugh’s. He is responsible for the smooth running of the building, and is the person to contact if you would like to hold an event at St Hugh’s or hire the Rainbow Room. Contact sthughshire@gmail.com
Ola Mustapha is the parish Treasurer. She is responsible with the PCC for the parish finances.
Our Story
Founded in 1896, St Hugh’s was originally part of the Charterhouse-in-Southwark Mission Settlement providing much-needed social, educational and skills-training opportunities for local young people. The Missioner was usually a young, single Anglo-Catholic priest and the church, in high Victorian style, retained the vestiges of its high-church past. But the Trustees who owned the building (the church was in the basement) decided in 2009 to sell its three buildings and become a grant-making charity supporting other service providers.
The old church was demolished in 2011, but in December 2013 the Bishop of Southwark dedicated the stunning new church building and community space, into which the congregation are now happily settled.
No longer hidden in a damp basement, the new church is on pavement level, highly visible through its glazed walls. It welcomes people first into the Rainbow Room, a space for community activities, with kitchen and toilets; and glazed double-doors invite people into the beautiful church itself.
Some features of the old church have been incorporated into the new building to retain some continuity with the past. The six stained-glass windows, from the Clayton & Bell studio, showing two images of Jesus, one on Good Friday and one on Easter Day, and four mighty Archangels have been cleaned and restored and mounted in the windows of the new building.
Five panels by Adam Boulter, commissioned in 2001, Spirituality in the Wilderness, and showing images from five world faiths have also been incorporated into the new building. Watch the artist talk about them here.
PCC (Parochial Church Council)
The PCC is the governing body of the Church, functioning as charitable trustees. Members are elected at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) in May.
Chair: Fr Thomas (Minister-in-Charge)
Secretary: Tomi Ogunjobi
Churchwardens: Clive Greenwood & Bola Oriaku
Treasurer: Ola Mustapha
Safeguarding Officer: Michael Aspell
Other Elected Lay Representatives: Megan Greenwood, Blessing Ileka, Esther Lamptey, Angie Nyun, Bukky Omisakim, Allan Palmer, Sandra Rogers, Christine Vandy
Standing Committee: Fr Thomas, Clive Greenwood, Bola Oriaku, Tomi Ogunjobi, Ola Mustapha