All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear Friend,

Advent is peopled with characters who respond to the call of God to share in his work: Isaiah and , Elizabeth and Zechariah, John the Baptist, and above all, as we come close to Christmas, Mary.

So the gospel on the fourth and final Sunday of Advent this year is the story of the Annunciation to Mary in Luke (1.26-38).

When a woman cries out to Jesus during his ministry: ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that you sucked!’ Jesus responds: ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.’  (Luke 11.27-28) 

Some see this as contrasting true believers and Mary but given the positive way Luke presents Mary in the rest of the gospel, this argument does not stand up.  Rather means Mary’s faith is seen as more not less. Jesus beatitude echoes that of Elizabeth, who had saluted the pregnant Mary with the words: ‘Blessed is she who believed’ (Luke 1.45).  

For Luke the faith of a genuine disciple is about hearing and acting upon God’s word and in the Annunciation he shows Mary as the exemplary disciple who does just this.

But this model of discipleship is not the blind obedience or unquestioning female submission to male authority it has been used to justify: there is no man in this story.  God does not compel obedience. Mary listens, questions intelligently and responds wholeheartedly and humbly to the will and call of God. She must give her “informed consent.”

As she discerns the voice of God in her life commissioning her for a momentous task, we see her exercising independent thought and action. She chooses to accept the call.   Her free and autonomous choice opens a new chapter in God’s relationship with the world. This woman of Spirit sets out on the task of being God’s partner in the work of redeeming that world.

The Annunciation is a unique event: only one woman could be the God-bearer, the Mother of Christ. But it is also reveals something which happens in all human lives. Mary’s call sheds light on all our callings. Annunciations occur again and again to bring into ordinary life, into the Nazareth of our lives, family, work, community, the message of God’s will to make our world whole, and call us to be part of that healing.

Mary’s questioning of the angel shows us that it is right for us to ask, “How can this be since I am…?”  only an ordinary person, not up to such a task, too frightened of what it might involve and of failure.  But in that discerning process, Mary learns and we learn that ‘with God all things are possible.’  God’s grace takes her beyond the apparent limitations of a young peasant woman in first century Palestine, and can take us beyond the boundaries of our existence 2000 years later.

Mary’s courageous and life-changing response, will mean that all generations will call her blessed. Our response to the annunciations in our lives brings change and blessing too. We find our calling and identity in the company of those who – with her – hear the word of God and keep it, who respond to it, not out of fear but in courageous love.

With best wishes for Christmas,

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Alan Moses
Vicar, All Saints Margaret Street
Area Dean of Westminster and St Marylebone

Please pray for those who have asked for our prayers: Rosemary Barratt, Asia Bibi. Heather Brown, Lily Caplin, James Carey-Elwes, Rosamond Clayton, Kate Down, Norman Greenfield (Priest), Tim Harding, Yvonne & Philip Harland, Elspeth Harley, Lewis Harvey, Sheila Kenyon, Molly Leng, Joshua Levy, Christine Loffty, Hilary Morgan, Norman Newby, Anne O’Connor, Linda Orme, Malcolm Richards, Peter Royle, Jock Scott, Nicholas Stacey (Priest), Celia Swan, Dilys Thomas, Helen Turner, Joy Wright and Mark Young.

For the recently departed: Charles Richardson (Priest), Susan Beauchamp, Phyllis Dorothy James, Monica Evans, Michael Freeman (Priest), Ian Stevens, Annie Moran, Elizabeth Hill, Ken Hill and Tony Marks (Priest).

Remember past priests, benefactors, friends, and all whose year’s mind occurs this week:  Charles William Hillier, Adam Reddington, Harry Nuttall, Elizabeth Ross, Anthony Greek (All Saint’s chorister), Richard Routledge (Sub-Deacon and former member of the PCC), Harold Pobjoy (Priest), Anne Scott, Cynthia Tucker, Miriam Smith, Augustus Thompson, Paul de Fortis (Priest), Lennox Berkeley, Desmond Berk, Kenneth Bond (All Saints’ chorister and sometime Head Boy).
     

WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY and NEXT WEEK

Weekday Masses remain in the Parish Room. Due to high level working on the scaffolding in Church installing new wiring and light fittings, Church will be closed during the week again until Christmas. Thank you for your understanding and flexibility during this challenging period.

WORSHIP SUNDAY 21 DECEMBER – FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

HIGH MASS and HOLY BAPTISM (Arabella Dorothy McNeil), 11am
Preacher: The Vicar, Prebendary Alan Moses
Mass Movements – Mendelssohn
A spotless rose – Howells

‘The Shape of the Liturgy’ Ten to One Talk on The Gradual Hymn/Acclamation has been postponed due to the length of the Mass with Holy Baptism. It will now take place on Sunday 11 January.

There is no Sunday lunch service this week – it will recommence in mid-January 2015.

CHORAL EVENSONG & BENEDICTION at 6pm
Preacher: Fr Julian Browning
The Short Service – Byrd
Ave Maria – Victoria
 

WORSHIP NEXT SUNDAY – 28 DECEMBER – FIRST SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS
HIGH MASS, 11am
Preacher: The Vicar, Prebendary Alan Moses 
Mass in G minor – Rheinberger 
I sing of a maiden – Hadley

Low Mass 5.15pm.  Please note – there is no Choral Evensong on 28 December. Please see our website for full service times over Christmas & New Year. www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.co.uk.

NOTICES

THANK YOU CAROL SINGERS!
Thank you to all those who took part in carol singing in the Parish once again and collected £185 for our two homeless charity projects in London – West London Day Centre and the Church Army Hostel for Homeless Women in Marylebone. Added to the £3,278 we have already succeeded in donating in 2014 – brings us to a grand total of £3,463, considerably up on 2013.   

Please Note: ALL SAINTS’ CLUB BAR PRICES GO UP ON 1^ST JANUARY 2015 for the first time since 2012. New Annual Membership cards are required from that time – price held at £3.

ALL SAINTS’ PARISH RETREAT 2015
The Retreat will be at Ely again, from 13-15 March. As already announced, the conductor will be
Fr John Cullen. If you would like to attend, or to know more about it, please contact Martin Woolley on 07976 275383 or at m.g.woolley@btinternet.com. A careful note will be kept of the order in which firm reservations are received.

ALL SAINTS RESTORATION – GOOD PROGRESS but FURTHER DONATIONS NEEDED to complete works

New wiring and lighting cost £350,000. Essential CCTV security and fire detection systems cost £22,000. We are going ahead with these while scaffolding is in place, to minimise the cost. We want to reduce our reliance on loans for the total project so any further gifts will help us to do that.

HOW YOU CAN HELP………. please be as generous as you can – we need a further £1,150 for the security and fire detection and any additional donations will minimise the use of loans.
Cheques payable to: All Saints Church Restoration Appeal and send to:  The Parish Administrator, 7 Margaret Street, London W1W 8JG.
Please indicate where Gift Aid may be applied as it increases the value of your contribution by 25% at no cost to yourself. Thank you!

WORKS – as those who came to the Nine Lessons and Carols will know, the Sanctuary was cleared of scaffolding and the new lighting there was in use, so the high altar will be used at Christmas. The striking new chandeliers are expected to be installed in the nave arches this coming week. With a Christmas break for our hard working electricians, we anticipate that all scheduled works will be completed by the end of January 2015. We hope to be celebrating the newly lit All Saints at Candlemas.

WEEKDAY SERVICES – taking place in the Parish Room and Confessions heard in the Oratory (access via the Parish Office). Church will be open on Sunday throughout the project and at other times when safe to do so.  

ALL SAINTS SERVICES in CHRISTMAS WEEK (unless specified usual daily Low Masses at 8am, 1.10pm and 6.30pm):

Monday 22 December, 12.30pm – CAROL SERVICE and Blessing of the Christmas Tree. With a soloist from the Choir of All Saints Margaret Street. Followed by Mince pies and Mulled Wine.

Wednesday 24 December – CHRISTMAS EVE – MIDNIGHT MASS and BLESSING OF THE CRIB at 11pm. Music includes: Missa Sancti Nicolai – Haydn and O magnum mysterium – Poulenc.

Thursday 25 December – CHRISTMAS DAY Low Mass 9am and HIGH MASS at 11am only. Music at 11am includes: Spatzenmesse – Mozart and Tomorrow shall be my dancing day – English trad., arr. Willcocks

Friday 26 December – St Stephen’s Day – 1.10pm Low Mass only. 

Saturday 27 December – Low Masses 8am and 6.30pm (First Mass of Sunday) 

Thursday 1 January 2015 – 1.10pm Low Mass only. 

ALL SAINTS’ DATES FOR YOUR DIARY IN JANUARY 2015

Tuesday 6 January – THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD – High Mass, 6.30pm
Music: Missa Brevis in F – Mozart, Ab oriente venerunt Magi – Händl
Preacher: Very Revd Professor Dr Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church Oxford 

Saturday 10 January, 3.30pm – the visiting Choir of Christ Church St Laurence, Sydney sing Evensong & Benediction  for the Eve of The Baptism of the Lord at All Saints
Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc dimittis on Plainsong Tones – Wills
Anthem: Sicut cervus – Palestrina
Responses: McEwan
Benediction: O salutaris – de la Rue; Tantum ergo – Duruflé

The choir is touring various churches and other venues in the UK, Belgium and France, and will spend a week in residence at St Paul’s (past visits have often included residencies at Westminster Abbey); they will also sing in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Full details of the tour can be found online at www.ccsl.org.au/11-latest-news/256-frontispiece2-9.

Christ Church St Laurence, Sydney is a sister parish to All Saints (actually a slightly older sister, completed in 1845!) with shared roots in the early stages of the Oxford Movement (the first Bishop of Sydney, William Grant Broughton, was a Tractarian: the diocese did not embrace his ideals, but Christ Church still bears witness to his part in its foundation). It is now known as the most vibrant Anglo-Catholic Church in Australia, with a fine musical tradition which was part of the founding vision and, like All Saints, once included a choir school. All Saints Director of Music, Dr Neil McEwan, and Organist Peter Jewkes (a frequent visitor to All Saints) are former colleagues of Fr Michael Bowie, our Assistant Priest. Come and worship; conclude your Saturday shopping with a meditative and worshipful preparation for Sunday’s Feast!

Sunday 11 January 2015 – THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST – High Mass, 11am
Missa Brevis – Berkeley and Kindle a light—Fleming. Preacher: Father Julian Browning

Sunday 11 January – Epiphany Carol Service, 6pm
A service of Readings and Music by candlelight for the Epiphany with the Choir of All Saints

Sunday 25 January, 7.15pm (after Benediction) ORGAN RECITAL – CHARLES ANDREWS (Associate Director of Music)
Programme:
By J. S. Bach (1685-1750):
Vom Himmel hoch, da komm’ ich her BWV 606
Mit Fried’ und Freud’ ich fahr’ dahin BWV 616
Herr Gott, nun schleuß den Himmel auf BWV 617       
Vom Himmel hoch, da komm’ ich her BWV 700
Prelude and fugue in A minor BWV 543
In dulci jubilo BWV 608

By M. Dupré (1886-1971): Variations sur un Noël op. 20

Retiring collection to support the Choir and Music at All Saints (suggested donation £4)

The All Saints Licensed Club/Bar below the Church will be open after this recital.

EVENTS BEYOND ALL SAINTS
Wednesday 14 January, 1.10pm – Organ Recital St Cyprian’s – NICHOLAS MANNOUKAS – Dr John Birch Organ Scholar.   The full programme is still to be finalised, but it will include Mendelssohn’s complete 6th Sonata. If you can, please come along and support Nicholas. Entry is free with a retiring collection for St Cyprian’s

ALL SAINTS YEAR ROUND SUPPORT for HOMELESS PEOPLE
MARYLEBONE PROJECT run by the CHURCH ARMY – A Day Centre, Residential and Transitional accommodation provider, re-settlement project and Educational and Training Unit for women. The Emergency Bed Unit – for which we have for some years helped to provide the funds for one of the 4 beds – offers a safe haven and refuge for women escaping domestic violence, financial crisis, sexual exploitation and mental health issues.

Seasonal Appeals – With last monies in from Carol Singing, the grand total was £3,463 (up significantly on last year’s support of £2,790) to this Mission Project and a further £3,000 to Us collected through the All Saints Festival and Lent Appeals. Thank you for your generosity in supporting these Appeals.

Year Round Support – we also support the Resettlement Project with non-perishable food and toiletries or household necessities like cutlery or bed linen/blankets. Please contribute to this effort, bringing donations to the Parish Office or leaving them in Church in the basket in the Baptistery.

Day-to-day Support – we respond to the needs of homeless people who visit the church, providing luncheon vouchers for the West London Day Centre for rough sleepers who apply to the office and allowing a few individuals, who need a place to shelter or sleep during the day, to rest in the back of the church. We have created an information resource for Church Watchers, giving useful advice to homeless and vulnerable people seeking particular support or services. In the face of a rising tide of homelessness in London, please help us fund and support people in need through our Mission project.

Want to help someone sleeping rough but don’t know how? Call Streetlink on 0300 500 0914 and they will get a visit from the local Street Team who can put them in contact with the services they may need.

FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS OR ASSISTANCE FROM ALL SAINTS MARGARET STREET:-
* If you would like to encourage others to take an interest in All Saints/keep up with what is happening here, please forward this email on to them, or to people you would like to invite to services.

* If you know of others who would like to receive this correspondence please encourage them to sign up for the email on the All Saints website – see the tab News & Events> Weekly Newsletter.

* If you would like prayers offered at All Saints, please email the Parish Administrator Mrs Dee Prior at: astsmgtst@aol.com.

If you would like any pastoral assistance, please do not hesitate to contact the Vicar, Prebendary Alan Moses: alanmoses111@gmail.com. Or Assistant Priest Fr Michael Bowie: mnrbowie@hotmail.com.

DAILY SERVICES AT ALL SAINTS during Refurbishment until January 2015
(Church guaranteed open Sunday only from 7am to 7pm and at other times when safe to do so)
On major weekday feasts, High Mass is sung at 6.30pm

SUNDAYS in Church
Low Mass 6.30pm (Saturday), 8am and 5.15pm. Morning Prayer 10.20am
HIGH MASS AND SERMON, 11am and CHORAL EVENSONG, SERMON and BENEDICTION, 6pm.

MONDAY – SATURDAY in the Parish Room
Morning Prayer 7.30am
Low Mass – 8am, 1.10pm and 6.30pm
Evening Prayer 6pm
(Except Bank Holiday – 1.10pm Mass only)

Confessions
A priest is available for confessions/counsel Monday – Friday from 12.30-1pm and at 5.30pm Monday – Saturday, or by appointment. During the refurbishment works, confessions will be heard Monday – Friday in the Oratory at 7 Margaret Street. Please ring the bell
at the Vicarage or Parish Office doors for admittance. 

www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk and e-mail: astsmgtst@aol.com.