All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear Friends,

Last week I went by tube and bus to Whipps Cross Hospital to visit one of our people. At the bus stop, I ushered a young Muslim woman clad in black from head to toe, her face veiled, onto the bus ahead of me.  To my surprise, when we had taken our seats, she engaged me in conversation.  Women dressed like this do not usually converse with men outside their family circle and certainly not with a complete stranger who is a Christian priest. 

The social norms of the Middle East, little changed since the time of Jesus, are now familiar to us in central London. Tragically, we also know more of the depth of communal difference and hostility pervading those societies today.  The appalling activities of the self-styled “Islamic State,” directed against Christian and Yazidi minorities, being only the latest examples.

So the background of Sunday’s mass readings is not as remote from us as we might think.  The passage from Isaiah (55: 1, 6-8) is part of the final section of the book which dates from the time of the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon. The encounter with those Jews who had not been deported, and with pagans who had settled in the promised land, cannot have been easy.  The idea of all peoples being admitted to the covenant with God and their sacrifices being accepted on his altar must have been a serious challenge.

Paul in Romans (11: 1-2a, 29-32) continues to wrestle with the theological problem of his own people who reject Jesus as the Messiah. “The gifts and the calling of God,” which they have received are “irrevocable.” The salvation of Jews and Christians are bound up together.

The Pharisees Jesus encounters in the first part of the Gospel (Matthew 15: 10-28) saw national survival as dependent on spiritual distinctiveness, strict observance of the Law and clear boundaries between Jew and Gentile. Jesus challenges their exclusivism.

Then Jesus and the disciples leave Galilee for a border region with a mixed population. They have just got there when a local woman shouts for help for her sick daughter.  The disciples are appalled at the nuisance caused by someone who is both a gentile, someone whose company they would avoid, and a woman; one who should have been silent, not noisily taking the initiative.   

Jesus’ immediate response to her seems to reflect their prejudices: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”   Undeterred, she kneels at his feet and says, “Lord, help me.”  Jesus’ response seems even more ungracious: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”  The woman is not to going to be put off even by this ethnic insult. In a quick-witted piece of improvisation, she says, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  She wins the argument.  Jesus says, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”

My conversation with that young Muslim woman was not combative.  She asked if I worked locally and when I explained where I was from, where I was going and why, she made sure that I knew the right stop to get off: the kindness of strangers!

It is not always easy to see the image of God or to recognise the work of the Spirit in people who are not like us, but all these readings seem to suggest that we must, if our world is not to descend further into a maelstrom of mutual hatreds.

In the aftermath of the First World War, William Butler Yeats wrote his poem The Second Coming. It seems as relevant now as then:

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.”

The best must find conviction and determination, if the passion of the worst is not to triumph and drown the innocent in blood.

Yours in Christ,

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

Please pray for those who have asked for our prayers: Harry Allan, Alan Bishton, Susan Beauchamp, Lily Caplin, Rachel Clayton, Rosamond Clayton, Kate Down, Jean East, Yvonne & Philip Harland, Elspeth Harley, Lewis Harvey, Myrtle Hughes, Molly Leng, Joshua Levy, Christine Loffty, Jonathan Mani-Weoki, Hilary Morgan, Norman Newby, Geraldine Newman, Aubrey O’Brien, Pat Phillips, Maureen Pride, Malcolm Richards, Peter Royle, Jock Scott, Dilys Thomas, Mary Thomas and Joy Wright.

For the recently departed: Louise Lancaster (priest), Ray Lancaster and Donald Arden (Bishop), Edward Henry Isaac (priest) – died 3/8 and Funeral 22/8, Charles Roux (priest).

Remember past priests, benefactors, friends, and all whose year’s mind occurs this week: Dorothy Lane, David Russell, William Cargill (Priest), George Jeynes, Leroy Lawes, Marion Ginger, Elsie Faithfull, John Hawkins (Priest), Patricia Jones and Peter Vickers.  

EVENTS TODAY AND THIS COMING WEEK

TODAY – Friday 15 August – THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, 6.30pm HIGH MASS at ALL SAINTS. Preacher: Father Michael Bowie. Mass setting: Missa ‘Assumpta est Maria’ – Palestrina.
Anthem: Ave maris stella – Monteverdi.

WORSHIP AT ALL SAINTS THIS SUNDAY 17 AUGUST – NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY HIGH MASS at 11am
Preacher: Father Michael Bowie
Missa Brevis – Gabrieli 
O sacrum convivium – Marenzio

Flowers in church this week have been donated by Rosemary Harris in loving memory of her husband Basil and by Barry and Katherine Lee for the All Saints’ congregation. If you would like to mark an anniversary or other event by donating flowers, contact Jean Castledine on 020 8858 3508.

There is no Church Sunday lunch this week and then for the rest of the summer. Lunches will resume in September.

Sunday 17 August – there will be a Mission Committee meeting after High Mass.

CHORAL EVENSONG & BENEDICTION at 6pm
Preacher: Father Neil Bunker
Service in E flat (No 2) – Wood
Verleih uns Frieden – Mendelssohn

WORSHIP NEXT SUNDAY – 24 AUGUST –ST BARTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE
HIGH MASS at 11am
Preacher: Father Michael Bowie
Mass of St Ignatius – Laloux
Ave verum corpus – Fauré 

Sunday 24 August – there will be an Events Committee meeting after High Mass.

CHORAL EVENSONG & BENEDICTION at 6pm
Preacher: Fr Gerald Beauchamp
Service in E – Timothy Byram-Wigfield 
O beatum virum – Carissimi

SPECIAL EVENTS in AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER at ALL SAINTS & ELSEWHERE

Tuesday 19 August 6.30pm – ALL SAINTS – REQUIEM MASS – please print the names of anyone you would like to be remembered in the file  to be found on the wooden lectern in the Baptistery at the back of Church.

Saturday 30 August at 4pm NAUTICAL POETRY TEA – All welcome.  Please bring poetry or prose on a Nautical Theme.  Please note different venue.  This tea will be held at Paul Weston & John McWhinney’s moorings in Wapping.  Cream tea (scones, cream & jam) will be served. To accept and to find out the address of the moorings please speak with Paul or John after Mass or email them at paul@hcmoorings.org.  A donation of £6 towards the Restoration Appeal would be appreciated.

Monday 8 September (Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary), 6.30pm – WALSINGHAM CELL MASS WITH HYMNS – followed by refreshments. This service marks ten years since the All Saints’ Cell’s first ever event and will be an excellent opportunity for everyone to celebrate and give thanks for all its activity over the last decade.  

Friday 12 September, 7.30pm THREE PARISHES ANNUAL QUIZ NIGHT, St Cyprian’s, Clarence Gate. In order to manage the catering arrangements, it would be helpful if you could now start forming your teams (up to a maximum of SIX people). The charge is £10 per person, payable on the night, including refreshments.  Please let Chris Self know as soon as possible if you are intending to take part. Individuals who want to be slotted into a team on the night should also let him know beforehand. Email: chris_self@btinternet.com. Tel: 020 7723 2938.

Sunday 14 September, 7.15pm – ALL SAINTS – ORGAN RECITAL (follows Evensong & Benediction) given by Charles Andrews, Associate Director of Music at All Saints. Retiring collection to support the Choir and Music at All Saints (suggested donation £3.50). The All Saints Licensed Club/Bar below the Church will be open afterwards.  

Monday 15 September, ST CYPRIAN’S DAY, Clarence Gate – 7pm High Mass. Preacher: Fr George Bush, Rector of St Mary-le-Bow.

Tuesday 16 – Sunday 21 September from 12 – 6pm – JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP ARTS & CRAFTS CLUB 2014 EXHIBITION in the All Saints’ Parish Room. Free admission.

Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 September – OPEN HOUSE LONDON 2014 – All Saints will take part in the capital’s largest annual festival of architecture and design once more, with John Forde offering talks at 2pm each day. Now in its  22nd year, this hugely successful event provides free and open access to more than 800 outstanding examples of historic and contemporary buildings, on-site projects and public spaces and remains the most powerful medium for engaging everyone in a better appreciation of their city. Please contact Chris Self if you can volunteer for a couple of hours on either day to welcome visitors. Email: chris_self@btinternet.com. Tel: 020 7723 2938. 

EYES OF FAITH by Professor Jack Mahoney SJ – Christianity as viewed by five great theologians (Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin and Karl Rahner) A five week course on Mondays from 7 – 8.30pm from 22 September to 20 October 2014. MOUNT STREET JESUIT CENTRE, 114 Mount Street, London W1K 3AH.  Please book in advance via website: www.mountstreet.info or phone: 020 7495 1673.Professor Mahoney is a Jesuit priest and Emeritus Professor of Moral and Social Theology in the University of London, where he taught in several colleges for thirty years. These included Heythrop College, where he also served for a period as Principal. He is the author of several books and many articles, and has lectured widely at home and abroad, on theology and various branches of ethics.

Sunday 28 September – a new series of TEN TO ONE TALKS (running from Autumn 2014 to Spring 2015) entitled ‘The Shape of the Liturgy’ starts today in Church. The topic is the Entrance Hymn and Chant.

Sunday 28 September, 7.15pm (after Benediction) – All Saints is host to a charity fundraising ORGAN RECITAL after Evensong & Benediction – in aid of IRAQI CHRISTIANS IN NEED & THE MOSUL CRISIS APPEAL. The recital is given by CARL BAHOSHY (Organist at St. Elizabeth’s of Portugal RC Church, Richmond and born in the UK to Iraqi Christian parents).  Programme includes works by Bach, Messiaen, Vierne & Widor. Charity retiring collection – please be generous. Please support this hugely worthwhile and topical cause.

CHURCHES TOGETHER IN WESTMINSTER “MEET THE NEIGHBOURS”
Hosted by The Annunciation, Marble Arch – Tuesday 30 September 7 – 9pm The evening includes a welcome and talk by Fr Gerald Beauchamp (Priest in Charge) about the church’s history and architecture, including relics and statues, as well as the tradition behind its worship style. There will be an opportunity to look around the Church. Refreshments will be offered afterwards. Pevsner notes that to enter The Annunciation is to have stumbled upon: ‘a fragment of a major medieval church’. All are welcome to join this visit to a dramatic building in a fascinating and fast-changing part of London.

NOTICES

ALL SAINTS RESTORATION APPEAL UPDATE

FUNDRAISING 
Following the testing of the market the budget for the work has been revised to £350,000 with over £302,000 now given or firmly pledged and loan finance of £35,000 offered, some £13,000 is yet to be secured.

All Saints Foundation has made a grant of £120,000 together with a loan of £30,000. The All Saints Club has just made a grant of £5,000 from bar and lunch profits with a loan of £5,000. We still await the result of applications to charitable trusts.

Our congregation and friends have so far individually contributed £177,000. We still need to raise at least £13,000, with any surplus reducing the PCC’s reliance on the two loans.

THE WORKS
Preparations are quietly advancing for works to commence on site. The recreated Butterfield’s hanging coronae have been made by Will Jones, the blacksmith. These will go to the workshop of the specialist lighting supplier to be fitted with the actual lights and be wired up ready to be hung in the nave aisles.

Sophisticated lighting controls have been specified to limit the amount of cabling but fitting this unobtrusively is a great challenge and does not allow the shortest routes! Discussions continue with the preferred contractor who has been instructed to prepare detailed cable route drawings to allow this to be agreed and define more precisely these actual costs within the contract.

In addition to the completely new lighting with emergency backup in the church, absolutely essential work in the basement will be undertaken. The induction loop system for hearing aid users will be renewed. Subject to available funds a new CCTV system and automatic smoke detection in the church are high priorities.
Once the finer details of the installation have been resolved more definitive costs will be known.

In the meantime if you would like more details or have questions, please speak to John Forde, Churchwarden.

Other desirable works – including renewed courtyard lighting, a sound reinforcement system and comprehensive rewiring of the basement – will all need to be deferred.

We hope works will commence on site soon after the Bank Holiday. Much of the cabling works will be unseen in the crypt but regular weekday worship may have to take place in the Parish Room to allow the works to be expedited inside the church.

HOW YOU CAN HELP……….With some £13,000 to find – further donations are needed!
Cheques should be made payable to:
All Saints Church Restoration Appeal and be sent to:
Dee Prior, Parish Administrator ,7 Margaret Street, London W1W 8JG.
Please indicate where Gift Aid may be applied as it increases the value of your contribution by 25%. Thank you!

ALL SAINTS SUPPORT FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE – MARYLEBONE PROJECT – 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 provided the funds for one of the 4 beds – provides a safe haven and refuge for women escaping domestic violence, financial crisis, sexual exploitation and mental health issues. 

Seasonal Appeals – Last year we donated £2,790 to this Mission Project, collected through the All Saints Festival and Lent Appeals. The PCC approved support of £3,000 for 2014 and the Marylebone Project has now received this sum from All Saints and been most appreciative.

Year Round Support – we also support the Resettlement Project with non-perishable food and toiletries or household necessities like cutlery or bed linen/blankets. Please contribute to this effort, bringing donations to the Parish Office or leaving them in Church in the basket in the Baptistery.

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 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 project.

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.

* If you know of others who would like to receive this correspondence 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.

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@hotmail.com.

DAILY SERVICES (the Church is open every day of the week from 7am to 7pm except on Bank Holidays, when it opens for the lunchtime Mass only)

SUNDAYS
Low Mass at 6.30pm (Saturday), 8am and 5.15pm
Morning Prayer at 10.20am
HIGH MASS AND SERMON at 11am
CHORAL EVENSONG, SERMON and BENEDICTION at 6pm          

MONDAY TO FRIDAY
Morning Prayer at 7.30am
Low Mass at 8am, 1.10pm and 6.30pm
(Except bank holiday – 1.10pm Mass only)
Confessions from 12.30pm -1pm and 5.30pm
(No Confessions on bank holidays)
Evening Prayer at 6pm

SATURDAYS
Morning Prayer at 7.30am
Low Mass at 8.00am and 6.30pm (First Mass of Sunday)
Confessions at 5.30pm
Evening Prayer at 6pm

On major weekday feasts, High Mass is sung at 6.30pm with Evening Prayer at 5.45pm.

A priest is available in church for confessions or counsel every weekday from 12.30-1pm (except Saturdays) and at 5.30pm, or by appointment. The clergy are always happy to see anyone for whatever reason. Please enquire at the Parish Office (to the right as you enter the church courtyard).

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