Weekly Email – 4th Sunday before Lent
Documents
On Sunday it will be a great joy to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Accession to the throne of Her Majesty the Queen. This will mark the beginning of her Platinum Jubilee year.
The model of service, sacrifice and commitment to vocation which the Queen has displayed to the people of our country over the long time that she has reigned as our queen will doubtless be something many people will want to ponder and give thanks for.
In a world of constant change, against the backdrop of the narcissism of modern celebrity culture, and the shallow materialism of our age, Her Majesty’s commitment to unfussy service and unfailing duty stands out as something extraordinary.
At the heart of that ethic of service lies her Christian faith. We give thanks this Sunday, therefore, not just for someone whose contribution to public life has been remarkable in terms of longevity, but particularly for someone who has powerfully lived out her Christian faith in public, and who sees her role as a God-given vocation.
The various liturgies on Sunday will include some of the prayers from the Prayer Book Accession Service. At the end of the High Mass, these will be used as part of a short Act of Thanksgiving before the blessing.
In addition, we will hear the beautiful Motet at the Offertory by Byrd, “O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth our Queen to rejoice in thy strength.” Written in the 17th century, it obviously originally referred to a different Queen Elizabeth, but will come alive in a new way when we hear it on Sunday in this jubilee context: “…give her her heart’s desire, and deny not the request of her lips; but prevent her with thine everlasting blessing, and give her a long life, even for ever and ever. Amen.”
We will also sing the hymn “All People that on Earth do Dwell” as our final hymn at the High Mass. This is the only hymn which was sung at the Coronation in 1953, and will voice our thanksgiving in congregational song on this important occasion.
We give thanks on Sunday for the Queen’s many years of service to our country, and pray for her happiness, health and well-being in the years to come. We pray, too, for all placed in authority under her, for probity and honesty in our public life, for the pursuing of the common good, and for the peace, freedom and safety of the whole human family, especially in the face of our present pandemic.
Fr Peter
The choir Christmas dinner, which was postponed from December, took place on Wednesday. Many thanks to all who sing, play and direct the music in our parish. We are grateful for all you contribute to the liturgy week by week, and for your professionalism and commitment.
Online worshippers
At a meeting last week, our PCC reviewed some of the latest data coming back from our YouTube channel and social media platforms, which show a continued high take up of online worship, and a wide range of people connecting with us through the internet. Much of that data has been shared in this parish email over the past two weeks.
The PCC welcomed this news and wants to record in a very specific way how much it values the presence of our online worshippers. We want to continue to learn how we can serve and connect with this category of people better, and help them feel part of our parish community.
So that we can communicate more effectively with our online congregation and have more up to date records, we would be very grateful indeed if online worshippers could consider doing two things.
First, please ensure you are signed up for our weekly email. This is the best way to keep in touch with us and receive up to date parish news and information. You can sign yourself up to receive the email here. Just click on the link and add yourself to our email list. You can unsubscribe at any point if you no longer wish to receive our emails.
Second, we would invite you to consider joining the Friends of All Saints, Margaret Street. The purpose of the Friends is to help a wider community to stay in touch with All Saints and to support and encourage the life and mission of our parish by prayer, companionship and giving.
This organisation is specifically designed for people who are unable to be with us physically each week, but who want to nurture a connection with All Saints. The Friends is a particularly appropriate way for members of our online community to keep in touch. More information is available on our parish website here, along with the link for joining the Friends.
This is Huw, who directs all our online broadcasting. We are so grateful to him for all he does to help us livestream the liturgy each day from All Saints. Thank you, Huw, for all the time, energy, effort and love that you put into this important task!
Walsingham Pilgrimages
Many of you know All Saints has long had a strong link with Our Lady’s Shrine at Walsingham through its active Cell. Parishioners have regularly undertaken a weekend pilgrimage each year (usually in July) and a coach has usually departed from All Saints for the National Pilgrimage in May.
Sadly, for the last two years neither activity was possible (though a few of us went up there unofficially last July just as the Shrine was re-opening). However, this year we are hope to restore our annual traditions. Consequently:
A coach will leave All Saints on Monday 02 May for the National Pilgrimage (cost £18 per seat). This takes place a little earlier in the year than normal so as not to clash with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
We have also booked our Parish Pilgrimage for the weekend Friday 22nd to Monday 25th July.
Could you please contact Ross Buchanan (M: 07905 863578; E: ross.r.buchanan@btinternet.com) if you are interested in either or would like to know more. Please note that for the Parish Pilgrimage especially, early booking is essential.
News from the Friends of All Saints
Figures just in show good uptake of our new Friends scheme. After being in existence only one month, 52 people have subscribed to the Friends of All Saints, of whom 18 are “Benefactors.”
These members of the new Friends scheme live all over England, with quite a few joining from the USA and Canada.
We want to thank all those who have contributed to this scheme for their generosity and kindness. We are very grateful indeed.
If you would like to join the Friends, please click here and follow the link that allows you to set up a direct debit and leave your contact details. Friends receive our new parish magazine twice a year, are prayed for each month at the daily Mass, and are invited to special events through the year to celebrate their support for us and thank them for their generosity.
We welcomed the Society of King Charles the Martyr to All Saints’ last Saturday for their commemoration of the death of Charles I. To hear the excellent homily delivered by Fr Toby Boutle, click here.
Volunteers needed
The scheme to enable us to open All Saints in the afternoons has been a very encouraging success over the past few months. We have seen a gradual increase in the number of people visiting our church.
Many of those who volunteer as church welcomers in the afternoons have spoken warmly of the ministry of welcome they have been able to offer to those who drop by All Saints to see the place or pray.
Feedback from our church welcomers reveals we need more volunteers for this crucial work, so that this important duty doesn’t end up being undertaken by the same small number of people week after week.
We could really do with an extra 6-7 volunteers. You don’t have to be able to offer time each week – even if you can only do once a month or once a fortnight, that would be a huge help. The work involves being in church for a two hour period in the afternoon and welcoming people as they visit our church.
Please be in touch with Fr Peter or Quentin if you would like to help us with this important work.
Mass and COVID Review
Over the next few weeks I will be undertaking a review of our weekly liturgical pattern and of our present COVID precautions. I would hope we can dispense with most COVID restrictions to our liturgy by the spring, and want to have a settled, permanent pattern for Mass times from Easter onwards.
I would be grateful for any feedback people may have on our present schedule of Mass times. It strikes me the recently re-introduced 6.15 pm Mass each evening is working well, and that 6.15 pm has proven to be a very popular time. One question I would like people to think about is whether there would be interest in bringing back a Saturday evening Vigil Mass of Sunday.
The question of the timing of High Masses during the week on solemnities has been raised with me. I suggest we leave those High Masses this Lent which have already been advertised at 6.00 pm for the time being. I could see, however, some logic in having all evening Masses at the same time, and so wonder whether having weekday High Masses on solemnities at 6.15 pm might be easier for some. Again, I would appreciate any feedback anyone might have to offer on this question.
Fr Peter
Links for Sunday
The link for the Propers for 4th Sunday before Lent is at the end of this email.
Click here for the YouTube live stream for High Mass.
Evensong and Benediction is at 6pm. The music includes Byrd Second Service, Gibbons O clap your hands, and Victoria Benediction hymns.
Flowers
The flowers this week have been given by the Wright Family and Pat Phillips in loving memory of Clive Wright, who died at Candlemas in 2020.
We are looking for volunteers to help with the flowers in church. If you have a particular talent for flower arranging and would like to help from time to time or on a regular basis, please contact Shawn on 07988 287 663 or shawnwilbe@outlook.com.
If you would like to make a donation for flowers, please contact Shawn or speak to Chris Self.
Walsingham Devotion
Tomorrow week our monthly Walsingham Devotion, in the form of the Rosary with intercessions, will be offered at 1130 before the noon Mass.
Prayer list
Prisoners and captives
Nazanin Zhagari-Ratcliffe, Ismaeil Maghrebinejad, Nasrin Sotoudeh
Maira Shabhaz
Rohingya Christians in Pakistan, Karen Christians in Burma, and Tigrayan Christians in Ethiopia
The sick
Fr Harry Hodgetts, Martin Berka, Elizabeth Lyon, James Shrimpton, Anne-Marie Chartier, Bernard Holmes, Thelma Spill, David Robin, Simeon Sanders
Those known to us recently departed
Robert Jowitt, David Cox, Sara Vice
Anniversaries of death
6th – Donald Scott
7th – Beatrice Reed, Jane Twinch, Dorothy Dent, Grahame James
8th – Bernard Anslow, Armorel Griffiths, Robert Streit
9th – Joan Adams, Pamela Brett, Hazel Otway, Eileen Mann
10th – Margaret Booker, Diana Juniper, Caroline Farrer
11th – Phyllis Woodcock, Frank Walker Pr, Winifred Bloomer, Victoria Nettey
12th – Charlotte Druitt, Helen Buck, Sister Barbara of All Saints
Calendar and Intentions
February 2022
The Calendar and Intentions will now be published monthly on the website. You can view February’s here.
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 Gift Aid, 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).