The 50th Anniversary 0f 1908

1908  - The First Golden Jubilee of St. Paul's, Bow Common

In 2010 we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Dedication of At. Paul's, Bow Common. To visit some images of that celebration click on this link to one area of 'A Very Flexible Space' and also click here and here for the Photos section.

Unusually for a church, this was not the first time that we had celebrated the church's 50th anniversary! Before the present iconic church was built, the first St.Paul's, Bow Common had stood on the same spot from 1858 until its destrucion by Wartime bombing in 1941. In 2008 we comemmorated the 150th anniversary of the founding of the parish and the Dedication of the first St. Paul's, Bow Common with a Eucharist on the day of that church's Dedication, 30th October. We know nothing about the original Dedication Service in 1858 nor about the first Golden Jubilee celebration, held in 1908, but can guess that it was a significant event if we judge by the trouble taken to produce a commemorative booklet for the Jubilee.

This pamphlet gives us unique information about the first St. Paul's, Bow Common which would otherwise be much more limited than it is. For almost all of us now in this area, the present modern building is the only church we have known here as fewer and fewer among us have known the first church, even as a ruin. But, in fact, the parish had been in existence for a over a century before this church was opened and its story must not be forgotten, a story of witness and faith upon which we are building now and in the future.

In the images which follow, for the first time the whole of this 1908 Jubilee Booklet is made available for all to enjoy.

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