Gresham Kirkby, a Christian anarchist, was the architects' engaged client, championing the Liturgical Movement principles and continuing as parish priest until 1994.

[7] The church was initially home to Lutyens' Outraged Christ sculpture in 2011,[8] subsequently moved more permanently to Liverpool Cathedral.

Artist Rose Finn-Kelcey's installation Angel covered the church's 78 square metre facade from February to July 2004.

[12] The awards were judged by architecture critic Jonathan Glancey, director of the Twentieth Century Society Catherine Croft, president of the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association Sherry Bates, and trustee of the National Churches Trust Richard Carr-Archer.

[13] The building was described by the judges as the ‘embodiment of the groundswell of ideas about Christian worship’ and a ‘hugely influential signpost for future Anglican liturgy’.