Hole Smoke Live: Recovering the Sacred

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4.4 • 785 Ratings

🗓️ 14 July 2025

⏱️ 75 minutes

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Summary

Last week The Spectator held a live event entitled ‘Recovering the Sacred’ in the glorious surroundings of St Bartholomew the Great, the oldest parish church in the City of London.

The speakers included two London parish priests – one Anglican, one Catholic – who have contributed much to the growing interest among young people in traditional liturgy and Christian theology, a development that the hierarchy of their respective churches certainly didn’t foresee.

They were the Rev Marcus Walker, Rector of St Bart’s, whose Prayer Book Evensongs and Eucharists attract large numbers of young professionals to his ancient church; and Fr Julian Large, the Provost of the Brompton Oratory, where an increasingly youthful congregation flocks to Latin Masses.

We also heard from Dr Cosima Gilhammer, a Fellow in English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, whose writings on the rhythms and symbolism of the liturgy are deeply inspiring; The Spectator’s editor, Michael Gove; and the Rev Prof Andrew Davison, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University, who also holds a doctorate in biochemistry.

The evening concluded with a panel discussion chaired by Holy Smoke’s presenter, Damian Thompson, and – a real treat – a performance of Catholic and Anglican motets sung by the renowned choir of St Bart’s.

The event was completely sold out. Inevitably, many were disappointed not to attend in person – but the microphones were running, and so we are delighted to present ‘Recovering the Sacred’.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Holy Smoke, the Spectator's Religion podcast.
0:11.3	I'm Damien Thompson.
0:13.5	Last week, the Spectator held a spectacularly interesting live event entitled,
0:20.3	Recovering the Sacred.
0:22.2	It was held in the glorious medieval surroundings of the Church of St. Bartholomew the Great,
0:27.5	the oldest parish church in the city of London.
0:30.3	The speakers included the two London parish priests, one Anglican, one Catholic,
0:36.1	who are responsible for the fascinating phenomenon of young people
0:41.0	rediscovering, or discovering for the first time, traditional liturgy and traditional Christian theology,
0:49.1	something that the hierarchy of their churches certainly didn't see coming.
0:53.3	The priests were the rector of St. Bartholmes,
0:56.2	the Reverend Marcus Walker, who's attracting ever larger numbers of young professionals to
1:01.0	Evensong and to Sunday Eucharists in his ancient church, and Father Julian Large, the provost
1:07.3	of the Brompton Oratory, where again an increasingly younger congregation are
1:11.7	attracted to traditional services, in this case Latin masses celebrated using both the older
1:17.7	and the newer Roman missiles. We heard also from Dr. Kosama Gilhammer, a fellow in English
1:24.5	at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, whose writings on the rhythms of the liturgy,
1:29.3	their symbolism and their relevance to everyday life in the 21st century are truly inspiring,
1:35.2	from the spectator's editor, Michael Gove,
1:38.2	and from one of the most exciting theologians in the Church of England,
1:42.3	the Reverend Professor Andrew Davidson,
1:45.6	who is Regis Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford, and also holds a doctorate in biochemistry.
	...

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