Plaque

Church House - foundation stone

Erection date: 26/6/1937

Inscription

This foundation stone was placed here by Her Majesty Queen Mary, twentysixth day of June 1937.

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 - foundation stone

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 - foundation stone

Created by i

Queen Mary (consort)

Wife of George V, grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II. Born Princess Victoria M...

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

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 - opened

Church House - opened

This building was opened by His Majesty King George VI accompanied by Her Maj...

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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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