1 St Etheldreda with St Clements: The Parish Newsletter Week beginning Sunday 3 November 2019 – Festival of All Saints (Fourth Sunday before Advent) The Parish newsletter is produced weekly to keep everyone informed about what is going on, past and future. We also welcome notes and articles from parishioners and others. If you know someone who would like to receive our newsletter please contact [email protected] The table below is a summary of the topics we are covering in this issue. We now have an archive of Newsletters on our website https://www.stethsfulham.org/Groups/327488/Newsletter.aspx We also referred to our Church seeking interest from our local community, and the potential role of our Newsletter in that process. You might have neighbours and friends who are not part of our congregation who may like to receive the Newsletter because it does contain news about local issues and people. All we need is an email address and their permission. Contents The Festival of All Saints............................................................................................................................................. 2 Sermon ........................................................................................................................................................................ 2 Flower of the Week – It’s not Christmas yet but…. ..................................................................................................... 4 All Souls Day Service at St Clements ......................................................................................................................... 5 Tweet of the Week ...................................................................................................................................................... 6 My Favourite Hymn ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 News and Action ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 HEADS UP – It is our Parish Mission Day – ........................................................................................................... 6 A Shout Out From The Social Events Team ........................................................................................................... 7 Bach Mass in C Major – .......................................................................................................................................... 7 Visitation – Archdeacon of Middlesex visited the Parish ........................................................................................ 8 Report on We Need to Talk About Race: ............................................................................................................... 8 Parish Calendar ........................................................................................................................................................ 10 House Groups – .................................................................................................................................................... 10 The Bishop of Kensington – How the Incarnation Changes the World ..................................................................... 10 Special Dates Ahead – the Parish Calendar ............................................................................................................ 11 First Communion – Second Course ...................................................................................................................... 11 Confirmation Classes ............................................................................................................................................ 11 Dates ahead – for your diaries .................................................................................................................................. 11 Regular Events ...................................................................................................................................................... 11 Service Schedule ...................................................................................................................................................... 12 Regular Services ................................................................................................................................................... 12 A Warm Welcome and Grateful Gifts ........................................................................................................................ 12 Parish Communications ............................................................................................................................................ 12 There’s Community work going on and work to be done. ......................................................................................... 13 Other help wanted ................................................................................................................................................. 13 Giving and Volunteering ........................................................................................................................................ 14 2 The Festival of All Saints On one Sunday a year we get to sing “O, when the saints, come marching in” and we sang it whilst those saints, the members of the St Eths Church Choir, were up in the organ loft, so we didn’t really get the full impact of them belting out the variations in the last verse. Shame !! Perhaps on a future All Saints Day we will have some Fulham Brass players pretending to be a New Orleans jazz band. Take it away, Ross! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLAD9mkCBz0 If you really want to hear the Choir going full tilt to the sound of brass you need to come to our Carol Service on Sunday 8 December 5.00pm. Look up the Newsletter from the second week of December last year for a taste of what is to come (just better organised this year, probably) We are all saints. There is a famous line from a sermon preached in New England in the 17th Century “The saints shall inherit the earth. Who are the saints?” dramatic pause “We are the saints.”. The Church of England does not go in for pre-destination as a doctrine unlike the Calvinists such as that congregation in Massachusetts with their tall black hats and white falling collars and plain style and so the joke probably falls flat here in 21st century West London but the underlying truth is nevertheless one to take to heart By their actions shall you know them for what they are Here are the notes Father Ross made and from which he preached He chose amongst others those he alleged to be the patron saints of flower arranging and of marmalade making Sermon Preamble. Fr Ross held up a prop. (a small mirror) He selected three volunteers. The holding the mirror to reflect each face, he asked each, in turn, “What do you see?”. The reply was in essence the same. Each one announced their own Christian name. Fr Ross Sermon Let’s move on to the idea that they could be saints – saints are ordinary people, just like you and me. So they could be Saint A, Saint B and Saint C. Saints are ordinary people who have lived extraordinary lives. Actually that’s not quite right, or it is, but it doesn’t go far enough. Saints are ordinary people who have made extraordinary choices Refer back to the poem - see the poem at the back of the service sheet (NB readers of the Newsletter will only ever get the full experience by coming to Church!!) – each verse ends with the hope of an ordinary person being a saint – like St Luke, St Etheldreda, St Clement They were all of them saints of God, and I mean, God helping, to be one too. 3 And there’s not any reason, no, not the least, Why I shouldn’t be one too. For the saints of God are just folk like me, And I mean to be one too. Anyone can be a saint. You might have seen on TV that a new saint has just been created. Cardinal John Henry Newman – a brilliant theologian who was canonised (that means made a saint) by Pope Francis at the Vatican. Prince Charles was there, because Prince Charles will be the next anointed head of the Church of England, the next Supreme Governor and defender of the faith. Prince Charles said that Newman’s “example is needed more than ever. He could advocate without accusation, could disagree without disrespect and perhaps most of all could see differences as places of encounter rather than exclusion.” He wasn’t a monk and he didn’t live hundreds of years ago. He lived and worked in Birmingham and he died in 1890. He is credited with two life-saving miracles. But not all saints save lives. Some fought for human rights. Some wrote down Jesus’ words. Others tended the sick and the dying. Each one had his or her own way of serving God. Even St Clement and St Etheldreda started out as ordinary people. St Clement is a saint from Gospel times, nearly 2.000 years ago. He lived at the same time as the disciples and is said to have known St Peter and St Paul. The disciples were persecuted after Jesus’ death and setting up the Christian Church was, in those days, a risky business. St Clement took over as Bishop of Rome (92 – 101 AD),soon after St Peter and so was responsible for setting up the church and helping it to spread. Of course, everyone had a different idea how to grow the church, and St Clement was quite a diplomat, trying to agree a consensus. His saintly deed was working to expand and