7/7 Remembrance 20 Years On

Monday 7 July 2025. 9:40am to 9.55am. In the porch of St Pancras Church. You are welcome to gather with us to remember, to commemorate and to look forward again with renewed hope.

Twenty years on, many of us still have vivid memories of where we were on 7 July 2005 when we heard of the London Bombings. For some, you will remember witnessing the dreadful events or their immediate aftermaths; and for many, even twenty years later, the affects of those violent terrorist attacks will continue to cause pain and grief.

With St Pancras Church being less than 50 metres from the site of the bombing of a number 30 bus at 9.47am, and being close too to the underground route which had been bombed between Kings Cross and Russell Square an hour earlier, the church was naturally situated to provide an immediate place of comfort and community support.

Fr Paul Hawkins was then the vicar of St Pancras Church. A report in the Guardian about his Sunday sermon of three days later states that he urged the congregation to continue to rejoice in the capital's rich diversity of cultures, traditions, ethnic groups and faiths. The BBC reported that his words included him saying: "This will only make us more determined to live in peace and respect each other and we can all play our part in that."

A week after the bombings, Fr Paul, led prayers and a two minute silence on the front steps of the church. A Maori prayer: "Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth; lead me from despair to hope" and words which encouraged hope among those who had gathered. Hope too that "minds filled with hate may be healed and discover a better way of doing things".

As we look back twenty years and honour all those whose lives were lost or changed on 7 July 2005, we will meet at St Pancras Church to pray, to keep silence and to share the same hope in respect of today's challenging times.

Monday 7 July 2025 - 9.40am to 9.55am. All welcome.