Dean Robert Sermon @ St Augustine of Canterbury Oklahoma City Celebration Service May 26, 2024

Welcome to the Garden Congregation Youtube Channel!

Thank you for joining us - from Oklahoma City!

Following the broadcast of the previous film from OKC we have had a number of requests to see the service which Dean Robert mentions. This was a wonderful celebration of the 40th anniversary of this most special and vibrant church which demonstrates, as the Mayor of Oklahoma states in his address half way through, the extraordinary nature of inclusivity and love of this community with music and liturgy to match.

Dean Robert and Fletcher would like to thank their hosts Fr Alsay and his team and the embracing community of "St Augies OKC" for the amazing hospitality they were shown throughout their stay with them!

We would encourgae you to watch the whole service and to share in the atmosphere of this special and historic occasion and the wonderful music but should you wish to see Dean Robert's sermon this is approximately at 49 minutes, their presentation of the Freedom of the City by Mayor Holt - of which they are so honoured! is at 1hr 28min followed by the very special award presented to them by the episcopal church in Oklahoma.

Special thanks, of course, go to the amazing musicians headed by the incredibly talented Scott Chard with the tdexterity on the organ of John Potter and the vocal serenity of Guy Nembhard and the excellent choir; the wardens, vestry staff and volunteers who collectively make up such a happy and engaging community both in the church and throughout the city where their charitable works bring joy and comfort to so many.
Thank you!


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When the Archbishop decided to close all churches to their clergy because of the Covid pandemic in March 2020, in addition and separately to the closure of churches to their congregations - which did make sense to stop the spread of the virus - the then Dean, Robert Willis, although not governed by the Archbishop (Deans of medieval cathedrals are crown appointments and sit outside of the church and are effectively on the same level as their bishop to serve as a check and balance to them), decided that out of loyalty to his fellow clergy he would also stop broadcasting from inside the cathedral. Instead he and his partner Fletcher held a daily communion inside the cathedral each day in a rotation of different chapels to ensure the tradition of a daily service which dates back to the time of Augustine was upheld and unbroken and also took to filming daily services and book readings in their garden through to May 2022. Usually joined each day by at least one of their cats (Monkey, Lilly, Tiger or Leo) and a whole host of their own menagerie from pigs and chickens to hedgehogs and newts and whilst sitting in the gardens through all seasons, this is a wonderful way to switch off and meditate whilst listening to a mix of poetry, recitals, current affairs, music – and of course the daily psalms and readings from the bible which are then explored and unpicked by Dean Robert. The original intention by Fletcher was to connect with "one or two members of our community who might be feeling lonely" and they could not have known that they would in fact connect with hundreds of thousands of people of all faiths and none from every part of the world who named themselves the Garden Congregation. Although initially the broadcasts were all on the cathedral website and other platforms, when they were unexpectedly caused to leave Canterbury, Fletcher transferred their approx 950 films to this new site so that they might still be enjoyed by anyone in the future.

Thank you again for visiting this Channel and we hope that you will enjoy the films if this is your first time here – and if so then welcome to the Garden Congregation!