All Saints Parish Newsletter 6th January 2017 | All Saints Margaret Street All Saints Margaret Street | All Saints Parish Newsletter 6th January 2017

All Saints Parish Newsletter 6th January 2017

Friday 6 January 2017 at 13:30

Dear Friend,

One of the stories that I was told several times in primary school was that of Fr Damien and the Lepers: possibly, because the events happened in the Pacific, and in the 19th century, it was a story which was thought local to us Australian school children.

This is what happened. When leprosy broke out among the people of the Hawaiian islands in the middle of the 19th century, the authorities responded by setting up a leper colony on the remote island of Molokai. Those suffering from the disease were snatched by force from their families and isolated there. The deliberate intention was to allow them to perish without contaminating others (a little like the voluntary isolation of the Derbyshire village of Eyam when plague was discovered there).

Moved by the terrible plight of these abandoned people, a young Belgian priest, Damien de Veuster, asked to be allowed to minister to them. He realised that there was only one effective way to do this – to go and live among them. Having got permission, he went to Molokai. At first, on the insistence of his superiors and the local administration, he tried to minister to the people at a distance. But he soon realised that unless he lived among them he would never gain their trust. He disobeyed his superiors and did so. And he contracted leprosy.

The reaction of the lepers was immediate and wholehearted: they embraced him and took him to their hearts as one of them. There was no longer any need to keep a distance; the lepers now had someone who could talk with authority about leprosy, about brokenness, about rejection and about public shame.

The Baptism of Jesus, which we celebrate on Sunday, was a source of embarrassment to the earliest Christians. John the Baptist himself found it incongruous, even trying to prevent it, as we hear in Sunday’s gospel. Why? Because John’s baptism was a summons to repentance; it was a call to sinners who were conscious of their sinfulness. But Christians knew that Jesus was no sinner. He did not stand in need of repentance. So why go through this ceremony?

Clearly, Jesus wanted to demonstrate what we would call solidarity with the people he had come to help. He was baptized, and baptized publicly, to identify with, stand with sinners. When he stepped into the Jordan he was really saying to those around him – and to us – ‘I’m on your side.’

His public ministry, which was the spur to Damien’s ministry to the lepers, followed this same pattern. He did not keep himself apart from sinners; he would not wait for them to come to him. He joined them where they were, so much so that he was soon accused of being a notorious sinner himself, and treated as such by the religious leaders. In the end he died as if he were a condemned criminal, just as Damien died an outcast leper.

That’s what this part of the Epiphany festival recalls for us: that Jesus stands with us in all the situations of our lives, a brother who shows us that we are God’s sons and daughters too. He wants to lead us out of imperfection, sin and death to the enjoyment of fullness of life here and hereafter.

Yours in Christ,

 

Fr Michael Bowie
Assistant Priest
All Saints Margaret Street

Please pray for those who have asked for our prayers:  Asia Bibi, Fr Bunme Fagemi, Bishop Michael Perham, Anthony O’Connor, Iris Podmore, Paul Curno, Rosemary Harris, Udho Forward, Steven Lawrence, Hans Ashbourne, Fr Jonathan Boardman, Carmen Emmanuel, Melanie Stimmler, Bill Rodger, Priscilla Watt and Alix Bainbridge-Spring.  

For the recently departed:   Adrian Gill, Lascelles McPherson, Barbara (Bobby) Wilson, Sarah Bayon, Oswald Clark, Alexander Chamberlain, Jill Harrison, Eric Greer, Howard Levett and Jill Saward.  

Remember past priests, benefactors, friends, and all whose year’s mind occurs this week including: Kay Leahy, Sylvia Scott, Vera Freeth, Hermia Mills, Ann Ind, Jack Finnie, Katherine Humphries, Michael Fleming (Organist 1958 – 68), Anthea Candlin, Richard Candlin, Frank Hawkins (Priest), Eric Bailey (Priest), Sophia Wickenden, Beryl Peryer, Charles Backus, Dorothea Graham, Vivian Curson, George Currie, Alfred Stephens, Ethel Hewetson, Hugh Shepheard (Churchwarden), Lyn Jones and Mavis Mercer.  

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

WORSHIP TODAY – FRIDAY 6 JANUARY
EPIPHANY PROCESSION & HIGH MASS, 6.30pm 
Preacher: Canon Nicholas Wheeler, Rector, Holy Trinity Sloane Square 
Spatzen Messe, K 220– Mozart  
The Three Kings – Cornelius, arr. Atkins 

WORSHIP THIS WEEK: 

SUNDAY 8 JANUARY
THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST, Epiphany 1 
HIGH MASS, 11am 
Preacher: The Vicar, Prebendary Alan Moses 
Communion Service ‘for the King’s College, Cambridge – Howells 
O magnum mysterium – Victoria 

EPIPHANY CAROL SERVICE by candlelight, 6pm 
A selection of readings and music for the Epiphany 
with the Choir of All Saints 

WORSHIP NEXT WEEK 
SATURDAY 14 JANUARY 11.30am Rosary and Walsingham Devotions, followed by 12 Noon Low Mass of Our Lady of Walsingham. 

SUNDAY 15 JANUARY – Epiphany 2 
HIGH MASS, 11am 
Preacher: Fr Michael Bowie 
Missa Euge Bone – Tye  
Kyrie le Roy – Taverner 
Tribulis miraculis – Marenzio   

PARISH NOTICES & NEWS 

SCHEDULED BUILDING WORKS VICARAGE HALLWAY – HEALTH & SAFETY NOTICE

Between Tuesday 10 and Weds 18 January we intend to relay the tiled floor of the vicarage hallway – sounds like a straightforward job doesn’t it? The challenge is that SIX doors open onto this space and people constantly criss-cross their way into the building and up to the vicarage, into the Parish Office and Oratory and down into the basement all through this one access point. Many deliveries are made here each week in addition to post.

So, we would ask you to minimize comings and goings through the vicarage hallway during this period, in the interests of health & safety. If you can avoid taking this route altogether, please do so. If you must use this route (having considered all alternatives), please take great care and observe any restrictions in place to protect you. You may find it helpful to phone the Parish Office on 020 7 636 1788 to check on your particular route through here on weekdays if having access that week is essential. We will ensure that there is a clear path for Sundays. While we have the specialists on site for this project, we aim to have them look at the repair to the tiled wall in the south choir aisle adjacent to the vestry where the new lighting box was installed as part of the Phase IV Restoration Project. Thank you in advance for your understanding and apologies for any inconvenience related to this essential repair work.

There is a meeting of the PCC in the Parish Room on Monday 16 January at 7pm.  

CHURCHES TOGETHER IN WESTMINSTER
AGM, Talk and Displays on Homelessness in the City of Westminster
Time & Date: 6.30 for 7pm – 9pm, Monday, 16 January 
Venue: Crown Court Church of Scotland, Russell Street, London WC2B 5EZ
Following the CTiW AGM, which is expected to be fairly brief, there will be a talk entitled Homelessness & Encounter on the subject of homelessness generally in the City of Westminster, and especially amongst young people. The speaker will be Colin Glover from The Connection St Martin-in-the-Field.

Refreshments will follow with the opportunity to browse displays by a number of leading organisations helping the homeless, including West London Mission and Westminster Churches Night Shelter (Methodist), Depaul Trust, The Passage and Home for Good (resettlement support) Scheme (RC), Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church (Baptist), and Borderline (supporting homeless Scots in London). Displays will also be open prior to the AGM, and there will be the opportunity to speak with representatives from the organisations.  All are welcome. Entrance is Free.

SUNDAY EVENING ORGAN RECITAL – TIMOTHY BYRAM-WIGFIELD
Sunday 29 January, 7.15pm (after Benediction)
Programme
Toccata, Adagio and Fugue, BWV 564 – J.S.Bach
Ave Maria, Op. 12 – Johannes Brahms
From ‘La Nativité du Seigneur’  (1935): La Vièrge et L’Enfant – Olivier Messiaen  
‘Jesus bids us shine’from ‘Six Fantasies on Hymn Tunes’, Op.  72, No. 4 – Kenneth Leighton
Final, from Symphonie No 6, Op. 59 – Louis Vierne
Entry is free, but we invite you to make a retiring donation (recommended £5) to support the Choir and Music at All Saints. The All Saints Licensed Club/Bar below the Church will be open after
the recital (new 2017 membership subscription now payable: £3).


SMALL CHOIRS FESTIVAL at ALL SAINTS  – Saturday 4 February 2017, Afternoon Rehearsal 2-4.30pm with 5pm Festival Service. 
The organist will be Gary Sieling (once Assistant Organist of Peterborough cathedral and now 50% organist and 50% HGV driver) with Fr. John Burniston (St James’, Islington) presiding.

In a thousand vestries around the UK, curly, sepia photographs of proud, serried choristers from the years before the Great War remind us how the great choral tradition in English churches has diminished. Many of these vestries never see a choir these days and in others just a small group of singers gathers Sunday by Sunday; unable to sing most of the repertoire and, almost certainly, with few or no men.

It was from this environment that, in 2004, the first Small Choirs Festival emerged. After a few years, the repertoire from these festivals was made available as downloads on the internet and sparked a surprising amount of interest from English speaking choirs around the world. So Small Choirs International was born, which now has over 360 affiliated choirs from all continents except Antarctica,  with 780 pieces of music available for free download with the permission of the copyright owners. The editors, arrangers and composers come from across the UK, USA, Europe, and the Antipodes.

The 2017 Festival repertoire consists of two familiar pieces arranged for SA Men, and some new pieces with flexible requirements. ALL singers who support the ideals of Small Choirs are invited to be part of the festival, whether they belong to a small choir or not and any All Saints’ congregation members who feel that they would like to be supportive are encouraged to sing. Even if you aren’t available to sing, do support the concluding Festival Service from 5-6pm. All welcome.

Further information is available at www.small-choirs.org.uk/feb2017 [with the repertoire to be sung] or from Philip Norman (07939 064 247) pkn@pnms.co.uk.  The Small Choirs website: small-choirs.org.uk.

** MISSION NEWS** Men’s clothing especially is needed by the Jesus Centre in Margaret Street and also by the Soup Kitchen at the American International Church, both of whom  provide a daily range of services to homeless people. If you have women’s or men’s clothes to give away, please bring to Church and leave at the Parish Office so we can continue to help support our neighbours’ efforts. The Church Army is now also collecting women’s clothes for their Homeless Hostel so all donations can be found a good new home!

The Soup Kitchen specifically calls for: men’s trousers (sizes 32-36) and men’s sturdy/athletic shoes (sizes 9-12 especially) and say ‘we are also beginning to need men’s outerwear of all varieties and we always need rucksacks and duffle-bags to help our guests carry their belongings!’

Miranda Suit, Director of the Soup Kitchen (part-time, usually in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays) says: Please drop me a line if you are planning to drop things off here. As always, many thanks for your support. Soup Kitchen at the American International Church, 79a Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4TD T: 020 7580 2791    www.amchurch.co.uk/soup-kitchen/

ALL SAINTS REGULAR MISSION PROJECTS:- 

Marylebone Project – emergency refuge and rehoming project for homeless women. 
USPG –
work with those experiencing Aids and HIV in Zimbabwe.  

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 allowing them to sleep there in the daytime and signposting them to other agencies who can offer help and donating £1,000 in 2016 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 and as the cold weather starts to bite, 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/virtual tour – 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   
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