Dear St Mary’s, 

On 26th April – the Fourth Sunday of Easter in the Season of Eastertide – we will share Holy Communion at 9am followed by our monthly Intergenerational Service at 10.30am. Revd Vanessa Conant will preside and lead and Revd Jacintha Danaswamy will preach. 

This week is Good Shepherd Sunday, a day in which we reflect on the words of Jesus as recounted in John 10:1-10 – a passage in which Jesus says, ‘I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’ 

Later on Sunday, at 5pm, our youth group will meet in the Welcome Centre. And then at 6pm, we will have ‘Embers’ – our semi-regular, hour-long service of sung worship led by our team of musicians and singers. We hope to see you this Sunday at St Mary’s! 

Changes to St Mary’s Cafe and Play Area on Saturday 25th April 
St Mary’s Play Area will be open this Saturday 25th April but will close at 1pm in preparation for a wedding in the church at 2pm; however, our Ruttle & Rowe cafe will remain open all day. Please note that cafe seating will move to the Exhibition Space in the church extension from 1pm, with cafe service from the outdoor hatch and outdoor seating also available. 

Youth Group Meeting This Sunday 26th April in the Welcome Centre
Our next youth group meeting will take place on Sunday 26th April from 5pm to 6.15pm. Our youth group is aimed at students in Years 7-11 and is a mixture of conversation, games, Bible study and snacks. In this term, those who are Year 6 are invited to join us as they prepare for the transition to secondary school. If your child would be interested in joining us for Youth Group, email Revd Jacintha Danaswamy at . 

Join the Electoral Roll by Sunday 26th April 
If you consider St Mary’s to be your church home and would like to make a commitment to our community, you can join the electoral roll (different to the roll which allows you to vote in local elections). To join, you must be over 16 and baptised. Joining also means that you are eligible to serve on our parish trustee board (PCC) and vote at our annual meeting (APCM), but more importantly, it means that you feel a part of St Mary’s and want to affirm that sense of belonging. Sign up for the electoral roll here or by at stmaryswalthamstow.org/electoralroll. If you signed up last year, you do not need to sign up again as your name will remain on the roll until 2031 unless you ask to be removed. Anyone who signs up by this Sunday, 26th April, will be eligible to vote at this year’s annual meeting on 10th May. Speak to Revd Vanessa Conant or email if you have any questions.

10th May Annual Meeting + Serving as a Parish Trustee 
Every year, our parish meets to review the year, give thanks and to pray. At our annual meeting, we also recognise the service and leadership of members of our churches, discuss our annual accounts, elect parishioners to serve, and talk about future plans. Our 2026 annual meeting is on Sunday 10th May, 3pm to 4.30pm in St Mary’s, during which time lay leaders, including members of our PCC (our parish trustee board), are elected. All are welcome, but you need to be a member of the Electoral Roll to vote. You might also like to consider becoming a member of the PCC, which helps to guide our strategy and to oversee our governance, as we are looking for new members. Email for details or for a conversation about serving on PCC.

Ascension Day Holy Communion at St Mary’s on 14th May 
Join us on Ascension Day – Thursday 14th May – for Holy Communion at 7.30am, with free coffee and pastries to follow. The service on 14th May will take the place of our 8.30am service of Morning Prayer, which we usually say Monday-Thursday in St Mary’s side chapel. 

Kindwell Foodshare in the Welcome Centre: Opportunities to Volunteer
Over the last few months, St Mary’s has partnered with Kindwell, a local charity, to offer a foodshare for local residents. Taking unwanted, surplus food from local suppliers, each Sunday evening at 7.15pm, local people can collect free, high quality food from the Welcome Centre, reducing food waste and ensuring as many people as possible have access to good food. After an initial trial, we are delighted to continue hosting the foodshare and Kindwell are now looking for volunteers to collect food (from Marks and Spencers in Woodford, Gail’s in Walthamstow Village, or Marks & Spencer’s in Leytonstone) or set up and serve (7-8pm). For more information or to volunteer, email Hilda Jackson at . 

Postpartum Fitness Class Class to Start in Welcome Centre 
Starting 29th April, there will be a postpartum fitness class for ‘Mums and Bubs’ on Wednesdays at 12.30pm designed for mums and their babies, focussing on strength and mobility, all levels welcome. For more on this class, visit @rubytutt_fitness on Instagram. 

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. 

EcoTip: Double Your Donation and Help Unlock Funding for Climate Solutions 
Operation Noah – a Christian climate charity working to inspire the UK Church to take action on the climate crisis – has helped to make billions of pounds of Church assets off-limits to fossil fuel companies and is now encouraging denominations and faith groups to fund climate solutions. From now until 29th April, every donation to Operation Noah made through its Big Give page will be doubled. The charity is hoping to raise £10,000 by 29th April – an amount which would be doubled to £20,000 to support a Green Investment Roadshow which will travel to Bristol, London, Manchester and other UK cities. These events will bring together Church leaders and share climate-positive investment opportunities, helping to direct significant financial resources towards climate solutions. Click here to donate or visit operationnoah.org and click on the ‘Double Your Donation’ Big Give prompt. 

Please pray this week for:

• Those who feel lonely, hopeless or isolated: for connection, hope and belonging 
• All who are unwell in body, mind or spirit – for hope, help and healing –, praying especially for those in our church and parish who are seriously unwell 
• All who work in the NHS or in other caring professions 
• Our parish clergy and St Mary’s staff team 
• All who are exploring faith at St Mary’s or in the parish this Eastertide, praying especially for those who are being baptised at Pentecost or are considering baptism
• Charities/ ministries connected to St Mary’s, including Citizens Advice, Waltham Forest Migrant Action, Walthamstow Welcomes, Worth Unlimited, the Night Shelter
• Our schools work – and for all schools in our Parish, including St Mary’s, Henry Maynard, Woodside, Holy Family, the Girls’ School and Emmanuel 
• A politics of hope in which the Common Good is emphasised, and for an increase in positive community engagement with local and national politics
• Legislators and campaigners working on online safety and AI regulation 
• The global political situation and conflicts around the world, thinking specifically of Ukraine, Iran, Lebanon, Gaza/ Palestine, Sudan and anywhere there is violence 
• Christian leaders, including our Rector Vanessa, our Archdeacon Mike, our Bishops Lynne and Guli, our Archbishops Sarah and Stephen, and for Pope Leo 
• Our many ministry leaders at St Mary’s – including our churchwardens – and for all who serve in any capacity in our church and parish 

Reflection: ‘Real Power’ 
Revd Vanessa Conant, Rector of St Mary’s and the Parish of Walthamstow, writes: 

Last night, in advance of the 7th May local elections, over 80 people gathered at St Mary’s to address the candidates who may, in time, be elected leader (or co-leader) of Waltham Forest Council. We brought to them our concerns about our borough: the need for fair wages; for better quality housing (especially for those in temporary accommodation); for better care for migrants and those who are undocumented; and for safer parks for all people to enjoy. 

This is community organising: the power of local people demonstrating that the solutions to the problems we face are often to be found among those of us who live here, and then calling on those in public office to work with us while expressing our commitment to holding them accountable for the promises and commitments they make. 

Since I first learned about community organising, I have found it inspiring. I have been captivated by the stories of cleaning staff who patiently, courageously and boldly organised for a real Living Wage – a movement which still exists today. I have felt challenged by the accounts of black-majority and Pentecostal churches organising to build block after block of affordable housing in New York City. I have seen first-hand the way community alliances have protected the most vulnerable in Chicago, when ICE raids terrorised their communities. 

Faith-based community organising has taught me that justice and change is possible – and that ordinary people have tremendous power. 

The truth is, though, that I don’t often feel very powerful. I have campaigned for things that never happened, marched to protest against things which did, and worked on schemes and projects which fizzled into nothing. I have known the disappointment of hopes and dreams which seemingly turned to dust. 

And power is sometimes difficult to talk about in church, particularly political power. There is often resistance to claiming a sense of power, lest we take for ourselves what belongs to God – or we move too far from Jesus who makes our faith perfect in our weakness and not in our strength. 

Yesterday, the reading for Morning Prayer came from Luke’s gospel and included Mary’s song, the Magnificat. This is a hymn of hope and trust, it is a proclamation of the Kingdom of God, and a prayer of longing. When Mary sings of a world in which God ‘scatters the proud’ and ‘brings down rulers from their thrones’, she is speaking both of the world as it is and the world as it could be. 

The words of the Magnificat were somewhere with me during our Assembly last night. I kept thinking of the verse, ‘he has filled the hungry with good things’ as we listened to the asks for parks, where children can play without fear of violence, or heard the cry of migrant care workers longing not to be terrified of the knock at the door. 

And I remembered that Mary was, in many ways, profoundly powerless. Here is a young woman in a patriarchal society, a woman who appeared to have contravened religious laws, meaning she was at risk of being ostracised, at best, and killed at worst – a refugee in a political landscape that wanted her child dead. And yet she has power. Power is given to her by a merciful, gracious, equipping God who calls her to be the very bearer of God and to bring to birth the hope of the world. 

It is this same power that we share. We too are called to bear God and to bring hope to the world. As Jesus, after the resurrection, is preparing to leave his disciples he says, ‘I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’ We are to share in divine power, not because we are God, but because God graciously invites us to join him in works of justice, mercy and grace. 

As I sat in the assembly last night, I thought of this. I thought of the power of showing up in an exhausted, disillusioned world to say that we still care about our neighbour; of the power of children using their voice to ask politicians to help them to live a life of safety and freedom; and of the power of coming together, across difference, to proclaim a Kingdom which is now and not yet. 

May you know the power entrusted to you, and may you be strengthened and equipped to use it in service of your neighbour. May you know that that power comes from the risen Christ, who has promised to be with you always. May you, on days where you feel powerless or you doubt that any change is possible, join with Mary in her song of trust and hope, singing, ‘my soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour’.

With love, 

Vanessa