St Gabriel's, Cricklewood, is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

in Cricklewood, Brent, London,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. St Gabriel's has links to

New Wine New Wine is a not-for-profit Christian evangelical organization based in the United Kingdom, that assists Christian churches with organizational leadership training and fundraising. The organization also holds its own annual summer conferences, ...

and

Holy Trinity Brompton Church Holy Trinity Brompton with St Paul's, Onslow Square and St Augustine's, South Kensington, often referred to simply as HTB, is an Anglican church in London, England. The church consists of six sites: HTB Brompton Road, HTB Onslow Square (formerl ...

. The church has been positively reviewed by the ecumenical

Ship of Fools The ship of fools is an allegory, originating from Book VI of Plato's ''Republic'', about a ship with a dysfunctional crew. The allegory is intended to represent the problems of governance prevailing in a political system not based on expert kn ...

website.

History

The first

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

service in the Cricklewood area was held in 1891, led by Rev George Marsh Clibborn. It took place in a milliner's shop in Oaklands Road. Later meetings took place in a local school room. In 1891, a building known as the ‘ Iron Church’ was erected on the area where St Gabriel's now stands, and which opened for worship in that same year. A further church was constructed alongside the Iron Church, which opened in 1897. Further building works were completed in 1906. A large church hall was later built on Anson Road, and after the second world war sold to the local council for community use. The local council then sold the building to the Dar Al-Islam Foundation. The present church hall is located in a smaller building, next to the former hall, on Chichele Road. The St Gabriel's church organ was a post-war neo-classical Walker organ. The organ was used by a number of organists, including Brian Bromley, Organist Emeritus and Alan Harverson, Professor of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

; and many choirs, including the Linden Singers. The organ has since been relocated, to create additional storage space. The church area is located close to

Willesden Green tube station Willesden Green is a London Underground station on Walm Lane in Willesden. It is served by the Jubilee line and is between Dollis Hill and Kilburn stations. Metropolitan line trains also pass through the station, but do not usually stop. The s ...

, in a now predominantly residential and ethnically diverse area. The current vicar is James Yeates, who has been at St Gabriel's since January 2020. His predecessor, Jane Morris announced her plans to retire in 2018. In autumn 2010, Morris stood for election to serve the

Diocese of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames. For centuries the diocese covered a vast tract and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north ...

at the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

. Morris was proposed by the Revd John Coles, the leader of

and was elected to the General Synod. Morris also recently backed a unity statement against plans by the

English Defence League The English Defence League (EDL) is a far-right, Islamophobic organisation in the United Kingdom. A social movement and pressure group that employs street demonstrations as its main tactic, the EDL presents itself as a single-issue movement ...

to protest at an event held by a Muslim charity in Wembley.

Ministry areas

Sunday services at St Gabriel's include a morning worship service at 10:30 am and an evening worship service at 6:30 pm. St Gabriel's offers a number of community activities, including: Gabriel's Café; activities for young children, such as Little Angels, Boogie Babies and The Ark; classes for learning English; and a

Christians Against Poverty Christians Against Poverty (CAP) is a Christian charitable company in the United Kingdom founded in Bradford, West Yorkshire by John Kirkby in 1996. It is a national organisation specialising in debt counselling for people in financial diff ...

centre. St Gabriel's also runs a number of courses, including Alpha, Alpha Youth, and The CAP Money Course.

Christians Against Poverty

St Gabriel's runs a debt centre, overseen by

. It aims to provide debt and counselling to local members of the local community, regardless of their own faith. Brent Council highlighted this work in its January 2011 edition of 'Brent Magazine'. The project offers to manage a person's debt by organising their repayments, as well as offering advice and work to reduce any payments. The Council observed that people do not need to be Christians to receive any help.Brent Council Magazine
/ref> The project is led by Debbie Thomas, St Gabriel's CAP centre manager.

References

{{Churches in Brent

Cricklewood Cricklewood is an area of London, England, which spans the boundaries of three London boroughs: Barnet to the east, Brent to the west and Camden to the south-east. The Crown pub, now the Clayton Crown Hotel, is a local landmark and lies north- ...

Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Brent Grade II listed churches in London

History

Ministry areas

Christians Against Poverty

See also

References