Plaque

Church House - opened

Erection date: 10/6/1940

Inscription

This building was opened by His Majesty King George VI accompanied by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth on the tenth day of June 1940.

Site: Church House, Westminster (4 memorials)

SW1, Deans Yard, Church House

The four plaques are located as follows:
To the left of the entrance - 1937 foundation,
To the right of the entrance - opened 1940 (can be seen in our photo),
In the entrance porch, to the left - UN 1986,
In the entrance porch, to the right - centenary 1988.

Centre front, second floor, is a large high relief figure by Charles Wheeler, representing the Prophet of Assembly of the Church of England (though we can't discover any more about this personage, nor why it's so Eastern-looking).  And below that, some Greek text, about which our language consultant, David Hopkins, writes:

"It’s a direct quote from Luke 17:21 in the New Testament. If you have the right font on your computer it says: Η ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΘEΟΥ ΕΝΤΟΣ ΥΜΩΝ ΕΣΤΙΝ.  In “English letters” this would be “He basileia tou theou entos humon estin”. The translation in the King James version says: “The kingdom of God is within you”, although some academics have argued that a better translation would be “The kingdom of God is in your midst”.  Neither makes much sense to me!"

Googling around suggests the carving may represent Elijah but we need help here.  Why does a building so central to the Church of England carry Greek text and an apparent Eastern religious icon so prominently?

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This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Church House - opened

Subjects commemorated i

Church House - Westminster

The Westminster site was first used for Anglican church meetings and administ...

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This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Church House - opened

Created by i

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

In 1923 Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (descended from the Royal House of Scotland...

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King George VI

Became king when his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated. Like his father George ...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Church House - opened

Also at this site i

Church House - centenary

Church House - centenary

This tablet was unveiled by Her Majesty the Queen on 25th October 1988 to com...

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Church House - foundation stone

Church House - foundation stone

This foundation stone was placed here by Her Majesty Queen Mary, twentysixth ...

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Church House - UN

Church House - UN

Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary-General of the United Nations unveiled thi...

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