All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear friends,

I am writing to appeal for new volunteers for our church welcoming rota.

You may not be aware, but a large number of parishioners volunteer regularly to staff our church in the afternoons from Monday to Friday. They welcome visitors and ensure the safety of all those in the building.

I have lost count of the number of visitors who have said the thing that most struck them about their first experience of All Saints’ was the fact that there was a friendly human face there to welcome them. Our welcomers answer any questions people have about the building and are able to tell them about our parish’s life of faith.

It is a crucially important ministry of welcome in Christ’s name and makes a huge difference to how people think about our parish and experience our church for the first time.

I frequently speak to newcomers on Sunday mornings who say they came earlier on the week to see the church, started chatting with the welcomer at the door, and decided to come and try us out on Sunday!

Welcoming the newcomer and the visitor is a hugely crucial part of living the gospel out in a way that sees Christ present in the stranger and the seeker. It is a way of expressing God’s unconditional love, and of helping people on their journey of faith, as they experience the presence of the living God in our beautiful church.

Church welcoming takes place every afternoon from Monday to Friday and is divided into two slots. The first runs from 1.30 pm until around 3.30 pm; and the second runs from 3.30 pm until around 5.30 pm.

Some people come once a week to do a slot, whilst others do once a month or every fortnight. Quentin Williams organises the rota and can take into account any diary complexities you may have, or your changing availability.

The task is to sit in the quiet church and to gently and appropriately welcome all those who visit. It’s not about pestering people or clobbering them over the head with the Christian faith, but more about listening and attending to their questions and thoughts. Some want to chat; others want to be silent and ponder in the quiet church. You don’t have to be a great theologian or a gregarious extrovert to do with job – it’s more about simply being friendly, warm and open to visitors’ questions and reflections.

We used to have something in the region of around 25 volunteers for this task. For various different reasons, however, this has dwindled to around 10 over the past few months. Some people have moved away; others can no longer spare the time during the working day; one or two have found health problems mean they can no longer volunteer in this way.

It has to be said that this role is particularly suited to those who are retired and that the lion’s share of this important ministry is usually done by those who do not work. I want to thank those who volunteer in this capacity for the extraordinary generosity they show in the gift of their time and attention.

If you feel you could spare a slot of two hours or so on a weekday afternoon for this important work, please be in touch with the parish office or with Quentin Williams directly. It can be as often as is convenient for you – we are particularly keen that volunteers don’t feel suddenly lumbered with too great a commitment of time.

This is a very significant part of our parish’s ministry of welcome and makes a big difference to the way in which we express God’s love to those who visit our church and seek God here. I urge you to ponder whether this might be something you can help with.

Fr Peter

Thank you, John and Paul!

A huge thank you to Paul Weston and John McWhinney for the splendid parish barbecue they organised last Sunday. It was such a treat and a real pleasure to explore the Hermitage Moorings, where they live. The cuisine was first rate!

The Hermitage Community Moorings is a cooperative which created and owns a mooring for boats on the Thames in Wapping, near to what used to be the Hermitage Wharf.

The moorings’ website states, “part of its ambition is to ensure traditional river craft (e.g. sailing barges, tugs and motor craft) remain part of the Wapping landscape for future generations – and to create a local landmark that promotes Wapping’s historic links with the river.”

The boat-dwellers who live there have a beautiful community room on the main pontoon as you enter the moorings, which is where John and Paul served their delicious barbecue. The room gives remarkable views out onto the river-scape of the Thames, with Tower Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral in the middle distance, and passing river traffic sailing by.

Thank you so much for a delicious spread, Paul and John. We are so grateful for all the time and effort you went to in preparing a wonderful lunch!

Thank you and congratulations, Jan!

Many congratulations to Jan Fielden whose birthday we will celebrate on Sunday with drinks in the courtyard after the High Mass. Our parish wishes to express its deep thanks to her for donating to the church a new set of green Low Mass vestments in honour of the occasion. They will be blessed on Sunday at the High Mass and will be used for the first time at the 5.15 pm Mass.

The Low Mass set has been expertly made by Geneviève Gomi, and incorporates two antique violet 19th Century embroidered orphreys Fr Peter happened to find on his last visit to Paris.

We are very grateful indeed to Jan for her generosity and for this significant and lasting contribution to the patrimony of our parish. We look forward to celebrating her birthday on Sunday!

Parish Office Administrator

All Saints’ is seeking to appoint a new parish office administrator. The post is half time. Salary: £17,820 per annum. Closing date for applications: Sunday 17th September 2023. Interviews during the week beginning: Monday 25th September 2023. More information available here.

Please be in touch with Fr Peter if you wish to apply for this post. Please let anyone know who might be interested in this role, and share our advert on social media if you are able.

Virtual Coffee Hour THIS Sunday

There will be a “Virtual Coffee Hour” this Sunday (3rd September) at 12.30 pm. The Zoom link can be found here and the Zoom meeting with be hosted by Fr Peter.

The idea behind this is simple: if you are an online worshipper, grab a cup of coffee and join us online via Zoom for a chat directly after the end of the High Mass. We look forward to being able to catch up with friends and parishioners online!

Young Adults Group

On Thursday 7th September, Fr Alan will host a dinner for our younger parishioners from 7.00 pm. Please email him if you would like to attend.

Parish lunch on Sunday 10th September

A parish lunch will take place on Sunday 10th September at 1.15 pm at the Pierre Victoire restaurant on Dean Street. The cost of the lunch (two courses) will be £25 (to be paid beforehand to the parish office via our Paypal account here) – diners buy their own wine.

The guest of honour on this occasion will be Fr Michael Bowie, our former Assistant Priest, who will be preaching at the High Mass that day. We look forward to seeing him again.

To book a place, please email the parish office.

Zoom Theology

Our online theology seminar by Zoom resumes this autumn, giving those from further afield the opportunity to join in the discussion of a text or subject. These Zoom seminars always take place on Tuesdays at 7.00pm and last for no more than an hour.

Topics for our forthcoming seminars include: the religious thought of Benjamin Disraeli; Eco-Theology and Maximus the Confessor; a refresher session in the doctrinal history of the Early Church; theological murder mysteries; and James Alison, René Girard and the theological concept of the Scapegoat.

For further details, along with the Zoom links, please go to the “Online Zoom Theology” section on the parish website here.

Parish Outings: Autumn 2023

A range of parish outings are planned for the autumn: a visit to the London Cartoon Museum on Thursday 5th October at 7.00 pm; a parish cinema trip to see the film “The Miracle Club” on Saturday 7th October; and a visit to the London Fo Guang Shan Temple on Saturday 28th October at 3.00 pm.

Full details can be found here. Please be in touch with our parish office to book your place.

Mystagogy Course

Our mystagogy course is an opportunity for newer Christians – and those seeking to re-new their engagement with the Faith – to come together over some classic Christian texts, varying in subject and register.

There will be five sessions through the autumn of 2023, involving discussion over a simple supper at Number 6, Margaret Street, after the 6.30pm Mass. We will wrap up by 9pm. The topics for discussion will include: Augustine’s Confessions; Sarah Coakley’s “The New Asceticism”; the Catholic Revival in the Church of England; Evelyn Underhill; and Dom Gregory Dix’s great work, “The Shape of the Liturgy.”

The expectation is that those who sign up commit to attendance at all the sessions – we’d like this to involve a sense of momentum and growing together as we study different areas of Christian life, mindful too of our identity as Anglo-Catholics within the Church. Full details of dates and topics can be found  here.

Farewell, Sebastian!

Sebastian Tate-Ellis writes about an exciting move that his vocational journey is taking him on over the next few weeks. He will be leaving London to work as an school assistant chaplain. We wish him well, thank him for all he has contributed to our parish’s life, and assure him of our prayers.

As some of you may know, I’m leaving London at the end of this month. I’m starting an exciting new chapter of my life as a Chaplaincy Assistant at a boarding school in Rutland. Most of you will know that I am discerning for priesthood and this is a big step for me in working it all out.

It’s been an amazing five years in London and I’ve met some of the most incredible people. It’s been my home for my all adult life and I’ve lived in North, East, South and West. In that time I’ve spent the last few years worshipping here at All Saints Margaret Street after going to a few different churches around the city. I have been so blessed to be a part of the amazing community and to have taken part in the sacraments available at the church. A highlight of my time here has been serving in the amazing team and contributing what I can to the life of the church. I want to thank all the wonderful people that I have met and worked with.

I will be able to come back to All Saints during school holidays and so will still be in touch with the amazing congregation and traditions at the church. I hope to see you all soon and will keep you all in my prayers.

Sebastian

Attendance last Sunday

Links for Sunday

Prayer list

September 3rd – Fr. Michael Bowie, John Bristow, Eric Broglé, Fr. Julian Browning, Kate Burling, Graham Burns
4th – Maureen Cambrey, Adrian Carlton-Oatley, Kate Charles, Stuart Chillingworth, Robert Chote, Sandy Christian
5th – Roger Clark, Catharine Clarke, David and Mavis Cleggett, Graham Colville, Alan Cook, Patrick Cook
6th – Eliza Coomber, Karolyn Cooper, William Cooper Bailey, Peter Coulson, Steven Cox, Yvonne Craig
7th – Julie Cridland, Kirill Dashkovskiy, Christopher Davies, Robert Davies, Jack de Gruiter, Peter Dennis
8th – Laura Denton, Suzanna Eaton, Linda Edwards, Pamela Edwards, John Eldridge, Terrence Ellsworth
9th – Sue Enoch, Carolyn Farrar, Sue Feakin, Adrian Felaar, Daniel Fielden, Janice Fielden, Julia Fielden