All Saints Parish Newsletter 8th July 2016
Dear Friend,
TRINITY 7
This Sunday offers us the parable of the Good Samaritan. Parables were Jesus’ favourite teaching method; they are the most distinctive and original pieces of teaching in the gospel texts. But the concept ‘parable’ may also be more broadly applied to Jesus’ behaviour and actions. This wasn’t new: Old Testament prophets like Ezekiel often enacted parabolic teaching. Jesus’ healings and other miracles are also parabolic in this sense, but they do more than Ezekiel’s dramatic acts: like the sacraments we share they effect what they proclaim. The Good News is enacted by Jesus.
Taking this thought further we can say that the Incarnation is God’s ultimate parable: as a result, the cross and resurrection enact the fulfilment of the Gospel which Jesus, God-with-us, proclaims (as is explained, for example, by the spoken parable of the vineyard and the tenants: Mark 12.1-12; also found in Matthew & Luke).
In Mark, especially, attention is drawn to the parable-method. We are told there that Jesus taught ‘only’ in parables. Yet the spoken parables are rationed tightly and found in particular configurations in Mark, especially those sandwiched one within another (memorably the healing of the woman with the haemorrhage enclosed by the raising of Jairus’ daughter). Miracles are introduced as further and complementary elements in proclaiming the Good News, not random acts of magic. We can say that the sacraments of the Church are also acted parables which, like those other miraculous actions of Jesus, effect what they show.
In spoken parables like that of the Good Samaritan we have a simple short story which is episodic, allusive and brief, programmatically composed to be ‘good news’ for the listeners. The content, the ‘good news’, is our guide to the meaning of the whole Bible, as interpreted and incarnated by the Church, where we experience the history of salvation.
Our task is to receive the invitation of that Good News, to allow ourselves to be changed by it and to share it by how we live. Here, parables and sacraments work alongside each other, for Christ is the sacrament of God, the Church is the sacrament of Christ and the Eucharist is the sacrament of the Church. The Eucharist, which is an effective parable of the Kingdom, puts us directly in contact with the Good News, by means which are at once simple and tangible but also inexhaustibly profound.
So, when we attend to a parable such as that of the Good Samaritan, we are doing far more than hearing a story or processing information. We are absorbing the DNA of the Kingdom of God.
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, Dennis Davis, Mark Dougly, Kate Down, David Fettke, Ghislain Hamelin, Catherine Hancock, Lewis Harvey, Maria Keen, Andrew Laird, Tom Leader, 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 Tomln, Christine van Dyck, Lynn Van Keulen, Robert Walmsley, Jenny Ward and Joy Wright.
For the recently departed: Sister Isabel SLG, Jo Cox, Robyn Newton, Arthur Wildash, Eve Vallance, Julia Holland and victims of the Orlando, Istanbul, Bangladesh and Baghdad terrorist massacres.
Remember past priests, benefactors, friends, and all whose year’s mind occurs this week including: Gordon Arthur, Aileen Buxton (former Sacristan), David Botsford, Mabel Pearce, Laurence Olivier, Wilfred Stansfield, Cyril Ward (Server and Benefactor), Mary Gaskell, Mina Robertson, James Wheen, Sheila Duggan, Richard Young, Gladys Gibbs, George Quicksmiyh, Kathleen Rodger, Doris Thrift and Kathleen Wait.
For full service information: www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk.
WORSHIP THIS 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
There is an old belief – Parry
EVENT THIS WEEK:
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).
WORSHIP NEXT 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
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.
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.
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