Society of St Francis & St Bene’t’s Church 1946–2005

A personal recollection by Pamela Hill

The story of St Bene’t’s cannot be told without mentioning the part that the Society of St Francis (SSF) played during the second part of the twentieth century. 

The Society of St Francis was formed in 1937 by the amalgamation of two Anglican Franciscan Orders, and their headquarters was established at Hilfield, in Dorset. The brothers have always had a ministry of serving the poor, the needy, and the dispossessed, but they also recognise the need for support and encouragement of those who might be leaders or prospective members of the Order. It is not surprising, therefore, that the second Franciscan house to be opened was in Cambridge in 1939. In contrast, one of the next houses to be opened in 1945 was on Cable Street in the east end of London, where the brothers were working among immigrant dock workers. Today, the friary in Plaistow, East London, has a ministry to asylum seekers, some of whom live in the friary with the brothers. In Leeds the brothers are working with the local Muslim community.

There are currently 10 houses in England, where the Society began, but SSF is an international organisation. The English houses are part of the Province of Europe, which also includes a house in Assisi and the Gumi Convent in South Korea. The Province of the Solomon Islands has seven houses, the Province of Papua New Guinea has five houses, the Province of Divine Compassion has five houses (in Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea), and the Province of the Americas has three houses in the United States.

SSF is made up of three related Orders. The first Order comprises brothers and sisters who live in community, taking vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The Second Order is for women who feel called to a contemplative life. They live in a convent outside Oxford. The Third Order comprises men and women, ordained or lay, married or single, old or young, who live in the world and commit themselves to keep a Franciscan rule of life. There are also the Companions who are not part of the Order but share Franciscan aims and ideals in support and in prayer. There are members of the Third Order and Companions in the present congregation of St Bene’t’s. 

The Franciscan brothers had a strong mission to Cambridge University at the time I came to read medicine in the early 1950s. Large numbers of undergraduates, myself included, went to St Francis House in Lady Margaret Road for Sunday Teas with a speaker of note and Thursday Teas with Bible study. Many of us also worshipped at St Bene’t’s as well as in our college chapels. When the brothers took pastoral responsibility for St Bene’t’s in 1946, the tradition and liturgical practice was already gently catholic with a reputation for good preaching. This had been introduced partly by a former vicar, the Revd Francis Noel Davey (1935-1938), a lecturer in the Divinity Faculty. This fitted well with the practice of SSF, who valued a catholic style of worship and had a particular emphasis on prayer and good preaching.

In 1967 the brothers moved from the large St Francis House in Lady Margaret Road to a much smaller property, belonging to Corpus Christi College in Botolph Lane. This was a tall terraced house with small rooms, producing rather cramped accommodation for four brothers. In 1985 the house next door was incorporated, giving much better facilities and rooms for five brothers and two small guest rooms.

In Lady Margaret Road there had been space for a private chapel but this was not an option in Botolph Lane. The Botolph Lane house was however about 100 yards from St Bene’t’s, making it the obvious place for the brothers to say the Daily Office. This was very good news for St Bene’t’s, for now it could share in the brothers’ pattern of worship. Morning and Evening Prayer and the Eucharist were celebrated daily. Midday Prayer and Compline were also said in the church for a time, but this practice was later discontinued. With the move to Botolph Lane, St Bene’t’s became the spiritual home of the brothers in Cambridge.

Their brown habits became a familiar sight in Cambridge, an important sign of an Anglican religious Order in the city. Their presence in St Bene’t’s added to the atmosphere of prayer and holiness in the parish church. 

After graduating, I left Cambridge for a number of years, returning for the occasional visit and finding the Church much the same. I returned permanently in 1988 to find the atmosphere of the Church and its worship still very much to my liking. The number of young families attending the Sunday Eucharist had grown. At this time some teaching for the children was provided in the form of a small Sunday School. It met in the vestry, which was not particularly convenient. This led to Brother Anselm’s vision for the Ramsey Rooms, where children’s groups meet and learn through Godly Play during the Sunday morning Eucharist. 

There have been six Franciscan Vicars at St Bene’t’s: Brothers Denis (1946-47), Lothian (1948-70), Martin (1971-85), Thomas Anthony (1985-92), Anselm (1993-2000), and Samuel (2001-2005). As well as those brothers who were vicars, others exercised an important ministry in St Bene’t’s, in Cambridge, and in the wider church. Br Michael spent many years at the Cambridge house, and held senior roles in SSF as well as being consecrated Bishop of St Germans (in Truro diocese). Having been made a gift of the maquette of a crucifix designed by Enzo Plazotta, Br Michael gave this to St Bene’t’s: it is now housed in the North Aisle. (The full sculpture is in the College Garden of Westminster Abbey.) Br Barnabas (Lindars) was a notable New Testament scholar of his generation. When the congregation welcomed Brother Samuel in 2001 they could not have foreseen that he would be the last Franciscan Vicar.

In 2003 the SSF Brothers elected Brother Samuel to be their Minister Provincial. He really loved his ministry at St Bene’t’s, so decided that for the time being he would attempt to carry out both roles. This he did admirably. However, after the General Chapter of SSF in January 2005, it became clear to Brother Samuel that he needed to concentrate wholly on his responsibilities as Minster Provincial and that he should resign as Vicar of St Bene’t’s. Because there was no other available Brother to take on this role, SSF sadly decided that it would have to withdraw from Cambridge. They left in October 2005. 

The last four Franciscan Vicars each left his mark on the fabric of St Bene’t’s. Brother Martin was responsible for project of building the kitchen and toilet, which was realised in Brother Thomas Anthony’s time. Brother Anselm had the vision and laid the plans for the Ramsey Rooms at the back of the south aisle, although this was not completed until after he had left. Brother Samuel started the refurbishment of the baptistry with a new notice board and oak cupboards and shelves to house the bibles, hymn books and service books.

The good work continued with the first post-Franciscan vicar, the Revd Angela Tilby when the vestry was combined with a parish office. And in 2019, with the Revd Anna Matthews as our vicar, we have seen, as part of the Millennium Project, new lighting, beautiful glass entrance doors with automatic operation, easily stacked chairs with oak cupboards to house them, and outside a York stone ramp for disabled access.

St Bene’t’s is a beautiful and well-ordered place, but at its heart is peace and silence, an atmosphere of prayer, and an awe-inspiring liturgy, which is what delighted me so many years ago. Praise God for all those, including the Franciscan brothers who, over the years, have made St Bene’t’s what it is today.

Dr Pamela Hill is a former churchwarden of St Bene’t’s and a member of the Third Order, Society of St Francis.