Weekly Email: Holy Cross Day
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Dear friends,
I want to pay tribute this week to all those who support and enrich our parish’s life as the members of our team of altar servers. We are so lucky to have such a dedicated and prayerful group of servers.
This Sunday we will be celebrating with thanks the retirement of a number of people who have put in many years of service in this particular vocation, and also the moving of other servers into new roles of responsibility and leadership within our serving team.
I want to thank those who will be retiring this Sunday for their remarkable sense of devotion, sacrifice and commitment, and to say how grateful we all are for their dedication as servers over the years.
There will be a brief presentation at the High Mass. Our celebrations will then continue with drinks in the courtyard after the liturgy in honour of our servers and also in honour of Fr Michael Bowie’s visit to preach for us. Drinks will be followed by a special servers’ lunch out at a local restaurant to celebrate this important series of milestones, and as a thank you to them for their service.
As a result of a period of discernment and an extensive consultation exercise, a number of changes have been agreed within the serving team.
Joseph Musah and David Cruse will be retiring from serving, and I want to thank them for their many years of service. Joe has recently reached his 85th birthday. David also feels the time is right for him to step down from regular serving. In addition, Ian Marsh will be stepping back from the role of MC, though will be continuing to serve in other ways.
We should also publicly thank Sister Mary Clare (known previously to us as Sam Parker before she entered the religious life) for her contribution to our serving team. She will also be stepping back from regular serving now she is no longer is able to worship with us on Sundays.
Rachel Foss has recently taken a period of some months out from serving as she has trained for a new job and had a lot on her plate, but I am pleased to report that she has signalled she would like to begin serving again, and we celebrate her return to the sanctuary.
As senior members of our serving team retire, it is important to note that newer servers have recently stepped up to new roles with impressive competence and ability. I particularly want to thank Daniel Formston and Robert Mason for the way in which they have been exercising the role of MC for the first time recently at a number of important and high profile liturgies.
This exercise in drawing newer servers into the more demanding leadership roles in our serving team will continue and I hope other servers will follow in Robert’s and Daniel’s steps over the coming months and be trained up for roles such as MC and Sub-Deacon.
It has also been agreed that our serving team will from now on have a mandatory retirement age of 75. I hope this brings a helpful clarity and means every server will now know when they can expect to step down and retire. This also means more realistic and accurate thought can go into questions such as succession planning, the apportioning of responsibilities, and the training up of new servers.
I want to thank all members of our serving team – those who are retiring and also those who are continuing to serve – for their generosity of heart and their dedication to this important vocation.
We are truly blessed with a terrific sacristy team and celebrate this Sunday with gratitude all they have contributed to our parish and to the liturgy of the People of God in this place. Many thanks to all our servers!
Fr Peter
We were pleased to host a lecture given on Thursday evening by Fr Peter on the Oxford Movement organised by Fidelium, a new network for young adults under the aegis of the Bishop of Fulham.
Flowers
The flowers at the statue of Our Lady are given by Pat Spencer and Annie Dixon, in loving memory of Biddy Baxter.
Visiting Preachers
We welcome Fr Michael Bowie, our former Assistant Priest, as the preacher at the High Mass this morning. He is visiting from St Peter’s, Eastern Hill, Melbourne, Australia, where he is now the Vicar.
Next Sunday, we welcome Fr Thomas Crowley as our preacher. He is the Rector of Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea.
We look forward to hearing Fr Michael’s and Fr Thomas’s words to us.
Drinks before last night’s Fidelium lecture on the Oxford Movement.
Biddy Baxter
Huge thanks go to all who contributed in any way to the Funeral Mass for Biddy Baxter which took place on Thursday.
It was a beautiful occasion and the liturgy was attended by a wide range of parishioners, friends, colleagues from the BBC, and names from the world of broadcasting.
Many thanks go especially to the sidemen who volunteered to be present, to our serving team, and to our choir, Director of Music and Associate Director of Music. You can watch Biddy’s Funeral Mass here.
Biddy Baxter on her 90th birthday in 2023 – a long standing and faithful parishioner of All Saints’. May she rest in peace.
Parish Walk
Our next parish walk will take place on St Luke Day, Saturday 18th October. We’ll take the 9.45 am from Victoria to Lewes, and walk up to 10 miles, with some ascents. All welcome – pease be in touch with Fr Alan.
Drinks before last night’s Fidelium lecture on the Oxford Movement.
Fundraising Launch Concert
The fundraising campaign for our Choir and Music Trust Fund will be launched at a concert given by our choir on the Saturday 1st November at 7.00 pm.
This will be a concert of sacred music including a number of substantial items which the choir often doesn’t have the opportunity to sing because of time or liturgical constraints. The programme will include Bairstow’s Blessed City, Heavenly Salem, Macdowell’s Annunciation, Macmillan’s A special Appeal, Finzi’s Lo the full and final sacrifice, Holst’s Nunc Dimittis, and Parry’s Songs of Farewell.
Tickets are £25 per head and all funds raised will go to our our Choir and Music Trust. You can book your tickets via the Eventbrite link here. It will be a splendid evening and we need as many people present as possible. Please bring your friends.
Last night’s Fidelium lecture on the Oxford movement will be followed by a day trip to Oxford itself on Saturday 27th September. Please be in touch with Charlotte Choley-Kovacevic if you would like to come.
All Saints’ Festival 2025
Saturday 1st November
5.15 pm Vigil Mass
7.00 pm Choir Concert
Sunday 2nd November – All Saints’ Day & Festival Sunday
11.00 am High Mass
Preacher: The Ven Luke Miller, Archdeacon of London.
6.00 pm Festal Evensong and Benediction with Te Deum
Monday 3rd November – All Souls’ Day
6.30 pm High Mass of Requiem
Preacher: The Rt Revd Lindsay Urwin, O.G.S.
Sunday 9th November – Remembrance Sunday
11.00 am High Mass of Requiem with Act of Remembrance
This Sunday is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The music at the High Mass will include Mozart’s Missa Brevis in C, K. 259, and Orlando de Lassus’ O crux splendidor. Evensong and Benediction will include Noble’s Evening Service in B-minor, and the anthem will be Salvator Mundi by Tallis.
Advent retreat at Walsingham
The Advent Retreat takes place from Friday 5th December to Sunday 7th December 2025 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.
The cost of the retreat is £260. This covers the cost of a room with full board for two nights and a transfer from Kings Lynn to Walsingham. We will follow our usual routine of asking retreatants to buy their own train tickets. We will set off around midday on Friday 5th December and travel by train to Kings Lynn, returning to Kings Cross on Sunday evening around 7.00 pm.
You can sign up via the eventbrite link here. Nearer the time, our parish office will then be in touch with you asking you to settle the balance of what you owe.
Fr Peter speaks to the Fidelium group about the Oxford Movement on Thursday evening.
Wedding Bells
Please keep Tom Sexton and Amelia Graham in your prayers this week, as they prepare for their wedding here at All Saints’ next Saturday.
Flowers
The flowers at Our Lady of Margaret Street are given this week in memory of David Robin, on the third anniversary of his death by Antonietta.
Attendance last Sunday
For your prayers
The Friends of All Saints Margaret Street
14th – Karolyn Cooper, William Cooper Bailey, Peter Coulson, Steven Cox, Dr Yvonne Craig, Juliet Cridland
15th – Dr Ryan Danker, Kirill Dashkovskiy, Keith Day, Christopher Davies, Peter Dennis, Laura Denton, Joshua Dolphin
16th – Linda Edwards, Pamela Edwards, Jane Elliston, Dr Terrence Ellsworth, Richard Everton and Fr Philip Bevan, Carolyn Farrar, Dr Malcolm Faulkner
17th – Sue Feakin, Adrian Felaar, Elizabeth Ferguson, Daniel Fielden, Janice Fielden, Julia Fielden, Nigel Fisher, Mark Fleming
18th – Stuart Fletcher, Christopher Forman, Matthew Foster, Antony Fox, Dr Ralph Donald Fram, Dr Jason Frost, Derrick French, Derek Gatherer, Celia Gatherer, Charlotte Gauthier, Dr Rebecca Gibbs, Margaret Goddard, Paul Golding, John Goldsmith
19th – Genevieve Gomi, Canon Michael Gudgeon, Sheelagh Gudgeon, Ginger and Del Hall, Monica Joan Hall
20th – Paul Hannah, Jillian Hargreaves, Christopher Harlow-Jennings, Patrick Hartley, The Rev’d Canon Jeremy Haselock
The sick
Jean Castledine, David Craig, Fr Michael Gudgeon, Catherine Hobden, Fr Harry Hodgetts, Carol Lyman-Price, James Rodger, Ingrid Slaughter, Juliet Windham
The recently departed
Cherry Burroughs, Joan Hindle, David Lodge
Anniversaries of death
14th – Peggy Macmillan, Thomas Partridge
15th – Augusta Kirby, Gwen Duckett, Richard Dinnis Pr, Henrietta Osler
16th – Evelyn Hutt, Virginia Ambridge, Flora Subbiah
17th – Arthur Bourchier, Allan Duggan
20th – Guy Fleming Pr, Greville Howard, Anthony Andrews Pr, Susan Gill
Services this week
Saturday 13 September – St John Chrysostom
12pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 14 September – EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Solemn Evensong and Benediction
Monday 15 September – Our Lady at the Cross
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Tuesday 16 September – Sts Cornelius and Cyprian
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Wednesday 17 September – Feria
12 noon Low Mass
5.30 Holy Hour
6.30 pm Low Mass
Thursday 18 September – Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Friday 19 September – Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Saturday 20 September – St Andrew Kim Taegon
12pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 21 September – TRINITY XIV
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Solemn Evensong and Benediction