Bishop Robert writes:

Over the last few weeks, I have had the pleasure of joining several celebrations at St. George’s Madrid. 

This year, the Church marks the centenary of its consecration. St. George’s original vocation was to be the British Embassy Church. Located in a fashionable part of central Madrid, its architecture features a tower built in the Mudéjar style. This ornate style comes from a time of peaceful co-existence of Christians and Muslims in Spain in the mediaeval era. Over recent years Madrid, and St George’s too, have become increasingly international, and today St. George’s serves a diverse community. 

On the Saturday evening of my weekend visit, I had the pleasure of conducting a confirmation service and welcoming the latest group of communicant members of St. George’s. 

The centenary provided opportunity to welcome back several former chaplains. Pictured above, current chaplain Canon Sal McDougall (front right) with other current and former clergy and lay ministers of St. George’s. 

The Sunday centenary eucharist, conducted in the presence of the British Ambassador, Sir Alex Ellis KCMG, was a thoroughly joyful occasion. It included the dedication of a time capsule (pictured above). The capsule will be filled with memories from the centenary year and then buried in the church grounds, awaiting discovery, perhaps in another one hundred years time. 

One of the distinctive features of the church building is its stained glass windows. I used the windows as the basis of my sermon, as they seemed to describe so well the building’s nature and purpose. Two windows over the altar represent St. George (patron Saint of England) and St. James the Great (patron saint of Spain). The nave includes windows representing St. Andrew of Scotland, St. David of Wales, and St. Patrick of Ireland. I particularly liked the pair pictured above which are located in the crossing: St. Cecilia, patron saint of music and St. Anthony, founder of western monasticism - windows which together speak of the spirituality of the church. 

Important as buildings are, the church is fundamentally a community of people. After our centenary worship, we gathered for some excellent refreshments in the grounds of the church and under the remarkable fig tree. The picture above gives a good sense of the energy and life of the community. Many people told me how much they value the community they have found at St. George’s. It was a huge personal encouragement to me to share in the abundant spiritual life of St. George’s and to see how well the church is doing under the greatly loved leadership and ministry of Sal McDougall, as she marks the end of her first year as Chaplain. 

And we concluded our celebrations by sharing in this magnificent cake!

I returned to Madrid a couple of weeks later for one of our diocesan Chrism Eucharists. It was a delight to be with clergy from all over the Iberian Peninsula. We gathered to renew our ministerial vows and to receive oils for use in our ministry, and we were warmly welcomed by St. George’s. Pictured above: the clergy gather under St. George’s distinctive tower.