All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear friends,

One element of the pattern of our life together as a parish which I regularly look forward to is the programme of online Zoom Theology seminars which we run. I am very grateful indeed to Fr Alan for the time and imagination he puts into organising this series of teaching sessions which take place every other month.

We have had some really fascinating seminars with incredible speakers over the past few months. You can read more about the 2025 programme here. The Zoom theology seminars take place online, and anyone can join them. We regularly have people tuning in from several continents!

Our next Zoom Theology Seminar will be a little different from our usual offering as it will be run jointly with our sister parish in New York City, St Mary the Virgin, Times Square. It will take place on Saturday 22nd March at 3.00 pm London time, which should be 11.00 am New York time. Our aim will be to consider the question of what it means to be an Anglo-Catholic parish today through the lens of the history of our two parishes – and especially through the biography of some of their most significant incumbents.

Fr Sammy Wood, the Rector of St Mary the Virgin, will speak about their pioneering Founder, Fr Thomas McKee Brown, who was rector from 1870-98; and I will speak about Dom Bernard Clements, Vicar of All Saints’ from 1934-1942.

Fr Brown is a towering figure of American Anglo-Catholicism who is little known in this country. He was responsible for founding the parish of St Mary the Virgin, and building its original church near what was then Longacre Square (now Times Square). He was Rector for 32 years, and saw the parish outgrow its first church, and construct a new building on 47th Street in the 1890s which became the flagship witness to Anglo-Catholic teaching and liturgy in the Episcopal Church. From its inception, St Mary’s was one of the foremost American centres of Anglo-Catholic ritualism.

From the very beginning of his ministry, Fr Brown’s vision of what the Body of Christ could be was rooted in the teaching of the Tractarians which had emerged in England, and was spreading a generation later among young clergy in the American Episcopal Church. Fr Brown was part of the generation which translated those theological principles into a parochial tradition which transformed the liturgy of the church and renewed its evangelistic mission. He was also deeply committed to ameliorating the lot of the disadvantaged and founded an order of nuns to undertake work with children and the underprivileged. Deep similarities exist between the vision he had for St Mary the Virgin and the kind of renewal of parochial life that was seen at All Saints’ in its earliest years.

It will be very interesting indeed to hear Fr Sammy, the Rector of St Mary the Virgin, speak about Fr Brown and to reflect on what his founding vision for the parish was – and how that translates to the realities our sister parish is experiencing now.

I myself will be speaking about Dom Bernard Clements, O.S.B. He was vicar of All Saints’ in the late 1930s and the first few years of the Second World War, but was also a monk of Nashdom Abbey. In many ways he is not as well known as he should be. Within the history of our parish he is often overshadowed by his illustrious predecessor, Fr Mackay, or eclipsed by the vicars who led the church in the years after the Second World War, and who often form part of the living folk memory of the congregation. His short incumbency, saw the outbreak of war and was cut short by his untimely death. He achieved less than he would unquestionably have done if he had led the parish into the post-war world, but his leadership of our parish is still worth study.

He had a reputation in his life time as an energetic and compelling preacher, as a wise spiritual director and confessor, and as an effective and convincing broadcaster and public apologist. He embraced All Saints’ proximity to the BBC and became well known for his wartime broadcasts on the radio.

In many ways Dom Bernard represents a high water mark of sorts in the life of our parish. He presided over the centenary celebrations of the appointment of Frederick Oakley to the Margaret Street Chapel with extraordinary aplomb in 1939, just months before the outbreak of the Second World War. Both Archbishops of York and Canterbury preached at All Saints’ that year in a way that signalled a certain acceptance and valuing of the place by the Establishment. Yet the world in which All Saints’ thrived was about to be irrevocably changed by the War that broke out in the autumn of that year.

I hope to reflect on some of the ways in which Bernard Clements presided over All Saints’ at a time of considerable change and flux, but also managed to embrace modern means of communication. It is interesting to compare this with our recent experience of COVID and the live-streaming of the liturgy. I find Dom Bernard a very captivating figure, and one whose reputation has possibly been undervalued by historians.

Pondering these histories is a useful way of reflecting on the question of what it might mean to be an Anglo-Catholic parish in the complex situations both St Mary’s and All Saints’ find themselves. Both parishes have rich histories, along with incredible liturgical, pastoral and musical traditions. They both find themselves at the very heart of two extraordinary world cities, with immense potential for evangelistic encounter and parochial renewal.

I look forward to  thinking about how our shared Anglo-Catholic culture might not just form part of our history in the past, but might also shape and energise our potential for the future that God has in store for us.

Fr Peter

Confessions in preparation for Lent

Fr Graeme Rowlands will be available to hear confessions on Shrove Tuesday 4th March 2025 at 5.00 pm. On Ash Wednesday itself, Fr Alan Rimmer will be available to hear confessions at 7.00 am, Fr Peter Anthony at 11.00 am, and Fr David Houlding at 5.00 pm.

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Party

Fr Alan will be hosting a pancake party for our young adults after the 6.30 pm Mass on Shrove Tuesday (4th March). Please be in touch with him if you would like to attend.

Guest preacher

We look forward to welcoming Fr Thomas Plant as our preacher at the 11.00 am High Mass on Sunday 9th March. He is currently Chaplain at Rikkyo University, Tokyo. He will be joining us with a group of his students who will be visiting England from Japan and are learning more about the Anglican liturgical and musical tradition. Fr Thomas will soon be moving back to England to be the new Vicar of St Margaret of Antioch, Iver Heath

Sponsored knit for Alzheimer’s Research

Kitty Thompson writes: “Through the medium of knitting, I am raising money for Alzheimer’s Research UK – a cause very close to the Thompson family heart. You can find out more and donate here. I am new to the world of knitting (it is my New Year’s resolution for 2025 to learn) but I will gladly gift a knitted creation to anyone who donates…”

Stations of the Cross

During Lent, the Stations of the Cross will take place at 12.30 pm on Wednesdays and at 7.00 pm on Fridays. The service takes around half an hour.

Holy Hour

Do remember that there is a Holy Hour of silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament every week on Wednesdays from 5.30 pm until the evening Low Mass at 6.30 pm. Lent is a good opportunity to make time for quiet time with the Lord, and the Holy Hour is a great way of taking time out to be in Christ’s eucharistic presence.

Lent Visit to the National Gallery

A Lent visit to the National Gallery will take place jointly with the parish of St Paul, Winchmore Hill, on Tuesday 11th March at 2.00 pm. Fr Peter will give a guided theological tour of the gallery, looking at a number of images. The idea is that we will be finished in time for tea at the Gallery tea room. All parishioners of All Saints’ are welcome to attend.

Lent Walk

Our next parish walk will be a circular route of around 9 miles in the environs of Leigh-on-Sea and Hadleigh Castle and will take place on Saturday 15th March and include a Low Mass and the opportunity to eat together in Leigh after the walk. We aim to catch the 10am train from Fenchurch St Station, and to be back in London by 6pm. Please let Fr Alan (assistantpriest@asms.uk) know if you plan to join us.

Easter Flowers: sponsorship needed!

If you would like to sponsor an arrangement for the Altar of Repose on Maundy Thursday and for Easter, please contact Shawn directly or via the office. So far, only one arrangement has been sponsored.

Attendance last Sunday

For your prayers

The Friends of All Saints’ Margaret Street:

23rd – Alan Kimbrough, Brenda Koupis, Stanislav Kudryashov, Christopher Laws, Margaret Leggett
24th – Cornelius Logue, Frau Dr Christiane Loidl-Rainey, Nigel Lynn, Henry Macey, Bishop Michael Marshall, Robert Mason, Graham Mather
25th – Judith Mather, The Ven Fr Stephen McClatchie, John McWhinney, Colin Menzies, Amanda Miller
26th – Thomas Moller, Michael Mortensen, Barry Moore, Deacon Christopher Morash, Grace Morgan, Dr John Morrell, Fr. Stephen Morris, Inger Mosbery, Lachlan Moyle, Carol Mundell
27th – Christopher Naylor, Brian Newman, Barry Newsome, Elaine Norman, Richard North, Fr Paul Ockford
28th – Fr Peter and Anna Oesterby-Joergensen, Daniel Oliver, Fr Barry Orford, Nicholas Page, Samantha Parker, Malcolm Parr, Bhaven Patel, Alma Pearson, Gladys Pearson
1st – Carlos Remotti-Breton, Dr Steve Rice, John Rick, Fr Peter Roberts, Hilary Rodger

The sick:

David Craig, Janet Crispin, Suzanne Goodstien, Eckhart Grimm, Tony Hawkins, Fr Harry Hodgetts, Elizabeth Lyon, Philip Payne, James Rodger

The recently departed:

Magdalena Grimm, Michael Brotherton, priest, Doris Binkinski, Clive Billenness

The faithful departed:

23rd – William Butterfield (Architect of this Church), Thomas Skeffington-Lodge
24th – James Keen
25th – Eleanor Alaway, Derek Beavan, Diana Stonebanks, Yoskyl Brackley
26th – Ian Searle
27th – Lionel Ryan, Catherine Thomas
28th – Alexander Finnis, Martin Mogridge
1st – Dennis Gill, William Batey, Gertrude Bennett, Charles Bewick Pr, Frances Lightfoot, Beatrice Ansah

Services this week

Saturday 22nd February – Chair of St Peter
12pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday

Sunday 23rd February – SECOND SUNDAY BEFORE LENT
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction

Monday 24th February – Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass

Tuesday 25th February – Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass

Wednesday 26th February – Feria
12 noon Low Mass
5.30 pm Holy Hour
6.30 pm Low Mass

Thursday 27th February – Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass

Friday 28th February – Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass

Saturday 1 March – St David of Wales
12pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday

Sunday 2nd March – SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE LENT
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction