Father John Pritchard recalls the meet-cute that led to a relationship that has lasted a decade.
In the run up to 2016, a member of the church congregation, Terence Roberts, said to me as Vicar of St John’s: “What we really need is an orchestra in this place! Have you heard of LMP?”
Within a couple of weeks I was in touch with Paula Murray – Creative Director for Croydon Council – in a very unrelated way about how to bring live music and more creative arts to St John’s in a bid to serve this community better. Paula walked into St John’s and said: “I need you to meet someone who’s in need of something – perhaps you can help?”
That ‘someone’ was a Julia Desbruslais – the then LMP Executive Director Chief Executive. The conversation went a little like this:
Fr John: Hello Julia, I am Fr John.
Julia: Hello, so lovely to meet you and I can’t believe I have never been in this church before. It’s so beautiful.
Fr John: Would you like to come and be creative in this community. Can we help you at all?
Julia: Yes… we need offices and facilities.
Fr John: I have some redundant toilet space and a kitchen which we can adapt (sorry to those of you who realise the lack of toilets).
Julia: Amazing, we can we make this work!
Fr John: We will make this work. We are an alliance of the willing!
Julia: (smiling broadly)
And so began a remarkable moment which sparked the beginning of something more than I can begin to express in gratitude and words to what LMP brought and continue to bring to Upper Norwood.
So, many years on and LMP have helped us welcome into St John’s thousands upon thousands of people. They have served our children in our schools, they have played for the displaced, for the lonely, for the refugee and for many others. They have made time for those who otherwise would not have been able to access live music in this community. They have a tradition of the children playing alongside (which I love more than I can say) and we have seen in this community audiences become younger and much more diverse because of LMP’s mission and community work.
We have seen in this community audiences become younger and much more diverse because of LMP’s mission and community work.
LMP have given free concerts, tangos, wine tasting, Christmas marvels and many other afternoons and evenings of delight. I remember one most enthralling occasion where the LMP cellist Sarah Butcher rolled around on the nave floor with her cello and played it alongside children dancing and expressing themselves in the only way they could. What an AWESOME afternoon that was – I cried with admiration, emotional delight and wonder.
Julia and myself had many a coffee, tea, slice of cake, laugh and sometimes cry as we did with everyone in the LMP office. None of us knew where any of this was going to lead but we always trusted in the alliance of the willing desiring the Orchestra never to fail. And, by God, LMP didn’t and LMP won’t.
Seeing Julia retire was a moment for us all to wonder what next, but healthy change has brought new fortune, a continuation of the happiness and vision for our shared life here at St John’s with LMP.
What happened in 2016 can never be undone nor unwritten. Something divinely helpful brought LMP into St John’s life and St John’s and Upper Norwood into the LMP life and cycle of creativity. Today we continue a healthy programme of concerts and relationships with LMP which I can only see improving with age. Today we talk about the LMP family as siblings to the St John’s and Upper Norwood Community. Today we give thanks for these past years of exciting creativity and today we look at the diary and see concerts, recordings, meetings, conversations, socials and friendships which are not only pencilled into 2024, but beyond.
Paula Murray, Terence Roberts and Julia Desbruslais: a mighty trio bound by a little bit of Holy inspiration and an undefiable willingness to serve our neighbours. 75 years and still new things to come.
We're based in our community
Our work at St John’s, Upper Norwood is shaped by the wonderful people who live and work there.
