December 2011

 

 

 

By now you cannot have failed to see in the press and on TV the encampment outside St. Paul's Cathedral. The trouble it has caused is beyond belief, but the saddest thing of all as far as I am concerned is the public pronouncements by so many Bishops and other church dignitaries on the rights and wrongs of the situation when they have no idea of the true facts and developments. They have taken press reports at face value and spoken without thought for the people in the midst of the situation, the Dean and Chapter. The pressure on them has been almost unbearable and the constant criticism has only made it worse.

 It was this lack of support from within the church that caused the Dean to resign, and two other Canons came close to taking the similar action. Whether or not they actually agree with the actions the Chapter took their avowed repudiation on a public platform has left the church in massive disarray. They spoke without knowing the true facts, and in many cases I suspect jumped on a press bandwagon to gain what was perceived as some street credibility. 

 Surely as Christians we must learn not to do this. Sound bites do not produce missionary activity. A listening process trying to understand both sides of a debate is surely the right way. Fog horn diplomacy seldom produces results!

 There is little doubt that mistakes were made at St. Paul's but the Dean and Chapter were in uncharted waters. There has never been a situation such as this before. They acted on the advice of professional people, Lawyers and Safety Officers. Even the City Corporation have been floundering and both failed in the PR support they received. 

 The process of selecting a new Dean is already underway and it is hoped that they may be in office by late spring though I am not sure if anyone will want to take on the poisoned chalice that the Church has made this job. We will have to wait and see!

 In the meantime the Cathedral continues to suffer from people defecating against the walls and urine is beginning to seep into the crypt as the residents of the encampment fail to use the porta loos provided. It seems as if they will be there till at least the end of January and possibly longer. So please do remember the staff of our Cathedral Church in your prayers as they struggle to cary on the day to day hectic life of the Cathedral while also dealing with the extraordinary events unfolding on their doorstep and remaining pastorally sensitive to the many needy folk who are now encamped around the Cathedral. 

 

On a happier note can I ask you all to look at Bill Saunders article on page 6 as we prepare to host the winter shelter once again. It is a large task but an immensely rewarding one to work with the homeless in this way and to see so many of them successfully re housed, found work or supported in some other way. 

 As you talk to those who we host it becomes very clear that there but for the grace of God goes any one of us. You may well think that it could never happen to you, but many of the folk we see thought that also. Last weeks Gospel story of Jesus telling his disciples that as they did it to one of the least of their brethren they did it to him is an inspiration for all of us. The more of us help the less of a burden it is on any one. 

 Don't be put off, we are not dealing with drunks and drug addicts those we care for are carefully screened, but that does not make them any the less needy. Perhaps the greatest gift we could give this Christmas is to offer a little of our time to care for those in need in the night shelter.

 

And a final footnote to please remember the Carol Singing at Ingestre Road Old Peoples Home. Its always a bit of a hit and miss affair with who has gone to bed etc. but the residents do appreciate our visit and many join in with the carols and enjoy the readings, some biblical some poetic. We will be going along to the home on Tuesday 20th December at 7.00pm, so please do join us if you can and help bring a little joy into the elderly folks lives.

 

Your Parish Priest

 

 

Guy Pope

 

 

 

November 2011

 

 

 

I can't decide whether it seems half a lifetime away or only yesterday that I was Inducted into the living of St. Mary Brookfield, but it was on 29th of November 1986 a rather chilly saturday afternoon that we gathered for the service. Large numbers of friends and previous parishioners joined the small congregation of St. Mary's for a joyful service at which a choir of some 40 people sang with my Director of Music from St. Paul's New Southgate playing. 

 

Little did I think that the next twenty-five years would be so busy and happy. So much has changed over those years. I have to admit that on the following day, Advent Sunday I looked at the congregation and thought that I would be likely to bury most of them, and I have, along with some that I never expected to. But that is part of life in Dartmouth Park, an ever changing group of people who need to be welcomed, involved, and waved good by to. 

 

I was well aware that we would have to deal with the electric's and the heating, but all the other developments of the Church and Hall were to be for the future. Some of you will remember Anthony Allen who came to live in the Vicarage and took over the Magazine, and started the whole of our printing business. I am sure that without his immense input things would have been very different. Betty Saunders gave me an huge amount of support as Churchwarden for which I shall for ever be grateful and Fred and Carol Kenning were to transform the affairs of the Hall turning it into a valued local facility that also contributed to the finances of the Church. 

 

Then some eighteen months later the arrival of Simon Berry as Director of Music was to add a new and valued dimension to our worship. So many projects over the years have come and gone, yet none more important that our involvement in the Winter Night Shelter. It is a vital part of the commitment of the community of St. Mary's to the local area. Yes most of the clients come from inner London, but it demonstrates our commitment to caring for our neighbour and is beginning to ring bells with a number of people in the community outside the church. It will probably never increase the congregation by many, but is a huge witness to what we believe Christ stood for.

 

Growing confidence in what we can achieve as we proclaim Christ's love for his world is vital if we are to survive as a church and congregation. Bill Saunders has shown us all that with a bit of enthusiasm we can do it. So a very big thank you to Bill for helping us to look out from ourselves. I hope that his example will inspire others to develop other positive community activities. 

 

The month of November is full of remembrances All Souls Day, Remembrance Sunday, and Christ the King when we remember and give thanks for the Kingship of Christ in our lives. But giving thanks for past friendships and successes must lead us to plan for the future and so as always I shall be writing to all of you this month asking you to review how you may contribute to the life of St. Mary's. Not just in a monetary sense but also in so many of the other jobs that make the parish work. There will be a new promise form this year, so please do read it carefully and think seriously how you might contribute. Yes we do need financial contributions, but more than anything else we need YOU. 

 

Thank you for all the support and help you have given to me and the parish over the last twenty-five years. Lets make the coming years even more special by redoubling our efforts to bring Christ to those amongst whom we live.

 

Your Parish Priest

 

Guy Pope

 

 

 

 

September 2011

 

A member of the congregation recently celebrated a significant birthday. So as well as receiving gifts form family and friends they arrived at church with a large trolly which was clearly heavy and clinking as it moved!. Without realising I questioned if they were about to have a party. No came the reply I have bought a gift for the church as a thanksgiving for my life. When we opened it there was bottles of Communion Wine for the next few months. What a lovely thing to do and a great example to us all. There are all sorts of things in the life of the church we could sponsor as a thank offering, flowers in memory of a loved one, candles for the light that we are given in Christ and many more. So how about it. Next time you have something to thank God for how about a gift to the Church.

 

Turning to some less happy matters, it was in the middle of July that Jonathan Clinch came and told me that he and Rachel would be leaving to return to Durham. As you know Jonathan has been pursuing his studies in order to gain a Doctorate in Music. His plan has been to complete this by next year, and quite by chance he was offered a house sit in Durham for a year and then Rachel was offered a job in the University for a year. So sadly we say good by to them at the end of August. 

Despite being here for only a year they have both contributed in a significant way. Jonathan of course in the music that he has give us. His playing of the Organ in particular will long be remembered for its verve and skill. Many times his improvisations after the Gospel have brought a smile to many faces in the congregation, and the applause he received at the end of his voluntaries recognised his ability to interpret great pieces of music. But Rachel too has been a valued member of the congregation. always willing to step in at the last moment to read or intercede or serve if there was a problem. Thank you both of you, we will miss you and wish you well for the future. 

As to Jonathan's replacement I have put out various feelers through a number of contacts including the music staff at the Cathedral. If these come to nothing we will once again have to advertise the post. This will inevitably take time, though I have organised cover for some weeks with people we already know.

(NB since writing we have been delighted to appoint James Hearn as the new Director of Music - more to follow next month)

 

August has also seen the departure of Flick and Aiden Bradley and Francis to pastures new in Manchester. Its not very often we have a three day old baby in church, and Francis arrival will long be remembered by those who were here. Aiden's new job at Manchester School for Girls will give him huge new responsibilities as Head of Music in a school where the music department is on a bit of a low. So much for him to do and the possibility of Flick working for him when she ends her maternity leave. Again we will miss them all. 

 

Lastly I am pleased to report that as I write the conversion of the basement of the Hall into a flat will be completed today. The contractors have worked incredibly hard under very difficult circumstances. The problems that we have faced with the project have been manifold, yet they have simply got on with the job and completed it in only one week more than originally envisaged. 

However the costs have risen significantly as we discovered some of the problems left us by the builders of the hall in 1954. They built the Hall very well, in fact our current  builders describe it as a Rolls Royce build. Sadly they didn't do such a good job around the outside of the building as we discovered when we started to dig the Light Wells that Camden Planning had insisted upon. However the work is finished and we now have a very pleasant one bed roomed flat to let. It will take some years to pay back into our reserves all that we have spent, but at least we have a valuable asset that will hopefully bring us a good income for many years to come. 

 

Your Parish priest

 

 

Guy Pope

 

 

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The Way I See It  After the Riots

 

'The sound of violence shall be heard no longer in your land, or ruin and destruction within your borders.' So promised the prophet Isaiah 2,500 years ago. At least his words prove that violence, ruin and destruction have always been part of human experience.

 

Nowadays we usually encounter them only through the television screen, but in August we were sharply reminded, in the street riots in many English cities, that they are still part of modern life in what we like to think of as a civilised and liberal democracy. The sight of youths smashing shop windows, torching cars and attacking the police with stones and bottles was bad enough.

 

Even worse, though, was the footage of many of them, accompanied often by adults, men and women, openly looting shops and department stores. 'Free stuff!' was the message on Facebook, though of course it isn't 'free'. Someone has paid for it, but not the people who were doing the looting.

 

For a week or so the thin veneer of civilisation which disguises the potential evil of the human heart was stripped away. Normal standards of behaviour seemed to have been suspended and there were public calls for the Government to send in the Army, use water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets - anything, to restore law and order to our streets. Happily, they weren't necessary. The restraint and wisdom of Asian community leaders in Birmingham - Muslim and Sikh standing side by side - after the killing of three young men from their community, sent out the message that violence is not defeated by violence.

 

Streets were cleaned up, but it will take a long while to heal the fear in many hearts, or repair the damage to homes, shops and businesses. What can we do? We can pray, of course - pray that Isaiah's vision may be fulfilled. But prayer must be accompanied by action. We have stood by too long while an under-educated, unemployed and largely unemployable under-class has grown up in our big cities.

 

There have been warning signs - the Brixton riots thirty years ago, Broadwater Farm 25 years ago, gun crimes in Birmingham, knife attacks and gang warfare in London during recent years. Envy mingled with resentment is a dangerous cocktail. Church and community leaders can do much, but they need the support of the whole of society, because a price will have to be paid and in the end we shall all have to help to foot the bill.

 

David Winter

 

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Do you know where you're going to?

 

Billy Graham, the great American evangelist, told this story at one of his last public appearances:

 

'Albert Einstein, the great physicist, was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn't there. He looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn't find it.

 

'The conductor said, "Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it." Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket. The conductor rushed back in dismay and said, "Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry, I know who you are; no problem. You don't need a ticket."

 

'Einstein looked at him and said sadly, "Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don't know, is where I'm going!''

 

Graham concluded: 'When you hear I'm dead, I want you to remember this: I not only know who I am, I also know where I'm going."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 2011

 

May I first of all say a big thank you to all who helped to make the Fete such a great success. The result was a profit of about £1050 which although not quite back to the record year of 2009 is very considerably up on last years total. There was a great response from helpers and a splendid atmosphere on the day. 

 

These events are greatly appreciated by the wider community who constantly need to be reminded that we are very much alive and active. Only last week I was visiting a family to prepare for a funeral to be told that they thought St. Mary's had been closed for years and was derelict! It was for this reason that the PCC in a recent discussion resolved to try to have the church open on more occasions so that people might to able to wander in for a time of quiet or even a chat. However we are not alone in having this problem, a tourist visiting St. Paul's Cathedral recently asked when they gave up having services there! So events drawing in the local community are very important for us to showcase ourselves to the neighbourhood.

 

However the income generated this year is doubly important as the PCC decided that we had no alternative but to go ahead with the conversion of the basement of the Church Hall into a one bedroomed flat. Despite trying to let the space for many months there was no interest in it as a commercial space, and so an application for planning approval was made for the conversion. It has taken almost two years to get to this stage, but work will begin in the first week of July. The builders expect it to take some five weeks though we anticipate a little longer. Unfortunately the guide price that we were given some time ago proved to be over optimistic so we are faced with a bill expected to be around £60,000 for the work. Although it will generate us a good income once the flat is let it will leave us very short on our capital reserves which will be lower than they have been in the last twenty five years. We will have to hope and pray that we do not have any major problems in the near future as there will not be any spare cash to deal with them. If by any chance you know of someone who is looking for a flat in the area please do let them know that it will be available from the beginning of September, and that they can contact me for a viewing and rental details. If we can save an agents fee so much the better!

 

At the end of this month we shall be saying good by to Flick and Aiden Bradley and Francis. His Baptism on 31st July will be just before they move to Manchester. Aiden has been appointed Director of Music at Manchester School for Girls with the task of upgrading music throughout the school. The cost of property made the move an enticing prospect for them and as they both know Manchester having been at University there they were not daunted by the prospect of the rain! We shall miss them both and especially Aiden's prowess at selling tickets for the Tombola. No one could get past him without buying some tickets and then encouraged to come back for more. We wish them well for the future and look forward to seeing them when they visit friends in London. 

 

Your Parish Priest

 

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News from Fr. Nicholas in Rio

 

Cloud with a silver lining

For many years that old Sunday School song has proved only too true for members of the Church of Christ the King, in the City of God: 'The rains came down and the floods came up.'

 

Thanks to drug traffickers, who used to hide up on the church roof from the police, and young children looking for a good vantage point to fly their kites, holes in the tiles meant that every downpour left us with a lot of mopping up. Since our present building was dedicated 20 years ago, financial hardship ensured hardly a 'centavo' was spent on maintenance. Besides the roof, the electrics have gone bust and the brickwork is covered in grime. We set about raising money locally for repairs and a number of special events brought in more than we expected but not enough for all that needed doing.

 

Then out of the blue came major donations from two women in London - one who had died leaving money in her will and one who had recently heard about our leaks and puddles. We expect the facelift to be finished any day now and thank God for people with the imagination to make a difference on the other side of their world.

 

Waste not, want not

Some people thought our pastoral assistant Luiz Coelho was about to do a magic trick the day he climbed into an old water tank. But ever since then a different kind of disappearing act has been taking place. Church members have been leaving their household leftovers in the tank to mix with garden waste, which weeks later turns into compost.

 

Composting is just one way in which we're trying to take our commitment to the environment seriously in a community whose streets are piled with rubbish and whose green spaces are more a shade of brown. We're also installing a rainwater collector that will enable us to water the plants in our garden and clean the building without having to use the mains water supply, and we've got a recycling point where local people can separate and dispose of their refuse.

 

It's all chimed in nicely with a Lent study course on environmental issues which has left us all singing its catchy if challenging anthem: 'Our Mother Earth, Lord, groans day and night in pain. Is it the pain of birth or simply distress? It all depends on us!'

 

The sound of music

When the church school closed nearly a decade ago, the building was given a new lease of life as a community centre, offering a meeting space to social groups at low cost. In recent years we've provided a home to Opening Doors, which runs adult training courses in everything from hairdressing to plumbing, and a diocesan healthcare project, which provides free psychotherapy.

 

Just recently they have been joined by two new organisations: the local branch of Narcotics Anonymous and the City of God School of Music and Citizenship. The music school aims to form a youth orchestra and choir for the area with up to 200 members. Each day children arrive in their specially printed

T-shirts for lessons, and the sounds of recorders and cellos, violins and flutes have started to fill the air. But the centre is now well past its sell-by date, and if we want to continue to be a transformational place where people can become what God wants them to be, we must rebuild. The fundraising campaign for 'The Anglican Space' begins in London in July.

 

A communion of saints

I'm so used to declaring my belief in the Communion of Saints that it came as quite a surprise to be visited by one! The Compass Rose Society - named after the symbol of the Anglican Communion - was created in 1997 to help provide financial support for the work of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Every year the society visits a province in the Communion. This time it was the turn of Brazil, and the City of God was on the itinerary. The 20 members - including the president, Bishop Philip Poole from Canada, and Canon Kenneth Kearon, the Anglican Communion's Secretary General - started their day in Cidade de Deus at the launch in church of a new community environmental project. Then, after a lunch prepared by church members and a presentation of the story of the City of God, they went on a walkabout in the neighbourhood, visiting the Roman Catholic church, the headquarters of the peace-keeping police force, and a day care centre for older people. The next day they headed up Corcovado Mountain

to stand at the feet of the statue of Christ the Redeemer.

 

The group - which included representatives from the UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, Canada and the USA - really encouraged us with the interest they took in what we are seeking to do to make known in our community him who has won for God men and women from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

 

With every good wish

 

Fr Nicholas Wheeler

 

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What happens in heaven when you pray?

 

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was deputised to show me around.

 

Our first stop was at a large room filled with angels. They were unfolding, reading and stacking thousands of bits of paper, of all sizes. My angel guide explained, "This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.' I looked around the area, and it was terribly busy. Angels were sorting out petitions from all over the world. Some were long and involved and weighty, others merely a sigh on a scrap of paper.

 

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.

 

The angel said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings that have been asked for are processed and delivered to the people who need them." I noticed again how busy it was there. The angels were working hard to package and send back to earth all the blessings that had been requested.

 

Finally, at the farthest end of the long corridor, we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, doing nothing much. "This is the Acknowledgement Section, my angel friend said quietly. He seemed a bit embarrassed." How is it that there is no work going on here? ' I asked.

 

The angel sighed. "Well, after people receive the blessings that they ask for, it seems very few think to send back any acknowledgement."

 

"How does one acknowledge God's blessings? " I asked..

 

"Simple," the angel answered. "Just say, 'Thank you, Lord.' And mean it."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 2011

 

 

I wonder how many of you are aware of the Bible Reading Fellowship and its work?

 For many years the BRF has produced daily bible reading notes to help us all to understand better our source text. It is so easy to simply to read the bible with the eyes of a child and not get to grips with the background and intricacies of what is being written. In order to get to grips with some of the inferences and nuances of what each of the writers is saying to us we have to be aware of all that was influencing them, both at the time of writing and in their past. So it is very important to have a guide and that is exactly what the BRF sets out to do. They provide small easy to read chunks of the bible with a simple commentary in quarterly booklets and to make life easier they produce different sets with styles that suit different people. 

The Bible is still the worlds best selling book, but also the book most likely to be put on the shelf and seldom if ever referred to. So how often do you read the Bible that is most surely in your home? I was reminded of this recently when someone said to me that they had never really read the Bible. In our busy lives do we make time to read and consider God's word? Yes I know we hear it read in Church week by week but that can only cover a small proportion of the Bible and over a three year cycle. 

One of the most notable features of the Muslim faith is the knowledge of the Koran by its followers. If only we knew our Bible as well we would perhaps be able to live up to our calling rather better. How many times have you been put on the spot by being asked a question about your faith and not been able to answer it. It is an experience I suspect we have all had. The Bible is not going to give us all the answers, but it will help us to frame our lives and therefore our responses to others in a better light.

No I don't mean that we should just be able to quote chapter and verse at people as some of our brother Christians do. But unless we understand the scriptures we will not be the disciples we are called to be. Do you remember the story of the Disciples on the road to Emmaus? It was as Jesus explained the scriptures to them that their hearts burned within them. That too can be our response if we let the Word of God dwell within us. 

 Each quarter Nicola Pittam orders copies of the BRF notes for members of the parish. She would be delighted to get them for you. They are not expensive, but that could be life transforming. Why not have a word with Nicky and select the notes that could suit you best.

 Later this month Lucy Boyd who has been coming to St Mary's for the last few months will be Confirmed at St. Mary Eversholt St. Please do remember her in your prayers as she takes this major step in her life and make sure that you welcome her when she makes her Communion for the first time at St Mary's on 26th June. We also have a number of youngsters waiting to be prepared for Confirmation, but it is proving rather difficult to get them together for preparation classes so this will have to be as case of watch this space. 

Your Parish Priest

 

Guy Pope

 

 

 

May 2011

As I write the members of the Royal Family are gathering for a dinner at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the marriage of Prince William and Katherine Middleton, or as we now know the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. (That will cause a bit of unrest in Oxford!) Three hundred guests for dinner, more than most people could afford, but not a huge number. So the day will end with a party going on into the small hours with the morning with the Queen escaping for a quiet weekend at Sandringham after dinner. 

It all seems quite normal really and in fact the wedding despite the grandeur of Westminster Abbey and all the posh guests was in fact quite a straightforward event. The service was the 1928 service as could be had by anyone, though most people would not have the state trumpeters and a full orchestra in attendance. Of course it was done beautifully with splendid music and great floral displays, though I bet the florists of Britain are hoping that putting trees in church will not catch on!

Having said all that it was a very personal day for the couple despite millions watching. You could see their happiness and the sincerity of their vows. But there was in all this one thing that jarred. The church was not being realistic about the situation that they and most couples that come for marriage today were in. Lets be honest they were living together so the fact that her father gave her away, and that the vows presume that she was a virgin and that they would come together in a new life after this marriage was false. So should we think about redesigning the service or should we simply turn a blind eye to the situation. 

 It seems to me that to ignore what is happening is to cheapen our view of the marriage vows, while to change them is to make them second class vows. Perhaps I am being too fussy and what has happened in the past was always kept under wraps and it is only now that people are being honest. So what do you think? Should the church the vows or not? Do let me know, we have a number of members of General Synod who could raise the issue if we think it serious enough. 

 Whatever happens I for one hope that it will inspire others to take their vows just as seriously as Katherine and William did. That can only be for the good. I pray that theirs will be a long and happy marriage that will bring great joy to them and to all those around them. 

 

Turning to much more mundane matters we shall be welcoming the Archdeacon of Hampstead Fr. Luke Miller to St. Mary's for the first time on Sunday May 8th. when he will be our preacher.  Fr. Luke has been the Vicar of St. Mary Tottenham for the last sixteen years so has a great deal of experience in the Edmonton Area. He has been an Area Dean and has been heavily involved in the developments in the north of Tottenham on the boundaries of Enfield, one of the biggest housing developments in London. Fr. Luke will be conducting all the Triennial Visitations in the future so he will get to know the PCC's and parishes much better than his predecessors who relied on the Area Deans to conduct most of the work of Visitations. I hope we will do our best to make him welcome on that sunday.  

 

Your Parish Priest

 

Guy Pope

 

 

 

 

April 2011

As I write spring has well and truly sprung, though by the time you read this we may well have snow again! But the arrival of spring links so closely to the whole message of Easter. As the world sees new life in nature all around us we too are reminded of the new life promised us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 At last nights meeting of the Lent Study Group the question was asked, "why are Muslims so good at proclaiming their faith and Christians so bad at it?" There are I think many strands to an answer but perhaps one is that we are not very confident that we can back up any argument with solid understanding and reflective faith. We fear that we will be perceived as bigots, kill joys, fundamentalists, or a group of people obsessed with others bedroom habits! That after all is what the press would have the world believe. It is one of the reasons church leaders very often do not comment on news or criticisms of the church. We all know how the press love to twist a good story to make it a sensational lead to once more rubbish any value the Christian Community may have. 

 Just before the study group I was at the London Diocesan Board for Schools where the Director was talking about the future of Church Schools. As you probably know the government are in the process of changing how schools are funded. As part of this schools are being encouraged to become individual Academies funded directly by the government and are enticed into this by the promise of extra cash. However even the Civil Servants who are promoting this policy admit that within five years there will be no financial advantage but by then the hope is that all schools will be academies and the government will then seek to repeal the 1944 Education Act under which Church Schools as we know them were set within the maintained sector and largely paid for  by the state. So the plan is to remove us from the state education system. This we must oppose vehemently and seek to maintain our very valuable contribution to the education system of our country. 

 In order to do this we will have to build a great deal of confidence among Christian people of all shades of thinking. Where better to start than with the Easter Message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the new life and confidence that this gives to us all. So what will you say to your neighbours this Easter about your faith, why you come to church so many times during Holy Week and Easter? Will you try to brush your faith under the carpet and hide it away so that no one knows about it or will you take the bull by the horns and risk derision and admit that you have faith and wish to proclaim it to others because it has changed your life?

 Those first disciples were no different to us they lacked confidence and yet by dipping their toe in the water they came to see just how much Jesus meant to them and how he had changed their lives. But it cost them as it will cost us. There really is no such thing as a free lunch. Faith will hurt from time to time, we will have restrictions placed on us by our commitment to worship and service, yet that very commitment will transform us into the people we were made to be. 

 New life is all around us as spring turns the world from the grey of winter into the green of summer. We are a people who have a vision for the world and its people. Its a joyous vision  of peace unity and love brought to us in Jesus Christ. On Easter Day we rejoice in the vision and celebrate with hearts uplifted.

 

 

 

   

Your Parish Priest

 

Guy Pope

 

 

March 2011

Well here we go again. Lent one of my pet hates is almost here! Why do I hate it? I just find the whole atmosphere of sombre penitence goes against the grain. And that is probably why I should take it seriously and try to enter more fully into the whole ethos of the period. 

 It seems to be the norm today for all of us to try to forget our own responsibility for our actions and blame our failings on others or some outside influence now or in the past. But our faith tells us that as we learn to be at one with Christ and his presence in out lives we should be realistic about our own shortcomings and failures. We only have to look at St. Paul's letters to see that despite all his travels and preaching he was clear that he still had many failings that he needed to bring to the Lord for correction. We surely are no different and need therefore to take Lent seriously. 

 So lets begin by making a real effort to be in church for Ash Wednesday. There are two services so there is little excuse for not being there and it is such a good way to make a start to our Lenten penance's. 

 There will be a small booklet for everybody to take away with a short reading for every day of Lent. Please do try to give the five minutes that it takes to read this every day. Apart form anything else its good to know that you are doing so in union with all the other members of the congregation.

 Then there is the Lent Study Course. 'When I survey....Christ's cross and ours'. The death of Christ is a dominant and dramatic theme in the New testament. So it's not surprising that, over the centuries, the cross has become  the symbol of the Christian faith. But Christians do not honour a dead hero; we worship a Living Lord.

 According to the Bible, the death of Jesus is not the end of the track - it's the gateway into life. His crucifixion gives rise to many key themes and so we will explore some of these in our sessions. The place os silence in our noisy world, despair and hope; a suffering world; the challenge of living as disciples when Christianity is nolonger mainstream. 

 So will you make time this Lent to try to learn more of our faith? 

 As many of you know Nicky Pittam has been working hard not just as our treasurer but preparing to be a Reader. Some years ago she completed the academic course necessary so now she has been looking at the practical and pastoral aspects of her training. As part of this she will by the time you read this have preached for the first time at St. Mary's. But this is just the prelude to the seven weeks she will spend on placement in another parish to extend her experience  and enable her to have a closer relationship with those who are conducting her training. This means that for the whole of Lent and Easter Nicky will be missing from St. Mary's. She will be travelling each week to another St. Mary's, this time in Hendon. That in itself is a big commitment as it will take her well over an hour on public transport to get there. We will of course miss her greatly, I have threatened to have a beano on parish finances while she is away much to her disgust, but I am sure the Church Wardens will not let me do anything of the sort! But I hope that it will be a good experience for her and that she will be able to pick up some ideas for how we could do things in the future. 

 

May I wish you all a happy and holy Lent.

 

 

Your Parish Priest

 

Guy Pope

 

 

 

 

 

February 2011

 We welcome this month our new Archdeacon as he begins work. He will have a pretty hectic month as during the half term week he will be moving house from Tottenham to Wood Green where he will live in the former Rectory of St. Michael's Church. Fr. Luke will be visiting St. Mary's on Sunday May 8th for the first time. We shall look forward to seeing him then. In a change to earlier patterns he is intending to do all the Visitations himself, but spread over a three year cycle. In the past these were done by the Area Dean and in some cases by retired Area Deans such as myself. I enjoyed these occasions immensely because as you know I am impossibly nosey and loved seeing how other peoples parishes run. I know that Fr. Luke is looking forward to getting to know the parishes of the Area and we shall endeavour to make him very welcome.

 The Church in London and especially in our inner areas is unique in so many ways yet this is seldom recognised. For instance we have within our Deanery of South Camden, not only one of the worlds foremost University Colleges and four major Halls of Residence for the University of London, but also no less than seven hospitals with a further two just over the boarder in North Camden. Most Deaneries would expect to have no more than one hospital serving the whole Deanery and in all probability one or possibly two Colleges of Further Education and if they are lucky a minor University. 

 This brings all sorts of challenges and benefits. The University of our city has a number of full time Chaplains to cater for the needs of the students, but as Fr., Nicholas Wheeler discovered when he came to St. Michael's Camden Town some fifteen years ago it is actually the local church that is more likely to provide for the spiritual needs of the students at the weekend. However involving them in the life of the Church can be difficult as they are only here for short periods and often need lots of support frequently at inconvenient times of day! 

 Hospital Chaplaincies too have changed dramatically over recent years. Within our Borough there are seven full time Hospital Chaplains who try to care for the spiritual needs of the patients and staff. We all know just how short stays in hospital are nowadays so they are faced with a real difficulty in contacting patients  in the brief period they are in patients. It is very important that if we are taken in to hospital therefore that we do ensure that the Chaplain is told that we are there and that we would appreciate a visit and or the Sacraments. Sadly just telling the nurses that we would like to see the Chaplain may not be enough, messages don't seem to get through, but the Chaplains are there and we should make use of them. 

 You may have noticed that we have recently changed the Hospitals that we pray for in our Intercessions and I propose to add the Great Ormond Street Childrens' Hospital to the list as well. We all know the Royal Free, the Whittington and University College Hospitals, and we will certainly have heard of Great Ormond St. but the St. Pancras Hospital? It cares for a large number of elderly patients who need specialist care rather than nursing homes. The National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery in Queen Square is a world class hospital in its field  as is the Dental Hospital in Grays Inn Road. And then of course the Marie Cure Hospice , formally known as Eden Hall, one of the earliest Hospices dating back to the 1950's. We are blest with an amazing array of hospitals and specialities and we need to remember them all in our prayers week by week. 

 

Your Parish Priest

 

Guy Pope

 

 

 

January 2011

 

You may recall that in 2004 we celebrated the 1400th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of London. Shortly after the first cathedral was built and dedicated to St. Paul. Over the centuries it was demolished and rebuilt on a number of occasions, but in 1666 the Great Fire of London finally destroyed the medieval cathedral that was the biggest cathedral in Europe in terms of length. The spire had fallen down some 100 years earlier and though repairs had taken place supervised by Indigo Jones the destruction caused by the fire was so bad that the decision was taken to completely demolish the ruins and start again. 

 As you can imagine there was much controversy about the style of the new cathedral. The nation had just imerged from the austerity of the the rule of Cromwell when Christmas was abolished, singing in churches prohibited and thousands of statues from inside and out of churches throughout the land defaced and destroyed. So a competition was organised which was won by Christopher Wren. However it was to take three attempts to get a design agreed by the King and Parliament who were contributing to the cost. 

 Work started in 1675 and was completed in 1711 though services were held from 1708 onwards. Wren had been very crafty, he knew that no one would be able to see his final designs until the wooden scaffold was removed so he left it in place for as long as possible. In fact when it was taken down the powers that be were so cross that the building was not what they expected that they sacked him. However they did appoint his son to see through the completion of the interior decoration which was finished in 1720 when Christopher Wren by now a very old man made the climb not just to the Whispering Gallery to view the James Thornhill painting of the dome, but on to the top of the Golden Gallery to view the skyline of London that he had done so much, since the fire, to shape. 

 You may have seen on the TV news around Christmas the pictures of the second Great Fire, the fire storm caused by German Bombing in the blitz. which by a miracle left the cathedral almost untouched. However it was the vigilance of the members of the St. Paul's Watch who spent night after night on the roof of the cathedral that saved the building from the many incendiary bombs that fell. Christopher Wren had been inspired by the inscription found in the ruins of the old cathedral 'resurgam' 'I will rise again'. As a result he decorated the exterior of the south transept door with a giant phoenix rising from the flames to be reborn. Little did he know how the cathedral was to be surrounded by flames, but remain in tact some 230 years later. 

 So this year is a very special one for the Cathedral and one of the events to mark the occasion will be a Eucharist on Saturday 22nd January at 12.30pm the Saturday nearest to the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. We are all invited. Bishop Richard will celebrate and preach, children from across the Diocese will be involved and we are invited to have a banner in the procession. Sadly our parish banners are well past their prime, but Bishop Peter has suggested that we might take the Edmonton Area Banner which has been housed at St. Mary's for some years.

 How about putting the date in your diary. I will be going in the car, but the 4 Bus from outside the church will take you direct to the door. It will be a very special day for which no tickets are required. Let's fill the cathedral to overflowing and make it resound with our prayers and thanksgivings.

Your Parish Priest

 

Guy Pope

 

 

 

December 2010

  

 For us it seems so simple, yet to others it seems either a fairy story to be re told with as much slush and gush as possible or a load of nonsense that is best forgotten, but at least the excuse for a family party and get together even if that does turn out to be a fairly tense experience. 

 So how do we see Christmas. Is it pivotal to our lives? Does the birth of that baby in Bethlehem effect the way we live? And if so how do we celebrate Christmas, is it any different to all those around us who take a very different view.?

 I would hope the answer to those questions would be a very definite "yes". It really transforms our lives and the annual celebration of the birth of Our Lord and Saviour is absolutely key in that transformation. If you are as old as I am you may well remember that in days gone by, during the recitation of the Creed at the Eucharist people would genuflect at the words of the Incarnation, " for us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man." Today we have those words in italics in the service sheet to remind us that we may like to bow our heads as a sign of our recognition of the importance of the statement that we are making. 

 It is the recognition that in Jesus God becomes man, truly to experience with us the joys and sorrows of human life and through that experience to be able to lead others to understand God's true love for us. 

 Easter and the Cross and Resurrection are of course the other key points in our faith, but they would have no meaning and relevance if Jesus were not truly human, if he had not been born into the world just as we are. The Christmas stories make it quite clear that this was the beginning of no ordinary life and that it was to be a life of cosmic significance. So do we make that significance real and apparent in our celebrations? 

 I am sure you have all thought of many ways you could put Christ at the heart of your celebrations, from simple things such as buying religious or charity cards to encouraging friends and neighbours to come to church for one of our services, thorough to the more controversial such as not giving presents and giving all the money you would have spent to a suitable charity. I did that a couple of years ago and was enabled to give a significant sum to Let the Children Live the charity we have supported in Columbia for some years. If we really believe that the birth of Jesus was so significant then surely we must acknowledge it in a significant way and help others to understand why we are doing so. How about a significant donation to our winter shelter, surely a very appropriate charity as we recall Jesus born in a stable as there was no room in the Inn

 Despite having to queue for nearly two hours to get in to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem I think our pilgrims in the Holy Land last May would tell you that one of the highlights was the visit to Bethlehem. Our Eucharist at the Shepherd Fields where as I celebrated a shepherd passed behind me on the other side of the valley leading his sheep, and then the visit to the traditional place of the birth of Jesus and singing a carol in the enclosed space as a multitude of pilgrims came to worship just as the shepherds had done two thousand years ago. I am sure that this Christmas will have all sorts of new meaning for those of us who were there, but do let us all try to ensure that Christ is at the heart of our celebrations whatever form they take.

 I pray that you will all have a very Happy and Holy Christmas and that the New Year will bring you health and happiness.

 Your Parish Priest

 

Guy Pope

 

 

November 2010

  

 

 Elsewhere in the magazine you will find requests for help with the Christmas Bazaar and preparations for the Winter Night Shelter, so no more from me on those except to say that both events need your support if we are to continue the active life of the parish within the local community and beyond.

Bill Saunders in his article reminds us that Advent, the new year of the church begins on the last sunday of this month. Each year we have to renew our commitment to the life of the church in our stewardship giving which runs for the calendar year of January to December. However in order to budget for the year we need to have everyone's stewardship pledges in on Advent Sunday so that we have a reasonable idea of what our income will be for the coming year. 

 

For many the next few months and years are likely to be very difficult. "We aint seen nothing yet" in terms of the impact of the spending cuts, yet if the church is to respond to the governments avowed aim we will need to be ready to take on more within the community. As we know from the night shelter these projects cost money and that has to be raised on top of the everyday running expenses of the parish. 

 

This year we have already spent nearly £30,000 on replacing the windows in the church hall, (if you have not yet seen them do make sure that you have a look at the Bazaar) on top of all the on going costs of maintaining that building, such as £2500 for repairs and maintenance of the heating and hot water systems. I have also mentioned before of our plans to convert into a flat the basement studio which has now sat empty for a year as we have been unable to find a tenant. This is likely to cost another £35,000. The result is a frightening hole in our reserves which will take some years to rebuild.

 

But enough of the depressing bits, there are some very good things happening at St. Mary's. The night Shelter brought people together in a joint project last winter in a splendid way. I am sure it will do the same this winter when we shall be taking on two months of Friday nights rather than one. We now have a new rota organised by Nicky Pittam to ensure that the Church Yard is tided every week, and Nick Bethune is organising a working party on Saturday 6th November to have an autumn cut back and sort out of the shrubs and bushes in the church yard. If you are free please do have a word with Nick. There are also some new faces in church who will I hope become more regular.

 

But in order to maintain our lever of activity and hopefully expand it, we will have to look again at our giving. Despite the economic gloom we all need to try to give just that bit more so that the church can prosper. We have over the years turned the heating down, cut the hours it is on and made various other saving in order to cut our costs.  So how about it, will you be generous in your giving? I shall be writing to every member of the electoral roll and asking them to return their stewardship pledge on Advent Sunday. Please do respond generously as without your help we will not be able to continue as we are for much longer. As we recall this month all the Saints who have gone before us in the faith and bequeathed us so great a heritage we can only respond by giving of ourselves in this generation to provide for the coming generations both an example of commitment and generosity of spirit.

 

  Your Parish Priest

.Guy Pope

 

 

October 2010

 

 

With Harvest Festival coming right at the beginning of the this month, and All Saints Sunday on the last day of the month October truly is a month of thanksgiving. 

We so often forget in all our worries about the falling value of the pound, inflation and all the government cuts that are coming our way, that we are still far better off that the vast majority of the inhabitants of our planet. We have homes that enable us to be warm and dry, food on our plates that we do not have to search for, or walk miles to obtain, and freedom to express ourselves as we wish. Many could not imagine such wealth and luxury. Yet are we a people of thanksgiving? Honestly it has to be said that most of us prefer to be a people of moans and grumbles.

So Harvest is a time to turn our minds to better things to say thank you to God and hopefully begin a better way of life. The way of thanksgiving, or recognising that we have been give so much that we should treasure and value. Of course the main focus is our food, but we also need to have a much wider vision especially in the city where we see little of the growing and production of all that we eat. 

Perhaps it is appropriate also to take time to think about our carbon footprint and how we treat and use the worlds resources. What we can do will vary as each of our lives and situations vary. This year I have installed photo voltaic cells on the roof of my house to generate electricity. In some ten years time when they have paid for themselves I will be hopefully generating all my own electricity as well as selling a little to the National Grid. Now that could be seen as self interest, but it is also in the interest of not emitting Co2 in the generation of electricity. Friends are just about to sell a gas guzzling car to buy a hybrid which again will emit far less poison into the atmosphere. So what are you going to do for Harvest, what will your contribution be to making our harvest a green one? 

And then all those Saints that we commemorate on All Saints Day. The saints who have given so much to us to make our lives what they are, the ordinary folk who like you and me are called to be the saints of God. 

Most of those we commemorate throughout the year seem so distant from us living lives we hardly comprehend today. Those who were facing persecution and death for their faith seem almost unreal to us. Yet those who have been close to us have often given so much for us. parents, teachers of many sorts and all those who have influenced us for good. Those are the ones we remember on All Saints Day. The great cloud of witnesses who have pointed us to the Father and guided our lives. 

Alleluia, alleluia give thanks to the risen Lord,

Alleluia, alleluia, give praise to his name.

May your month be filled with praise and thanksgiving.

 

 

 

 Your Parish Priest

.Guy Pope

 

 

 

September 2010

 

 

As many of you know I have just spent a week in the Loire Valley in France. over the week we were struck not only by the quietness of everywhere, but also how friendly and welcoming everyone was.

 This was also reflected in the fact that all but one of the village and town churches that we tried to see was open or the key was available for us to collect. No one was around, but soft religious music was playing. So much so that I began to wonder if the various diocese issued the parishes with a set of CD's to play! 

 So the thought struck me if we couldn't try to have St. Mary's open at certain times each week. These could be advertised on our website and at the church door. We would of course have to have church sitters in place and I realise that many people would be unhappy about doing this by themselves, but I do think it would be a very good thing to do. There are already times of the week when more than one person is in church. For instance on Saturday mornings Carol Kenning and Maureen Paddock are in the church from 11.30am till 1.00pm preparing the church for Sunday . Could we have the church open then?  Would it be feasible to have some church sitters on a Wednesday Morning after the service for an hour or so? Perhaps there are other times when we could regularly combine cleaning with the church being open. It is just a thought as I am conscious that for the church to be a real place of prayer and contemplation it needs to be open to the community. So we will need to have a discussion in the PCC. But in the meantime please do have a word if you have any thoughts or might be willing to offer a little time to allow us to open the church. You might even get to read that book you have been wanting to get into for ages!

 More tasks I am afraid, but with the imminent arrival of Autumn we will need to have a working party on the Churchyard. Although there is not much of it, it really does need constant attention. Weeds proliferate and the shrubs are becoming overgrown. It looks so bad if it is untidy. People tend to assume that no one cares so why should they bother to come here. Jonathan Bowman has taken over the rear of the church and has already made a very significant impact on tidying up in preparation for digging up in the autumn. So lets see this tackled at the front as well so that we may make a good impression on all who pass by. If the outside looks good and the door is open they may just pop in. 

 Please do your best to be in church for our Patronal Festival, and then join us for supper in the Vicarage. Offers of food to Caroline Deys please.

 

 Your Parish Priest

.Guy Pope

 

 

August 2010

 

 "So who is your local hero?" That I am told was the question asked of Kate Saunders on the Aled Jones show on radio last sunday. I can't say that I have ever heard the programme but I am told it is loosley christian in content and that Kate appears regularly as a contributor reviewing books. 

 So who did Kate nominate? Well none other than Dr Caroline Deys, our Parish Reader. And when asked why, the response was because of the amazing fundraising effort she has made with the pennies and tuppences in raising funds for our projects in Mozambique and elsewhere in Africa. Many congratulations to Caroline on this very public recognition of her efforts. We have all been aware for a long time just what an acheviement it has been but it is great that now so many people have been made aware of it. 

 We have all been mugged so many times that we probably take it for granted that as Caroline approaches us after Mass sunday by sunday we dive into our bags and pockets and turn out the copper for her. But it takes determination and a strong will to go on for year after year begging for money, even for a very good cause in which you believe. We will now all have to redouble our efforts to gather copper to fill Carolines potty!

 

On another note I am delighted to announce that we have appointed Jonathan Clinch as our new Director of Music. Jonathan will be playing for some af the services in August, but will be fully in charge from the begining of September. 

Educated at Bradford and Clitheroe Grammar Schools he then studied for a degree in Music at Oxford followed by an MA in Organ Performance at Durham where he was taught by Dame Gillian Weir one of the foremost organists of the second half of the 20th century. Jonathan has also been involved in conducting choirs, singing and playing the oboe. For a year he was Assistant Organist at St. George's Cathedral Perth Western Australia and Organist of Pusey House in Oxford. So he comes to us with an interesting and varied background and an enthusiasm for church music that I look forward to seeing and hearing in the music of our church in the future. I know that we will all make him and his wife Rachael welcome as they join the worshipping community here at St. Mary's. 

 

As I mentioned last month the main item on the agenda of the PCC at its July meeting was our 2010/2011 Mission Action Plan. Each year we draw up a list of areas in the life of the parish that we feel need tackling or where improvement need to be made. One item on the list last year that we have not really made much progress on is the Spiritual Life of the parish. Yes those of us who went to the Holy Land were renewed in our faith in a very special way, but only a relatively small number were able to go on that trip. So what could we do to hepl people grow in faith and devotion? 

We have to be realistic, people live very hectic lives and one of the results of that is that numbers at Study Groups in the evenings have over the years taken a bit of a tumble. Yet studying and talking together, learning from eachother and hearing of others experiences is a vital part in growing in the faith. So how about having a study group on a sunday after church? The suggestion would be that after coffee we move to the Vicarage, have a Soup, bread and cheese lunch and then an hour of study. The whole thing would be over by 2.30pm at the latest. This could be in short bursts of 4-5 weeks, or could be on an ongoing basis but not every week. Let me know what you think so that we can plan for the autumn study sessions it the idea is popular. 

The Patronal Festival is on 8th September. Do put it in your diaries now. It will be Jonathan's first major contribution to the musical life of the parish and will of course be followed by supper in the Vicarage for all. Offers of contributions to that to Caroline Deys please. 

 If you are going away do have a good rest and tell us about the local churches you visit.

 Your Parish Priest

.Guy Pope

 

 

 

June 2010

 

After fourteen years of music making at St. Mary's it was a great shame that Andrew decided to leave iso suddenly; fortunately we were able to cover his absence as his predecessor Simon Berry happened to be staying at the Vicarage.

Over the years Andy contributed in a very significant way to the life and growth of St. Mary's. On countless occasions visitors have commented to me on the very high standard of music that we enjoy. It is something that we have all treasured and valued and hope we will be able to maintain for the future. For me the high points have been the Requiems for All Souls Day, the Easter Day services and the Patronal Festivals. But it has also been in the week by week services that Andy has contributed by his flexibility and readiness to try new things. 

In the days before yesterday when we had more children on a regular basis he also played for the Sunday School. Despite it being very distracting for the congregation as well as the preacher it was always good to hear the merry sound of "Stand up sit down shout thank you Lord" emanating from the Sacristy!  

It has become evident over many months that his heart was nolonger in the job. He had given up meeting with me to plan music and refused to meet the Churchwardens to discuss the music budget and how best to allocate it. The sad breakdown of his marriage and his departure from the flat in the Church Hall all contributed to the difficulties. 

Personally I shall always be grateful to Andy for all that he has done over a long period, and regret that we were not able to thank him personally as we have no address at which to contact him.

So with the help of a small music committee we will shortly be advertising the post of Director of Music in the hope that we will be able to find someone of the right calibre to further enhance our worship. In the meantime I am very grateful to the members of the congregation who have offered to help out and to Tim Storey who is hoping to provide us with organists to cover the interregnum. It will inevitably take some months, so please bear with us during this period. 

And on a lighter note, all being well during August we will be having all new windows fitted in the Church Hall. Not only will this transform the comfort of the two flats, but it should significantly reduce the gas bill for the heating. Just three years ago we replaced the hall heaters with more efficient units, so by replacing the windows we should further reduce energy consumption. What is more it will improve the look of the Hall as it has been in  dire need of redecoration for some years. The new windows are ready coated and should never require painting, so another economy in these troubled times. This work will depend on the granting of planning permission by Camden Council as we fall in a conservation area, and as a commercial building require approval. The application was lodged in April and we expect to receive approval by the end of this month.

As many of you know our tenant in the Hall basement Schermuly Design moved out last November after some 20 years. So far we have had no success in finding a new tenant despite placing the unit with two local Estate Agents. We are therefore having to seriously consider other possibilities. The conversion into a third flat is the most promising of these. However once again we require planning consent, and this is more contentious than the windows. It is bound to take a considerable time during which we receive no rent. This is a serious loss for the parish to bear on top of the large outlay that a conversion will involve. So please do keep your PCC in your prayers as we seek the best way forward in the stewardship of our resources.

Your Parish Priest.

Guy Pope

 

 

 

May 2010

 

 

So how will you be voting in the General Election, or for that matter in the local council elections? It may well of course be that you will want to vote differently in the two elections on the same day. After all local and national policies can be quite different with differing needs to be catered for. 

So how will you decide who to vote for. There are of course all sorts of criteria by which to judge the parties. Who will be best for the country? Who will be best for the most deprived members of society? Who will be best for me personally? Whose policies will be most in tune with Christian principles?

Obviously no one party has all the answers neither does any one have all right on their side, so it is not a matter of black and white and in a three horse race it gets even more complicated. We all have a great deal of thinking to do and hopefully will not put our personal needs at the top of the agenda. After all it is surely one of our prime considerations as Christians that we put others first and the greatest good of all at the forefront of our thinking. 

However that still leaves us in a very grey area. Life is never simple! All of us will want to look at the areas that most influence our thinking. 

For me education is very high on my agenda as the whole education debate and the future of schools is I believe a very important issue in our city. Giving a good start in life to children from the most deprived backgrounds is I believe the only way to ensure a positive future with a minimum of racial tension  and possible extremism. 

Then there is the issue of the management of the economy. Each of the three parties claims to have the answer, and all seem to be contradictory. So who do we believe? 

The future of the Health Service and pensions is another issue that is very important. I have just had my church pension cut after 39 years of service, so for me and for millions of others the state pension is going to be vital. Yes I know a bit of personal interest creeping in there! But with increasing numbers of pensioners it will affect the economy of the country significantly. On the Health Service there are very important issues to be faced. There must be a good service for all regardless of where they live, yet with the increasing complication and cost of treatments it will probably not be possible in the future to have all services available in every local hospital. That will not be popular, but if we are to have a service for all uncomfortable decisions will have to be made. Who will best respond to that challenge?

I could go on, and I am sure the you all have your own priorities. Defence perhaps, ending the war in Afghanistan, cleaning up politics, or the touchy subject of immigration. 

So please take a while to think through what each party proposes, and how that might relate to Christian principles before you vote.

Your Parish Priest.

Guy Pope

 

 

 

April 2010

 

 

Dear Friends 

 

As we go through Holy Week this year I am reminded that in only four weeks we shall be able to walk in the steps of Jesus, not just as he moved through Jerusalem on his way to the cross but also to the sites of so many of his life and work.

One of the prayers for Palm Sunday came home with renewed poignancy this year, as we prayed for those who still make Jerusalem a battle ground. There is of course fault on all sides, Jews, Palestinians, Christians of all denominations and peoples of many nations. We are all at fault. Yet that should not stop all of us in our own ways from seeking to bring peace to this tiny corner of the earth. 

For most of us this will not be anything more than supporting all efforts to put pressure on the various factions involved, and endless prayer that the old enmities will be laid aside and a new vision for the future will be seen and adopted. 

The life changing events of Easter must surely inspire us who have been changed by them and given the hope of eternal life in Christ to know that it is only when people learn to live together in harmony that real progress can be made for the kingdom. It is therefore our duty to work for peace in the Holy Land that the world may know Christ and his peace. 

On a much more mundane note you will have noticed in the list of events on page 2 of this issue of Brookfield News that our Annual Parochial Church Meeting takes place on Sunday 18th April after Church. This is the chance for all the members of the congregation to hear what has been going on in the various areas of church life, to hear where we are financially, looking at the accounts for 2009, and to elect the Churchwardens and members of the PCC. 

This is a very important occasion as understanding the vision for the parish that the PCC have developed and having your input into it is central to this meeting. Furthermore choosing your Wardens and PCC representatives is shaping that vision for the future. This year we shall be electing four members of the PCC as three have come to the end of their three year term of office, and there is one vacancy because of a resignation. 

Have you thought of standing? Could you contribute to the life of the parish by being a member of the PCC? It involves some six meetings per year when we deal with all the rather mundane running needs of the church and hall, but also try at each meeting to ensure that one item from our Mission Action Plan, the vision for the future, is on the agenda.

Easter the season of new life and hope fo the world is a good time for all of us to examine our commitment to the life of the church and hopefully make a resolution to respond more fully to the call of Christ to be his disciples in today's world.

May the risen Christ inspire and uphold you now and in the future.

 Your parish Priest

Guy Pope

 

 

 

March 2010

 

Dear Friends 

 

 How's Lent going for you? As I write we are at the end of the first week and my impression is that its going rather well for the parish. I had very generous comments about the sermon on the First Sunday in Lent, we had a very good session of the Lent study Group on Wednesday with interesting discussions and some new insights for people, and a very good turnout for the Friday Mass today. Nearly all the Lent Leaflets have gone, if you missed out please do make sure you pick one up form the back of the Church, there are still just a few left. Its not too late to dip into the daily meditations. The Winter Night Shelter is about to begin and we have had a good response to the call for bedding and helpers. 

 So are you part of one or more of those initiatives? If not why not? Unless there is growth there will be death, Now I know that sounds rather harsh, but if you think about it , it really is true. Are you using Lent to grow, its a question we all need to ask and hopefully the answer will be yes. However you may feel that none of the initiatives is for you. If so how about using lent to prepare for and make your confession. If you have never thought about it, or only did so in the dim and distant past why not give it a new try. Guilt and sinfulness so often lay heavy on us yet we so seldom recognise that it is there. It is not fashionable for us today to express guilt and beg forgiveness unless of course you are a major celebrity who wants to re engage with your public and sponsors! 

 And yet serious recognition of our faults and repentance for them ought to be at the centre of our life in the Church. Interestingly the Liturgical Commission when it was preparing the new services for Common Worship considered that Prayers Penitence should be a constituent part of virtually every service, even such as the Funeral Service. This seems to be running completely contrary to modern day life and thought, where taking responsibility for ones actions is seldom valued or accepted. From MP's downwards we all so often blame someone else, its never our fault. And yet it so often is. We need to learn again the lesson that to really live close to God we have to accept our sins and learn how to deal with them, by coming sincerely in penitence and faith and begging our Fathers forgiveness. He is there dying to give it to us, but only when we are truly sorry.

 So then if we seek to use Lent wisely we will be trying to be more aware of our sin and guilt and then do something about ridding ourselves of it. One way of course is to come to Confession. To that end I will as always be available in Holy Week at 7.00pm on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as well as by appointment if that is more convenient for you. 

 If you are interested please do have a word and we can discuss it. In the meantime have a good Lent so that we can all come to Easter renewed and open to the power of the Holy Spirit coming to us through the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

 May God bless you all

 Your parish Priest

Guy Pope

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 2010

 

Dear Friends 

 

Although it is now a long time ago I would like to begin this month by thanking everyone who helped to make our Christmas Bazaar such a stunning success. To increase our takings by 33% in one year in a time of recession was a fabulous achievement and one you should all be very proud of. A profit of £2000.00 in a two hour slot is really wonderful.

 

Some of you are aware that Hugh Schermuly who has rented the basement of the Church Hall for the last twenty years moved to bigger premises during November. The PCC have been looking at various alternatives to make use of the space, including converting it into a flat. This would of course cost a large sum of money , but would produce a higher return in the long run. However after soundings of the Council we have been told that planning permission would not be granted until we have made serious attempts to let the space on a commercial basis. So we are faced with a possible long period with no income, at the end of which we may well have to spend in the region of £30,000 in order to begin to get some income again. Not a happy prospect, but one made slightly easier by the Bazaar result. 

 

It is now almost a month since the sad spectacle of the failure of the Copenhagen Conference. In the end I fear it was various nations selfishness and greed that overtook the reality of the situation. Everybody throughout the world will suffer as a result, and despite short term gains no one will in the end win as a result of not making the cuts in emissions now. 

 

So what do we do in the short term? Surely as a nation we must press ahead with our own cuts ever if the some of the other nations of the world fail to move. Otherwise all momentum will be lost, and by the time the UN can get leaders together again the situation will be even worse and ever greater demands will be put on everyone. Sadly it seems that only another catastrophe on the scale of the Asian Tsunami will force nations to act. By then it will be too late for the people of the Seychelles and others in low lying regions as well as numerous other inhabitants of our planet, animal, plant and aquatic.

 

All rather down beat for the beginning of the new year, but then there's an election campaign to look forward to! Will any of the politicians tell us the truth? It is quite clear that serious cuts will have to be made in our countries budget as a result of the banking failures, so lets all begin now to ask the questions of our politicians that will enable us to get to grips with what they really intend to do. We can and should. It is easy enough to begin with our local politicians in Camden or Islington Council, and this year with a change in boundaries we will be looking at a new MP to represent us. I hope that we can arrange a meeting locally to meet the candidates and really grill them so that they understand grassroots feelings. 

 

Enough then of my blathering. May I wish you all a very happy new year and hope that it not only brings you peace and joy, but also a growth of faith and love for our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Your Parish Priest

Guy Pope

 

 

 

 

 

December 2009

 

Dear Friends 

This month all eyes will be focused on Copenhagen for the conference on Global Warming. At last the USA seems to be taking the problem seriously with Barack Obama signalling that he intends to attend the conference. Now we have to persuade the Chinese and Indians to take the whole issue seriously as well as helping to encourage all the countries of the developing world to not make the mistakes that we have made and build economies on sustainable principles. 

That's all well and good on a national level, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty of daily life how do we plan to make the changes that will be necessary? 

I was listening in the car the other day to a discussion on Womans Hour about the use of Tumble Dryers, one of the most un eco friendly gadgets that we have in modern society. They are for most of us an integral part of everyday life yet most of us continue to make full use of them. I know the problem only too well having lodgers who don't seem to have ever used a washing line in their lives, and when they do have no concept as to how to hang out clothes to make the most of the sun and winds drying power. The feed back from the radio audience was astounding, many claiming that they could not possibly manage without their dryer. Yet their forebears certainly did, and they only had a mangle to wring out their clothes, not an efficient spin cycle on the washing machine. The trouble is it all takes a bit more time and organisation.

And that is at the heart of the matter. In the end it comes down to whether we are prepared to change our style of living in order that future generations may have a chance of life as we know it. Both the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Bishop Richard have been very insistent that we must as Christians take this issue seriously. After all we have been given a commission to care for the world not destroy it. In this Diocese all the churches have been encouraged to look at their carbon footprint and act to cut it by one third by 2015. To this end one church in Islington has just got permission to replace all the tiles on the south face of its roof with photo cells to generate electricity. (Sadly these were not available when we replaced our roof.) We are seriously looking at replacing all the windows of the Church Hall with double glazed units to reduce our fuel consumption. 

 But these measures are all easy for us to contemplate. It is when it comes down to things that effect our daily lives and our pockets that we tend to jib at them. Are we really ready to act to save the planet or not? It is going to be hard to reduce our use of the car, to remember to switch off the lights, the TV rather than leave it on standby, to shut down the computer, to turn down the heating, to use less water and so on. But we do have to make these changes to our lives NOW if the planet is to survive in any recognisable form for the next 100 years. 

 All a gloomy picture, yet in Advent one that should inspire us to move forward in faith as we wait for the birth of Our Lord at Christmas. The joyful arrival of the saviour of the world in a stable on the first Christmas Day changed the world for good. We can go on changing it in our own generation to make it a more Christ like world where we all care for our neighbour as we have been taught to do. 

I look forward to seeing many of you on Boxing Day for drinks at the Vicarage at 11.45am.

 May you all have a Happy and Blessed Christmas

 Your Parish Priest

 

Guy Pope

 

 

 

November 2009

 

 

According to the Times this week the Church of England has been rocked by the offer of the Vatican to set up a parallel structure to allow Anglican priests and parishes to become Roman Catholics while retaining elements of their Anglican heritage. 

 It is firstly interesting to note that the other quality national newspapers hardly gave the story any coverage. They were probably correct, for the offer that has been put on the table is I believe disingenuous. For a start I do not believe that many congregations whatever their  beliefs about women bishops will as a whole wish to transfer their allegiance. Most of them are in parishes that are relatively small and not financially thriving. Rome has I believe quietly made it clear that no money will be available to support such parishes so they will have to finance themselves. Not something most UK parishes do. 

 In fact this whole provision relates much more to the Episcopal Church (our sister church in the US) where every parish has to be self financing. Furthermore the problems there are far worse than here as no provision has been made there for either priests or people who do not wish for the ministry of women Bishops. The result is that parishes and whole diocese are at loggerheads with the central authorities over the ownership of buildings and the future government of the church. 

 In a recent article in the Church Times Canon Giles Frazer of St. Paul's Cathedral, wrote that "in this country the folk in general have a much closer allegiance to their local community rather than the world wide body". I believe that he is right and that although we are all affected by the problems that our communion is experiencing in America, Australia and Nigeria members of the Church of England will in the end consider what they feel is the right course for our land, rather than the rest of the world.

 It was perhaps doubly sad that only last week it was announced that the  revision committee looking at the proposed measure to enable women to become bishops announced that it had decided that despite the previous vote in Synod that there should be no statutory provision for those who in conscience could not accept women bishops, they were going to propose a compromise that would enshrine in law a provision for such people. Now while that in itself poses a whole new series of difficulties, some women priests are already proposing to go on strike for one sunday, and we have to avoid the possibility of women bishops being seen as second class citizens, it is surely a much better way forward than the break up of the church. 

 By the time you read this many of you will have heard Fr. David Houlding from All Hallows speaking of the radio but for those who have missed him I quote an excerpt from this weeks Church Times.

 "The Vatican announcement had come as no surprise, said Prebendary David Houlding, a member of the General Synods Catholic Group, on Wednesday. 

 It did not mean that all Anglo -Catholics had to jump on the band wagon and suddenly disappear. But they're very excited about it , and we know there wont  be another offer as generous as this  on the table, he said . He said that the offer placed an even greater obligation on the revision committee on women bishops to get the provision right. Far from not having to bother about it, we have to bother about it even  more."

 Wherever we stand on this issue, for or against I hope that we all wish to see the church we love and are part of stand and grow in faith and numbers. The present difficulties do not make this easy, and inevitably some on both sides will be unhappy with whatever compromise is finally proposed with the result that some may feel that they have no option but to leave the church. We shall all be poorer for that and we should pray earnestly that it will not happen.

 Your Parish Priest

Guy Pope

 

 

 

October 2009

 

Dear Friends 

How are your finances in the recession? It would seem that there is a vast difference across the nation. On the one hand there are those who have lost jobs and are therefore feeling the pinch in a big way. There are those with investments as their main income often the elderly, who are very much worse off as interest rates are now so low, and there are those who because of the lowering of VAT and mortgage rates are significantly better off.

 This was brought home to me recently in a big way by the prices that were being paid at a classic car auction. It seems that those who are better off are investing in collectables of various sorts instead of putting the money into the bank or stock exchange. 

 For the Church this is producing a major problem. In a recent article in the Independent a study showed that charities as a whole were receiving 11% less in 2009 compared to 2008. I am not sure if this is accurately replicated in Church giving, but I do know that at the beginning of September the Diocese of London while starting the year with a balanced budget has in fact got a deficit of over a Million pounds. Clearly that is not sustainable though we are now expecting to face a deficit of £1.4 million by the end of the year. 

 Next year will be even worse, as we have to face increases in pension contributions in order to make up a deficit in the funds needed to plug the gap in its funds. This alone will mean the diocese will have to find £500,000. extra. 

 While the finances of St. Mary's are not quite that dire, our income has reduced markedly as a result of the reduction in interest rates and the increases in our utility bills earlier in the year. 

 In order to maintain the existing number of clergy in the Diocese all the parishes were asked to contribute at least an extra 3% next year to the central funds used to pay the clergy. Unfortunately although the PCC of St. Mary's felt that they would like to be able to increase our contribution by 5% we have had to reduce that amount to just 1% as we already know that we will be loosing a significant sum from the Hall income next year as the Schermuly Design Studio will be leaving the hall basement after 20 years. 

 Finding a new tenant will not be easy, but the PCC are actively looking at ways to make up the loss of income in the longer term. 

 So where does that leave us as a parish? We had considered a Stewardship Renewal  this autumn, but felt that it would be inappropriate in the present financial conditions. However I will be writing to all members of the Electoral Roll in due course asking that they consider very carefully their giving levels for next year. But as part of the wider church we have a responsibility to the Diocese. After all outer parishes are currently funding us to the tune of £24,000 per year. Next year will I am afraid result in clergy cuts. Every department in Diocesan House is reviewing numbers of staff and identifying core responsibilities as against desirable activities. Some will have to go. Unless we are able to increase income significantly I fear that at least twenty clergy posts will have to be cut. In this deanery we currently only have two full time curates. We cannot reduce curate numbers as they are our future incumbents. So we have no alternative but to reduce the number of full time incumbents. 

 Now do let's be clear, no one is proposing closing of churches, apart from where this is appropriate, but it will mean sharing clergy, and more part time clergy. And that will require additional input from they lay people in order to run the churches. 

 The current outlook is not good, despite the numbers of people in church growing. So please do think through what your contribution might be in terms of time and commitment as well as money. Your Church Needs You.

 Your Parish Priest

Guy Pope

 

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September 2009

 

Dear Friends

 

  As I write we are once again reaching the end of the so called quiet period of August. Sadly I have not got done anything like the number of things I planned, as life has been far from quiet! 

 However we are just about to begin a new season in the life of the parish and we do so as Christopher and Hilda Mulinde celebrate the birth of Joshua. He was a mighty 10 pounds at birth so I guess Hilda will be very glad not to be carrying him any longer! We all thought she looked rather large, but for quite a small person he turned out to be very large. We shall look forward to when they can next make it to church so that we can all meet Joshua.

 During the summer we have also had the weddings of three couples in the congregation, so lots of excitement.

 Later this month there is a Sunday designated as "Back to Church Sunday", (more of that elsewhere in this issue) but it occurs to me that we might like to try and encourage people to bring a friend along to this service as we have splendid music and good fellowship afterwards. A splendid opportunity to reintroduce people to our congregation. How about it? Is there someone you could bring along? How about inviting them.

 Foe some months now the Prayer Group  has been in abeyance as Carolines back problems made it impossible for her to be in church. However this month will see the launch of a new style Prayer Group with time for thoughts and prayers with visual images and silence to help us develop a closer relationship with God. As usual the Prayer Group will be on the last Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm and last for approximately half an hour. If you have not been before, and would like to try it out, or have been but dropped away, why not come along on Tuesday 29th September 

 Your Parish Priest

Guy Pope

 

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August 2009

 

Dear Friends

 

You will all have read in the press of the constant controversy concerning Church Schools. The suggestion that they are exclusive, not representative of the communities they serve, divisive in terms of community cohesion, and generally a bad thing. Pressure groups would wish to see them all taken over by the local authority.

So I thought that this month I would try to tell you a little about the schools which our Diocese runs, and what we hope that they achieve. Most of you know that I am heavily involved with schools, as a governor of two, and a member of the Diocesan Board for Schools and Chair of its executive and Finance Committee. 

Lets start with some facts and figures. The diocese has 134 primary schools offering 32,795 places to children under the age of eleven. Most of our schools are what is called 'one form entry', which means they have approximately 210 children if they are full to capacity. A few are smaller, and a few larger with two forms of entry. St Michael's Highgate being a local example for the larger school. When we turn to secondary schools the picture is very different. We have only 16 at present with 15,077 places available. Over recent years we have opened two new Academies, one in Islington, and one in Finchley. This autumn the Chelsea Academy will open its doors to 162 eleven year olds, and that number will increase year on year as pupils move up the school. Next year we have further hopes of another school. It is a fact that the majority of our schools have as high or  higher levels of children from deprived backgrounds and other ethnic communities than their local authority neighbours. Yes of course most schools give precedence to children of church going families, but  after that they very much reflect the communities in which they sit.

As you can see this is a major undertaking with some 50,000 children's education in our care. A task we take very seriously yet one that the church at large so often either ignores or choses to take no interest in. But it is surely one of the greatest mission opportunities that the church has in our city. That is not to say that we would seek to indoctrinate the children, or even set out to convert them. But in a world where they are unlikely to get any christian input in their homes, and largely negative information in the press and media we have contact with, and therefore the ability to do some pre evangelism with the children of our schools. For instance I never cease to be surprised at the number of people under the age of 40 who claim never to have set foot in a church, and have no notion of christian worship, and absolutely no knowledge of the Bible or of the life and relevance of Jesus Christ. I am pretty confident that no child who has been to one of our schools could subscribe to any of the above claims.

 Last autumn because of the bad publicity we had been receiving we commissioned a survey of Londoners by the respected YouGov organisation. Londoners were asked to agree or disagree with a series of nine statements. The results were very positive. 62% think that Church of England Schools have a rightful place in London's education system. Only 14% think that Church of England schools should be abolished. Over half the respondents agreed that Church of England schools do not lead to segregation and division in society. For every Londoner who is negative towards our schools , there are between 3 and 4 who are supportive. So clearly they are popular in society in general. 

 So what is our ambition for our schools? Well first and foremost that they should give all the children the best possible start in life, and that means giving them the highest possible standard of education. Of our 150 schools we currently have no schools that Ofsted regard as 'failing', and no schools in the next category, 'having notice to improve'. 25% of our schools are categorised by Ofsted as "outstanding' and 73% as 'good or better'. So we are doing pretty well there, but there is always room for improvement. 

 One of the most significant factors in education in deprived areas is the environment. We pride ourselves in achieving a much higher standard than most state schools and considerably better than our Roman Catholic colleagues. If the children and young people have pride in their school they are far less likely to cause damage through vandalism and their general behaviour is likely to improve. In fact most of our schools have standards of behaviour that are the envy of our local authority neighbours. 

 So what do we look for in our schools? First and foremost a Christian ethos. That means a place where Christian values are at the heart of the life of the community. Valuing every child as a reflection of Christ whatever their faith of background. It means helping children to have standards of behaviour and tolerance of others. It also means helping children to value the faith of others. At St. George the Martyr school we recently had a visit from a very experienced photographer working on this occasion for the Times Educational Supplement. We sat down a group of six 8/9 year olds and asked them simply to discuss what made their faith distinctive and what was important about it for them. Four world faiths were represented around the table. After half an hour the photographer commented that he had learnt more in that half hour about all the faiths than he had ever known before. That surely is a measure of great success, that children so young can sit around and have the confidence to discuss their religion and be able to interact positively with those of other faiths. 

As I am sure you know the 1944 Education Act provided that Religious Education should be on the timetable of every school, and that an act of Religious Worship should take place in every school daily. While in many state schools the nature and character of the assembly has lost its Christian input, and RE is seen as an add on it remains compulsory, with an agreed syllabus in every education authorities schools to be taught. However the latest proposals from the Government seem to sideline RE to the extent that it is simply omitted from the syllabus completely. These proposals are likely to become the template for guidance in the future making church schools input even more important. At a time of great financial stress we must make sure that we redouble our efforts to ensure that church schools are able to exist, expand and flourish so that we may ensure that children and young people in the future have a chance to learn something of the Christian faith to enrich and expand their horizons as well as giving them a glimpse of the value of a life of faith. 

 Your Parish Priest

 

Guy Pope

 

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June 2009

 

Dear Friends

 

One of the most popular hymns that is asked for on all sorts of occasions is Guide me, O thou great Redeemer. We are all I am sure aware of its Welsh roots, but did you know that it was first written in Welsh, and later translated into English? It was written by William Williams, (how Welsh can you get?) who lived from 1717-1791 and wrote the words in 1745. It was translated by this brother Peter Williams. Despite being known as 'the sweet singer of Wales' it was not until it was put to the tune Cwm Rhondda composed in 1905 for a song festival by John Hughes that it became so popular.

 

Not only the tune, but also the words themselves express such stirring and poignant sentiments. Despite the curse of our age, the total rejection of the concept of sinfulness, and our need of repentance, these words really do stir us in a way that others fail to do. In our heart of hearts most of us are aware that we are not terribly good people, that we have failings and that we need to be forgiven and accepted if we are to move forward on the journey of our lives.

 

Yet there is another side to these words, the reason we often use the hymn as the offertory hymn at the Eucharist. They are filled with Eucharistic theology. The guidance for the pilgrim in difficulty is the Bread of heaven on which we can feed and be refreshed for our journey. The crystal fountain from which the healing of our lives flows is the Eucharistic feast that will bid our fears subside and bring us to eternal life.

 

These beliefs then are at the heart of the feast of Corpus Christi which we celebrate this month. As usual we shall be sharing the feast with our neighbours so this year we shall be at St. Benet's where we will not only be able to celebrate but also no doubt be fed and watered afterwards. Corpus Christi falls this year on Thursday 11th June, and the service will be at 7.30pm.

 

Elsewhere in the magazine you will see Bill Saunders article about the Midsumme Fete. As always we need lots of help both with items to sell and people to sell them. Sadly the last two years we have not been blest with good weather, so lets hope for a change this year as I am sure that many of you have been storing up plenty of elbow power for those wet sponges that you have been unable to aim at me.

 

Despite the weather the takings have been steadily rising so please in these hard times do your best to support this event. It is one of the main sources of cash for our outward giving, supporting the charitable and religious causes chosen by the PCC. You can see a report on one of these here. Fr. Nicholas, the ex Vicar of Camden Town tells us about his second six months in Rio de Janeiro. Most of us picture wonderful beaches, fabulous hotels and absolute luxury. Sadly that is far from the truth for most of the residents of the city. Just a few weeks ago the vicar of Ruislip went to visit Fr. Nicholas, and ended up lying on the floor of his flat for half an hour as bullets flew around. We need to continue to support Fr. Nicholas as he tries to bring life and hope to the people of his parish who live in such poverty and fear for their lives.

 

Your Parish Priest

 

Guy Pope

 

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May 2009

 

Dear Friends

 

At last sunday's service and the AGM that followed we made our farewells to Jonathan, Konstanza and Johanna Williams. It is always sad to say good by to regular members of the congregation, but especially so when like Jonathan they have been so active in the life of the parish for a considerable number of years. 

Jonathan's biannual reminders of the needs of the Fete and Bazaar have become a feature of the notices for a month before both events. I have teased him many times that they were longer than the sermon! However the result has usually been an event that was well supported and ably run. We shall miss him especially in the clearing up phase where there is always such a lot to do, yet most of the helpers have given up. We presented Jonathan with some vouchers from John Lewis so that he and Konstanza can purchase something for the new house that will remind them of their time at St. Mary's. 

We wish them well for the future and God's blessing in their new home, and look forward to seeing them in church from time to time once they are settled. Jonathan will still be joining us for our pilgrimage to the Holy Land next year so those of us going to Israel will have plenty of time to catch up with him then.

And that brings me to what I really wanted to think about this month. 

In my annual report to the Annual Parochial Meeting last Sunday I made a request that we as a parish, all of us, look at what we contribute in terms of time and talents. There are so many jobs that need to be done in order to keep the parish ticking over. 

Those of you who are in the Stewardship scheme will be familiar with the list that is on the annual renewal form. There are many more that we could add, but lets start with them. In fact of course we get very few volunteers for the jobs from that letter. But the jobs still need to be done. Simple things such as the church cleaning. How many of you are aware that before Easter and Christmas Carol polishes the whole of the church floor with no help from anyone? How many of you know who washes and irons the altar linen, which is changed twice or three times a year? Who washes the servers albs and choir cottas? Who tidies the churchyard cuts the grass at the back of the church and deals with the weeds that inevitably grow through the gravel? Who prepares the rotas for the readers, sidespeople and intercessors? Who does the flowers on all but Christmas and Easter?

Well you may know the answer to some of those questions, but I suspect that few would be able to answer all. In fact it is just two people who do all those jobs. So my point at the Annual Meeting was to say that we should make this year the year of volunteering for the practical things that are needed in the parish. 

I have already had one offer of practical help, and you will see the results of that in the next few weeks. But if we all helped out just a little bit the life of the parish would be that much smoother. Most of the tasks do not require great talents, just a bit of elbow grease, though some such as editing this Magazine really do require some expertise. Though even that can be taught where there is a willingness to learn. 

So let's use the coming months all volunteer for at least one task so that the load can be spread and all take some of the responsibility for the daily running of the church.

In the meantime I hope that you will all put the two significant dates of Ascension Day, May 21st, and Pentecost, May 31st as red letter days in your diaries and do your best to be in church on those days.

Your parish priest

Guy Pope

April 2009

Dear Friends

Some time ago a group of school children were visiting St. Mary's, I asked them to go around the church and see how many crosses they could find. When they got over 70 they began to realise just how important a Christian symbol it is. However they also noticed a distinct difference, as some of the crosses had the figure of Jesus on them and others didn't.

This is the central significance of Holy Week and Easter. Jesus offers himself for us on the cross on Good Friday and rises from the grave on Easter Day leaving the cross empty as a sign of his triumph over the powers of darkness and death. The early Christians very quickly came to recognise how powerful a symbol both images were and how the cross and resurrection changed the world for ever. 

Today we too rejoice that our lives are changed for ever by the sacrifice of Christ. We are given a supreme demonstration of love for our neighbour that we must try to live up to. We will fail many times, but through the love of Christ will be forgiven. 

The great services of this week remind us step by step of His earthly life and His joyful resurrection.  I hope that you will able to join us to celebrate these great days, and can assure you of a warm welcome at St. Mary's.  May God give you his blessing this Easter.

Your Parish Priest

Guy Pope

March 2009

For the last few years the PCC has been wanting to get a parish website up and running. Now at last thanks to the efforts of Peter Dann we finally have the site active, though still in the process of development. We have been waiting for the arrival of the text of the revised and updated history of St Mary's which various members of the Saunders family have been working on for the last eleven years! However we have now gone live without this part of our site being active. Appart from the up to date list of events, a welcome to visitors to the site and information about the church hall we hope to include articles from the magazine and other information about life in the parish from tiime to time. 

 A major component also to be added will be a guided tour of the churtch with pictures of each area of interest. These will now need to wait till after Easter to be taken, as if we take them now, as Lent begins, the place will tend to look rather dull. However a great start has been made, and many thanks to Peter who has put a great deal of effort into setting the site up, and will maintain it for us in the future. So if you have any comments, suggestions as to improvements or material that might be included, please do speak to Peter, or email him here Webmaster. 

I have published on the website  two articles about redundancy. The first relating to the destablising effect of the threat, and secondly prayers (here) for those made redundant. While as far as I am aware no one in the congregation has as yet been made redundant, I am very aware of folk who are finding obtaining a job extremely difficult in the present climate. 

I was talking only thismorning to someone who has recently set up as a freelance in his field who felt that his prospects were good as companies are tending to divest themselves of full time staff and employ specialists for individual projects. While this is good for some it will not suit the majority of people. It makes obtaining a mortgage for instance very difficult even if you can find one today!

For the last fifteen years or so we have lived in a boom economy where the possibility of a downturn has simply been put aside. Now we must face the reality and for many this is an unpleasant situation. The church has to be there to help those who turn to us for help in dealing with the new realities of life in a constructive way. You can find these prayers

Some of you may have seen the very strong criticism of Bishop Richard in last weeks Evening Standard. He sent a pastoral letter to all the clergy last week encouraging us all to see through the difficulties that all the churches will face in the comming months as income declines and outgoings rise. We must see the present situation he insisted as a positive pastoral situation to be taken advantage of, where we can get alongside people to help them and encourage them the see that there may be new openings in the changes in their lives. 

 Typically of journalists, the Standard accused Bishop Richard of saying that the depression was a good thing, taking one phrase out of context. But none the less the present economic situation does call on all of us to reasses our prioities in life and particularly in a financial perspective. How do we spend our money? What do ws see as important? What is really unneccessary and what is vital for our health and happiness both in mind and body?

 Those surely are some good questions for us to ponder at the begining of Lent and I am sure will surface many times in our Lent Groups, meeting each Wednesday evening, which have the title Faith Hope and Love. 

May I wish you all a Holy Lent where your faith is deepened so that you may come to Easter renewed in your faith.