All Saints Parish Newsletter 15th July 2016 | All Saints Margaret Street All Saints Margaret Street | All Saints Parish Newsletter 15th July 2016

All Saints Parish Newsletter 15th July 2016

Friday 15 July 2016 at 12:56

Dear Friend

“Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

This Sunday’s Gospel passage (Luke 10.38-42) follows on directly from the Parable of the Good Samaritan which we heard last Sunday.  That ends with Jesus saying to the lawyer whose question, “And who is my neighbour?” had prompted the parable: “Go and do likewise.” 

Yet now, when Martha complains to Jesus about Mary’s inactivity while she is so busy in the kitchen, Jesus seems to say something quite different: to commend not activity but listening and learning.

What is “the better part” which Mary has chosen and will not be taken away from her?   It is to sit at the Lord’s feet and listen to his teaching; that is, to be a disciple.  We take it for granted that women can be disciples in this sense, but it was not so then: Mary’s place should have been in the kitchen.  

Every parish has its Marthas, and some of them are men.  We could not do without them; they are the ones who get things done; often the routine, unglamorous but necessary.  All Saints is blessed with a large number of them.  But Jesus’ gentle reproof to Martha’s understandable complaint about her sister, points us to a vital truth about Christian life.  For the disciple of Jesus, contemplation and action are not mutually exclusive but equally vital to spiritual health. Both the Samaritan and Mary are role models for us. 

There is danger in activity alone.  It can become a means by which we keep Jesus at a safe distance from which he is less likely to disturb us.  By busying ourselves in the kitchen, we avoid having to listen to his teaching.  As someone who spends a lot of time in and around church, I know how easy it is to find things to do rather than to pray. 

We can also become resentful at being left to get on with things unaided, while others are being “spiritual”.  We can become proprietorial about an area of parish life, complaining that there is no one to help, but making sure that anyone who offers is given the cold shoulder. There is a temptation to see ourselves as indispensable. We can assume that all our hard work entitles us to more say over parish life than other people. 

What Jesus says in this passage is meant to disturb us, just as the parable is.  None of us can ever say that we have understood completely what the parable of the Good Samaritan is about. Jesus speaks to us afresh in new situations and we need to be alert to what “Go and do likewise,” means here and now and not just yesterday.

That is why Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to his words, is emblematic for all of us of something indispensable in our Christian lives.  Without it we risk becoming so absorbed in activity that we not only lose touch with Jesus but also fail to notice those in need and act as neighbour to them.  

Fr. Alan Moses
Prebendary Alan Moses
Vicar, All Saints Margaret Street

Area Dean of Westminster – St Marylebone
Please pray for those who have asked for our prayers: John Adams, Asia Bibi, John Bailey, Alixe Bainbridge-Spring, Fr Peter Bradley, Peter Brenthall and family, Br. Michael OSB, Vivien Caplowe, James Cary-Elwes, Dennis Davis, Mark Dougly, Kate Down, David Fettke, Ghislain Hamelin, Lewis Harvey, Gwyneth Hopkins, Maria Keen, Andrew Laird, Tom Leader, Duncan Menzies, Miriam Nelson, Fr. Robert Norwood, Oliver Orr, David Pearce, Agnes Poitevin-Navarre, Canon John Rees, Bill Rodger, Bishop John Salt, Alma Sheard, Stella and Helen Skinner, Rose Stephens, Madeleine Storer, Tony Tomlin, Christine van Dyck, Lynn Van Keulen, Robert Walmsley, Jenny Ward & Baby Emily and Joy Wright.   

For the recently departed:  Jo Cox, Robyn Newton, Arthur Wildash, Eve Vallance, Julia Holland, Catherine Hancock and victims of the Istanbul, Bangladesh, Baghdad and Nice terrorist atrocities.

Remember past priests, benefactors, friends, and all whose year’s mind occurs this week including: Doris Thrift, Kathleen Wait, William Hewetson, Isabel Bruxner, Kathleen Gardner, Mark Williams, Muriel Latter, Lucy Heales, Anne Finley, Edward Pressland Jones, Elizabeth Pressland, John Holden (Priest), former Assistant Priest All Saints 1980 – 83 and Jeffrey Tapley.

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

WORSHIP THIS WEEK:

SUNDAY 17 JULY – TRINITY 8 
HIGH MASS, 11am 
Preacher: Fr Julian Browning 
Spatzenmesse – Mozart
Hosanna to the Son of David – Gibbon 

Sunday Lunch is not served today due to the Parish Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, led by Fr Michael Bowie, taking place this weekend. 

EVENSONG & BENEDICTION, 6pm 
Preacher: Fr Barry Orford 
Setting in G minor – Purcell 
I was glad when they said unto me (Psalm 122) – Purcell

EVENT THIS WEEK: 
There is a meeting of the All Saints PCC on Monday 18 July at 7pm, following Evening Mass at 6.30pm. The agenda is published on the Church Noticeboard by the table inside the Church door for anyone interested to see it.  

WORSHIP NEXT WEEK:

SUNDAY 24 JULY – TRINITY 9
HIGH MASS, 11am
Preacher: Fr Stephen Williams,
Dean of Newcastle, New South Wales
Missa Papá´‚ Marcelli – Palestrina
Morgengesang: “Du h
Å‘chstes Licht, ewiger Schein” Op 138 No 2 – Reger

Sunday Lunch is being cooked today by Robin Clutterham. Tickets: £5 from the Parish Shop in the Parish Room before Mass and in the Courtyard afterwards.

FIRST EVENSONG OF S JAMES, 6pm
Preacher: The Vicar, Prebendary Alan Moses
On the 8th Tone, à 8 – Marenzio
Jubilate Deo – à 8 – Gabrieli

PARISH NOTICES 

RAFFLE PRIZES STILL TO COLLECT 
If you were at the All Saints’ 90th Birthday Lunch for HM The Queen and are the holder of any of the following three numbers – you still have a bottle of wine raffle prize to collect from the Parish Office:- 41, 50 or 182. The raffle made £335 which has been given to the Bishop’s Lent Appeal in support of persecuted Christians in Iraq and Syria. 

UPDATE ON THE VICAR’S FUNDRAISING PILGRIMAGE & WHAT TO DO ABOUT SPONSORSHIP MONIES 
Fr. Alan began his 1,000 km fundraising walking pilgrimage (target 625 miles to be completed in 40 days) from Seville to Santiago de Compostela on 31 May. 4 weeks later, he had reached Tabara, 566.5 km/354.1 miles along the route when a very swollen and painful knee – that would not respond to rest or treatment – forced him to stop.

The pain of his knee, and the fact that the next stage of the pilgrimage was hilly (and so likely to do more physical harm), has meant that Fr Alan has had to call a halt to his fundraising pilgrimage, but if you would like to sponsor him for the great distance covered and to help achieve his target of £20k in support of the Diocese of London’s projects for persecuted Christians and for refugees from the conflicts in Iraq and Syria, please send cheques to: PAROCHIAL CHURCH ALL SAINTS to the Parish Office, All Saints, 7 Margaret Street, London W1W 8JG. We will process the applicable gift aid and forward all the funds raised to the Bishop of London’s Lent Appeal 2016 supporting persecuted Christians in Iraq and Syria and refugees. To date sponsorship pledges have reached approximately £12,000 of the £20k target… please help close the gap.  Thank you. See the journey the Vicar travelled and read about his experience in the Pilgrim’s Progress bulletins in the folder beside the map at the church door.

CHRISTIAN AID COLLECTION
We have received a poster and letter of appreciation from Christian Aid (displayed on the courtyard noticeboard) for the £535 sent in to them from All Saints following Christian Aid week donations. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this good cause.

PLEASE NOTE ADVANCE WARNING OF POTENTIAL TRAVEL DISRUPTION: Saturday 30/ Sunday 31 July – Prudential RideLondon (Festival of Cycling) – roads and bridges will be affected across Surrey and London – plan ahead and know your travel options. Search TfL Ride London. Roads in Westminster like the Mall, the Strand and Trafalgar Square, Aldwych, Kingsway, High Holborn, Piccadilly and Knightsbridge, Millbank and Chelsea Embankment are closed for use for the cycling events and the ripple effect onto a wider network of roads in the centre of London is inevitable. There are lots of places to watch the Prudential RideLondon events – visit www.PrudentialRideLondon.co.uk.

SERVICES & EVENTS FOR JULY and AUGUST 2016 BEYOND ALL SAINTS

ST JAMES FEST 2016 AT ST JAMES MERTON

Fr Jim Rosenthal, known to many of us, invites us to attend the Patronal JamesFest at his church on Saturday 23 July beginning with a 1 pm Concelebrated Mass, followed by Spanish food and drink, Pilgrimage to Compostela programme (including Camino Testimonies and a viewing o portions of the Martin Sheen film The Way) and a Pilgrimage Service at 5 pm with the Vicar Fr Alan Moses preaching. All welcome but RSVP is essential please to determine numbers – phone 020 3016 5156 or text: 07742 856149. Transport: Wimbledon Station and then the 164 bus from outside the station to the door of the Church.

COMPLINE at ST CYPRIAN’S
Compline
is a service of evening prayers forming part of the Divine Office of the Western Christian Church, traditionally said (or chanted) before retiring for the night. It is planned to recite the office of Compline at St Cyprian’s on the last Thursday of each month at 9pm. It is a short, reflective service, comprising psalms, prayers and a hymn, said or sung. We will observe silence before and after the service, which we hold in the choir, in candlelight and the minimum of artificial light. Laypersons will lead compline, and all are welcome. The dates for the next few services will be the following Thursdays: 28 July and 25 August.

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, will be holding a number of lectures in memory of the distinguished personalities who were instrumental in the life of this church. On Thursday 22 September the talk will be by the Right Rev’d and Right Hon the Lord Williams of Oystermouth, former Archbishop of Canterbury on, when his topic will be, ‘The Malines Legacy: a vision for Anglican – Roman catholic dialogue?’ Admission is free and the lecture will be held in the church.

ALL SAINTS MISSION ACTIVITIES:-
Friday 8 July 2016 – there is a new updated leaflet on the work and finances of the Marylebone Project – please see the Church table.

We have recently paid to the charities we had agreed to support through the Lent Appeal 2016 (and including applicable Gift Aid) the following sums:-  

Marylebone Project – £2,666.67 – emergency refuge and rehoming project for homeless women.
Us (formerly USPG) – £2,666.67 –
work with those experiencing Aids and HIV in Zimbabwe.  
London Diocese Lent Appeal – £2,666.66 –
this year supporting Syrian and Iraqi refugees through charities Open Doors and Aid to the Church in Need.  
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this great achievement – a significantly enhanced total collected through the Lent Appeal compared with recent years – of £8,000.

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, 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