Weekly Email – Lent 3
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Dear friends,
I cannot begin to describe the sense of gratitude and joy I have experienced over the past week as parishioners, friends and supporters have been in touch with us in response to the launch of our music sponsorship campaign last Friday.
We have been inundated with incredibly generous offers of support. I want to thank all those who have contacted us from the bottom of my heart. This is such an encouragement to our whole parish that so many people have been willing to support our musical tradition and respond with such generosity to the call of the Lord.
According to our latest reckoning we have received pledges of nearly £8,000 since our weekly email went out last Friday. This represents incredible generosity on the part of those who have offered sponsorship and means we are already half way to the goal we have set ourselves of raising £15,000.
The gifts we have received are a mixture of large and smaller sums. A wide range of people in a spread of locations have donated funds in a number of different ways according to their capacity – thank you to you all!
The next phase of this appeal will begin this Sunday. Our aim is to cover the costs of one of the Sundays we are aiming to sponsor through smaller contributions.
We are aware that not everyone is able to contribute large sums, so we have taken the costs of Sunday 14th April and divided those costs into chunks of £50 and £100. Ten people each contributing £100, or twenty people each contributing £50 will cover a liturgy. A list will be available on Sunday morning for people to sign up to.
Our hope is that through a larger number of smaller offers of sponsorship, we will be able to cover the costs of that Sunday in a way that means a wider number of people can feel they are contributing to this effort.
If you won’t be with us on Sunday, you can email our parish office and make a payment online through the CAF link here we have set up for this purpose.
I want to thank all those who have responded with such munificence and openness of heart to our appeal. We are hugely grateful – each and every penny contributed will make a huge difference to the way in which we are able to sustain our music programme in this parish.
It is in giving of ourselves and our resources in the service of others that we most closely echo God’s loving and compassionate heart. Let me underline how grateful I am for the support and kindness so many have shown over the past week – and how much that speaks of a spirit of joyful generosity and liveliness of faith amongst those who have contributed.
We still have another £7,000 to go, so if you wish to sponsor our music programme, please make a donation via this link to our CAF account. Making a donation this way allows us to reclaim the Gift Aid on your donation.
If you wish to make a contribution from outside the UK, the best way to do this is via our PayPal account, which can be accessed here.
Once you have made your donation, please email our parish office (office@asms.uk) to let us know if it is in memory of someone in particular, or if you would like it to be associated with a particular date or feast.
With my most heartfelt thanks,
Fr Peter
It was very good to welcome several members of the General Synod to All Saints’ on Sunday morning. They had been in London for the meeting of the Synod over the past few days. We have been praying for them as they take counsel for the affairs of our church, and thank them for their service to the Synod.
Marion Duggan RIP
The Solemn Funeral Mass of Marion Duggan will take place at All Saints’ Church at 3.00 pm on Friday 8th March 2024.
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross take place every Friday in Lent at 7.00 pm directly after the 6.30 pm Mass.
One exception will be Friday 22nd March, when Stations will not happen. On this occasion, they will be offered the night before on Thursday 21st March at 7.00 pm.
National Pilgrimage to Walsingham
Be in touch with our parish office to book your place on our bus to the National Pilgrimage at Walsingham. We leave at 7.30 am and the bus costs £20 per person.
Lent theatre trip
Our Lent theatre trip to see the “Dead Poets Live” production focussed on the life and poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins will take place this Wednesday 6th March at 7.30 pm. This trip is now full and there are no more tickets left.
Those who are attending should arrive at Wilton’s Music Hall no later than 7.15 pm. Fr Peter will be present from 7.00pm onwards to hand out tickets at the theatre. Wilton’s Music Hall is in Whitechapel and directions can be found here.
Walsingham weekend Pilgrimage – gee up!
Those intending to come on our weekend pilgrimage to Walsingham in July need to gee up and book their places!!
We usually take a group of between 15 and 20 people and have 20 places reserved with the shrine, but only 6 people have signed up so far! A large number of people have said they intend to come but have not actually got round to booking their place.
We need to send a final list of names to the shrine at Easter, so it would be helpful if pilgrims wanting to attend this pilgrimage could be in touch with the parish office as a matter of priority to book their places before that cut off date.
The pilgrimage takes place from Friday 19th July to Sunday 21st July 2024. Cost: £190 Friday pm to Sunday evening – including full board plus mini-coach from Kings Lynn. Pilgrims need to book their own train ticket to Kings Lynn.
There is an option for pilgrims who wish to stay on until the Monday and return on 22nd July – this costs £280.
You can watch last Sunday’s High Mass for Lent 2 here. The music included: Missa Dites Maistresses by Orlando di Lasso, 1532-1594; and Miserere mei by William Byrd, 1539-1623.
Zoom Theology – Holy Murder!
Join us for our next Zoom Theology session on Tuesday, March 19th at 7pm. We’ll be discussing two instances of detective fiction with an ecclesiastical context – P.D. James’ Death in Holy Orders and Murder before Evensong, by the Rev’d Richard Coles.
We’re especially excited to be welcoming the detective fiction writer Kate Charles to speak to us about her own work, and about this genre more broadly.
Kate has published 13 crime novels set against the rich background of the Church of England. She is a former Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and the Barbara Pym Society, and a member of the prestigious Detection Club. Kate lives in Ludlow, but joins us weekly as part of our online congregation. You can read more about her and her writing here.
Fr Alan will be leading us in teasing out the theological and ethical themes that often emerge in mystery stories and thrillers set in an ecclesiastical context.
The link for the Zoom seminar can be found here. Meeting ID: 883 2739 3693 Passcode: 1234
More information about our online Zoom Theology Seminars (including Zoom links) can be found here.
Crime novelist Kate Charles will speak at our Zoom Theology seminar entitled, “Holy Murder.”
Lent Appeal 2024
We will be following our usual custom of organising a Lent Appeal to provide a focus for parishioners’ charitable giving during Lent. All funds raised this year will contribute towards the costs of the Mental Health Worker who works at the American Church on the Tottenham Court Road. You can give to our Lent appeal here.
Members of our pilgrimage group from last year’s weekend pilgrimage in July 2023 in the Holy House at Walsingham. The cut off date for booking for this year’s pilgrimage is Easter Day – if you want to come, don’t forget to book your place in time!
Lent Course: Dante’s Inferno
It was good to see so many people gather for our Zoom session last Wednesday. Our next meeting will be in person, here at Margaret St, after the 6.30pm Mass on Tuesday 5th March. All are welcome.
We’ll be looking at Cantos 11-24 of the Inferno. Folks might find this podcast useful as preparation.
Be in touch with Fr Alan (assistantpriest@asms.uk) for more details.
Sacrament of Confession
You can make your confession before or after any celebration of the Mass, or by appointment, with any of our parish clergy during Lent.
In addition, Fr Graeme Rowlands will be available to hear confessions and/or offer spiritual counsel at the following times: Wed 6th March – 5.30 pm; Mon 11th March – 5.30 pm; Mon 18th March – 11.00 am
In last Sunday’s sermon, Fr Peter reflected on the way in which Lent offers the opportunity for us to change and grow in Christ. In the Gospel for Lent 2, the Apostle Peter is incapable of conceiving what the new life might look like which flows from Christ’s death and resurrection. Lent is given to us as a way of opening ourselves up to God’s grace as a way of maturing into our identity in Christ. You can watch the homily again here.
Online Zoom Coffee Hour
Two online Zoom Coffee Hours are planned for the coming months: Sunday 17th March 2024 at 12.45 pm; and Sunday 5th May at 12.45 pm.
These coffee hours offer an opportunity for those who worship with us online, and those who are housebound to meet online for a time of chat, conversation and fellowship. At the end of the High Mass, just make yourself a cup of coffee and join us online. Do put these dates in your diary.
The Zoom link for Sunday 17th March is here; and for Sunday 5th May is here.
Coffee in our beautiful courtyard after Mass on a Sunday morning: an opportunity for parishioners to catch up with each other, share fellowship, and to welcome visitors and newcomers. We also look forward to hearing from our online worshippers via Zoom on 17th March and 5th May.
Attendance last Sunday
From last year’s weekend pilgrimage to Walsingham: pilgrims from All Saints’ enjoy well-earned refreshment at the shrine cafe, the Norton Room. Book your place before the cut off date which is Easter Day!
Prayer List
The Friends of All Saints’ Margaret Street:
March 3rd – Gabriel Simerson, Brad Singer, Ingrid Slaughter, Naomi Slippe, Vaughan Snook, Harvey Solomon-Brady
4th – Gwynedd Sooke, Richard and Louise Stallwood, Iain Stewart, Jason Stewart, Ian and Veronica Summers, Colin Symes, Ann Tacchi
5th – Sebastian Taite-Ellis, Michael Taylor, Kitty Thompson, Charles Thomson, Dr James Thomson, Jeremy Thorp, Dr Christine Vaughn Lillie
6th – Sam Walsh, Christopher Walsh, Christopher Waterhouse, Philip Wayne, Fr. Benjamin Weitzmann, Mats Wendt, Michael Westcott, Dr Roger White
7th – Matthew Whittaker, Tim Widdowfield, David Wilcox, T. Bradford Willis, Ian A. Wilson, Juliet Windham
8th – Dr Philip Wood, Martin Woods, The Rev’d John Wylam, William Yale, Catherine Young, Michael Young
9th – Mark Allan, Martin Amherst-Lock, Mary Attenborough, Robert Austen, Richard Ayling, James Babington Smith, Ruth Baker
The sick:
Javier Barbetta, Martin Berka, David Craig, Roger Dilks, Jason Dunlop, Carol Easthorpe, Clara Exton, James Forde, Gill Hargreaves, Fr. Harry Hodgetts, Lesley Lee, Elizabeth Lyon, James Roger, Bruce Ross-Smith, Jacqueline Wesley
The faithful departed:
Anne Entwistle, Marion Duggan, Clare Hale, Doris Sanders, Timothy Slater
Those whose anniversaries of death fall at this time:
March 3rd – Catherine Packer, Ernest Gittins, Walter Freeth, Bridget Wright, Marion Badger
4th – Kenneth Edwards, Alfred Gorse
5th – George Holden Pr (fourth vicar of All Saints), Gwen Ogilvy
6th – Alice Sutton
7th – Phyllis Wickner, Brigid Beattie-Moriarty
8th – George Gorse, Hope Harris, John Cook
9th – Arthur Smallwood
10th – Alice Styan, Dorothy Gregory, Dennis Cooper Pr
Service times this week
Saturday 2nd March – St Chad
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 3rd March – Lent III
11.00 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction
Monday 4th March – Feria
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass
Tuesday 5th March – Feria
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass
Wednesday 6th March – Feria
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass
Thursday 7th March – Feria
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass
Friday 8th March – Feria
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass
7.00 pm Stations of the Cross
Saturday 9th March – Feria
11.30 Rosary
12 noon Mass
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 10th March – Lent IV
11.00 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction