Weekly Email – Remembrance Sunday
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Dear friends,
I want to express my thanks to everyone who has contributed in any way to the wonderful week of celebration which has been our All Saints’ Festival. It has been an amazing series of opportunities for fellowship and worship. Christ has truly been present in our midst as we have celebrated our communion with all his saints and prayed with hope and joy for the faithful departed.
One of the characteristics of this keeping of our Festival Week has been the high online interaction with the liturgies which we have live-streamed. Of particular note is the number of people who have watched our All Souls’ Day Requiem. At the time of writing, nearly 3,500 people have watched the Mass, with something in the realm of 230 having participated by watching all the way through from beginning to end. I am very grateful indeed to Huw Pryce for all he has done to enable this online offering, and especially for the hard work he has put into getting us ready to broadcast Sunday Evensong each week from now on. Our parish owes him a huge debt of thanks for the way in which his work helps us to reach out to and connect with new people via the internet.
We have seen a remarkable series of parties, receptions and lunches over the past week and I want to express our parish’s thanks to all who have helped organise them. Kate Hodgetts, Chris Self and Janet Drake deserve particular praise for the work they have put into this task. The parish party at First Evensong of the feast was very good fun, and the bar was heaving with people on All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. You can see pictures from the parish lunch we organised on the Festival Sunday in this email. Many thanks to all those who contributed food and to those who provided refreshments for so many over the past week!
The liturgical offering this All Saints-tide has been glorious. I want to thank our choir, musicians and servers for all they have contributed to the spectacular liturgies we have experienced. The music has been of first-rate quality, and we are very grateful to Stevie Farr for all he does to direct music making in our parish at such an impressive level and quality. Our serving team have shown Stakhanovite energy in the way in which they have enabled a series of complex and demanding liturgies to be offered to the glory of God.
We should also express our thanks to those who have helped prepare the church for its many liturgies over the past week. Mention must be made of John Forde for the hours of work he has put into sacristy tasks such as erecting and pulling down the catafalque, and the changing of the East Wall hangings. We also owe a huge amount to all those who arranged the spectacular floral displays that have made such an impression on visitors and regulars alike – they were truly beautiful. I am grateful for the prayerful spirit of cooperation and service which all those who contribute to our liturgies bring to their vocation within our parish.
I pray that the many celebrations we have experienced this week will point us to an inner reality which should give us joy – the fact that in Christ we are all knit into one communion and fellowship, and that through our incorporation into him we know we are the inheritors of nothing less than eternal life.
Fr Peter
In his sermon at our All Saints’ Festival Sunday High Mass, Fr Alan was inspired by our church building as he explained the significance of the communion of the saints. Our fellowship with them re-defines our understanding and experience of time and space as we worship with them and are drawn into the mystery of God. You can watch the homily again here.
Remembrance Sunday
Please note that the High Mass this Sunday (12th Nov) will begin five minutes early at 10.55 am. This allows us to be gathered and ready for the two minutes’ silence at 11.00 am.
As in previous years, the High Mass will include a liturgy of remembrance at the beginning of the Mass and the singing of the National Anthem at the end.
High Mass of Requiem – Ray Oram
A High Mass of Requiem will take place for Ray Oram at 12 noon at St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge, on Saturday 9th December. In order to allow parishioners of All Saints’ to attend, the Rosary and noon Mass here that day will be cancelled.
A huge thank you to our servers for all they have contributed over the past week to our liturgical celebration of All Saints’ and All Souls’. A particular thank you should also be expressed to Mark Fleming for all the excellent photography he has provided of the liturgies which has enabled us to share images of our celebrations on social media.
Evensong and Benediction live-stream
Please note that Evensong and Benediction is now live-streamed each week at 6.00 pm on Sundays via our parish YouTube channel. The music this Sunday includes Byrd’s Fauxbordon canticles, and Schütz’s Selig Sind die Toten. You can watch this Sunday’s Evensong live-stream here.
A huge thank you to all who contributed in any way to the beautiful floral arrangements that bedecked our church for All Saints’ Day. This year’s arrangements were spectacular! Special thanks go to all our flower arrangers: Charlotte Black, Fr Alan Rimmer, Shawn Welby-Cooke, and Paul Weston.
Young Adults outing tomorrow – change of route!
Transport issues from Rye have necessitated a change of plan, and our marsh walk will take place at a later date.
Instead, on Saturday (tomorrow) we’ll meet at St Pancras in time for the 09.37 Ramsgate train, changing at Ashford for the Eastbourne train to Winchelsea. The circular walk will take in St Thomas’, Winchelsea, and Icklesham, where we’ll eat at the lovely Queen’s Head overlooking the Brede Levels. We’ll get the 16.43 train back from Winchelsea, arriving back into town at 17.54.
Be in touch with Fr Alan if you would like to come along.
What a magnificent spread was contributed by the parishioners of All Saints’ for our parish lunch on Sunday. A huge thank you to all you helped serve it and clear away!
All Saints’ Festival Appeal
Don’t forget that the All Saints’ Festival Appeal runs until the end of November. The two focusses of this year’s All Saints’-tide appeal will be the American Soup Kitchen on the Tottenham Court Road, and the Mark Bushby Scholarship Fund. All funds raised will be split equally between the two causes.
The Soup Kitchen at the American International Church on the Tottenham Court Road is well known to us and is a project we have supported for many years. Our donations will go towards the costs of their mental health worker.
The Mark Bushby Scholarship Fund was set up in his memory by his friends in 2021 to fund a scholarship with Brent Music Service. Each scholarship provides a promising young musician with four years of one-on-one instrumental tuition, and is administered by the London Music Fund (Registered Charity 1141216). Scholars come from families who would not otherwise be able to afford music lessons for their children.
The appeal will run until the end of November. You can donate to the appeal online here.
Parishioners enjoy our parish lunch in honour of our All Saints’ Festival Sunday.
Guest preacher – Sunday 19th November
We welcome the Revd Kathrine Bellhouse as our preacher at the High Mass on Sunday 19th November. She is Fr Michael Bowie’s curate at St Peter’s Eastern Hill, Melbourne, and will be spending some time on holiday in England this month. She comes to us with Fr Michael’s highest approbation, and we look forward to hearing her preach for us.
Virtual Coffee Hour – Sunday 19th November
Our next virtual coffee hour after the High Mass will take place on Sunday 19th November and will be hosted by Fr Alan. The Zoom link is here. (Meeting ID: 815 3380 0451; Passcode: Sybil)
The idea behind this is simple: if you are an online worshipper, grab a cup of coffee and join Fr Alan online via Zoom for a chat and catch-up directly after the end of the High Mass.
Next Zoom Theology Seminar
Our next Zoom Theology session will take place online on Tuesday, December 5th, 2023, at 7.00 pm. It will be entitled, “A small world in a great one: Eco-Theology and St Maximus the Confessor,” and will be led by Fr Nathan Mulcock.
Fr Nathan is Chaplain of Mansfield College, Oxford, and is pursuing a doctorate in in the realm of Eco-Theology, with particular reference to the Patristic theologian St Maximus the Confessor.
He will introduce us to the parameters of this modern discipline and also give us an opportunity for the closer reading of some of the ancient texts that inform them. The Zoom link and further information can be found here.
We are very grateful indeed to Fr Jeremy Haselock for leading our Mystagogy course on Tuesday night on Dom Gregory Dix’s great work, The Shape of the Liturgy. It was a splendid evening of reflection on the liturgical tradition of the Church and our participation in Christ through worship.
Attendance last Sunday
Flowers
Prayer List
The Friends of All Saints’ Margaret Street:
November 12th – Mark Allan, Martin Amherst-Lock, Mary Attenborough, Robert Austen, Richard Ayling, James Babington Smith, Ruth Baker
13th – Stephen Baldwin, Stephen Barber, Dr William Benefield, Fr Adrian Berry, Charlotte Black, Graeme Bloom, Colin Bodkin
14th – William Bonnell, John Bristow, Eric Broglé, Paul Brough, David Blunden, Fr Michael Bowie, Dr Graham Burns
15th – Derek Bussey, Maureen Cambrey, Adrian Carlton-Oatley, Kate Charles, Stuart Chillingworth, Robert Chote, Sandy Christian
16th – Roger Clark, Catharine Clarke, David and Mavis Cleggett, Graham Colville, Alan Cook, Dr Patrick Cook, Eliza Coomber
17th – Karolyn Cooper, William Cooper Bailey, Peter Coulson, Steven Cox, Dr Yvonne Craig, Julie Cridland, Juliet Cridland
18th – Kirill Dashkovskiy, Christopher Davies, Robert Davies, Peter Dennis, Laura Denton, Joshua Dolphin, Suzanna Eaton
The sick:
Javier Barbetta, Martin Berka, Roy Breare, Roger Dilks, Fr. Harry Hodgetts, Elizabeth Lyon, Ian Lyon, Frances O’Neil, James Roger, Bruce Ross-Smith, Mary Rowe
The faithful departed:
Keith Bevan, John Chapman, Betty Draper, Fr John O’Brien, Ray Oram, Alan Osbourne
Those whose anniversaries of death fall at this time:
November 12th – John Mayo Pr, Miss CFR Keeble
13th – Arthur Hutchings
14th – Sidney Dines, Annie Searles, George Scott, Ethel Rawll, Sam Thorpe, Graham Hawke, Rachel Clayton
15th – Genge Frank Genge Pr, Herbert Brackley, Janette Brierly, Cecil Everton
16th – William Foster, Alfred Stephens
17th – Elizabeth Church, Jonathan Walker, Rodney Beasley
18th – Nadine Olivey, Norman Caplin
19th – Clifford Doyle Pr, Joan Roberts, Donald Page
Service times this week
Sunday 12th November – Remembrance Sunday
10.55 am High Mass
5.15 pm Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction
Monday 13th November – Feria
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass
Tuesday 14th November – Feria
12.00 pm Mass
6.00 pm Mass
Wednesday 15th November – Feria
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass
Thursday 16th November – St Edmund of Abingdon
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass
Friday 17th November – St Hilda of Whitby
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass
Saturday 18th November – Feria
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 19th November – Second before Advent
11.00 am High Mass
5.15 pm Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction