All Saints Parish Newsletter 1st July 2016
Dear Friend,
S THOMAS
Bishop Jack, who was with us for Holy Week, and whom I seem to be quoting a lot at the moment, has as you may remember a rhetorical style which involves the varied repetition of several core truths. As a result I can remember many things from his sermons (which are rarely written down, other than a couple of words on the back of an envelope). One of them relates to what we think of when we celebrate
S. Thomas, who we all know as ‘doubting Thomas’. Bishop Jack would often remind us that doubt is not a sin, for ‘the opposite of faith is not doubt; the opposite of faith is certainty’. That simple truth is at the heart of our religion. We hear a lot about faith, and some of us will have been urged to have more of it, or to feel guilty if we seem to have too little. But doubt is an essential part of honest faith. It is certainty that leads to fundamentalism and extremism. Healthy doubt will always keep us clear of those positions.
I don’t want to mislead you. This is not a sell-out, or the agonising of the caricature hand-wringing CofE cleric who wants to avoid making any demands of the people of God. On the contrary, honest doubt is a very demanding and adult hermeneutic: combined with questing and questioning faith, it will surely lead us not only closer to God, but also to commit ourselves more wholeheartedly to the kingdom in our thinking and behaviour. It aids our respect of others who differ from us and allows us to examine ourselves with proper rigour.
But doubt is also not the last word. It is an essential constituent of faith which, if married to hope and love, will give us a solid grounding for living out and sharing our faith. S. Thomas, as we’ll recall on Sunday, has much more to offer us than his doubts. And his honesty is refreshing. It recalls another aphorism, this time not from a bishop, but from Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the great Scottish architect and designer: ‘there is hope in honest error; none in the icy perfection of the mere stylist’. Though enunciated as an artistic maxim that is not a bad translation of the importance of the properly doubting Thomas that lurks in all truthful Christians.
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, Alixe Bainbridge-Spring, Fr Peter Bradley, Peter Brenthall and family, Br. Michael OSB, Vivien Caplowe, James Cary-Elwes, Bishop Michael Colclough, Dennis Davis, Mark Dougly, Kate Down, David Fettke, Ghislain Hamelin, Lewis Harvey, Julia Holland and family, Maria Keen, Andrew Laird, Tom Leader, Miriam Nelson, Fr. Robert Norwood, Oliver Orr, David Pearce, Agnes Poitevin-Navarre, Canon John Rees, Alma Sheard, Stella and Helen Skinner, Rose Stephens, Madeleine Storer, Christine van Dyck, Lynn Van Keulen, Robert Walmsley and Joy Wright.
For the recently departed: Yvonne Harland (whose Funeral Mass too place at All Saints on Thursday 30 June), Valerie Hawkins, Keith Rowlands, Ian Atkins, Sister Joan Faber, Sister Isabel SLG, Jo Cox, Robyn Newton, Arthur Wildash, Eve Vallance and victims of the Orlando and Istanbul terrorist massacres.
Remember past priests, benefactors, friends, and all whose year’s mind occurs this week including: Kenneth O’Ferral (Priest, Curate of All Saints and Headmaster of the Choir School 1923-30), Barbara Brentnall, John Pearce (Friend of All Saints), Emily Davis, Marie Padley, Phillip Smith (Benefactor), Molly Mather, Lucy Wentworth-Reeve, Wilfred Burling, Tom Sanders, Doreen Davis and Grace Harrison.
For full service information: www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk.
WORSHIP THIS WEEK:
SUNDAY 3 JULY
S THOMAS THE APOSTLE
HIGH MASS, 11am
Preacher: Fr Michael Bowie
Collegium Regale – Howells
Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks – Howells
Sunday Lunch is served. Chris Self and Janice Fielden are the chefs and the menu is Lamb Casserole and Eton Mess followed by coffee. Tickets for lunch will be on sale for £5 from the Parish Shop before and after Mass (subject to availability).
EVENSONG & BENEDICTION, 6pm
Preacher: Fr Julian Browning
Sumsion in G Beati quorum via – Stanford
TIMOTHY BYRAM-WIGFIELD’S ORGAN RECITAL follows Benediction at 7.15pm.
The Director of Music’s Programme includes: Praeludium über “Lobet den Herrn“ Niels Gade
Pastorale, from Seven Sketches on the Psalms Percy Whitlock
Prelude and Fugue in B flat minor No 22, BWV 867, from Book 1 of the ‘48’J.S.Bach transcribed Max Reger
Puck’s Shadow Richard Popplewell and
Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue Healey Willan (first performed 31st July 1916).
Entry is free with retiring collection to support the Choir & Music of All Saints (suggested donation £5).
The All Saints Licensed Club/Bar will be open after the recital.
WORSHIP NEXT WEEK:
Saturday 9 July 11.30am Walsingham Devotions & 12 noon Mass
SUNDAY 10 JULY – TRINITY 7
HIGH MASS, 11am
Preacher: Fr Barry Orford
Missa octo vocum – Hassler
Otche Nash (The Lord’s Prayer) – Arensky
Sunday Lunch is served. John McWhinney and Paul Weston are cooking. Tickets for lunch will be on sale for £5 from the Parish Shop before and after Mass (subject to availability).
EVENSONG & BENEDICTION, 6pm
Preacher: Fr Michael Bowie
Setting in G – Bairstow
From a heart made whole (Swinburne) – Harris
PARISH NOTICES
UPDATE ON THE VICAR’S FUNDRAISING PILGRIMAGE
Fr. Alan began his 1,000 km fundraising walking pilgrimage (625 miles in 40 days) from Seville to Santiago de Compostela on Tuesday 31 May. Four weeks later, he has now reached Tabara, about two thirds of the way. Please see the earlier bulletins in the folder on the church table and see the journey he has made on the map in church. Today Fr Alan writes:
‘My last report came from the lovely university city of Salamanca, bustling with language students and tourists. The next stage of our journey took us back into the countryside after finding our way out of the city without taking a wrong turning. Retracing your steps after doing so always seems wearisome. Journey’s end for the day brought us to a village called Calzada de Valdunciel. Lunch included lettuce plucked fresh from the hospitalero’s garden. Like many countryfolk, he and his wife combine several activities to make a living: from accommodating pilgrims to raising beef cattle.
After a 2O km walk to the next stop, we faced gruelling 33km walk to the city of Zamora. As my wife said, this sounds mad in the heat of June, but there was nowhere to stay in between. So, it had to be done.
Zamora is a beautiful city with many Romanesque churches. We arrived on the feast of St. John the Baptist which is a major local fiesta. The Baptist provides an excuse for a mid-summer celebration, of which he might have taken a dim view.
In the evening we went out to watch a great Procession of adults and children in traditional costume, accompanied by a variety of bands; including one with pipes and drums. “Scotland the Brave” was not in their repertoire.
The procession’s destination was the Cathedral for a mass, so we joined in. Spanish cathedrals are not well suited to large popular services. Much of the space is taken up by a huge central choir with stalls for 60 or more clergy. This structure blocks the view of the high altar from most of the church. The side aisles are usually without seating.
For this occasion, the cathedral did its best with TV screens and extra seating: mostly white plastic garden chairs! Fr. Sean and I managed to get seats with a view. The music was led by one of the bands and was definitely in the local folk idiom. It was also very loud!
The preacher, like most we have heard in Spain, made no effort to engage with his audience. His message about repentance and mercy and going to confession lost most of those sitting around us. They just began chatting among themselves. During the prayers, I was able to remember those being ordained at home, especially our own Jeremy Tayler.
At the offertory, things livened up again as the service turned into what Anglicans would recognise as a harvest festival. Representatives of various groups presented baskets of local produce which were placed before the altar.
By the time the service was finished we had time only for a quick snack in a tapas bar and to watch some traditional dancing in the Plaza Mayor, before heading for bed. The revelry went on throughout the night, so my ear plugs were a blessing.
The next morning, we set out as the last revellers were making their way home and the council’s street cleaners were clearing up the mess they had left behind, so that the celebrations could resume later in the day.
We narrowly avoided being led off in the direction of Portugal by an ambiguous sign which did succeed in fooling another walker; a veteran of more than a dozen caminos.
A group of young Spanish cyclists joined us at the Albérgue that night. No sooner had they arrived that they shed their lycra, showered, and ordered a taxi to take them back to Zamora for more fiesta. Thankfully, they were very quiet when they returned at 3 in the morning.
Sunday was a walking day. The only place open for refreshments along the way was called “Bar Pepe.” One guide book described it as having a reputation for “riotous reputation.” The old chaps who were the other customers when we arrived looked rather past rioting. The place appeared not to have had a lick of paint since General Franco died and the food was terrible. The scene was brightened when the “landlady” arrived, dressed in the style of Dame Edna. She informed all present when Mass was that day, too late for us, and when the Bishop was coming for Confirmations. Church notices in a bar: a “fresh expression”.
Another 10km, which included a pause to catch the last part of mass in a village church. The women all sat at the front and most of the men at the back: shades of the past at All Saints.
The next day, we had one of those navigational problems which always seem to occur when the Camino encounters modern transport systems like motorways or the new high speed train line to the North West. The Spaniards seem to be getting on rather more quickly with theirs. In a mountainous region forms of transport are crammed into a limited space, and walking pilgrims probably don’t count for much in the minds of planners. We could see friends retracing their steps wearily having made a mistake we had avoided as much by luck as good judgement.
The staff in the bar we ate in that night kindly showed us a short cut which saved us following an unnecessary triangular route to where we headed, instead of a straight line.
The guides warned cyclists of a section which is unsuitable even for mountain bikes. This means “suitable for mountain goats.” We opted for the gentler alternative which brought us to the town of Tabara, famous in the Middle Ages, our scholarly hospitalero told us, for its monastic scriptorium. This was an Albérgue which had a communal meal in the evening, which included a superb Spanish milk pudding made by Rosa, who is married to Valentin, an officer of the Guardia Civil, whom we had been walking with for several days. She also produced a bottle of home-made fruit liqueur; the things some people find room for in their rucksacks!
By the time we reached Tabara, what had begun as a niggle which could be ignored, had become an inflamed left knee, which could not. As some of you will have seen in a photograph on Facebook, I was blessed by the kindness of others. Lucia gave my troublesome knee a massage twice a day. She and her husband and sister regularly incorporated us into their family meals which they seemed able to conjure up from nowhere. None spoke a word of English, so our Spanish was stretched to the limit.
All this kindness, anti-inflammatories, painkillers and a knee support, as well as a couple of rest days, proved of no avail. After I had caught up with my friends by bus and listened to their advice and Theresa’s, I came to the reluctant conclusion that a dozen more days of pounding, including a lot of serious up and down hill in Galicia, was not wise and might well make matters worse.
So, I said “Adios” and “Bon Camino” to my friends and set off by bus and train to Santiago where I am sending this from.
Like the England football team, I will be returning from Europe disappoined, but I think I can still say that I achieved more than they did and at much less expense!
Looking forward to being back at All Saints soon. I will have to be excused genuflecting for a while; at least until I’m able to do it without falling over.’
Frustrated by the pain and swelling of his knee, Fr Alan has had to call a halt to his fundraising pilgrimage at the 2/3rds mark, but if you would like to sponsor Fr. Alan 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, the sponsorship form is available in church. You can also donate directly online through Give.Net where the specific fundraising page is: https://my.give.net/alanspilgrimage. With applicable Gift Aid, Fr Alan’s sponsorship pledges have reached approximately £12,000 of his target of £20,000… please help close the gap.
Thank you.
ALL SAINTS’ STEWARDSHIP 2016 – Updated Campaign Outcome
We would like to warmly thank everybody who responded to the Campaign – some 51 people (or a rate of 23.5%) of those on the Electoral Roll – which was very good. The outcome is that regular giving has been increased by £13,540 (including applicable Gift Aid) per annum, closing the budget gap and with a margin of £4,740, which is helpful given the overall pressures on church funds. In addition, two generous donors contributed one-off donations of £1,500 (including Gift Aid) to ease the deficit reported for the 2015 financial year. There is one completely new stewardship pledge and a number of people have committed to Standing Order payments from envelope-giving, or rationalized their giving in other ways that are more efficient. The Vicar and Churchwardens, on behalf of the All Saints PCC, are most grateful for everyone’s prayerful generosity.
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.
CHOIR from the PHILIPPINES at ALL SAINTS
Monday 11 July, 7.30pm after Evening Mass
Short Choral Concert with the award-winning Coro San Benildo of De La-Salle College of St Benilde, Manila. Following their participation in the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod 2016 in Wales, this choir of young men and women will give an hour-long concert in London for one night only. In collaboration with the Philippine Embassy London. Admission is free, but a retiring collection will be taken in aid of All Saints Margaret Street (suggested donation £5).
SERVICES & EVENTS FOR JULY and AUGUST 2016 BEYOND ALL SAINTS
THE ALL SAINTS PARISH PILGRIMAGE TO THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM takes place from Friday 15 to Monday 18 July this year, with the group of pilgrims being led by Fr Michael Bowie.
ST JAMES FEAST 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 Con-celebrated Mass, followed by food and drink, Pilgrimage to Compostela programme and a Pilgrimage Service at 5 pm with the Vicar Fr Alan Moses preaching. RSVP is essential please – phone 020 3016 5156. 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:-
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