Dear St Mary’s, 

On Sunday 6th September, we’ll share Holy Communion at 9am and again at 10.30am, with Revd Jacintha Danaswamy presiding and Revd Vanessa Conant preaching at both services. 

This Sunday, our 10.30am supervised children’s groups return – if you haven’t yet registered your child online, you can do so here. 

Our lectionary readings for this Sunday are Isaiah 55:12-end and Matthew 8:23-27 – the story of Jesus calming the storm. This Sunday, Revd Vanessa Conant will also reflect on our congregation and collective calling to be a Christian presence in Walthamstow, extending the inclusive welcome of Christ to all and working to listen to and serve our community. 

And then at 6pm, join us for an hour of sung worship led by our brilliant team of musicians and singers. We hope to see you this Sunday at St Mary’s! 

Children’s Groups at St Mary’s: Classes and Registration
This Sunday 6th September, our 10.30am supervised children’s groups will return after taking a summer break. If you haven’t done so before, please register your child via our online registration form to help us make checking children in as safe and easy as possible. You can register your child here or via stmaryswalthamstow.org/childrenandyouth. 

If your child is starting in Year 1 this September, they will be joining the older group which meets in the smaller Welcome Centre lounge and is accessible via the ramp to the Welcome Centre. Our children’s leaders will be there and ready to make children welcome. Please also note that, due to limitations on space, parents are not able to stay in the older group but are encouraged to join us for the service and then return for collection at the end. 

‘Discovering Christianity’ Book Group Begins 10th September 
If you are considering being confirmed this autumn, are preparing for baptism, or would simply like to explore the Christian faith, we would love to have you join us as we read and discuss the book ‘Discovering Christianity: A Guide for the Curious’ by Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury. We will meet over four consecutive Thursdays in church from 10th September at 7.30pm. To register for the ‘Discovering Christianity’ book group, sign up here; you can also find the link on our website (stmaryswalthamstow.org) by clicking on the ‘Learning Community’ or ‘Calendar’ tabs. For more information on being confirmed on 4th October at 3pm, email Revd Vanessa Conant at . 

Confirmation Service with Bishop Guli on 4th October 
Confirmation is a special service in which a person confirms the promises that were made when they were baptised, and there will be a confirmation service on 4th October at St Andrew’s Leytonstone at 3pm with Bishop Guli. If you were baptised at a christening when you were a child, your parents and godparents made promises on your behalf; however, at a confirmation service, you make these promises for yourself in front of your friends and family as well as before the local Christian community which promises to support and pray for you. If you are interested in being confirmed on 4th October – or simply interested in exploring confirmation – speak to Revd Vanessa Conant or email . 

Women’s Interfaith Network Food and Friendship event on Thursday 16th September 
St Mary’s is delighted to welcome the Women’s Interfaith Network (WIN) as they host a Food and Friendship meal on Wednesday 16th September from 6-9pm in the church. Drop in or stay to swap stories and make new local connections in our ‘story café’ session. The Women’s Interfaith Network believes that sharing food breaks down the barriers and helps us find common ground. Learn about the network more here or at www.wominet.org.uk. 

Vestry Sessions Presents Dramatised Work of Dylan Thomas on 18th September
The Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas’s ‘Under Milk Wood’ is a celebration of language, people and place. Adapted for the stage by director David Abramsky, this version – which will be performed at St Mary’s on Friday 18th September at 8pm (doors at 7.30pm) – reimagines this dream about a long-remembered homeland as a parable of what it means to be a migrant, refugee or anyone who ends up far from where they started. As part of this special evening, Vestry Sessions are partnering with Waltham Forest Migrant Action to promote the charity’s important work. Expect beautiful language, charismatic performance, live music and a chance to connect with one of the classics of British literature. You can purchase tickets here or by visiting wegottickets.com and searching ‘Vestry Sessions’. 

Vestry Meeting Rooms for Weekday Meetings: £75 for Half-Day, £150 for Full Day
We are keen to promote our North and South Vestry rooms as weekday meeting spaces in an effort to increase revenue to cover operating costs and help fund ministry – can you help? We have a new web page (stmaryswalthamstow.org/weekdaymeetings) dedicated to these spaces which can accommodate weekday meetings of 8-10 people (South Vestry) or 2-4 people (North Vestry). These are great meeting spaces for teams that want to get off-site, and both Vestry rooms are equipped with tea/ coffee-making facilities, TV screens for presentations and their own private toilets. Rates are £75 for a half-day or £150 for a full day. 

Giving Monthly to St Mary’s 
Your financial support is crucial as we work to keep St Mary’s ancient building open to the whole community throughout the week, to support Walthamstow and to share the love of Christ with all. Your donations make this possible as we receive no direct, ongoing support for the day-to-day running of St Mary’s from the Church of England or from the government. Monthly giving is particularly transformative as it allows us to plan, budget, and even expand our work in the community. If you would like to become a monthly giver, we would encourage you to sign up via the Parish Giving Scheme which you can find here or by going to stmaryswalthamstow.org/donate and clicking on the Parish Giving Scheme link. 

Safeguarding 
St Mary’s takes safeguarding seriously and works hard to ensure that our church is a safe place for everyone. If you see anything that concerns you at St Mary’s, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our Safeguarding Officer Emma Clements at . You can also contact the Diocese of Chelmsford at or Waltham Forest Council at 020 8496 2310. 

Please pray this week for:

• The government to stop the Rosebank oil field and all new North Sea oil and gas developments which are inconsistent with maintaining a safe, stable climate 
• British farmers and all who have had their livelihoods negatively impacted by this year’s extreme heat, as well as for those who have lost homes in the recent wildfires 
• All attempts to de-escalate global conflict – including the Russian government’s aggressive stance towards the UK and Europe and its ongoing attack on Ukraine – and to create more productive and respectful dialogue between countries 
• All who are working to stop or limit the unhelpful influence of the fossil fuel industry on our politics and our environment 
• The people of Ukraine, Gaza, the West Bank, Iran, Sudan and all who live lives of precarity and danger due to actions of their government and/ or outside powers 
• All who are experiencing financial difficulties in our parish, especially those who are looking for work, are unable to work, or are in low paid work 
• All in our parish who are unwell in any way, especially praying for those who are awaiting tests or receiving treatment – for hope, help and healing 
• Children, young people, parents/ carers, teachers and school staff as schools return
• Those who lead churches and Christian communities around the world, praying specifically for our bishops Lynne and Guli, and our Archbishops Sarah and Stephen 
• Those who feel lonely and marginalised, that St Mary’s would be a community of connection and love and that more people would come to know the love of Christ 
• Challenges and opportunities facing our parish related to buildings and finance 
• All who serve at St Mary’s in any capacity, including our PCC, churchwardens and ministry leaders, as well as our clergy and all who volunteer their time and talents 

Reflection: ‘Free to Love’ 
Revd Andrew Stewart, Vicar of St Gabriel’s Church, Walthamstow, writes: 

Someone was talking to me earlier this week about the cost of school uniforms. Listening to this, I found myself thinking about how expensive the whole thing can be. For families across our community, the first week of September brings its familiar scramble for specific trousers, new shoes, uniform checklists and more – and with it, perhaps a wave of anxiety. 

The financial strain isn’t the fault of hardworking local schools or the dedicated teachers who care deeply for our children. Rather, it’s a symptom of a wider culture that constantly tells us that our worth, our acceptance, and our children’s security comes with a price tag – and that there’s always something more parents or carers need to buy. 

In this Sunday’s reading from Romans, St Paul offers a beautiful, counter-cultural perspective. He writes: ‘Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law’ (Romans 13:8).

There’s an unusual but memorable moment in Matthew’s Gospel which helps us see what this means. Peter needs to pay the temple tax, and Jesus sends him fishing. The first fish he catches has exactly the money they need. It’s a tiny picture illustrating that Jesus isn’t simply another person demanding something from us – he’s the one who provides for his people.

That matters because the Christian life doesn’t begin with what we owe God, or what we need to achieve to prove ourselves worthy. It begins with what Jesus has already given us. He’s not here to add another burden to our already overflowing list of demands. He comes to give himself for us.

It’s striking how different this is from so much of our experience of life. Governments send us bills, issue regulations, and ask us to fulfil our obligations. Institutions have forms to fill in, requirements to meet, and standards to achieve. Much of ordinary life quite reasonably involves being asked to give something, do something, or prove something.

But Jesus begins somewhere entirely different. Before he asks anything of us, he gives himself to us. Before he tells us what we must do, he tells us what he has done for us. The Christian life begins not with a demand, but with a gift.

That changes the way we live. Paul says there’s one debt we’re never meant to stop owing – the debt of love. Freed from having to earn our place, we are free to love – to encourage, share, help, honour, and care for one another. Christian love is not another performance we have to perfect; it is the life that flows from belonging to Christ.

This Sunday, the Church calendar also turns our attention to Creation in Christ. This is a timely reminder that the world around us – from the churchyard trees at St Mary’s to the wider cosmos – doesn’t ultimately belong to the market, or the state, or to us. It belongs to Jesus. All things were created through him and for him, and in him all things hold together. 

When we realise the earth is his, we can stop treating it – and each other – as commodities to be exploited.

So perhaps, as the school gates open and autumn routines begin, we can resist the pressure to measure life by what we possess, achieve, or consume. We can receive the good things God in Christ gives us with gratitude, and use them to bless others.

Paul tells us that ‘the night is nearly over; the day is almost here’. The future belongs to Christ. And because it does, we can live differently now – not anxiously trying to secure our place in the world, but confidently living as people who already belong to Jesus.

The world keeps asking, ‘What do you need to buy? What do you need to prove?’ Jesus invites us to look to him, the one who gives himself for us and provides for our deepest needs. And, because we have received from him, we’re free to love one another.