All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear Friends,

It will be our great joy and delight on Sunday to celebrate the baptism of Aslan Rose Juniper. Her parents will bring her to church and undertake to bring her up in the practice of the Christian faith. As she is baptised, she is made one with Christ, her participation in original sin is wiped away, and she is placed on the pilgrimage of faith through life that leads to God.

How closely, by complete serendipity, our readings this Sunday point to some of the mysteries that lie at the heart of Christian baptism.

Our first reading speaks of the way in which some of the spirit of Moses was placed on the seventy elders given power to act in Moses’ name. They are given the power to prophesy, and so is each and every one of us when we are baptized, because we begin to share in Christ’s character as prophet, priest and king.

We are called not just to live in accordance with the mores of the culture we live in, but to speak for Christ and embody the gospel in our way of life. This may sometimes involve a challenge to the ways of the world, or the expectations of those who surround us, but Christ calls us to do this for the sake of love.

Our gospel reading carries on this theme when it recounts the way in which the disciples attempt to stop someone unknown to them who had been casting out demons in Jesus’ name. “Whoever is not against us is for us,” Jesus teaches them.

In baptism we are called to renounce evil and turn to Christ. Part of the public vocation of a baptized Christian involves working for the common good of all, with all people of good will – with “whoever is not against us” –  so that the whole world will come to see something of the justice, peace and love of the Kingdom of Heaven.

As we surround Aslan and her family with our prayers and good wishes this Sunday, let us use this Sunday as an opportunity to reflect on how we can live out our baptismal vocation more faithfully and more effectively through the prophetic character which our lives must have, and through our contribution to the common good.

Fr Peter

Ravenna

Please put in your diary two teaching events fast approaching, focussed on the history and theology of the city of Ravenna in antiquity.

Study Day: Friday 29th October 2021 – 10.00 am – 4.00 pm

The first is our study day led by Professor Judith Herrin. She will explore the history of that remarkable city in the early christian centuries and speak about its significance as one of the first truly “European” city that emerges in the early medieval period from the “Dark” Ages. Our second speaker will be Fr Anders Bergquist, vicar of St Johns Wood. He will reflect on the interaction between theology, politics and history in the city’s life. Fr Peter Anthony, our own vicar, will offer a third lecture focussing on the mosaics to be found in a significant church in Ravenna, S. Apollinare in Classe.

The day will begin at 10.00 am and be finished by around 4.00 pm. There is no need to book a ticket for this – simply turn up.

Zoom online theology seminar: Tuesday 16th November 2021 – 7.00 pm

A fortnight or so after our study day, there will be an opportunity to discuss in greater depth Judith Herrin’s recent book on Ravenna, entitled, “Ravenna: Capital of Empire; Crucible of Europe.” We will have much to reflect on in response to the study day, and people will have had the chance to read Professor Herrin’s work. This online Zoom seminar is a particularly good opportunity for people who couldn’t attend the study day to come together online and discuss issues and ideas that the book raises.

The Zoom link for the Ravenna online seminar is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81523184678

Thanks for new vestments

We are very grateful indeed to a generous benefactor for the donation of two new dalmatics to All Saints. They have been made to complement a Low Mass set of vestments which we possessed already, but which can now be used during the Solemn High Mass on Sundays. They look absolutely beautiful and will be a handsome and lasting contribution to the sacristy of All Saints’, which will be able to be used in the liturgy for many years to come. Many thanks indeed.

Volunteers needed

As we move into the autumn I would like to make a significant appeal for volunteers needed for two big changes to our parish’s life as we emerge from COVID: the reopening of our church building during the day to visitors; and the reintroduction of an extra daily evening Mass.

Daily Evening Mass

We need to find a number of new people who currently do not attend the midday Mass to “sponsor” an evening Mass each and undertake to attend it. This will ensure there will be people present to answer the Mass and welcome newcomers in these first few months as we build up our evening attendance. It would be good if two people could undertake to support each evening Mass, Monday to Saturday (i.e. we need at least 12 new volunteers).

I would be very grateful if people – especially those who work in town, and those who actually intend to attend an evening Mass – could give me some sense of whether 6.00 pm or 6.30 pm would be the better time for a re-introduced evening Mass, so we can make a better informed decision on what would be best.

To volunteer for this important and useful duty, please either sign up on the forms at the back of church, or email me directly.

The reopening of All Saints to visitors during the day

We also need people to volunteer as church welcomers for an hour or two a week so that the church is staffed through the whole of the time that it is open. There will be appropriate training offered to those who volunteer, and we will organise a rota so that the whole time is covered appropriately each week. People will be asked to undertake this duty in pairs so nobody is left on their own in church.

To volunteer for this work, please sign up on the forms at the back of church, or email me directly saying how much time you can spare and when you are available.

I hope these changes in our parish’s life are a sign that new opportunities are being presented to us to interact with the world and communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I urge you to reflect on whether you can spare a little time each week to help with these two crucial projects. I would be hugely grateful if you are able!

Fr Peter

Links for Sunday

The link for the Propers for Trinity 17 is at the end of this email.

And click here for the YouTube live stream.

Evensong and Benediction is at 6pm. This Sunday the music includes Howells St John’s service, Reger Unser lieben Frauen Traum, and Harry Bramma Benediction hymns.

Organ Recital, Sunday 3.30pm

Jeremiah Stephenson, our Associate Director of Music, will give an organ recital at All Saints this Sunday afternoon with the title ‘Organ music for FUN’. The programme features works by Bairstow, Whitlock, Lemare, and Iain Farrington. It lasts half an hour, and entrance is free.

Flowers

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.

Prayer list

Prisoners and captives

Nazanin Zhagari-Ratcliffe, Ismaeil Maghrebinejad, Nasrin Sotoudeh
Maira Shabhaz
Rohingya Christians in Pakistan and Karen Christians in Burma

The sick

David Fettke, Vallery Tchukov, Sara Vice, Katherine Lee, Lorna Smith, Beth Klausing, Hilary Porter, Bruce Ross-Smith, Benjamin Woolf, James Shrimpton, Tony Rodger, Fr Michael Gudgeon, Chris and Carole Radley, Fr Harry Hodgetts, Rosemary Orr, Martin Berka, Barbara Schiefer, Joan Anna SLG, Poppy Harris-Thompson, Sheila Wood, Jennifer Spreckley, Sue Yesnick, Elizabeth Lyon, Rosina Sargon Eskrya, Malcolm Brown, Geoff Vardy, Fr John O’Brien, Max Fernandes, Craig Williams, Ross Dixon, Bernard Holmes, Elaine Bishop, Kathleen McMorran, Muriel Woodhead, Sabria Systermans, Peter Hoyle, Bishop Andrew St John, Emily Borland, Hazel Duckett

Those known to us recently departed

Rachel Pereira, Henrietta Osler, Colin Urquhart, Derek Mathews

Anniversaries of death

26th – Evelyne Steele, Mickaël Charbonneau, Lilian Exten, Lynn Evans
27th – Sister Mary OHP
28th – Marjorie Gaskell, Evan Windham, Mark Bushby
29th – Alfred Davis
30th – Jack Minnett, Leslie Thomas, Brenda Kirk, John Shand Pr
OCTOBER 1st – Edith Fricker, Alice Sexton, Edward Grant
2nd –

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 GiftAid, 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).