Weekly Email – Easter 4
Documents
Dear friends,
In 325 the Emperor Constantine convened what was to become one of the most important Councils in the history of the Church. The bishops who gathered in Nicaea had the task of sorting out a number of doctrinal and political questions that had arisen, especially in response to the teaching of a priest from Alexandria called Arius.
The formula of faith which emerged from this great council is one of the most important milestones in the journey of Christian doctrinal development, and celebrates its 1700th anniversary this year.
This is the subject which our online Zoom Theology Seminar on Tuesday 13th May at 7.00pm will be exploring. We are hugely honoured that our speaker will be one of the foremost academic theologians in the country – the Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford, the Revd Dr Andrew Davison.
The Zoom link and further information about our Zoom Theology Programme can be found here. All are welcome to join us online and the seminar lasts for no more than an hour. We aim to make discussion as approachable as possible, and to give people the space they need to express their thoughts and questions.
The row that engulfed the church in the 4th Century revolved around exactly how Christians were to understand Jesus’ status as divine. Was he just as divine as God the Father, or was he somehow subordinate to him? If the Son wasn’t subordinate to the Father, then what was the character of the distinction between Father and Son? What do we mean when we say Jesus is divine, and how are we to conceive of what it means for God to be God?
Arius was convinced that Christ cannot be coeternal with the Father. The Son, according to Arius, was exalted but must have been created by the Father. Many people felt Arius’ argument produced a Christ who was not as perfectly God as his Father was. In this sense, Arius’ Christ was no God at all if he wasn’t God like the Father. There was wide consensus that Arius’ conception of God was problematic and faulty, but less agreement about how an orthodox expression of the Christian faith was to be expressed. This is what the Council had to hammer out.
These arguments erupt just as organised Christianity was emerging from being a religion that was the subject of significant suspicion and sometimes persecution, to being the official religion of the Roman Empire under Constantine. One can see that Constantine’s concern to resolve this question also lay in the Realpolitik of ensuring the peace and unity of a vastly diverse and sprawling empire.
Out of these debates, the Church agreed that Arius’ conception of Christ was mistaken. Christ is God in exactly the same degree that the Father is God. If he is not, the incarnation of God’s presence in Christ loses its unique power to save us. Out of the Council comes an agreed phrase that trips off our tongues every Sunday, but which in the 4th Century sounded very new – that the Son is “consubstantial” with the Father; that he shares in the same divine substance, he is equally God as the Father, without beginning or end.
Tuesday’s seminar will be a wonderful opportunity to discuss this fascinating period of Christian history. It will be good to ponder how these ancient debates effect how we think of Christ today, and lie at the heart of the Gospel we seek to present to the world. I commend Tuesday night’s seminar to you and urge you to tune in!
Fr Peter
Confirmation & Parish lunch
Our confirmation on Sunday 18th May at 11.00 am will be followed by a bring-and-share parish lunch in our parish courtyard. We need parishioners to volunteer to bring food. Please be in touch with Kate Hodgetts to indicate if you are able to contribute something.
Electoral Roll – last call!!
Please note that the revision of the electoral roll finishes today. If you have not yet enrolled yourself, you have until this evening to complete the online form here.
You should enroll yourself if you are baptized and regularly worship at All Saints’. Bear in mind that you can be on more than one electoral roll at once, so if you worship somewhere else in a addition to All Saints’, you can still be on our roll.
APCM
Our Annual Parochial Church Meeting and Annual Meeting of Parishioners will take place after the High Mass on Sunday 25th May 2025. This is the occasion when annual reports on our parish’s life are formally presented, churchwardens are elected for the coming year, and members of our PCC are chosen.
Trip to the National Gallery
A parish outing to the National Gallery will take place on Friday 6th June to see its highly praised current exhibition focussed on Sienese painting in the 13th Century. There are 20 tickets which will be apportioned on a “first come, first served” basis. There will also be an option for dinner together after the exhibition in Chinatown, which will cost £35 per head.
You can sign up and pay via Eventbrite here.
Parish Walks
Our parish rambling group will be going on two day trip walks over the coming months: Saturday 7th June; and Saturday 5th July. All are welcome to join the group! Precise details will follow, but for now the dates are published so you can make a note in your diaries. If you have questions or suggestions about future walks, please be in touch with Fr Alan.
Flowers
The flowers are given by the Spencer and Howson families in remembrance of Patrick and Margaret Spencer: “forever in our hearts and thoughts.”
If you would like to make a donation for flowers or the courtyard garden, please contact Shawn directly or via the office.
What fun was had on Thursday night as our young adults’ group met for a curry night at Fr Alan’s house. Many thanks to him for all his cooking – it was a triumphal spread and a splendid way (serendipitously) to celebrate the beginning of a new pontificate!
Walsingham National Pilgrimage
A double decker coach will depart from All Saints’, Margaret Street, on Monday 24th May 2025 at 7.30 am sharp, to take pilgrims to the National Pilgrimage at Walsingham. The coach will return to the West End by the evening of the same day.
The cost is £30 per person, and you sign up and pay online via the Eventbrite link here.
Attendance last Sunday
Curry night at Fr Alan’s house on Thursday night.
Services this week
Saturday 10th May – Easter Feria of Our Lady
12pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 11th May – FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction
Monday 12th May – Easter Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm High Mass
Tuesday 13th May – Easter Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm High Mass
Wednesday 14th April – St Matthias
12 noon Low Mass
5.30 Holy Hour
6.30 pm Low Mass
Thursday 15th May – Easter Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Friday 16th May – Easter Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Saturday 17th May – Easter Feria of Our Lady
12pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 18th May – FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction
For your prayers
The Friends of All Saints’ Margaret Street
11th – John Bristow, Paul Brough, Michael Brown, David Blunden, Fr Michael Bowie, Dr Graham Burns
12th – Derek Bussey, Katherine Butler, Maureen Cambrey, David Caplowe, Adrian Carlton-Oatley, Timothy Cassady, Norman and Zulette Catir, Kate Charles, Stuart Chillingworth, Sir Robert Chote, Sandy Christian
13th – Roger Clark, Catharine Clarke, David and Mavis Cleggett, Graham Colville
14th – Karolyn Cooper, William Cooper Bailey, Peter Coulson, Steven Cox, Dr Yvonne Craig, Juliet Cridland
15th – Dr Ryan Danker, Kirill Dashkovskiy, Christopher Davies, Peter Dennis, Laura Denton, Joshua Dolphin
16th – Linda Edwards, Pamela Edwards, Jane Elliston, Dr Terrence Ellsworth, Richard Everton and Fr Philip Bevan, Carolyn Farrar
17th – Sue Feakin, Adrian Felaar, Elizabeth Ferguson, Daniel Fielden, Janice Fielden, Julia Fielden, Nigel Fisher, Mark Fleming
The sick
Graeme Butler, Dame Averil Cameron, David Craig, Fr Michael Gudgeon, Tony Hawkins, Margaret Hill, Fr Harry Hodgetts, Elizabeth Lyon, Philip Payne, James Rodger, Ingrid Slaughter
The recently departed
John Gayford Pr, Melanie Tucker, Barbara Jones, Vernon Groves, Ronald Corp CBE
Anniversaries of death
11th – Barbara Watson, George Corbett, N.P. Williams Pr, Ellen Markey, Beverley Ward
12th – John Finnie
13th – Edith Cooke, Douglas Laing
14th – Patrick Spencer
15th – Elsie Rybczk, Winifred Beavan, Muriel Burling, John Carter
16th – Elsie Scott, Charles Simon, Richard Britten
17th – Lucy Heath, Wilhelmina Ward