All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear Friend,

“Would you Adam and Eve It?”   Cockney rhyming slang for, “Would you believe it?” 

On Wednesday morning we welcomed a group of thirty school children to All Saints. They were exploring places of worship and had visited our neighbours at the Buddhist temple before coming to us. As well as talking to them about our building’s history and meaning, I pointed out the fossils in the marble of the steps at font and chancel and altar; remnants of creatures from millions of years ago preserved in stone: parts of God’s creation incorporated into God’s house.

When we come to read the first chapters of Genesis, including the passage we will hear at mass on Sunday (Genesis 3.8-15), we don’t “Adam and Eve it;” we don’t believe it in the sense that biblical fundamentalists do. Even the most theologically conservative member of All Saints, Margaret Street is unlikely to believe that the Book of Genesis provides us with the historical and scientific account of the origins of creation and humankind. 

The strident voices of those who insist that it does and that the world, and with it those fossils,  is only about 6000 years old, can mean that we give up on asking what truth and wisdom there is to be found in these chapters which were written as theology. 

The question God asks Adam: “Where are you?” is still posed to humankind.  The story is not so much a record of something in the past, “man’s first disobedience,” but a reflection of the human situation in every age – something true of us all.  That situation is marked by a refusal to live within the bounds which make for our peace and well-being. Rather than caring for the world and tilling it for the common good we exploit and grasp it for greed and self-satisfaction.  Instead of living in harmony with the Creator and creation, with our fellows, there is separation and estrangement, alienation and displacement.  In the words of the Marian anthem Salve Regina, we are exiles, “poor banished children of Eve.”  We sense that things are not right with the world and with us, yet we refuse to accept our own share of responsibility for this.  Instead, like children caught out in some naughtiness, we blame others; “it wasn’t me, it was her.”

The tragic consequences of the abuse of this passage in Christian theology – Eve and woman seen as the temptress who leads otherwise virtuous men into sin – to justify the subordination and abuse of women is something we are still having to come to terms with – not as a part of God’s original plan but a consequence of our original sin; that sin which is common to us all.

Yours in Christ,

Fr Alan Moses
Vicar of All Saints Margaret Street
Area Dean of Westminster & St Marylebone

Please pray for those who have asked for our prayers: Asia Bibi. Fr. Bruce Barnett- Cowan, Ella Carroll, James Cary-Elwes, Ian Coull, Paul Curno, Helen Everett, Jonty Gordon, Hugo Gralka, Tim Harding, Yvonne & Philip Harland, Lewis Harvey, Maxwell Hutchinson, Alice Jullien, Molly Leng, Anthea Lepper, Joshua Levy, William Lightening, Christine Loffty, Simon MacGregor, Marjory, Sister Martha (SMNC Tanzania), Hilary Morgan, Margaret O’Brien, David Pearce, Jock Scott, Fr. Nicholas Stacey, Buzz Stokes, Christine van Dyck, Joy Wright and Marc Young.  

For the recently departed: Jeremy Bunting (Priest), Richard Walker, Clifford Jones (Honorary Assistant Priest All Saints 1990 – 1994 and for whom a Requiem Mass will be said at All Saints at 6.30pm Tuesday 30 June), Dougal Oldfield and Eddie Dirks.

Remember past priests, benefactors, friends, and all whose year’s mind occurs this week including: James Binnie, Denise Gerard, Kenneth Needham Ross (8^th Vicar of All Saints), Andrew Blackband, Mark Seymour-Taylor, Hilda Sheppard, Reginald Rawll, Olwen Hajdu, Daphne Marsh, Norah Sweeney, Wilfrid Jennings, Percy Rees, Philip Sparrow, Alison Hack (Priest), Naomi Shaw, Michael Keelan and  Karl Bekker.

WORSHIP NEXT SUNDAY 7 JUNE – FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
All Saints and other London Churches are joining together with the English Song Festival to celebrate the music of Vaughan Williams.

Preacher: Fr Michael Bowie
Mass in G minor – Vaughan Williams
Lord who hast made us for thine own – Holst 

Ten to One Talk after Mass: Theme: Communion. The bell will ring beforehand.

Sunday Lunch is being cooked by Daniel Fielden. Tickets on sale in the Parish Room before and after Mass – £5.

CHORAL EVENSONG & BENEDICTION, 6pm 

Preacher: The Vicar, Prebendary Alan Moses
Service in A flat – Rubbra
Lord, thou hast been our refuge – Vaughan Williams

THE ALL SAINTS CLUB AGM takes place after Evensong. All members are welcome to attend and vote. The bar will open afterwards.

WORSHIP NEXT SUNDAY 14 JUNE – SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 
HIGH MASS, 11am

Preacher: The Vicar, Prebendary Alan Moses
Missa secondi toni – Lassus
O sacrum convivium – Tallis

Ten to One Talk in Church: Post Communion Rite. The bell will ring beforehand.

There is a meeting of the Building Committee after Mass.

Sunday Lunch is being cooked by Christine Auton.  Tickets on sale in the Parish Room before and after Mass – £5.

CHORAL EVENSONG & BENEDICTION, 6pm 

Preacher: Fr Michael Bowie
Service in F (Collegium Regale) – Wood
O pray for the peace of Jerusalem – Howells

NOTICES

The funds raised by the CHRISTIAN AID WEEK came to £315 with Gift Aid – thank you to everyone who contributed.

The recent POETRY TEA AT PAMELA’S on the Theme of ‘Light’ raised £156.25 (including Gift Aid) for the All Saints Restoration Appeal. Thank you to everyone who attended. Mary Rose is writing up the occasion for a piece to appear in the July Parish Paper.

Thank you to everyone who prepared for and helped with our very successful Feast of CORPUS CHRISTI on Thursday 4 June – including all the volunteer procession stewards and those distributing leaflets about All Saints, those working on hospitality and the banner and canopy carriers. We have received a lot of compliments for the new arrangements for the procession and our extended publicity achieved a congregation drawn from further afield than in recent years. We hope to share some of the photographs taken to record the occasion shortly.

EVENTS AT ALL SAINTS in JUNE

Tuesday 30 June, 6.30pm – REQUIEM MASS for Fr Clifford Jones, Honorary Assistant Priest at All Saints 1990 – 1994. All welcome. Refreshments will be served afterwards.

EVENTS ELSEWHERE in JUNE/JULY

Tuesday 16 June, 6.30 – 8pm, St Paul’s Cathedral – TO HEAVEN’S DOOR: THE MUSIC OF FAITH with Timothy Radcliffe OP and Andrew Carwood, Director of Music at St Paul’s. In reflection and conversation, an evening to explore some of the ways music can illuminate our lives, our experience of God , and the mystery and beauty of faith. The evening will include live music and time for questions and answers. Free admission/all welcome.

Wednesday, 17 June 2015, 6 – 8pm – Churches Together in Westminster – MEET THE NEIGHBOURS hosted by the German Christ Church, Knightsbridge (Deutsche Evangelische Christuskirche), Montpelier Place, SW7 1HL.  Evening Prayer with elements in German and English; a short talk (in English) about the history of the church, and the specific situation of the German speaking congregation and their ministry. An opportunity for further questions. Refreshments afterwards – wine, soft drinks, nibbles – in the church hall, the Bonhoeffer-Saal, in the basement of the church.  Website for church http://www.ev-kirche-london-west.org.uk Located off Montpelier St to north of Brompton Road (opposite side to Harrods) – nearest station Knightsbridge. All are welcome to join us.

THE ALBAN PILGRIMAGE, Saturday 20 June 2015 at St. Alban’s Abbey – Celebrate Britain’s First Saint and join in prayer for the witness of Christians faced with persecution today. Please aim to arrive by 10.30am ready for the procession to set off at 11am prompt.

PROGRAMME FOR THE DAY
11am Pilgrimage Procession with giant carnival puppets begins through the City Centre. The route begins from St Peter’s Church, St Albans, and continues to the Town Hall and then process to the West End of the Cathedral.

c. 12noon Festival Eucharist following the Procession

Preacher: Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby. The service will be sung by the Abbey Girls Choir

12noon Children’s Worship and Activities – in the Marquee in the Cathedral Grounds.

2pm Orthodox Service and Veneration of the Relic at the Shrine of Saint Alban Organised by the Ecumenical Chaplaincy and the Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius – all welcome.

2.30pm Question and Answer Session in the Nave with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Visiting Bishops on the subject of world mission.

3pm Anointing for Healing in the Lady Chapel.

4pm Festival Evensong and Procession to the Shrine

Preacher: Archbishop of Rouen, Mgr Jean-Charles Descubes. The service will be sung by the Cathedral Choir.

The Abbot’s Kitchen will be open from 10am-4.30pm serving breakfasts, lunches, afternoon teas, and a range of snacks and drinks. The Cathedral Shop & Bookstall will be open from 10am-5pm selling a range of pilgrimage merchandise, books, greeting cards, CDs, and much more. As part of the day’s celebrations, we are delighted to be welcoming Bishops and Priests from our link dioceses in the Caribbean. There will be a range of Caribbean-themed stalls in the Cathedral Grounds.

For further information, please call 01727 890245, see the website to register attendance or e-mail: pilgrimage@stalbanscathedral.org

IRAQI CHRISTIANS IN NEED FUNDRAISING RECITALS – Carl Bahoshy (who came to All Saints last year) has been giving fundraising piano & organ recitals over recent weeks at churches and Cathedrals outside London in aid of Iraqi Christians In Need (www.icin.org.uk). He is keen to spread the word as far as possible. Please could you let any friends who might attend and who live in this area know of the last one? The venue and time of the last recital currently scheduled is:-

St. Patrick’s RC Church, Netham Road, Redfield, Bristol BS5 9PF: Saturday, 20 June, 7:30pm (piano & organ recital).

Thursday 25 June at 7.30pm – St John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood – ORGAN CONCERT: THOMAS TROTTER, International Concert Organist, Birmingham City Organist, and Organist, St Margaret’s, Westminster. Admission free; retiring collection in aid of the Church restoration fund. Light refreshments afterwards.

ALL SAINTS’ WALSINGHAM CELL DAY PILGRIMAGE – All Saints’ Walsingham Cell will be making a day pilgrimage to Salisbury Cathedral on Saturday 4 July. This is in the tradition of its highly successful pilgrimages in recent years to other cathedral cities. Everybody is welcome. Please contact Ross Buchanan on 020 7221 1312 if you are interested or would like to know more.

Thursday 9 July, 6-30pm – 8pm, St Paul’s Cathedral – LEARNING TO WALK IN THE DARK – Barbara Brown Taylor, Episcopal priest, Professor of Religion at Piedmont College, Georgia and author of best-selling guides to the Christian spiritual life. Free admission/all welcome.

ALL SAINTS RESTORATION PROJECT UPDATE – work and fundraising near complete but FURTHER DONATIONS NEEDED to cover final invoices. New wiring and lighting, essential CCTV security and fire detection systems cost £372,000. Fire alarm commissioning is now completed and the new system in use. The glass shades for the chandeliers have arrived and the majority fitted (last ones in June). As the project reaches its conclusion, and the final invoices are being received, we have recently had a number of generous gifts that have successfully eliminated loans (from an initial level of £35,000) so any more gifts will allow us a small reserve against the final cost of the works. If there are any surplus funds when all bills are paid, these will go towards future restoration projects.

HOW YOU CAN HELP………. please make cheques payable to:
All Saints Church Restoration Appeal and send them to:  
The Parish Administrator, 7 Margaret Street, London W1W 8JG.
Please indicate where Gift Aid may be applied or send in a completed Gift Aid envelope from in church, as it increases the value of your contribution by 25% at no cost to yourself. Thank you!

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.

Seasonal Appeals – The grand total collected in 2014 was £3,463 (up significantly on 2013’s support of £2,790) to this Mission Project through the All Saints Festival and Lent Appeals. The Project (in acknowledging our support) said: ‘Such a wonderful amount to have raised, thank you so very much for your valued support’.

A further £3,000 raised in 2014 for Us (formerly USPG) was acknowledged to be a ‘very generous gift’ which will be used to feed communities and generate income to support AIDS orphans in child-headed families in Zimbabwe.

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 has contributed so generously recently – a good number of parcels and bags of food and household essentials have been left in Church or handed in to the Parish Office recently and we shall need to arrange a drop off to the Project to deliver them. Thank you!
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 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 or tell them about our website www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk, which has a full colour 360 virtual tour for viewing the wonderfully restored interior of the Church – see www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk/history/virtualtour – before a visit or if unable to travel.

* 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. 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@hotmail.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 (NOTE REVISED TIME for Saturdays and Bank Holidays) 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 e-mail: astsmgtst@aol.com.