Your best, your heavenly friend through thorny ways leads to a joyful end be still, my soul, when dearest friends depart and all is darkened in the vale of tears then you shall better know his love, his heart who comes to soothe your sorrow, calm your fears ellison be still, my soul, for jesus can repay from his own fullness all he takes away when we shall be for ever with the lord be still, my soul, when dearest friends depart and all is darkened in the vale of tears then you shall better know his love, his heart who comes to soothe your sorrow, calm your fears be still, my soul, when change and tears are past all safe and blessed we shall meet at last. Now the welcome from the dean of st pauls. On behalf of this cathedral in london, welcome, each one of you, to this National Memorial service of remembrance, community and hope. Among us are survivors of the fire in Grenfell Tower exactly six months ago. Those who have lost members of their families, or their friends. Those who live or work in North Kensington as neighbours and members of the local community. Those who served others as front line responders or volunteers, or who assisted with the immediate tasks of coping with the losses of lives, homes and livelihoods. And there are representatives of our national life. Because this is a nation that grieves at the unspeakable tragedy, loss and hurt of thatjune day. The welcome also includes all of you watching on national television, among whom are those painfully affected who could not face such a public event, those who would have liked to have been here in solidarity, those whose hearts go out to the many whose lives have been lost or changed forever. In this service, we come together as people of different faiths and none, as we remember with love before god those whose lives were lost, and pray for them to be at peace. As we are alongside brothers and sisters who have lost their homes and their community and those they love. As we commit ourselves to care for each other and to be united in the face of suffering and sorrow. As we seek each others help and resolve to build on our hopes for a future in which the tragedy that struck the peoples of Grenfell Tower will never happen again. So now, together, we remember and reflect. And now the choir of st pauls cathedral with the anthem the souls of the righteous are in the hands of god. The souls of the righteous are in the hand of god and there shall no torment no torment touch them in the sight of the unwise they seemed to die but they are in peace they are in peace in peace. Tricia hillas, canon pastor of st pauls, will now read from the beatitudes. Here begins the fifth chapter of the gospel according to matthew. When jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see god. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of god. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. and now the sound of the oud the instrument heard often in the music of the middle east and north africa. It will be played by a syrian musician as a prelude to a recording of voices encapsulating the experience of those affected by the fire at the time and since. Oud sounds hmaidat automatically realised i was wrong so hmaidat automatically realised i was wrong so he hmaidat automatically realised i was wrong so he ran up hmaidat automatically realised i was wrong so he ran up the stairs and told my mum to go down the stairs and ran up and called eve ryo ne stairs and ran up and called everyone on our floor my dad. Stairs and ran up and called everyone on ourfloor my dad. And woke me and my brother up. Everyone on ourfloor my dad. And woke me and my brother upi everyone on ourfloor my dad. And woke me and my brother up. I smelt smoke but i assumed it was the candle my mother had. I blew out the candle my mother had. I blew out the candle and it was a faint smoky smell. The windows broke, things we re smell. The windows broke, things were falling to the floor and in the space of six minutes the fire had already reached six floors above it. You could see the smoke and it felt as if it wasnt real. I was horrified by what i saw. Ijust wore practical stuff that you need for hopefully starting over again. cannot thank these people enough, they have provided their services, their clothes, their food and their money. They are probably going through hardships themselves. Never didi through hardships themselves. Never did i think that people could rally around the way that the Community Around the way that the Community Around here managed to rally themselves around, different religions, different walks of life, one of them coming together to help. The comfort isjust being together. The comfort isjust being together. The comfort isjust being together. The comfort isjust having each other. They need to come and look at it as other. They need to come and look at itasa other. They need to come and look at it as a tragedy, dont take selfies, dont stand there and take a picture. No, we want people to know what happened. We want them to feel what happened. We want them to feel what we felt. This borough has let us what we felt. This borough has let us down. There are so many questions and no answers. Heartwrenching, it is heartbreaking, you dont know, nobody is giving you answers. We we re nobody is giving you answers. We were lost for words. We didnt know what to do, how to react. Ive never known anything like it in my life. wrote up these signs come i went and photocopy them, i made this site and icame photocopy them, i made this site and i came back out and ive been here for a few hoursjust i came back out and ive been here for a few hours just making i came back out and ive been here for a few hoursjust making my i came back out and ive been here for a few hours just making my way basically, trying to do a square of this area and putting these posters everywhere. There is a picture right there, if you see the picture, she is missing and we are looking for herand she is is missing and we are looking for her and she is a friend of my little children so they are at home crying thinking they will not see her again. Ina thinking they will not see her again. In a situation like this there is still hope to find her. Quite a lot of children in the area, and sadly, quite a few lives i will never see again. You know, of course people are continually saying they wa nt people are continually saying they wantjustice. They people are continually saying they want justice. They want someone to p5y~ want justice. They want someone to pay. Most of these people are angry and theiranger is pay. Most of these people are angry and their anger is understandable. We have walked here in dignity, we have walked here in silence, we have made it clear to the government not violent or aggressive, we just want answers. You begin to feel survivors guilt and i think, maybe not now, but within the next couple of months we will start to question why was it them, why wasnt it us, why was it them, why wasnt it us, why did we survive and why didnt they . That will always be something eating away at our minds. They . That will always be something eating away at our mindslj they . That will always be something eating away at our minds. Ijust wa nt eating away at our minds. Ijust want a place where i canjust start over, and just relax for a bit. I just want a home again. Oud sounds the oud was played by the syrian musician rihab azar. And now the girls choir from an Islamic Faith School al sadiq and al zahra where pupilsjoined where pupils joined vigils at the grenfell. They will sing insha allah, meaning god willing in arabic. There are 30 girls aged between nine and ii. In the name of god the compassionate, the merciful. Every time you feel like you cannot go on so lost and that youre so alone all you see is night and darkness all around you feel so helpless you cant see which way to go dont despair and never lose hope cos allah is always by your side insha allah youll find your way every time you take one look around you then remember that theyre really gone youre so confused what is right and what is wrong how to choose and how to carry on but dont despair and never lose hope cos allah is always by your side. Insha allah youll find your way the choir the address by the bishop of kensington, the right reverend dr graham tomlin. The evening ofjune the 13th was an evening like any other in london. It had been a hot day and the son went down on a calm and gentle night. That evening people went out for a meal, went to bed, stayed up talking, do what people do in london ona talking, do what people do in london on a warm summers evening, and yet that night was to change the lives of so many here in this cathedral and beyond today. Since then it has been a long six months. Many here grieved for loved ones, precious people, who perished on that dreadful night. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, sons and daughters, cousins, today would have been the first birthday of one of the youngest victims of the fire. And many still struggle with their memories. There are still far too many living in hotels in the kind of limbo not sure of what the future holds. There are so many unresolved issues and questions, and its hard to live with uncertainty. And yet in the following days in the middle of that unimaginable tragedy we saw something extraordinary. People started coming from all over london, all over the country, and even beyond, bringing offers of help, water, toys, nappies, blankets, food. Churches, mosques, community centres, opened their doors as people came with suitcases of clothes they had collected from their homes and driven across the country to deliver. The Emergency Services worked tirelessly, ambulance crews, firefighters who entered the tower again and again, the police, often going far beyond what was required of them to rescue and to comfort. We saw acts of simple but remarkable generosity. On the sunday morning following the fire i was standing in one of the streets next to the tower when a man came up to me with his six year old son. He said that alfie had collected together all his pocket money, and rather than spending it on toys for himself, he wanted to give it to one of the families who had lost their home. Alfie handed me a ten, a dented, well loved Marvel Avengers tin with about £60 in it. It was all the money he had. The fire took place during ramadan and in the summer there are few hours of darkness, many muslim volunteers had to work long hours in the heat with no food because of the fast and they did so with great willingness and dedication. They worked alongside people of all faiths and none to do what they could to bring help and hope. I remember standing outside one of our churches the day after the fire, helping the Christian Community there to organise the help coming in. A crowd of people had turned up to help. What struck me was the variety. Every ethnicity, background, age. For a was the variety. Every ethnicity, background, age. Fora moment was the variety. Every ethnicity, background, age. For a moment we all lost our fear of each other. We lost oui lost our fear of each other. We lost our obsession with ourselves and we reached out across the city in love for our neighbour. It was a glimpse of what our society could be like. A place where we work for a brief moment more concerned about our neighbours well being than we were about our own. Jesus said that the two greatest commandments were to love god and to love our neighbour. As we come to the end of this difficult year, as we celebrate christmas, as we move into a new year, nothing can remove the memory of that night, nor do we want to forget those dearly love to people who were lost. And, yet, my hope and prayer is that this new year can bring new hope of a future, a vision ofa bring new hope of a future, a vision of a city where we lose our self obsession and we listen and learn from places and people that we wouldnt normally think of reaching out to. There is something about a cathedral. It is a place where we are aware that we are in the presence of something, someone, bigger than ourselves. As we cross the threshold into this building, it doesnt matter who we are, politicians, religious leaders, volunteers, survivors, bereaved residents, we are all equal in the eyes of god. Love makes no distinction is. We are all neighbours to each other and we are called to love our neighbours. Today we remember with sorrow, with grief, with tears, and we pledge that those we have lost will not be forgotten. Today we ask why warnings were not heeded, why a community was left feeling neglected, unca red heeded, why a community was left feeling neglected, uncared for, not listened to. Today, we hold out hope that the Public Inquiry will get to the truth of all that led to the fire at Grenfell Tower, that it will listen to the hopes, fears and questions of those most directly affected by it. And we trust that the truth will bring justice. And that justice will enable true reconciliation. The eventual healing of the divides in our lives together that this tragedy has revealed. As we come to this special time of year, as we enter a new year, we also look forward. We long for a society where we have learned not just to tolerate our neighbours but to love them. Which means to listen to love them. Which means to listen to them, not just to love them. Which means to listen to them, notjust to our friends of those who are like us. But to our neighbours, those we do not choose, yet who are placed alongside us precisely so that we can learn to love them. And to do that we need to see our neighbours differently. Not as those to be feared, despised, or neglected. But as a gift to be cherished, valued and loved. The message of this season. The message that we celebrate this season, christmas, is found in that ancient word, emmanuel. God with us. God understands, lessons, and heres the cries of those who feel forgotten and abandoned. And we trust that this Service Today is the assurance of the families most deeply affected by this tragedy, are also not forgotten by this tragedy, are also not fo rg otte n by by this tragedy, are also not forgotten by our nation, by those here in the cathedral, and by those who watch and listen around the country today. My hope, my prayer is that today we will pledge ourselves to change, from a city where we didnt listen, where we didnt hear the cries of our neighbours, because we we re the cries of our neighbours, because we were too wrapped up in our own interest and prosperity, to create a new type of life together, where we are turned not inwards, to ourselves, but outwards towards each other. A society known for listening. For compassion, for a lot for love. In years to come, our hope is that the name of Grenfell Tower will not just be hope is that the name of Grenfell Tower will notjust be known as a symbol of sorrow or grief or injustice, but a symbol of the time that we learnt a new and better way to listen and to love. Our man. Amen. The bishop of kensington reflecting in his words about how the fire created such a loss of life. The congregation now stands for the hemp darbinyan him. And now the hymn for the healing of the nations. for the healing of the nations lord, we pray with one accord for a just and equal sharing of the things that earth affords to a life of love in action help us rise and pledge our word lead us forward into freedom from despair your world release that, redeemed from war and hatred all may come and go in peace show us how through care and goodness fear will die and hope increase all that kills abundant living let it from the earth be banned pride of status, race or schooling dogmas that obscure your plan in our common quest forjustice may we hallow life . S brief span may we hallow lifes brief span you, creator god, have written your great name on humankind for our growing in your likeness bring the life of christ to mind that by our response and service earth its destiny may find. Let us remember those who died in the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire. Let us remember and not forget. Let us remember, united in grief and hope and love. Let us keep silence. The souls of the righteous are in the hand of god and there shall no torment touch them. They are at peace. The st pauls cathedral choir will sing and i saw a new heaven, conducted by andrew carwood. And i saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and first earth had passed away and there was no more sea and i, john saw the holy city newjerusalem coming down from god out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and i heard a great voice out of heaven, saying. Behold, the tabernacle of god is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and god himself shall be with them and be their god and god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away. And now the prayers, involving representatives from several churches and organisations in the grenfell area. United in grief and hope and love, let us pray for each other, and for the world in which we live. Choir sings kyrie, eleison we pray for the families and friends of those who died in the Grenfell Tower fire, for all who mourn the loss of a loved one. May we be comforted in our time of grief. Lord, hear our prayer. Choir sings kyrie, eleison we pray for those who survived this tragedy, for all who are scarred by the horrors of that fateful night. May all our memories be healed. Lord, hear our prayer. Choir sings kyrie, eleison we pray for those who rushed to rescue, for the members of our Emergency Services. May we be saved from all that threatens us. Lord, hear our prayer. Choir sings kyrie, eleison we pray for those who have offered their support, for all who sustain us with their care and friendship. May we grow through the love of others. Lord, hear our prayer. Choir sings kyrie, eleison we pray for those in authority, for all who will learn from this dis