All Saints Parish Newsletter 21st February 2014
Dear Friends,
Water has been very much on our minds in recent weeks. After the wettest winter since records began parts of Somerset look likely to remain under water for months. Further up river, the Thames has burst its banks and in other places the land is so sodden that flood waters have simply bubbled up from the ground. Huge storms have battered our coasts relentlessly. Low-lying parts of London are only saved from inundation by the Thames Barrier. Those whose homes have been flooded will be lucky if they are back in them by Christmas.
Argument continues about whether this is a result of global warming and if that has been caused by human activity. The scientific arguments seem to indicate pretty conclusively that the answer to both questions is “Yes.” When global warming was first thought of, there was much talk of Britain having a Mediterranean climate: vineyards and sun-drenched beaches. The reality is turning out rather different, with a succession of what the meteorologists call “extreme weather events.”
Our readings on Sunday focus on creation. In the first chapter of Genesis, we hear that the Spirit of God brooded over the face of the waters in creation and that on the second day God created the sky to separate the waters above from the waters beneath. We might suspect that they are being re-united at the moment. Grim as things are for many people here, they are much worse for people in Bangladesh and island communities in the Pacific. They face the disappearance of their homes.
That passage goes on to speak of humankind being created and given dominion over the other creatures. This has sometimes been seen as a license to exploit the earth without thought of the consequences. When this was allied with a theology which saw the end of the world as imminent, as was the case with President Reagan’s Secretary of the Interior, the consequences were disastrous.
I grew up in beautiful countryside, but not far away were places scarred and sullied by mining and heavy industry: streams ran rust red or black with pollution and no healthy life could survive in them. The air was fouled by smoke from coal. That has now gone, but as we know in central London, while death-dealing smogs were banished by the Clean Air Act, there are less visible forms of pollution. London now has the most polluted atmosphere of any major European city. The countryside may still look picturesque, but our food often comes at the price of land degraded, water courses polluted and wildlife exterminated by agricultural chemicals
In countries where regulation is either non-existent or easily evaded, things are much worse. Rain forests which have existed for millennia are being destroyed to make way for the production of ever-increasing quantities of meat and of cereals for animal feed. The widespread use of anti-biotics as growth agents in livestock is partly responsible for the increasing ineffectiveness of life-saving drugs against the “superbugs” which have invaded our hospitals.
It is easy to sound apocalyptic about all this and to slip into a fatalistic despair. But if our stewardship of creation means anything, it means we must act to care for our world, for own sake and that of generations to come. The fact that we were able to heal the wounds of one industrial revolution and clean the air of our city of an earlier pollution suggests that we can do so again if the will exists. Something to pray for.
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: Jean Brackston, Rachel Clayton, Clare Connly, Rosie Davis, Ursula Edwards, Canon David Garlick, Geoff, Paul Gibson, Yvonne Harland, Denise Inge, Jill, Fr Kevin, Katherine Lee, Joshua Levy, Christine Loffty, Kerry Manuel, Norman Newby, Andrew O’Connor, Hazel Reynolds, Stephen Short, Erica Telfer, Colin Titmus.
For the recently departed: Isabella Fotheringham, James Rone (Priest), Christopher Leigh Hunt (Priest), Charles Forker, Doreen Tallis, Mary Tustin, Katherine Roger, William Roger, Mary Lundell.
At the anniversary of their death (during the coming week): William Butterfield (architect of All Saints), Thomas Skeffington-Lodge, Thegla Mannoukas, James Keen, Eleanor Alaway, (John) Derek Beavan, Lionel Ryan, Catherine Thomas, Alexander Finnis, Martin Mogridge, Dennis Gill, William Batey, Gertrude Bennett, Charles Bewick (Priest), Frances Lilian Lightfoot.
WORSHIP AT ALL SAINTS THIS SUNDAY: Preachers and Music
HIGH MASS, 11am Fr Julian Browning
Mass’ The Western Wynde’- Sheppard
Salve Regina à 5- Victoria
CHORAL EVENSONG & BENEDICTION, 6pm Prebendary Alan Moses
Service in A – Naylor
Hail gladdening light – Wood
EVENTS & NOTICES THIS WEEK and NEXT
Thursday 27 February, 10.30 – 12.30, Parish Room, SINGING FOR THE BRAIN run by The Alzheimer’s Society. Please see leaflets on the table in Church. If anyone is interested in joining this session (8th of 12) please contact: Samerah Malik of The Alzheimer’s Society on 07891 888539.
Saturday 1 March, 3pm – CHORAL EVENSONG, St Cyprian’s, Clarence Gate NW1 6AX. Responses: Thomas Tomkins, Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis: Henry Purcell – from Evening Service in G minor and Thomas Tallis – Lamentations I with the St Cyprian’s Singers conducted by Julian Collings.
Sunday 2 March, there will be a meeting of the Mission Committee in the Parish Office after High Mass.
Friday 7 March – Women’s World Day of Prayer – 12.45pm – 1.15pm A Short Lunchtime Service OR 2.30pm – 3.30pm THE WOMEN’S WORLD DAY OF PRAYER SERVICE (International and Interdenominational) – PRAYING FOR EGYPT at The Chapel, Methodist Central Hall, Storeys Gate, Westminster.
Have you any warm clothing to spare for homeless people?
WRG, a creative agency in the Parish of All Saints on Great Titchfield Street is working with St Mungo’s to collect gloves, scarves, hats, footwear, sweaters or anything else that would keep a homeless person warm. They have been collecting these items during the winter and making a colourful display in their reception window. If any of you has items you could donate for this worthy cause, please drop them off at the Parish Office and the Parish Administrator will take them in to WRG. Thank you for the donations to date!
Food Donations for the Marylebone Project for Homeless Women
Just to remind you that we keep a basket in church in the Baptistery for donations of non-perishable foodstuffs – soups, tinned meat, biscuits, chocolate and similar are much appreciated by this All Saints’ Mission Project for Homeless Women. Do drop off what you can – the reason the basket may often appear empty is that we gather up contributions as they come in and then pass them onto the Project. Thank you for the donations to date!
Security in and around All Saints Church
Please do not leave valuables unattended in Church at any time – the Police have alerted us to a spate of thefts in this area of central London in recent weeks and have asked us to be particularly on our guard. Please be vigilant and if you do see anything suspicious, let the Clergy or Churchwardens know.
WORSHIP NEXT SUNDAY – 2 MARCH, Sunday next before Lent
Music to mark the Centenary, on 11 March 1914, of the birth of William Lloyd Webber, Organist and Choirmaster of All Saints Margaret Street throughout World War 2.
HIGH MASS, 11am
Preacher: The Vicar, Prebendary Alan Moses
Missa Maria Magdalenae – William Lloyd Webber
Love divine, all loves excelling – William Lloyd Webber
CHORAL EVENSONG & BENEDICTION, 6pm
Preacher: Fr Gerald Beauchamp
Lloyd Webber in E Minor
O Lord I give myself unto thee – William Lloyd Webber
ALL SAINTS, MARGARET STREET CONFESSIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF LENT and ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICES
Monday 3 March, 12 – 1pm Fr Barrie 5-6pm The Vicar
Tuesday 4 March, 12 – 1pm The Vicar 5-6pm Fr Browning
ASH WEDNESDAY – 5 March 2014
Low Mass with Ashing at 8am
Confessions 12-1pm The Vicar
Low Mass with Ashing at 1.10pm
Confessions 5-5.45pm The Vicar
6.30pm HIGH MASS AND IMPOSITION OF ASHES
LENT 2014 – STUDY GROUPS and STATIONS OF THE CROSS during LENT
“The Joy of the Gospel” – a study of Pope Francis’s Letter on “The Proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s World” – Thursday Evenings from 6 March, 7pm in the Parish Room.
“Love bade me welcome”- The Poetry of George Herbert – Friday Mornings from 7 March, 11am in the Vicarage.
If you would like to take part, please sign the list in church or email the Parish Office.
THE WAY OF THE CROSS – Friday evenings in Church at 7pm throughout Lent.
ALL SAINTS PARISH RETREAT 2014
This year’s retreat is at Bishop Woodford House, Ely, from Friday 30 May to Sunday 1 June. At this stage a conductor has yet to be chosen and a definite price to be fixed. However, Martin Woolley will happily receive expressions of interest, and enquiries from those who need more information to: m.g.woolley@btinternet.com or on 0207 436 2858 or 07976 275 383. The order of receipt or requests to participate will, as usual, be carefully noted to enable peaceful allocation of rooms and facilities. Full details will be issued in due course to those who put their names down for the 2014 Retreat.
RESTORATION APPEAL – Lighting & Electrical Renewal Update
The display of our proposals for this Restoration Project continues in the Baptistery. We are delighted to announce that we have now raised or had pledged almost £171,000 (68% of target). Thank you to everyone who has contributed donations large and small; we are extremely grateful. We hope that works will commence after Easter in 2014.
The balance for which we still need your help is: £79,000.
If you have still to contribute, please make cheques payable to: All Saints Margaret Street PCC Restoration Account and send to: Restoration Appeal, All Saints Church Parish Office, 7 Margaret Street, London W1W 8JG.
If you are a UK tax payer and have signed/will sign a Gift Aid declaration with us, your donation to the Appeal is increased by 25%. Please ensure we have your full name (with initial/s), address and postcode. If unsure if you have signed a Gift Aid declaration form, please pick one up from the table in church, fill in and return to: Mrs Dee Prior, Parish Administrator. Thank you for your contribution.
Further Communications or Assistance from All Saints Margaret Street – If you would like to encourage others to receive this weekly email, 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, or for whom you would like prayers offered at All Saints, please ask them to email the Parish Administrator Mrs Dee Prior at: astsmgtst@aol.com.