All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear Friend,

Someone stopped me in the street the other day to ask if I knew when the world will end. I said I did not and that our Lord had warned us against speculating about this. His warning has not stopped people trying.  The Jehovah’s Witnesses who picket Oxford Circus Tube station, offering a book which promises to tell us “What the Bible Really Says,” have a record of getting it wrong. So I’m not sure why we should trust them to tell us what Holy Scripture really means either.

They say that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity which we celebrate on Sunday is not in the Bible, and that neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit are divine. 

It is true that the Scriptures do not contain a fully worked out doctrine of the Trinity but there are many questions and subjects which the words of the historical Jesus do not address. The Church has had to deal with all sorts of matters on which he left no specific instructions. 

In doing that it has relied on the guidance of the Holy Spirit who Jesus promises the disciples in his final teaching to them, “will guide you into all truth” and will “declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16: 13).  That does not mean that the process by which the Church is led into all truth is always easy. It often requires much hard thought, deep prayer and sometimes a lot of arguments.

The Bible is not a book from which we can simply read the answers to all questions without further thought. It does not provide precise instructions to be followed in any given situation.   Even within the scriptures, the process of interpreting the meaning of God and of Jesus Christ is continually going on.  We see that in the distinctive approaches to Jesus taken by John’s Gospel.  In the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s letters, we see the Church wrestling with issues on which Jesus had not given a definitive ruling.

Our forebears in the faith did not wrestle with the issues of the divinity of Christ and the Spirit, and their relationship with the Father, not as a detached academic exercise but as matters of supreme import for people.  If we believe that humankind is made in the image of God, then it is vital to know the nature of that God.

If God is solitary, then human beings are also essentially alone.  If God is, as the doctrine of the Trinity teaches us, a perfect communion of persons in mutual love, then we find our fulfillment as human beings in self-giving love and relationship, not in self-centredness.

The last century saw a revival of Trinitarian theology. This was triggered by the rise of an ideology which subordinated human beings to an all-powerful leader.  A God seen as such a leader writ large; one to whom even Jesus is a subordinate, lent support to such an idea and blunted the Church’s critique of its idolatry and attendant cruelties.

But a God, known as the perfect union of persons in love, supports an understanding of all human beings, whatever their race or gender, age or intelligence, as equal in dignity. The God revealed in Jesus Christ, and declared to us by his Spirit, is one whose will is to draw all into the divine life by the attractiveness of love not the exercise of naked power. 

That is what the Bible really says. It is what the Trinity is about. It is the truth into which we and our world always need to be led.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Alan Moses

Prebendary Alan Moses
Vicar of All Saints Margaret Street
Area Dean of Westminster – St Marylebone

Please pray for those who have asked for our prayers: John Adams, Asia Bibi, John Bailey, Alixe Bainbridge-Spring, Fr Allan Buick, Vivien Caplowe, James Cary-Elwes, Dennis Davis, Mark Dougly, Kate Down, David Fettke, Ghislain Hamelin, Nicholas Harington, Lewis Harvey, Valerie Hawkins, Julia Holland and family, Maria Keen, Julie Knight, Andrew Laird, Tom Leader, Miriam Nelson, Fr. Robert Norwood, Oliver Orr, David Pearce, Agnes Poitevin-Navarre, Canon John Rees, Stella and Helen Skinner, Margaret Spencer, Rose Stephens, Madeleine Storer, Christine van Dyck, Lynn Van Keulen, Robert Walmsley and Joy Wright.   

For the recently departed:  Laura Bannerman, Sister Katherine Maryel SSB, Mary Collins, Peter Hirst and Jim Craddock.  

Remember past priests, benefactors, friends, and all whose year’s mind occurs this week including: Basil Kiernander, Francis Irving, Rita Hodgetts, Frederick Seales, John Davies, Clare Jackson, Percy Aspinall, Elsie Davies, Betty Scott, Ivan Sutton, Joy Cooch and Constance Crozier.

For full service information: www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk.

WORSHIP THIS WEEK:

SUNDAY 22 MAY – TRINITY SUNDAY
HIGH MASS, 11am
Preacher: Fr Julian Browning
Missa Secondi Toni – Lassus
O sacrum convivium – Tallis

The Vicar is preaching at St Cyprian’s, Clarence Gate this morning.

There is Sunday Lunch service and the chef is Martin Woolley, who will be cooking Moussaka followed by Baked Almond Pears. Tickets £5 may be purchased from the Parish Shop before and after Mass (subject to availability).

CHORAL EVENSONG & BENEDICTION, 6pm
Preacher: The Vicar, Prebendary Alan Moses
Murrill in E
O beata et benedicta
et gloriosa Trinitas – Palestrina

ORGAN RECITAL, 7.15pm following Evensong & Benediction
David Graham, Director of Music, Farm Street.
Programme:
Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C minor (BWV 546)
Vierne’s Clair de Lune (Pièces de Fantaisie Op 53)
Liszt’s Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (Variations on a theme of Bach).
Free entry with retiring collection (donation of £5 suggested) to support the
choir and music at All Saints.
The All Saints Licensed Club/Bar will be open afterwards.  

WORSHIP NEXT WEEK:

CORPUS CHRISTI, Thursday 26 May, 6.30pm,
High Mass with Street Procession of the Blessed Sacrament
Guest Preacher: The Revd. Kevin Scully, Rector, St Matthew’s Bethnal Green.
Missa Brevis in G – Mozart
Jesu dulcis memoria – Victoria
Please join us for this memorable annual public act of witness on Oxford Street. The procession will be accompanied by choir and brass as in 2015. If anyone would like to assist with stewarding the procession or carrying the canopy, please get in touch with Cedric Stephens, Head Server or Dee Prior, Parish Administrator Tel: 020 7 636 1788.

SUNDAY 29 MAY – TRINITY 1
HIGH MASS, 11am
Preacher: The Vicar, Prebendary Alan Moses
Missa Quarti Toni – Victoria
Gloria tibi Trinitas – Händl 

There is no Sunday Lunch service.

CHORAL EVENSONG & BENEDICTION, 6pm
Preacher: Fr Julian Browning 
Service in G – Sumsion   
Great Lord of Lords – Wood 

PARISH NOTICES
ALL SAINTS’ STEWARDSHIP 2016 & your Regular Giving
If you are on the All Saints Electoral Roll, we hope you will have received the recent mailshot. Please contact Dee Prior in the Parish Office on 020 7636 1788 or astsmgtst@aol.com if you have not yet had a Stewardship pack.

We ask you to respond if you can by Monday 23 May so the PCC can be briefed on progress at its 24 May meeting. If you attend All Saints regularly and are not on the Electoral Roll, please consider signing up. If you are not in regular giving or currently contribute by weekly envelope, please consider changing to Standing Order saving the Church time and money. If you would like an All Saints Stewardship 2016 leaflet or an Electoral Roll form, you can pick them up in Church this Sunday or ask to have copies forwarded to you by contacting Dee Prior (as above).

CHRISTIAN AID WEEK 15 – 21 May
As always, May brings Christian Aid Week and this year it runs from May 15th. The theme for this year is Bangladesh. Last year more than 20,000 churches worked hard to raise money and over £11m went to development work for the poor of the world. Please be generous in your support. There will be an envelope with the service sheet and they may be returned at any time to the church. Christian Aid is one of the country’s largest grant making charities and much respected in the UK and throughout the world. Please return envelopes by 29 May to enable the donations to be promptly passed on to the charity.

WALSINGHAM NATIONAL PILGRIMAGE – reserve list still open….
All Saints will again be running a coach to the Walsingham National Pilgrimage on Monday 30 May. The coach will leave All Saints at 7.30am prompt. Mass at 12 noon in the Abbey Grounds; Preacher: The Revd Andrew Mitcham, Vicar of Walsingham and Guardian of the Shrine. Cost will be approximately £20 for adults. At the moment, all seats are booked, but a reserve list is operating as experience has shown that people do drop out near the date. Please get in touch with Ross Buchanan (Tel: 020 7221 1312) if you would like to go on the reserve list for a seat or to know more.

SPONSOR THE VICAR ON PILGRIMAGE
Fr. Alan will begin his 1000 km walking pilgrimage from Seville to Santiago de Compostela on Tuesday 31 May. If you would like to sponsor him in support of the Diocese of London’s projects for persecuted Christians and for refugees from the conflicts in Iraq and Syria, sponsorship forms will be available in church and the parish office. There is a sponsorship form to sign up in church. You can also donate directly online through Give.Net where the specific fundraising page is: https://my.give.net/alanspilgrimage.

You are invited to a POETRY TEA PARTY on Saturday 4 June at 3pm, at Pamela’s.  All welcome.  Please bring Poetry and Prose relating to the subject of ‘Europe’.  To accept, or to ask for Pamela’s address, please speak to Pamela or Sandra in the courtyard or ring Sandra on 020 7637 8456 leaving your name and phone number.  Cost £6 towards the All Saints Restoration Appeal.

FITZFEST 2016: 8-11 JUNE
8-11 June 2016 sees the inaugural FitzFest celebrating London’s Fitzrovia with all its musical heritage from past generations together with the contemporary diversity that thrives today.

With a programme of music made entirely by musicians who have lived or worked in Fitzrovia over the centuries – and often played on historical instruments made in Fitzrovia – the festival is grounded in the local community. It offers a vast array of community concerts, workshops, social and fitness events to draw the local people into the festival and to celebrate the current community alongside the historical culture of the area. Venues during the festival include unconventional spaces such as shops, bars, pubs, art galleries and community spaces. And All Saints Margaret Street…

Friday 10 June 4pm-4.45pm – All Saints Margaret Street 
ORCHESTRA OF THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT WIND
QUINTET CONCERT – Wind players from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment play Wind Quintets on Fitzrovian Instruments. Programme includes works by Danzi and Weber.

Friday 10 June 8pm-9.45pm
Simultaneously at All Saints Margaret Street and Fitzrovia Chapel

ORCHESTRA OF THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT: FITZROVIAN FLUTES and OLGA JEGUNOVA (PIANO)

Half of the concert at All Saints Margaret Street:
Boismortier Flute Music, played by the flautists of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on Fitzrovian Instruments.

At the interval the audiences will swap venues, led through the streets by tour guides, where they will listen to the other half of the concert.

Half of the concert at the Fitzrovia Chapel:
Wind players from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and pianist Olga Jegunova play Mozart Quintet for Piano and Winds on Fitzrovian Instruments.
Played on historical instruments made in Fitzrovia.

For ticket booking, see: http://www.fitzfest.co.uk/ where you can buy guaranteed tickets or register for free events. Half of the total paid-for tickets will be available to buy online at full price shown. The other half will be available on the door on a first come, first served basis.  Any remaining free/donation tickets will also be available on the door.

 Sunday 12 June AN INVITATION TO A PICNIC LUNCH – Come and celebrate the QUEEN’S 90^th BIRTHDAY at All Saints 
Following the St Paul’s Service of Thanksgiving on 10 June and in parallel with The Patron’s Lunch for 10,000 people in the Mall on 12 June, All Saints is contributing in a modest way to the national celebrations for the Queen with its customary music and hospitality for this auspicious occasion. Director of Music, Tim Byram-Wigfield has chosen music for both High Mass and Evensong on Sunday 12 June especially to mark HM The Queen’s Official 90^th Birthday. Works include Walton’s Missa Brevis and the voluntary Crown Imperial, along with Parry’s Offertory Motet I was glad in the morning and Byrd’s anthem O Lord make thy servant Elizabeth with Parry’s voluntary Elizabeth in the evening. 

The Events Committee anticipates a glorious day’s weather for a mass picnic with suitable food and drink in a bunting bedecked church courtyard – well suited to a Parish cold collation or an All Saints’ style street party. All are welcome to join in the festivities starting immediately after Mass. Please bring a straw hat to protect from the promised sunshine! 

SERVICES & EVENTS FOR JUNE 2016 BEYOND ALL SAINTS 

Churches Together in Westminster “Meet the Neighbours” 
Westminster is blessed with a large number of churches of all shapes and sizes, but each church is unique. One of the aims of “Meet the Neighbours” visits is to give everyone the opportunity to both respect and be open to experiencing and learning a little more about the worship traditions and ministries of the host churches. 

11 am on Wednesday, 1 June 2016. Our hosts will be THE ROYAL MILITARY CHAPEL, The Guards’ Chapel, Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, SW1E 6HQ.  All welcome. The visit includes: Weekday Holy Communion (Anglican) Celebrant: The Senior Chaplain (please advise if you need a gluten free wafer) followed by a talk about the Guards Chapel Silver and coffee. Please see: http://www.westendatwar.org.uk/page/guards_chapel_wellington_barracks?path=0p28p 

HUGH PRICE HUGHES LECTURES 2016
The last lecture in the series will be held at Hinde St Methodist Church at 7.30pm.  Admission is free & all are welcome! www.hindestreet.org.uk/hph 

Living as Christians in Multi-faith Britain and the Importance of Religious Literacy 
14 June – Michael Wakelin, Religion & Media Consultant 

ALL SAINTS MISSION ACTIVITIES:- 
ONGOING SUPPORT for HOMELESS PEOPLE through: 
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. 

Year Round Support – we also support the Marylebone Resettlement Project with non-perishable food and toiletries or household necessities like cutlery or bed linen/blankets.  Thank you to everyone who contributes food and household essentials via the basket in Church or handed in to the Parish Office. Please continue to donate these so we can help more people in need.  

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 just recently in 2016 donating £1,000 towards the Soup Kitchen at the American International Church in Tottenham Court Road) 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 activities.

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 or tell them about our websitewww.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk, which has a full colour 360 virtual tour for viewing the wonderfully restored interior of the Church – seewww.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk/history/virtualtour – before a visit or if unable to travel. 

* If you know of others (near or far) who would like to receive this regular update on what’s happening at All Saints 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. Or make use of the prayer request facility on the website at: www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk/prayer. 

* 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@gmail.com. 

DAILY SERVICES AT ALL SAINTS 
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 – FRIDAY
Morning Prayer 7.30am
Low Mass – 8am, 1.10pm and 6.30pm
Evening Prayer 6pm
(Except Bank Holidays – 12 noon Mass only) 

SATURDAY 
Morning Prayer 7.30am
Low Mass – 12 noon and 6.30pm (First Mass of Sunday) 
Evening Prayer 6pm 

Confessions 
A priest is available for confessions/counsel Monday – Friday from 12.30-1pm and at 5.30pm Monday – Saturday, or by appointment. (Special arrangements apply in Lent and for Holy Week.) 

www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk and email: astsmgtst@aol.com