All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear Friend,

Next Sunday, the Fourth of Easter, known as Good Shepherd Sunday, is a landmark in Eastertide as Refreshment Sunday is in Lent. Until now we have been gathering in the afterglow of the Resurrection. After this we begin to look forward to the Ascension and Pentecost. On the fourth Sunday of the season we pause to consider afresh who Jesus is: what sort of person this is who has been raised, in whom we place our trust. The shepherd image, used of God in the Old Testament (most obviously in Psalm 23) but also identifying with a marginal group of people in Jesus’ own time and place, should not surprise us. It crosses the divine-human boundary and unites the sublime with the despised.

The image is developed in a number of different ways by S. John. Earlier in chapter 10, Jesus is the gate as well as being the shepherd (verses 7 & 9). At another point, thieves and bandits try to enter the sheepfold not by the gate, but by climbing the wall (verse 1); at another point, they come to the gate and call the sheep, but their voice is not heeded, because it is not known as the shepherd’s is (v. 8). This is about boundaries and safety, and how, with Christ, we are ultimately safe.

Keith Thomas, in his landmark 1972 book ‘Religion and the Decline of Magic’, argued that the invention of fire insurance was the decisive turning point of modernity away from religion. He thought the end of religion would inevitably result from the gradual elimination of risk. Forty years on (in an increasingly risk-averse culture) many of us are, arguably, over-insured: but border security leaves us in no doubt that perceived risks have also increased rather than diminished. Yet we’ve all observed that focussing large amounts of our attention on (even reasonable) risk often leads to paralysis.

The Kingdom of God, for which the church seeks to prepare us, and which we are called to model for others, is a parallel jurisdiction which proposes freedom from paralysis of that kind by reminding us that God’s priorities are always our eternal safety – salvation. The Eucharist is our food for the journey towards it which is our quest (and a foretaste of the celebration which we shall share when it is attained).

There’s a Spanish version of that large genre of stories and jokes about meeting St Peter at the gate of heaven. When people arrive at the gate, St Peter asks them a strange question. He says to each one, ‘Tell me, have you taken advantage of all the earthly joys which God in his goodness has made available to you while you were alive?’ If a person replies, perhaps too quickly or too piously, “Certainly not!” Peter shakes his head sadly and says, ‘Then I’m afraid I can’t let you in – not yet any way. How can you expect to be ready for the joys of heaven if you have not prepared yourself for them through earthly ones? I shall be obliged to send you back to earth until you learn better.’

The test is joy. A mature faith offers joy that comes from a deep sense of security with God. This is harder for some of us than others and, if we’re honest, some of us are very suspicious of joy. It is probably a lifelong struggle for us all. But we won’t find much to do in heaven if we can’t enjoy ourselves (ourselves being who we are, as God’s beloved children), and each other’s mutual flourishing.

Our Good Shepherd seeks that priority for us as he calls us to seek first the Kingdom of God.

Yours in Christ,

Fr Michael Bowie 
Assistant Priest, All Saints Margaret Street

Please pray for those who have asked for our prayers: John Adams, Asia Bibi, John Bailey, Fr Allan Buick, Vivien Caplowe, James Cary-Elwes, Dennis Davis, Mark Dougly, Kate Down, David Fettke, David Foster, Jonty Gordon, Ghislain Hamelin, Lewis Harvey, Valerie Hawkins, Minnie Hodgetts, Gwyneth Hopkins, Julia Holland and family, Myrtle Hughes, Alice Jullien,  Maria Keen, Julie Knight, Andrew Laird, Tom Leader, Miriam Nelson, Fr. Robert Norwood, Oliver Orr, David Pearce, Canon John Rees, Stella and Helen Skinner, Margaret Spencer, Rose Stephens, Madeleine Storer, Christine van Dyck, Robert Walmsley and Joy Wright.   

For the recently departed:  Caroline Andrews, Liz Browne, Eugenia Guiglia, Jennifer Harvey, John Christian, Darell Thompson-Schwab, Archimandrite Ephrem Lash, Clive Pearce (Priest), Betty Preston, Peter McCrory (Priest), David Jewkes, Barbara Potts, John Wilmington (Priest), Robert Middleton and Jock Scott.

Remember past priests, benefactors, friends, and all whose year’s mind occurs this week including: Basil Harris, Margarita Clark, Judith Barrett, Sadie Campbell (Choir School cook), Tim Hewlett, Hugh Whittow, Rex Halliwell, Irene Vile, Kathleen Bates, Hilary Waters, Harry Falconer Barclay Mackay (Fifth Vicar of All Saints), Margaret Forsyth, Constance Cavan, Alicia Bolton, Priscilla Black, Constance Briscoe, David Mason (Priest), Charles Messenger, Elenor Stanton, Arthur Sandeman (Priest), Hannah Ebbs and John Burton-White.      
                                                  

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

WORSHIP THIS WEEK:

SATURDAY 16 APRIL – CHORAL EVENSONG at 3.30pm
Sung by the All Saints Margaret Street Ex-Choristers Group
Organist: Harry Bramma
Canticles: Specially composed by Martin Bruce
Anthem: Never Weather-Beaten Sail,
Words by Thomas Campion, specially composed by Louis Halsey

Please come and support the former Choristers of All Saints and join them for tea, scones and cake in a convivial atmosphere in the courtyard (or Parish Room if wet) afterwards.

SUNDAY 17 APRIL – FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
HIGH MASS, 11am
Preacher: The Vicar,
Prebendary Alan Moses
Missa sæculorum Amen – Morales
Praise our Lord, all ye Gentiles – Byrd

Sunday Lunch is served – the chef is Robin Clutterham. The menu is Roast Pork, roast potatoes, green beans and carrots with apple sauce, with Strawberry Flan and coffee for dessert. Tickets £5 on sale in the Church Shop in the Parish Room before and after Mass (subject to availability).

CHORAL EVENSONG & BENEDICTION, 6pm
Preacher: Fr Michael Bowie
Walmisley in D minor
If ye be risen again with Christ – Gibbons

WORSHIP NEXT WEEK:

LONDON MARATHON, Sunday 24 April 2016 – in previous years some people have found their journey to All Saints impacted by this major international event. Please allow extra time for your journey, checking the Marathon website for travel information.

SUNDAY 24 APRIL – FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
HIGH MASS, 11am
Preacher: The Vicar,
Prebendary Alan Moses
Missa ‘ad imitationem vinum bonum’ – Lassus
Christus resurgens – Lassus

Sunday Lunch is served – the chefs are Patrick Hartley and Rebecca Hirst. Tickets £5 on sale in the Church Shop in the Parish Room before and after Mass (subject to availability).

CHORAL EVENSONG & BENEDICTION, 6pm
Preacher: Fr Julian Browning
Collegium Regale – Howells
Lasset uns den Herren preisen – Reger

The Annual General Meeting of All Saints’ Club – Sunday 24 April
The meeting will be held in the bar after Evensong and Benediction. All paid-up members are warmly invited to attend.

PARISH NOTICES

SUCCESS OF THE ALL SAINTS LENT APPEAL 2016 
Working together, we have raised a splendid £7,250, which will be shared equally between three charities (this is up 86% on 2015, which was itself significantly up on the 2014 collection):

1. Bishop of London’s Lent Appeal for beleaguered Christian communities in Iraq and Syria:
OPEN DOORS, providing emergency food supplies & hygiene kits in Syria and
AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED, for urgently needed housing, medicine & education in Iraq. 

2. Us (formerly USPG) – supporting the church in Zimbabwe working with those affected by HIV and AIDS; providing local clergy & lay leaders with skills & training for this vital work.
3. The Marylebone Project – providing an emergency bed in the Homeless Women’s Centre, NW1.

Thank you to everyone generously contributing to make this year’s Appeal an especially big success.

Another Mission initiative that has happened recently, with the agreement of the PCC: All Saints has donated £1,000 to keep open the SOUP KITCHEN at the American International Church on Tottenham Court Road. This invaluable facility, which had launched an appeal as it found its limited resources very pressed with the increased numbers of homeless people in London, is within reasonable walking distance of All Saints, so that homeless visitors to the church can now be encouraged to get hot food there. 

There is a meeting of the Parochial Church Council on Monday 18 April at 7pm (following the 6.30pm Mass) in the Parish Room.

ASCENSION DAY, Thursday 5 May – PROCESSION & HIGH MASS at 6.30pm

PARISH RETREAT, Friday 6 – Sunday 8 May 2016 
There are still vacancies for the parish retreat, to be conducted by Fr Barry Orford at Bishop Woodford House in Ely. Further info from: Martin Woolley on 07976275383 or Email: m.g.woolley@btinternet.com.

HIGH MASS with BAPTISM (Alexander  John Green) – Sunday 8 May 11am , with guest preacher Revd Canon Carl Turner, Rector of St Thomas’ Church, Fifth Avenue, New York.

ORGAN RECITAL, Sunday 22 May, 7.15pm following Evensong & Benediction – David Graham, Director of Music, Farm Street. Programme details to follow. Free entry with retiring collection (donation of £5 suggested) to support the choir and music at All Saints. The All Saints Licensed Club/Bar will be open afterwards.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Thursday 26 May, 6.30pm, High Mass with Street Procession of the Blessed Sacrament. Guest Preacher: Fr Kevin Scully, St Matthew’s Bethnal Green. If anyone would like to assist with stewarding the procession or carrying the canopy, please get in touch with Cedric Stephens, Head Server or Dee Prior, Parish Administrator Tel: 020 7 636 1788.

SERVICES & EVENTS FOR APRIL and MAY 2016 BEYOND ALL SAINTS

Tuesday 19 April, 6-8pm at the Kensington Temple, Notting Hill, London W11 3BY – MAYOR OF LONDON ELECTION 2016
The Evangelical Alliance together with Churches Together in England have put together a hustings event for Christians in the capital to come and quiz the London Mayoral Election candidates. The top five candidates will be attending, along with a broad spread of church leaders from across the capital. The Bishop of Kensington will be providing a short introductory comment, and senior leaders from different denominations and networks are also involved. You are being asked to book a place to attend at www.votelondon.org.uk. 

HUGH PRICE HUGHES LECTURES 2016
All lectures will be held at Hinde St Methodist Church at 7.30pm.  Admission is free & all are welcome! www.hindestreet.org.uk/hph

This series will invite you to reflect on how other ways of knowing and seeing – “faith” commitments for some – relate to their Christian faith. These alternative and complementary ways of knowing and seeing, sometimes portrayed negatively by people of faith, have the potential to deepen our understanding of our faith commitments and enable us to engage more constructively with the wider world.

Identity, Modernity and Faith 
10 May – Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Journalist

Living as Christians in Multi-faith Britain and
the Importance of Religious Literacy
14 June – Michael Wakelin, Religion & Media Consultant

Saturday 23 April at 6pm, St Barnabas’, Pimlico
Eastertide Sequence, sung by the St Mary’s Singers. Music will be by Pitoni, Viadana, King John IV of Portugal, Byrd, Arcadelt, Wood, Stanford and Handel.

Churches Together in Westminster “Meet the Neighbours”
There are two “Meet the Neighbours” events happening in May. Westminster is blessed with a large number of churches of all shapes and sizes, but each church is unique. One of the aims of “Meet the Neighbours” visits is to give everyone the opportunity to both respect and be open to experiencing and learning a little more about the worship traditions and ministries of the host churches.

11 am on Wednesday, 4th May 2016. Our hosts will be The Royal Military Chapel, The Guards’ Chapel, Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, SW1E 6HQ.  All welcome.
The visit includes: Weekday Holy Communion (Anglican) Celebrant: The Senior Chaplain (please advise if you need a gluten free wafer) followed by a talk about the Guards Chapel Silver and coffee. Please see: http://www.westendatwar.org.uk/page/guards_chapel_wellington_barracks?path=0p28p

This website, “West End at War”, also contains fascinating reports and photos of a number of familiar Westminster locations that suffered bomb damage in WW2. Members of the public are invited to submit their memories to the project, so perhaps someone from All Saints may have  something to contribute?

7pm, Thursday, 19 May 2016 at Notre Dame de France, (The French Church) 5 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BX
This visit, which is to a Roman Catholic church, includes an act of worship, talk and refreshments. (For those wishing to attend beforehand at Notre Dame there is Evening Prayer at 5.45 pm, (R.C) Mass at 6pm, followed by silent Eucharistic Adoration 6.30-7pm. The “Meet the Neighbours” will start afterwards at 7pm.) All are most welcome to attend.

For further information see: http://ctiw.london/meet-the-neighbours-notre-dame-de-france-the-french-church-5-leicester-place-wc2h-7bx/

ALL SAINTS MISSION ACTIVITIES:-

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 during the cold weather.  

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 just recently in 2016 donating £1,000 towards the Soup Kitchen at the American International Church in Tottenham Court Road) and allowing a few 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, 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/virtualtour – 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   
CHORAL 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