St Luke’s Church, Holbrooks

St Luke’s Church at Holbrooks in Coventry is a peculiar-looking construction. When I called, a service had just concluded, and a young clergyman and a couple of congregants bade me enter, enthusiastically telling me about its construction. I dated it to the 1950s, but was told it that parts of it were 1930s, while it suffered in the Coventry Blitz of 1940, and had to rebuilt in the following decade. 

For all my love of older things, I thought its design rather fine. Its preferred style of worship is Anglo-Catholic, so not to my liturgical and theological taste, but I salute the contrast it provides to the anaemic religiosity of St Medium’s which we find throughout much of the rest of the country.  

As well as the candles and statues which might be thought rather usual in such high Anglican settings, St Luke’s boasts an outdoor pulpit and ‘altar’, which I was interested to learn are still used. I could not decide if these were fully in keeping with Anglo-Catholic practice (which values orderly worship conducted in sacred space) or contrary to it. Both features served as a great reminder that the Word of the gospel should go out to the people, rather than just waiting for them to pass us by and the odd one darken our door. Although the communion elements should only be taken by those who believe, the invitation to come and partake of Christ’s sacrifice is generously offered to all who will hear it. To the individual, Christ says “Come to me”. To His Church, He says “Go to them”.