Sunday 15 September 2019 13th Sunday after Trinity EDUCATION SUNDAY
This week's REFLECTION
'Christ the Teacher', Br. Mickey McGrath OSFS
THIS WEEK'S READINGS
Jeremiah 4. 11-12 · Psalm 14 · 1 Timothy 1. 12-17 · Matthew 5. 1-10
‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’ 1 Timothy 1:15
On Education Sunday, in our New Testament reading, we find Paul writing his letter to Timothy as his mentor, to instruct and encourage him in his leadership of the Church at Ephesus. The letter is full of sound advice about how lead the Church in ‘love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith’ (1 Timothy 1.5). Paul, however, does not set himself up as a faultless paragon of virtue. On the contrary, he wears openly his own shameful history as a persecutor of the very Christians he now seeks to build up.
It is exactly because Paul sees himself as the ‘foremost’ of sinners, rescued by the grace, faith, love and mercy of Christ, that he is able to offer himself as any kind of example. This is not an example of perfection but an example of redemption.
On the news recently, there was an interview with a man who had once been a drug dealer, addicted to heroin. He now works as a counsellor and advocate for those also struggling with similar addictions. What made him so effective was his understanding of the depths in which his clients now found themselves. He had been there too and so was able to offer effective help. Paul’s knowledge of himself as ‘chief amongst sinners’ enables him all the more to recognize the overflowing effectiveness of God’s mercy, and to encourage his young friend Timothy, as he holds out an offer of that same mercy to others.
Emma Ineson
Top marks for Education Sunday
This Sunday (September 15) is Education Sunday and we are inviting children to come to church in their school uniform - whichever school they go to - for an All-Age Sung Eucharist at 11am at which they will receive a special blessing on their school bag.
We will be welcoming the new Headteacher of Christ Church and Holy Trinity Schools’ Federation, Mrs. Avis Hawkins, who will share her vision of education and members of the School Choir will assist Holy Trinity Choir in leading our worship. Fr. Grant is the preacher and will be reminding us that education is for everybody.
Says Fr. Nicholas: 'This academic year is an important new beginning for the life of Holy Trinity School which has been preparing children for life for 180 years. Education Sunday will be a great opportunity for members of the congregation to hear about the life of the school and to build vital relationships with our school families.'
Festival is just the ticket!
Our 4th Arts and Crafts Festival is less than a week away and tickets for all the events are on sale in church this Sunday (September 15).
Says Fr. Nicholas: “We have a fantastic line-up this year thanks to the hard work of the Arts and Crafts Festival Committee and I ask every member of the congregation to plan to attend at least one of the events.”
Details of all the events in this year's Festival can be found further down this week's edition of the 'Weekly News'.
Ordinand in the spotlight
Our first ‘Sunday Conversation’ of the autumn saw Fr. Grant interview Michael Stewart, our ordinand on placement, about his life and vocation. Michael, who was a professional gardener, is about to begin the second of two years at Ripon College, Cuddesdon. Holy Trinity gives £12,000 a year through the Common Fund to fund the training of new priests.
New partners to help prevent falls
Our Older People’s Project held its first event today welcoming physios from the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth who led a presentation on how to avoid a fall. We chose the topic after a number of church members fell this year breaking bones.
Many Happy Returns
Our staff team celebrated the very special birthday of our Events Assistant Myriam Saavedra
Pantry to combat food poverty in Chelsea
Our Rector took part in the opening of London’s first community Food Pantry - a partnership between the Southern Housing Group, the Clarion Group and the Guinness Trust - at the Ixworth Place Community Hall. Fr. Nicholas commented: ‘It was impressive to see so many agencies joining forces for the common good but what a sad commentary on the state of Britain and all happening on the streets of Chelsea!’
Twelve steps to Heaven
Our Tuesday night Bible Study returns at the end of the month with a 12-week course looking at the 12 disciples and their characteristics of faith. Following the pattern of the 12-step programme adopted by a number of recovery groups, we will explore how Jesus’ first followers set a pattern for our own discipleship in the 21st century. Come and join us on Tuesday 24 September at 7pm after the 6.30pm Eucharist.
Visit to the Arts and Crafts home
Emery Walker's House, which was a private home until 1999, has the most complete and authentic Arts & Crafts interiors in the UK.
The house includes handblocked Morris & Co Wallpaper and textiles and Philip Webb furniture.
The tall, terraced house on the River Thames at Hammersmith was home to the printer Emery Walker, friend and mentor to William Morris. The decoration and furnishings are preserved as they were in his lifetime.
The decoration at 7 Hammersmith Terrace today is typical of the homes of many of the key figures in the Arts and Crafts movement.
The combination of Morris & Co textiles, wallpapers and furniture, 17th- and 18th-century furniture, and Middle Eastern and North African textiles and ceramics is similar to that which decorated William Morris's own house.
Join our parish visit sponsored by our Arts and Crafts Committee on Saturday 28 September 2019 departing Holy Trinity Church at 9.30am. Tickets, which include a guided tour, cost £12.50. Contact our Parish Administrator to book your place: parishoffice@sloanechurch.org
Arts and Crafts Festival 2019
This year's Arts and Crafts Festival (19-22 September) will be a feast for the imagination. Pick up your brochure from church with details of what's on offer and visit the website with the complete programme: www.holytrinityartsandcrafts.org
Harvest Festival celebrates 'little gardeners'
This year, on Sunday 29 September, we welcome as our preacher at our Harvest Festival, the Revd. Duncan Dormor, the General Secretary of USPG, the 300-year-old Anglican mission agency with which Fr. Nicholas worked in Brazil. Our theme takes its inspiration from Edmond Louyot's painting 'The Little Gardeners' and we will hear about USPG's South India Green Schools' programme. As usual, there will be a jazz setting of the mass.
Once again we are giving to the Glass Door charity that supports homeless people. Remember, we are looking for tea and coffee, hot chocolate (made with water), sugar, breakfast cereals, biscuits, jams and marmalades, vegetarian soups, tomato ketchup / brown sauce, rice, tinned tomatoes, towels, socks, underwear, razors, toiletries, toothbrushes and toothpaste. Perishable goods are difficult to store but all dry goods and toiletries are very gratefully received.
After the service at 11am, why not join our Bring and Share Lunch in the Parish Room?
Sleep out to give others Shelter
Fr Nicholas and Fr Grant are joining the annual Sleep Out again this year on 4 October 2019 in Duke of York Square in aid of the Glass Door homeless charity. It would be great to have a strong presence from the church community supporting or participating in the Sleep Out. By taking part you can give someone else shelter and the chance to leave homelessness behind. The event will see hundreds sleeping outside to raise awareness and funds in support of the charity’s network of church-based night shelters, which will provide up to 170 individuals a place to sleep every night during the coldest 22 weeks of the coming winter. Please let the Parish Office know if you would like to join the ‘Holy Trinity’ team!
Report of the PCC meeting
The Parochial Church Council met on Wednesday (September 11). It discussed progress on our parish Mission Action Plan, committed itself to launch a once-a-week breakfast club for the homeless in late autumn and heard a report of the first meeting of the Older People’s Project proposing a bi-monthly, arts and crafts-themed club, the purchase of a minivan to help the ‘stuck-at-home’ to get out and about and create a home visiting team. Treasurer David Fairlamb reported on steps to improve congregational giving which is urgently needed to offset a forecast deficit. He told the PCC that the introduction of contactless giving was now imminent. The Council received a report from the Parish Safeguarding Officer, Sophie Wilson, as we work to put our house in order and ensure that it is always a safe place for all. There was a preview of the Arts and Crafts Festival from Festival Committee member Fiona Whiteside who emphasised the importance of every member of the church attending at least one of the events.
The PCC were told that plans to appoint a part-time verger had taken a step forward and an able candidate had been interviewed and offered the post. A new Finance Assistant, Sheila Doutel, had been recruited to replace Amanda Lord who died in July, and she was quickly establishing herself as a valuable member of the staff team.
The meeting ended with Michael Stewart, an ordinand from Ripon College, Cuddesdon, sharing something of his experience with us in recent weeks and encouraging the PCC to continue to welcome ordinands on placement.
Free teatime concerts
There is a new flyer for our Free Teatime Concerts on Wednesdays! Please pick a few up from the desk and give them to your friends and family or put them in a library near you. The concerts continue this Wednesday 18 September (5.30 for 30 minutes) with Ivo Macdonald playing a delightful programme on the organ that includes Massenet’s Méditation (from Thaïs), Bach’s Prelude in E major, and Vierne’s Final (from Symphonie No 1). Ivo started learning the organ in Holy Trinity with Oliver Lallemant nearly seven years ago and has just started his second year as Organ Scholar at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Admission is free and there will be a retiring collection. The series runs every Wednesday up until 27 November. We have a stellar line-up of local and national talent – including several Sloane Square Choral Society Choral Scholars past and present. Do come along!
News from THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
Parents still value Harvest Festival for their children - poll
Two thirds of people (67%) say there is still value in children taking part in Christian Harvest Festivals, according to a ComRes survey of over 4,000 adults.
But only half (49%) of parents say their children participate, possibly because of limited opportunity.
The poll found that three quarters (73%) remember celebrating harvest festival as a child, with most remembering bringing in food to give to people in need (61%) as well as attending Harvest services, singing hymns or saying prayers (64%).
Two thirds of participants (65%) say their memories of Harvest Festival were positive, with the main perceived benefits listed as generosity to people in need (62%), giving thanks for the good things in our lives (51%) and teaching children where food comes from (48%).
Over a third (37%) also say that that learning about sustainability and the impact of growing food on climate change and the environment is important.
Widespread value today
Two thirds (67%) of respondents say that there is still value in children participating in Christian Harvest Festivals today, including approaching two thirds (63%) of respondents from other faiths, and nearly three fifths (57%) of those who do not associate with a religion.
Only just over a tenth of those polled (13%) see no value in participation.
Of the parents whose children currently take part in Harvest Festival, the vast majority say this is either a service held at school or nursery or a visit to a church organised by a nursery or school.
The Church of England’s Chief Education Officer, The Revd Nigel Genders, said: “Harvest Festival is just one of the ways that the Christian tradition enriches the lives of children of all backgrounds as part of daily collective worship.
“It’s encouraging to know that parents agree, and there is a clear call for more schools of all kinds to use the coming weeks to celebrate harvest, and I hope many will do so.
“Harvest is a wonderful opportunity for all schools and nurseries to help children and young people to think about how food reaches their plates, and to say thank you for all they have received, as well as giving to those in need.”
The majority of produce donated in churches in 2019 will stock foodbanks, with a 2018 survey showing that 60% (c.8,000) of churches are involved in either running or supporting food banks through volunteers, donations and providing venues.
Figures collated by the Trussell Trust showed a 19% increased between 2018 – 19 in the distribution of three-day emergency food supplies, with 1.6 million distributed by the charity.
Harvest Festival in the Church of England - origins
Christian Scripture is full of references to the creative power and wisdom of God, and the arrival of the harvest has long been marked in Jewish and Christian worship.
The origins of the Harvest Festival in the Church of England can be traced to the work of the Revd R. S. Hawker, a parish priest in Cornwall, in the mid-nineteenth century, who chose the first Sunday in October to mark the arrival of the harvest, although there is evidence to suggest that thanksgiving services of this kind were already widespread. From this point, an annual church celebration of the harvest established itself rapidly with great popularity and was first recognised officially in the Church of England in 1862.
DIARY DATES
Sunday 15 September at 11am Education Sunday
Thursday 19 September
to Sunday 22 September 4th Arts and Crafts Festival
Sunday 29 September Harvest Festival and Harvest Lunch Preacher: The Revd. Duncan Dormor
General Secretary, USPG
PARISH DIARY
All events at Holy Trinity Sloane Square unless otherwise stated
SUNDAY 15 SEPTEMBER THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY Education Sunday Intention: Parish and People
8.30am Holy Communion
11.00am All Age Sung Eucharist
Holy Trinity Choir
O Lord, give thy Holy Spirit Thomas Talis
A New People's Mass Dom Gregory Murray O for a closer walk with God Charles Villiers Stanford Preacher: The Rev'd Grant Bolton-Debbage
6.00pm Choral Evensong and Benediction conQordia
Holy is the True Light William Harris Lead me, Lord
Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Monday 16 September Ninian, Bishop of Galloway, Apostle of the Picts Intention: Young Adults
Tuesday 17 September Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, Visionary Intention: Musicians 6.30pm Eucharist
Wednesday 18 September Ember Day Intention: The homeless 1.00pm Holy Communion
5.30pm Free Teatime Concert 6.30pm Eucharist
Thursday 19 September Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury Intention: Unity 6.30pm Eucharist
7.00pm Gala Arts and Crafts Festival Opening
7.30pm John Ruskin:
Personality, philosophy and practice
Friday 20 September John Coleridge Patterson, Bishop of Canterbury Intention: Persecuted Christians 7.30pm Fabric of Society Talk
Saturday 21 September Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
Intention: Arts and Crafts Festival 10.00am Open House London and Arts and Crafts Festival 7.30pm Mass Movement Concert
SUNDAY 22 SEPTEMBER THE FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY Arts and Crafts Festival
Intention: Parish and People
8.30am Holy Communion
11.00am Sung Eucharist with Junior Church Preacher: The Rev'd Richard Lloyd Morgan 5.00pm Poet Malcolm Guite Performance 6.00pm Choral Evensong and Benediction Preacher: The Revd. Malcolm Guite
WHO'S WHO and CONTACTS
RECTOR The Revd. Canon Nicholas Wheeler E-mail: rector@sloanechurch.org
ASSISTANT PRIEST The Revd. Grant Bolton-Debbage E-mail: priest@sloanechurch.org
HONORARY ASSISTANT The Rt. Revd. Dr. Michael Marshall
CHURCHWARDENS Jeffrey Kabel Carolyn Hallett
ASSISTANT CHURCHWARDENS Gill Dunley
John Renz
TREASURER David Fairlamb
PCC SECRETARY Martin Bonham
PARISH ADMINISTRATOR Sophie Wilson E-mail: parishoffice@sloanechurch.org
Telephone: 020 7730 7270
FACILITIES AND EVENTS MANAGER Clinton McMaster E-mail: manager@sloanechurch.org
Telephone: 020 7730 7270
