St. Martin's Church

Crucifix and Stain Glass in the Church

Over the many years that BYU has been here in London, there has never been a group that has been able to go and visit the St. Martin Church in Canterbury. We studied the background story explaining how it got there and where it came from. To me it seems to be a love story. Love of religion incorporated with the growing love of a marriage. King Ethelbert had an arranged marriage with Princess Bertha of France. A part of their arranged marriage agreement was that she would be able to worship as she pleased when they were married. When they married she moved over to England and her husband allowed her to continue practicing her religion in an existing church that had been used in the Roman period but had faded into disuse. Queen Bertha was admired, adored, and loved by the people and later on she even converted her husband the king. The church is still used today, but will forever hold that legacy.

In my reading for my religion class the symbolism that is found in churches was explained in depth and St. Martin’s church was a prime example. The ceiling above the nave of the church looked like the bottom of a ship. A parallel is drawn from the scriptures; there are various accounts of boats saving the people form the storms. The baptismal font was in the front of the church right after you come in the doors. As you progressively travel east in the church you get closer to the crucifix. This advancement through the space represents the journey of life towards the Savior. Another really neat thing that made this church unique was the crucifix. The crucifix was a cross with a tree branch on it. My professor was surprised by this idea and said that in the book of Isaiah he refers to Christ as the living branch.

Before we left the church we sang a few hymns as customary in such a private sacred space. We sang “I Need Thee Every Hour”, “The Spirit of God”, and “I am a Child of God”. I definitely felt the spirit and it helped me look past the differences of this church building than to mine and realized that there are many sacred spaces around the world. I am sure that BYU will be back to visit this church in the future.