All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear Friend, 

Sunday’s epistle (2 Tim. 3.14-4.5), sandwiched as it is between the story of Jacob wrestling all night with a mysterious figure and the parable of the importunate widow, might get overlooked.

Timothy is urged to “Continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you have learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

He had learned the scriptures at the knee of his mother and grandmother.  Some of us had similar experiences. Mine was at primary school where stories from Old and New Testaments, together with hymns and prayers oft-repeated began and ended each day.

The epistle points us to the importance of both the sacred writings, meaning here those we know as the Old Testament, and of what we now call tradition, that handing down of faith from generation to generation in the life of the Church. 

It goes on: “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.”  This is a verse often used by fundamentalists to argue, for example, that the account of creation in Genesis is a factual one.  If we cannot accept that, do we have to reject the inspiration of scripture?  Inspiration is not the same thing as dictation.

Scripture is not inspired to provide scientific knowledge but “training in righteousness” and instruction “for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.”  Or as the King James translation puts is “making wise for salvation.”  As one commentator has put is: “Too much time is wasted asking Scripture questions which it was not designed to answer.”

Timothy is then urged to preach the message, “in season and out.”  He is to “convince, rebuke, and encourage with the utmost patience in teaching.”

That is what those of us who preach and teach at All Saints seek to do. That is why we use the Church’s lectionary, so that worshippers do not just hear our favourite bits of scripture. On special occasions, such as the All Saints Festival, we have visiting preachers, but the Sunday-by-Sunday preaching is done by the “home team.”  This enables a sustained engagement with scripture, an ongoing conversation, even a wrestling with it, by both preachers and congregation. Reading sermons is a different experience from hearing them; but it is encouraging to us who preach here that people want to read and reflect further on sermons they have heard, or ones they have missed, on the website.

The scriptures we hear read and preached about on Sundays do not exist in isolation.  They form part of a daily practice of reading, reflection, study and prayer. In this wider practice we believe that they are inspired, breathed by God; that is, God speaks to us through them now. Inspiration is a present reality, not just a historical fact. The scriptures do more than inform us about God: they transform us in living relationship with God. 

Yours in Christ,

Fr Alan Moses

Prebendary Alan Moses
Vicar of All Saints Margaret Street
Area Dean of Westminster – St Marylebone

 Please pray for those who have asked for our prayers: 

Alixe Bainbridge- Spring, Asia Bibi, Br. Michael OSB,
Fr Paul Berry, Jean Brackston, John Butler, Vivien Caplowe, Patricia Capon, Betty Collins, Cathy & Christopher Craig, Paul Curno, Fr Andrew Davis, Jack De Gruiter, Canon Caroline Dick, Mark Dougly, Kate Down , Bill Edmunds, Ursula Edwards, David Fettke, Tim Harding, Lewis Harvey, Gwyneth Hopkins, Myrtle Hughes, Hisami Kanno, Gordon Orme, David Pearce, Agnes Poitevin-Navarre, Maureen and Allan Pride, Canon John Rees, Nick Russell, Doris Sanders, Madeleine Storer, Michael Sullivan, Ros Tagoe, Dilys Thomas and Mary Thomas.

For the recently departed:   Marilyn Stansfield, George Elias (lay Reader at All Soul’s Clubhouse), Heather Prosser, Wendy Peryer , Mark Sutton and William Petter (Director of Music, St Magnus the Martyr, Concordia Voices and Sine Nomine Singers).

Remember past priests, benefactors, friends, and all whose year’s mind occurs this week including:  Florence Kelly, Raymond McGrath, Jack Ridley, Richard O’Conner, Robert Hanvey, Evelyn Vandy, Margaret McKenzie-Edwards , Lilian Geddes, John Williams [Former Chorister & later Organist], Christopher Rawll [Former Churchwarden, Lay Preacher, Sub Deacon & Archivist], John Hillaby, Colin Wesley and Dora Bull.                                               

For full service information: www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk.

WORSHIP THIS WEEK:

SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER, TRINITY 21 
HIGH MASS, 11am 
Preacher: The Vicar, 
Prebendary Alan Moses 
Missa Octo vocum – Hassler 
A prayer of King Henry VI (2002) – Gabriel Jackson

There is a Buildings Committee in the Parish Office after Mass.

There is no Sunday lunch service today and until the new cookers can be fitted in the kitchen.

EVENSONG & BENEDICTION, 6pm
Preacher: Fr Michael Bowie 
Murrill in E 
Hail, gladdening night – Wood

WORSHIP NEXT WEEK: 

SUNDAY 23 OCTOBER, LAST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 
HIGH MASS, 11am 
Preacher: The Vicar, 
Prebendary Alan Moses 
Missa sæculorum Amen – Guerrero 
Gaudent in cœlis – Victoria

There is no Sunday lunch service today and until the new cookers can be fitted in the kitchen. 

EVENSONG & BENEDICTION, 6pm 
Preacher: Fr Julian Browning
Service in E flat (No 2) – Wood 
O gladsome light – Darke

PARISH NOTICES 

NEW ALL SAINTS CARDS NOW AVAILABLE!
We have received the delivery of three new beautiful quality greetings cards to sell in aid of All Saints. The images are: the traditional Tile Nativity Scene; a new and dramatically lit shot of Our Lady of Margaret Street and a new and beautifully coloured image of the Sanctuary. Cards can be bought from the Parish Shop on Sundays and from the Parish Office in packs of 6 cards (all one design in each pack) for £5.  Fridge magnets are also available of the image of the Sanctuary, which we hope will prove a popular small memento for visitors to the Church at £3 each. If you are with us this Sunday, they will be on sale in the courtyard after Mass.

DR. HARRY BRAMMA
Harry, our former Director of Music (1988 – 2002), will celebrate his 80^th birthday on Friday 11 November. There will be a celebratory Evensong at All Saints to mark this occasion on Saturday 12 November at 3pm. We hope that friends old and new, from All Saints and further afield, will join us to help Harry to celebrate this milestone. The Very Revd. Nicholas Frayling, Dean Emeritus of Chichester, who has an unrivalled fund of Bramma anecdotes, will speak after the service.  

DR JOHN BIRCH ORGAN SCHOLARSHIP from September 2017
Laurence Long continues as our current Organ Scholar, but the search for his successor has begun. Please see the advert on our website: http://www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk/news/403

THE VICAR’S PILGRIMAGE 
Thanks to all who sponsored the Vicar on his walking pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. This has raised the magnificent total of £20,000 towards the Bishop’s Lent Appeal for projects supporting persecuted Christians in the Middle East. Fr. Alan’s knee is now restored to health and he can both genuflect and walk at his normal speed again.  At the beginning of this month he travelled to the Lebanon to visit some of the projects supported by the two Bishop’s Lent Appeal charitable agents – OPEN DOORS (60 Years of serving persecuted Christians) and AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED (supporting Christians where they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need). You can read the Vicar’s sermon from last Sunday’s Evensong on the All Saints’ website, in which he speaks about his experiences in Lebanon. http://www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk/worship/sermons/374

THE BISHOP of LONDON’S LENT APPEAL 2016 RAISES £120,000
All Saints originally raised £3,002 towards the 2016 Lent Appeal (to which must be added the further £20,000 from the Vicar’s Pilgrimage) and received a letter of thanks from the Bishop which says:  
With your help to date, the appeal has raised £120,000, all of which will go to support families in Iraq and Syria who are being persecuted for their faith. You will remember that I mentioned The Apostle Paul earlier this year as he reminds us that as the Body of Christ, spread now throughout the world: ’If one member suffers, all suffer together’ (1 Corinthians 12.26). We continue to pray for those whose witness is made in the face of hatred and terror. They are for us an inspiration and a challenge to use our freedoms for good. Bishop Angaelos of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK has said: “We need to be hope in an increasing hopelessness, and light in an increasing darkness. It is not enough for us to only lead in good times. Good leadership is especially required at the most difficult of times. Not only is it required, it is essential, because it is at those difficult times that people look to a beacon, and they look to someone to follow.” It is the Risen Christ whom we follow, and He leads us all in His service. With thanks for our partnership in the Gospel.   
The Rt Revd & Rt Hon Richard Chartres KCVO DD FSA

SUPPORT FOR CHRISTIANS IN THE HOLY LAND – PILGRIMAGE OCT/NOV 2017 
Bishop Stephen Platten will be leading a pilgrimage from the City Deaneries to the Holy Land in the autumn of 2017 not only visiting the Holy Places, but also meeting with the Christian community who face daily difficulties in living their faith. Travelling from 30 October to 6 November the cost of the pilgrimage is £1400 per person sharing a twin room. For more details or to book, please contact Pilgrimage People on 0800 6123423 or email: info@pilgrimagepeople.org  or join us on Monday 28 November at 6pm for an information evening at St Michael’s Cornhill ECV3 9DS.

PILGRIMAGE TO ITALY IN 2018 
Fr Gerald Beauchamp and Fr Michael Bowie are planning a pilgrimage to Italy in May 2018. Ideas so far include Assisi and Loreto. There will be a meeting on Tuesday 18 October, 7.15pm in the All Saints Margaret Street Parish Room (off the courtyard) to look at possibilities. All welcome. 

If you would like to come in 2018 but are unable to attend the meeting please register your interest with Fr Gerald (gerald.beauch@btconnect.com). Thank you.

ALL SAINTS FESTIVAL 2016

MONDAY 31 OCTOBER 6pm
EVE OF ALL SAINTS – LITANY OF THE SAINTS,
FESTAL EVENSONG & BENEDICTION
Preacher: Fr Kevin Mowbray, SM, Notre Dame de France
Collegium Regale – Tavener
Gaudeamus omnes – Joseph Phibbs

TUESDAY 1 NOVEMBER 6.30pm
ALL SAINTS’ DAY – PROCESSION & HIGH MASS
Preacher: The Very Reverend Dr David Ison, Dean of St Paul’s
Missa Brevis – Richard Rodney Bennett
 Beati mundo corde – Byrd

WEDNESDAY 2 NOVEMBER 6.30pm
ALL SOULS’ DAY – HIGH MASS OF REQUIEM
Preacher: The Right Reverend Paul Bayes, Bishop of Liverpool
Requiem – Victoria
Iustorum animae – Byrd

SUNDAY 6 NOVEMBER 11am 
ALL SAINTS SUNDAY – PROCESSION & HIGH MASS
Preacher: To be confirmed 
Mass Setting: Missa omnium sanctorum – Hutchings

FESTAL EVENSONG, TE DEUM & BENEDICTION 6pm  
Preacher: The Reverend Dr George Westhaver, Principal of Pusey House 
Canticles: Magnificat à 8, Op. 164 – Stanford

The ALL SAINTS FESTIVAL APPEAL 2016 will run over the period of the Festival, collecting at each service and running a bottle raffle (to be drawn on Festival Sunday). It is raising funds for THREE important causes:

The Marylebone Project (run in London NW1 by the Church Army) –‘empowers homeless women into independent living’. Our money supports the emergency bed unit, providing emergency accommodation for women escaping domestic violence, financial crisis, sexual exploitation and mental health issues.
 

THE SOUP KITCHEN (run by the American International Church in Tottenham Court Road) ‘helping the homeless in central London’, providing 17,000 meals a year, to some 400 people, with an average of 70 people a day.

UMOJA HIV PROJECT, (run by USPG – the United Society Partners in the Gospel) working in the Anglican Diocese of Manicaland Zimbabwe.  This project ‘enables people living with HIV and Aids to live positive lives’ by reducing stigma and boosting HIV prevention. The programme mobilizes the local community, in partnership with local churches and HIV services, raising awareness of the lack of care and support for these people and their families.

Further information about the three charities will be displayed in the baptistery of Church.

Please give generously – gift-aiding your donations wherever you can (so that your generosity is increased 25%). If you can’t visit All Saints, please send cheques payable to: Parochial Church All Saints in an envelope marked FESTIVAL APPEAL to: All Saints Church, 7 Margaret Street, London W1W 8JG.

 ** MISSION NEWS** Men’s clothing is badly needed by the Jesus Centre in Margaret Street and also (we have heard recently) by the Soup Kitchen at the American International Church, both of whom  provide a daily range of services to homeless people. As you prepare for the winter season, if you have men’s clothes to give away, please bring to Church and leave at the Parish Office so we can continue to help support our neighbour’s efforts predominantly with homeless men. 

The Soup Kitchen specifically calls for: men’s trousers (sizes 32-36) and men’s sturdy/athletic shoes (sizes 9-12 especially) and say ‘we are also beginning to need men’s outerwear of all varieties and we always need rucksacks and dufflebags to help our guests carry their belongings!’

Miranda Suit, Director of the Soup Kitchen (part-time, usually in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays) says: Please drop me a line if you are planning to drop things off here. As always, many thanks for your support.

Soup Kitchen at the American International Church, 79a Tottenham Court Road,London W1T 4TD 
T: 020 7580 2791    www.amchurch.co.uk/soup-kitchen/

SERVICES & EVENTS FOR OCTOBER & NOVEMBER BEYOND ALL SAINTS

Last weekend’s POETRY TEA at PAMELA’S with the theme Autumn raised £105 with gift aid for the All Saints Restoration Appeal. Thank you to everyone who participated. A full report of the event will appear in the November Parish Paper. 

EDWARDTIDE PILGRIMAGE AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY
The pilgrimage to the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor has become a great annual event at the Abbey, supported by many parishes across London and beyond. 
Saturday 15th October 11.30 am: Festival Eucharist of the National Pilgrimage to the Shrine of St Edward. Preacher: Bishop Geoffrey Rowell.
Saturday 15th October 3pm: Solemn Evensong with Procession to the Shrine.
Sunday 16th October 3pm: Evensong attended by The Lord Mayor of Westminster and other London Mayors.

Saturday 22nd October, 11am – OPEN HOUSE SHABBAT, WEST LONDON SYNAGOGUE
This is an opportunity for neighbours of all faiths and beliefs to experience a friendly, welcoming Shabbat Service and to meet new friends in the local community. The service starts at 11am, but please arrive at 10.15am if you would like a tour of the sanctuary, with coffee and cake. 

Please RSVP to nic.schlagman@wls.org.uk, and please bring ID with you on the day.

ST MARY’S BOURNE STREET TALKS 
One of London’s principal Anglo-Catholic churches, closely connected with the intellectual thought of the Catholic tradition in the Church of England, is holding a number of lectures in memory of the distinguished personalities who were instrumental in the life of this church. On Thursday 27 October, 7pm the talk is by the Rev’d Canon Chris Chivers, Principal of Westcott House, Cambridge – Grace and Glory: in dialogue with EL Mascall (in memory of Professor Eric Mascall, former honorary curate of St Marys).

ALL SAINTS MISSION ACTIVITIES:- 

The charities we had agreed to support through the Lent Appeal 2016 (and including applicable Gift Aid) received the following sums:-  

Marylebone Project – £2,666.67 – emergency refuge and rehoming project for homeless women. 
USPG – £2,666.67 – work with those experiencing Aids and HIV in Zimbabwe.  
London Diocese Lent Appeal – £3,001.66– this year supporting Syrian and Iraqi refugees through charities Open Doors and Aid to the Church in Need.  The certificate of appreciation is on the Church noticeboard. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this great achievement – a significantly enhanced total collected through the Lent Appeal compared with recent years – of £8,335 (including some late funds generated by the Queen’s 90^th Birthday Raffle). To this sum must now be added the further £20k raised by the Vicar’s Pilgrimage of earlier this year.

ONGOING SUPPORT for HOMELESS PEOPLE through: 
MARYLEBONE PROJECT run by the CHURCH ARMY – A Day Centre, Residential and Transitional accommodation provider, re-settlement project and Educational and Training Unit for women. The Emergency Bed Unit – for which we have for some years helped to provide the funds for one of the 4 beds – offers a safe haven and refuge for women escaping domestic violence, financial crisis, sexual exploitation and mental health issues. 

Year Round Support – we also support the Marylebone Resettlement Project with non-perishable food and toiletries or household necessities like cutlery or bed linen/blankets. Thank you to everyone who contributes food and household essentials via the basket in Church or handed in to the Parish Office. Please continue to donate these so we can help more people in need.

Day-to-day Support – we respond to the needs of homeless people who visit the church, providing luncheon vouchers for the West London Day Centre for rough sleepers who apply to the office and donating £1,000 towards the Soup Kitchen at the American International Church in Tottenham Court Road this year. We also allow individuals, who need a place to shelter or sleep during the day, to rest in the back of the church. We have created an information resource for Church Watchers, giving useful advice to homeless and vulnerable people seeking particular support or services. In the face of a rising tide of homelessness in London and as the cold weather starts to bite, please help us fund and support people in need through our Mission activities.

Want to help someone sleeping rough but don’t know how? 
Call Streetlink on 0300 500 0914 and they will get a visit from the local Street Team who can put them in contact with the services they may need. 

FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS OR ASSISTANCE FROM ALL SAINTS MARGARET STREET:- 
* If you would like to encourage others to take an interest in All Saints/keep up with what is happening here, please forward this email on to them, or to people you would like to invite to services or tell them about our websitewww.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk, which has a full colour 360 virtual tour for viewing the wonderfully restored interior of the Church – seewww.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk/history/virtual tour – before a visit or if unable to travel. 

* If you know of others (near or far) who would like to receive this regular update on what’s happening at All Saints please encourage them to sign up for the email on the All Saints website – see the tab News & Events> Weekly Newsletter. 

* If you would like prayers offered at All Saints, please email the Parish Administrator Mrs Dee Prior at: astsmgtst@aol.com. Or make use of the prayer request facility on the website at: www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk/prayer. 

* If you would like any pastoral assistance, please do not hesitate to contact:

The Vicar, Prebendary Alan Moses: alanmoses111@gmail.com. 

Or Assistant Priest Fr Michael Bowie: mnrbowie@gmail.com.

DAILY SERVICES AT ALL SAINTS 
On major weekday feasts, High Mass is sung at 6.30pm 

SUNDAYS in Church 
Low Mass 6.30pm (Saturday), 8am and 5.15pm. Morning Prayer 10.20am
HIGH MASS and SERMON, 11am and   
EVENSONG, SERMON and BENEDICTION, 6pm. 

MONDAY – FRIDAY
Morning Prayer 7.30am
Low Mass – 8am, 1.10pm and 6.30pm
Evening Prayer 6pm
(Except Bank Holidays – 12 noon Mass only)

SATURDAY 
Morning Prayer 7.30am
Low Mass – 12 noon and 6.30pm (First Mass of Sunday) 
Evening Prayer 6pm

Confessions 
A priest is available for confessions/counsel Monday – Friday from 12.30-1pm and at 5.30pm Monday – Saturday, or by appointment. (Special arrangements apply in Lent and for Holy Week.)

www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk and
e-mail: astsmgtst@aol.com