St Anselm Church and Father Clive Pearce

St Anselm Church in Hatch End near Hatch End station is in a beautiful peaceful setting surrounded by trees. If you are not planning to attend a service you will get a chance to see inside and admire the stained glass windows commemorating St Anselm, and WWI, on the next open day which will be in May. Watch the notice board outside for details. If you visit the church, you may meet the vicar, Father Clive Pearce, who is friendly and full of fascinating facts about the history of the church and nearby area. 

The church is on land given by one of the partners in the Crosse and Blackwell food families, both buried down the Uxbridge road at another church, All Saints. Yes, there is an e on the end of Crosse, I just double-checked on the internet and it was confirmed by a picture of a label.

I mentioned to Father Clive the last time I saw the inside of the church, on an open day, when, in Fellini Cafe and Restaurant I met Father Clive Pearce, vicar of St Anselm church. We both look a bit anxious. I think Father Clive has more faith in God than in cameras. I am very interested in both cameras and religion, though usually I have a lot of unanswered questions and look puzzled and impressed and excited when I meet an expert.

He is very knowledgeable and entertaining on the history of the church and local history and his church, also different branches of the Christian faith and saints and quotations from the bible.

Father Clive is fond of quoting an amusingly apt phrase from the Authorized Version, or King James version, of the New Testament. He said, 'There were many coming and going!'

As a writer and speech trainer I am always interested in how people create and tell stories and compose essays and sermons. I asked him how you write a sermon.