Dear St Mary’s, 

On the Third Sunday of Advent (14th December), also known as Gaudete Sunday, we will celebrate Holy Communion at 9am followed by a 10.30am Morning Worship service. Revd Vanessa Conant will preside and lead; Rob Duddridge, our licensed lay minister, will preach. 

We will have supervised children’s groups at 10.30am and a Baby Lounge at both services.

‘Gaudete’ – the Latin word for ‘Rejoice’ – is a day of joy in the Church calendar and a break from the more sombre tone of Advent with its themes of longing and lament. On Gaudete Sunday, we light the rose candle on our Advent wreath and focus on the hope of Christ. 

Our lectionary readings for Gaudete Sunday are Matthew 11:2-15 – a passage in which Jesus responds to John the Baptist’s question: ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’ – and Isaiah 35:1-10, which includes the words, ‘Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.’ 

For those unable to join us in person, we will livestream our 9am Holy Communion service to Facebook. And then later on Sunday, at 6pm, join us for Orchestral Carols which will feature a full orchestra led by Jonathan Rathbone. We hope to see you this Sunday at St Mary’s! 

Orchestral Carols This Sunday Evening at 6pm: Arrive Early to Get a Seat 
Please join us for our Orchestral Carols service this Sunday evening, 14th December, at 6pm. While there is no need to book, we would encourage you to arrive early to ensure that you are able to get a seat. Doors will open at 5.30pm but a queue may form before that time. 

Join St Mary’s Community Christmas Choir: First Rehearsal This Friday 
Join our Community Christmas Choir which will perform at our Carols by Candlelight service on Sunday 21st December at 6pm. There are two main rehearsals for the choir – one this Friday 12th December at 7pm in St Mary’s Welcome Centre, and one at 7pm on 19th December in the church. There will also be an additional rehearsal on the day of the service. Sign up for the choir here or by visiting stmaryswalthamstow.org/ChristmasChoir2025 – and please feel free to invite neighbours and friends to join you in the choir! You can also listen to the choir pieces and learn the parts prepared by Jonathan and Helen Rathbone here. 

Join us for Carols on The Drive Next Wednesday 17th December
Next Wednesday, 17th December, we will sing outdoor carols, meeting at 6pm on the grassy area at the corner of The Drive and Church Hill – just a short walk from St Mary’s – with plans to sing for about an hour around the Attlee Terrace and Powell Court estates. At 7pm, there will be hot chocolate for all and then some of us will go on to sing carols with St Gabriel’s at Troubridge Square on Wood Street. We hope to see you next Wednesday! 

‘Quiet Christmas’ Service for Neurodiverse Children: Booking Required 
Quiet Christmas is a special service for neurodiverse children and their families with sensory-friendly Christmas activities in a calm, peaceful environment. It will take place on Monday 22nd December at 2pm, but unlike our other Advent and Christmas services, it does require advance booking due to the need to keep the service small. You can book a free place here (places only need to be booked for children, not for parents or carers); you can also find a booking link by searching for the event at stmaryswalthamstow.org/calendar. 

Advent and Christmas 2025 at St Mary’s 
Join us for Advent and Christmas 2025 at St Mary’s and in the Parish of Walthamstow. In addition to our four Sunday Advent services (9am and 10.30am), we will have special services throughout December, including two evening carol services, three Christingle services, and a 10.30am Christmas Day Family Communion service for the whole community. None of our services this year, including our carol services, require booking, with the exception of our Quiet Christmas service for neurodiverse children. Please note that our two carol services are extremely well attended, so much so that we are often unable to admit everyone for health and safety reasons, so we would encourage you to arrive early. For details on our Advent and Christmas services, visit stmaryswalthamstow.org/christmas. 

St Luke’s Community to Host ‘Carols on the Market’ on 21st December at Noon 
The St Luke’s Community will sing ‘Carols on the Market’ on Sunday 21st December from Noon-1pm. They will set up at the top of Walthamstow High Street, near the library and the Farmers’ Market, and all are welcome to attend. 

Carols at Whipps Cross on 23rd December at 5pm
We are pleased to join the Whipps Cross Interfaith Chaplaincy for carol singing to staff and patients who are working or staying in hospital over Christmas. Together with friends from St Peter’s in the Forest, St Barnabas and Holy Trinity Leytonstone, we will try and bring some Christmas cheer to the wards. A group will walk from St Mary’s at 4.30pm or you can meet us at the Whipps Cross Chapel, 1st floor, Junction 5, at 5pm. Please email Revd Vanessa Conant at if you are interested in joining us. 

St Mary’s School Forms
If you have recently joined St Mary’s because you are considering putting in an application for your child to attend St Mary’s School – welcome! We are delighted that you are exploring life at St Mary’s Church and pray you will find a place of belonging in our community. Please note that all school forms and enquiries need to go via our Parish Office (please email our administrator Josie at to arrange signatures). In general, school forms need to be completed in full before they are signed, including your level of church membership; however, you will need clergy agreement in order to select ‘at the heart of the church’ as this reflects a long-standing commitment to our worshipping community.

Next ‘Discovering Christianity’ Book Group Starting in January 2026 
We are pleased to offer another opportunity to read and discuss Rowan Williams’ beautiful book ‘Discovering Christianity’ together. Beginning on the 15th January at 7.30pm and meeting over the following three Thursdays, we will explore this text which both introduces the Christian faith and allows lifelong Christians to deepen their understanding. These groups are also an excellent way to meet others at St Mary’s and are particularly recommended if you are new to the congregation. If you are interested in joining us in January, please sign up here or email . 

Save the Date: Open Mic Worship on 12th February 2026 
After the success of our last Open Mic Worship evening, we are excited to announce our next event, planned for Thursday 12th February 2026. If you are interested in performing or would like to find out more, email . 

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: National Emergency Briefing on the Climate Crisis 
Last month, representatives from government, business and civil society were invited to a National Emergency Briefing on the climate crisis at Westminster Central Hall. Experts in climate, biodiversity, food, health, economics and security delivered warnings of the dire impacts of climate change which demand urgent action. A film presented by Chris Packham with highlights from last month’s event will be available for churches and community groups to show in the new year, but in the meantime, you are invited to sign a joint letter to the Prime Minister and leaders of major media companies, pointing out their legal duty to broadcast in the situation of a national emergency, which the climate crisis is, in accordance with The Communications Act 2003. Sign the letter here (or by visiting nebriefing.org); you can also watch talks given by experts at the briefing here (or via youtube.com/@nebriefing). 

Please pray this week for:

• St Gabriel’s Church as it continues to navigate the complexity of its church halls needing urgent repair whilst hosting a nursery and celebrating Advent/Christmas
• All who are unwell: for healing this Advent and that all who are going through difficult situations would experience an overwhelming sense of joy and peace this season 
• ‘Joy for All’ this Gaudete Sunday and beyond: that our church and all churches would be places of welcome, peace, and joy for all people, no matter their background 
• Our church as we prepare to welcome thousands of people to Advent and Christmas services, that many people would experience the love of Christ this year at St Mary’s 
• All places of violence and turmoil around the world, including Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan: for humanitarian aid to reach all in need and for efforts to broker a just peace 
• The UK government to reject the proposed Rosebank oil development, which would contribute to a dangerously overheating planet while failing to bring down energy bills 
• Community cohesion, praying for efforts in Walthamstow and around the UK to bring people together across difference and to help find solutions to the genuine problems impacting people, such as the high cost of living and a lack of affordable housing 
• Acts of hope to dispel the despair that many people feel in many communities across the UK and around the world, and for Christians to lead the way in making hope real 
• More organisations, including faith groups, to prohibit investment in fossil fuel companies and instead to fund climate solutions 
• Rest for all who are weary
• Leaders of faith communities, including our Rector Vanessa, our bishops Lynne and Guli, Archbishop-designate Sarah and leaders of other Churches, including Pope Leo 
• Efforts to create a more equitable society where everyone has enough to live well and where wellbeing, the natural world and the contributions of all are valued

Reflection: ‘Joy for All’ 
Revd Vanessa Conant, Rector of St Mary’s and the Parish of Walthamstow, writes: 

Gaudete! Gaudete! Christus est natus

Ex Maria, virgine, Gaudete!

These Latin words (Rejoice! Rejoice! Christ is born of Mary the Virgin! Rejoice!) have been sung on this third Sunday of Advent since the 16th Century – the first words a congregation would hear at the beginning of worship and words we will sing again as we gather and celebrate. 

In the Bible, the exhortation to rejoice is perhaps best known in St Paul’s letter to the Philippians where the apostle encourages the congregation to keep rejoicing, even in the midst of persecution. He writes: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice!’. 

The city of Philippi was a Roman colony in ancient Macedonia, full of retired soldiers and known for patriotic nationalism. St Paul faced strong resistance there for proclaiming that Jesus Christ was King of the World (and not Caesar). In his letter, Paul praises the Christian community for not losing heart, for continuing in their faith even while they, walking in his footsteps, faced oppression and danger. 

Then, just as now, Christians were called to root themselves in a knowledge of the love, mercy, forgiveness, healing and equipping power of God which could not only transcend the troubles of this life but could mean that they were able to find joy. The writer Henri Nouwen puts it this way: Joy is ‘the experience of knowing that you are loved and that nothing – sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death – can take that love away’. Nouwen concludes: ‘Thus joy can be present even in the midst of sadness. There is something unshakeable to hold on to even when there is difficulty or distress that we have to face’. 

The sense in the Philippians reading is not that we are commanded just to feel joyful but that the discipline of choosing to rejoice changes and transforms who we are. The verses go on: ‘Let your gentleness be known to all…do not worry about anything…and the peace of God will guard your heart.’

People who rejoice in Jesus Christ are marked by gentleness and trusting peace. 

All this I say whilst holding in mind the so-called ‘Unite the Kingdom’ Carol Service in Trafalgar Square on Saturday. Marketed as an event to ‘put Christ back into Christmas’, the links between this service and both far-right political movements and a growing Christian nationalism are clear. I write about this, just as I preached about it on Sunday, because I believe that these movements present significant risks to many friends and neighbours, and because the co-option of Christian symbols for a nationalist agenda are antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

In September, when ‘Unite the Kingdom’ held its first rally – a rally which exploded into violence and disorder – I received texts from congregation members too scared to leave the places they had gone to in central London. I had friends who had never had cause to feel unsafe in our beautiful, diverse city, suddenly describing a new and unprecedented terror as they tried to make it home. What they encountered was not the gentleness or trusting peace that comes with a transformative knowledge of Jesus Christ, but rather division and hostility which speaks of a weaponised fear and despair. 

What then shall we do? St Paul continues in his letter to the Philippians: ‘Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.’

The calling to us is not to respond with vitriol or aggression but to truly inhabit our rejoicing. In the last week, churches of all denominations have been gathering to pray, discern, discuss and to find ways to speak of God’s love which reflect those instructions from St Paul. What has emerged is a commitment to make this Sunday a day of ‘Joy For All’ – a reminder of Christ’s love for the outsider, the stranger and the forgotten. This is a day to pray for one another, including those with whom we disagree. This is a day to celebrate the coming Christ, to prepare our hearts for the joy of Christmas, and to love both our neighbours and our enemies. 

I hope you will join us on this day of Joy for All and that you will discover afresh the gifts of Gaudete Sunday – for yourself and for the world. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. 

With love, 

Vanessa