All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear friends,

I am writing to you this week appealing for funds for a very important project.

We are in the process of extending the number and quality of cameras in All Saints’ church so we can expand our live-streaming capacity. We also want to undertake the first steps in renewal of our sound system for in-person worship.

This next phase of work is likely to cost something in the region of £15,000. Our PCC is appealing for donations to cover the cost of this significant investment in All Saints’ capacity to broadcast and record from our church building.

Our PCC agreed at their last meeting to authorise a second expansion in our capacity to film in All Saints’ church. Eighteen months ago or so we acquired our first set of cameras, which are placed in strategic positions so as to catch most of the liturgy. However, as time has gone on, the need for better cameras in different places has emerged.

Many of our cameras are on temporary tripods which sometimes get in the way and are a little unsightly. They are also not all that secure and could be prone to theft. Our new cameras will be mounted higher up, so that the tripods can be removed and the seating in the nave returned to its normal arrangement. This will also make the cameras significantly more secure.

There are also several angles which we cannot at the moment reach: we can’t get a shot of the whole nave, for example; and when liturgies take place at the font, it is difficult to cover broadcasts from there. Again, a couple of new cameras should introduce a much wider selection of angles that can be filmed. A single camera shot from the back of church might also make it easier to explore broadcasting Evensong more regularly, which I know is something many people have been in touch with me about.

Many people have also commented with increasing frustration on the shortcomings of our sound system for those worshipping in-person in our church building. We hope that improvement in our camera system will also go hand in hand with the first steps to completely renew our speaker system for those worshipping physically with us each week.

The quality of the new cameras we hope to buy will also be better than what we have at the moment. You may notice the quality of the picture shifts between cameras during our recordings. Better quality equipment will improve this situation.

The simple answer is that if we want the best possible live-streaming, we need a quality of camera substantially better than a simple mobile phone. The top-quality equipment we need is not cheap. Huw Pryce and Richard Everton have put a large amount of time and energy into examining various purchase options and technical solutions, and have made a proposal to the PCC.

The total cost of the new cameras is £7,000, and the cabling and other costs associated with installation, along with first steps in renewal of the sound system come to a further £8,000.

I am minded that the installation of these new cameras should happen now, before Holy Week so that we can make use of them for the great liturgies of Easter this year.

So, I am making a very simple but important request. If we go ahead with the camera installation in the next two weeks, could I ask our parishioners and friends to respond as generously as they can by covering the cost of the £15,000, which we need?

I have personally just made a donation to the PCC to help contribute to this cost, and I ask you to think about doing so as well. We would be very grateful indeed.

I never cease to be amazed by the generosity shown by the members of All Saints Margaret Street, and by the imagination, leadership, and courage which our parish has shown in getting going a pioneering programme of live-streaming and online interaction over the past two years.

I know how much our live-streaming means to many people, especially to our All Saints family spread throughout the country and abroad. This connection we have made with so many people is a very impressive achievement indeed, and I hope it can continue to contribute to the growth and vitality of our parish, and to the spiritual well-being of all those who connect with us online.

Please be in touch with me or the parish office if you wish to make a donation to the cost of the cameras. The simplest way of doing that, is to make a contribution through our website’s “Donate” page here.

Fr Peter

News from our online worshippers

Nico Marsh describes his experience of connecting with our parish online during the pandemic lockdowns in a way that prompted him to become an “in-person” parishioner when he moved back to London.

I had been to All Saints Margaret Street a few times between first moving to London in Summer 2016 and moving back to rural Sussex at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic but never had the chance to become a regular worshipper there as I spent most of my weekends away from London.

Nonetheless, when I was sat in my childhood bedroom in the uncertainty and chaos of the early pandemic, I could not have been more grateful for All Saints’ online offering. The weekly Sunday Masses, whether broadcast from the vicarage or the main altar in the church, helped to preserve some sense of normality and to reorientate my focus away from the disordered world and towards God.

On a personal level I found that first 18 months or so of the pandemic to be a time of deepening of my faith and the regular pattern of worship from All Saints helped tremendously alongside the newfound time to just sit and read and pray.

Indeed, it was during this 18 months of living away from London that I decided to join the Community of St Anselm at Lambeth Palace, which I did upon moving back to London in September 2021.

While I have now moved back to London and would probably consider myself part of the “in-person” element of the congregation, I remain hugely grateful for All Saints’ ongoing online worship and in particular for the opportunity to participate in the upcoming Holy Week services despite intending to be many miles from London at the time.

During the time I was living with my family, some of us would often watch the services together and they have sometimes continued to do so since I have moved back to London and I know they remain extremely grateful for the online offering.

Nico Marsh

Parish Office Administrator

Funeral Preparations

Fr Peter preached on Sunday about the need to have made appropriate preparations for your death and for your funeral.

Fr Peter’s main points were that you need to have considered three key things

1. You must have made a will. This means you don’t impose on your nearest and dearest extra complication in sorting out your affairs when you die. You also need to be realistic about the cost of a funeral at All Saints that involves full choir.

2. You should consider leaving a legacy to All Saints in your will. Just as charitable giving to the mission of the church is an obligation of Christian discipleship whilst we are alive, it is good to make a donation to the church from your estate once you have died. Your generosity can have a huge impact even after you have died.

3. You must write down clearly what your funeral wishes are. A copy should be given to us at All Saints if you want the funeral here. A copy should go to your solicitor so it can be appended to your will. Finally, a copy should go to your family/executor, so everyone is clear and agreed on what your wishes are. It is not good enough simply to talk about your funeral wishes to friends. You need to write them down.

Fr Peter is very happy to speak to anyone who might have questions or anxieties about their funeral.

You can watch Fr Peter’s homily again here, or read it here.

All Saints’ Lent Appeal 2022

In the light of exceptional events in Ukraine, all our fund-raising will be devoted this Lent to helping refugees fleeing from the conflict.

The outward giving committee and PCC have, therefore, agreed that all our Lent Appeal money this year should be donated to the joint USPG/Diocese in Europe appeal for the people of Ukraine. Read more about that appeal here.

Parishioners of All Saints’ can now know that every penny they donate to our Lent Appeal will now go to help those involved in the conflict in Ukraine and will support refugees fleeing from the fighting.

The appeal closes on Sunday 1st May.

How to Donate

Please give generously online via our parish website and following the link to the donation page. Or you can send a cheque to the Parish Office, made payable to: “Parochial Church All Saints (Lent Appeal)”. If you qualify for Gift Aid, please write ‘Gift Aid’ on the back of the cheque.

Lent boxes will not be issued this year.

Our Lent Lecture will take place on Friday 8th April at 7.00 pm at All Saints.

This in-person event will focus on the thought of St Augustine of Hippo, and will be given by the Revd Dr Dominic Keech, Vicar of St Nicholas’, Brighton.

His lecture will be entitled, “The Infinite Vision: Augustine and the formation of the Western mind.” The evening will be an introduction to the life and thought of the great fourth century North African theologian, exploring his influence on Western Christianity’s understanding of the human person in time and eternity, and probing his continuing presence in contemporary crises of self and society.

Autumn Study Day

Thursday 20th October, 10.00 am-3.00 pm
Seeing God: Theologies of the Transfiguration

This year’s autumn study day aims to build on the success of our focus last year on Ravenna. Join us for a series of three lectures given through the day by the Revd Dr Peter Anthony, Dr Gregory Tucker, and the Revd Dr Ayla Lepine, all focusing on the Transfiguration and ways in which we can interpret and live out its mystery in the world today.

Fr Peter will begin with an exposition of the biblical Transfiguration narratives. Dr Gregory Tucker will explore the Transfiguration in the light of Eastern orthodox liturgical traditions. Mthr Ayla Lepine will reveal to us some of the ways in which the Transfiguration has been depicted through the centuries.

It promises to be a very interesting day of study, reflection, and prayer.

Holy Week and Easter

Do make sure you have all the times of our Holy Week liturgies in your diaries. Join us online and in person with Bishop Rowan Williams as our guest preacher. Bishop Rowan will preach at all the major liturgies of Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Easter Day.

All services and homilies will be live-streamed and available afterwards on our parish YouTube channel if you are unable to attend in person.

Please note that there will be no 12 noon Mass on Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We will meet together for just one celebration of the Eucharist in the evening at which Bishop Rowan will preach.

Palm Sunday 10th April 2022
11.00 am High Mass with sermon
N.B. Meet at 11.00 am in Oxford Market for the procession of palms. 

Holy Monday 11th April 2022
6.15 pm Low Mass with homily

Holy Tuesday 12th April 2022
6.15 pm Low Mass with homily

Holy Wednesday 13th April 2022
6.15 pm Low Mass with homily
7.30 pm Tenebrae

Maundy Thursday 14th April 2022
6.00 pm High Mass with sermon, followed by watch at altar of repose until midnight

Good Friday 15th April 2022
3.00 pm Solemn Liturgy with sermon

Holy Saturday 16th April 2022
9.00 pm Easter Vigil with baptisms, confirmations and sermon.

Easter Day 17th April 2022
11.00 am High Mass with sermon
5.15 pm Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction

Annunciation of the Lord

High Mass for the Annunciation is at 6pm today, Friday 25th March. The link for the Propers is at the end of this email. Click here for the YouTube live stream.

Links for Sunday

The link for the Propers for Lent 4 is at the end of this email. Click here for the YouTube live stream.

Evensong and Benediction is at 6pm. The music includes Sumsion in A, Brahms Geistliches Lied, and Paul Brough Benediction hymns.

Flowers

Prayer list

Prisoners and captives

Ismaeil Maghrebinejad, Nasrin Sotoudeh
Maira Shabhaz
Rohingya Christians in Pakistan, Karen Christians in Burma, Tigrayan Christians in Ethiopia

The sick

Fr Harry Hodgetts, Elizabeth Lyon, James Shrimpton, David Robin, Anne-Marie Chartier, Bernard Holmes, Thelma Spill, Martin Berka, Gloria Fleming

Those known to us recently departed

Hugh Wilcox Pr, Simeon Sanders, Robert McEwin Pr

Anniversaries of death

27th – John Davies, Amy Burnett-Brown, Maya Dean
28th – John Hosier, Diane Suzans
29th – Georgina Carlton-Williams, Joseph Semlyon
30th – William Ingarfill, Mani Blake, Cecil Saltford-Beaman, Hilary Chadwick-Healey, John Hanvey
31st – Holbrook Gaskell, Charles Gage-Brown, John Rowe Pr, Robin Powis
APRIL 1st – Alexander Burnett-Brown, Harold Gaunt, John Wallace
2nd – Sister Mary Estelle, Grace Trembath, John Gaskell Snr, Beryl Harding

Those preparing for baptism and confirmation at Easter

Daniel Formston, Alex Read, Harvey Solomon-Brady, John Wilkinson

Supporting All Saints

Parish Giving Scheme

You can set up a regular donation to All Saints here.

We use the Parish Giving Scheme, which allows contributions to be anonymous and deals with GiftAid, saving our office a lot of time. You can read about how the scheme works here.

Donations for general church purposes

To give by BACS please use the following details, advising the Administrator to collect Gift Aid:

PCC All Saints (Charity no. 1132895)
Sort Code 60-09-15
A/C 04559452

Parish Legacy Policy

We are always delighted to hear from anyone who wants to support us with a donation. Our PCC Legacy Policy encourages people to leave bequests specifically to one of our two related charities to be used for purposes of lasting value (rather than day to day costs):

All Saints Choir & Music Trust (Charity # 802994)

or The All Saints Foundation (Charity # 273390).