Dear St Mary’s, 

On 15th February, the Last Sunday Before Lent, we will share Holy Communion at 9am and again at 10.30am. Revd Ola Franklin will lead and preside and Revd Jacintha Danaswamy will preach, with supervised children’s groups at 10.30am. 

Our lectionary readings this week are 2 Peter 1:16-end and Matthew 17:1-9. 

This is our final Sunday before Lent, a season of reflection which begins this coming week on Ash Wednesday. For those who are unable to join us in person this Sunday, we will livestream our 9am service to Facebook. We hope to see you this Sunday at St Mary’s! 

Open Mic Worship Evening Tonight: Book Your Free Ticket 
After the success of our last Open Mic Worship evening, we are looking forward to our event this evening – Thursday 12th February – at 7.30pm. Join us for an evening of poetry, music, storytelling and reflection. Support the participants by booking your free ticket here. You can also find a booking link at stmaryswalthamstow.org/calendar. 

No Morning Prayer the Week of 16th February 
Please note there will be no Morning Prayer next week (16th-19th February). We typically say Morning Prayer every Monday-Thursday at 8.30am in St Mary’s side chapel and also livestream it to Facebook. Morning Prayer will return on Monday 23rd February. 

Welcome Centre Closed Next Week: Walthamstow Welcomes Cafe in Church 
We are having investigative works done in the Welcome Centre the week of 16th February, which means all classes and activities which normally take place in the Welcome Centre have been cancelled or relocated to St Mary’s Church. Our Walthamstow Welcomes Cafe – which helps people with confusing paperwork every Wednesday and alternate Saturdays – will be on but will operate out of the church on 18th February from 10am-Noon. 

Ash Wednesday at St Mary’s on 18th February 
The season of Lent – forty days of preparation and reflection leading up to Holy Week and Easter – begins on Ash Wednesday, which this year falls on 18th February. Our Ash Wednesday services will be at 7.30am (for morning commuters and early risers), and later in the day at 7.30pm, with Holy Communion and the imposition of ashes at both services. These services are always moving and are beautiful ways to begin the season. Throughout Lent we will also be offering opportunities to explore and deepen your faith through book groups and one-to-one meetings with clergy. We will soon share more information about our Lent programme and hope you will join us as we journey through this meaningful season. 

Play Area and Cafe Closed on 19th February
St Mary’s Ruttle & Rowe cafe, as well as our Play Area, will be closed for the entire day on 19th February, as there will be a funeral in church. We apologise for any inconvenience. 

Embers Returns on Sunday 22nd February, 6pm 
Embers is our semi-regular evening service – an hour of sung worship led by our brilliant team of musicians and singers. The service, which will begin at 6pm, offers a beautiful space for prayer and worship and you are warmly invited to join us. 

2026 Lent Book Group ‘Dancing at the Still Point’ Begins on 26th February  
Our Lent Book this year is ‘Dancing at the Still Point: Retreat Practices for a Busy Life’ by the Jesuit sister, theologian and writer Gemma Simmonds. Accessible and engaging, the book explores how we can find spaces of retreat in the busyness of life. Each week, we’ll be discussing the book and offering time to practise and ‘retreat’ at the end of the session. Our first meeting will be on Thursday 26th February at 7.30pm with subsequent meetings the following three Thursdays. Sign up here or email . 

Taizé Service of Lamentation and Hope on Sunday 1st March at 6pm 
Join us for a special service, ‘A Lament for Our Habitat’, led by the Eco Church Team and members of our congregation on Sunday 1st March at 6pm. Taizé worship is a contemplative prayer style developed by the Taizé community in France. Using simple chants, periods of silence, readings, poetry and candlelight, the service invites you to join us as we lament the ecological crisis we face and as we seek hope, forgiveness and healing for the future. 

Building connections at St Mary’s: Join us for ‘Weaving Trust’ on Sunday 8th March 
St Mary’s is a large congregation and it can be challenging to get to know people through Sunday mornings alone. ‘Weaving Trust’ is an opportunity to have guided conversations with different people in the church, allowing you to meet and make meaningful connections with more people in our community. Our hope is that all who attend will make new friends and feel a greater sense of belonging. The event will take place after the 10.30am service on 8th March with a sandwich lunch provided for those who would like to attend. Please register your interest here, or email for more information. 

Searching for New PCC Secretary 
Our wonderful PCC Secretary, Liz Davies, is standing down after nearly a decade of incredible service. We are thankful to Liz for all she has done to support the parish. We are now beginning to look for a new PCC Secretary. This is a key role in the leadership of the parish and we are keen to find the right person to join the team. Taking on the role would involve being elected or co-opted onto our Parochial Church Council, which meets six times per year. To learn more, email Revd Vanessa Conant at . 

Whirl & Wonder: Second Baby Confidence Course in St Mary’s Exhibition Space 
Expecting your second child? Whirl & Wonder runs a Second Baby Confidence Course designed specifically for parents making the leap from one child to two – a course which meets in our Exhibition Space. Join to meet local second-time parents with similar due dates and master the sibling transition. The unique split-session format allows both parents to attend and discuss their thoughts openly, with no babysitter required. The course is now booking for its February, April and June cohorts. Book here or at www.whirlandwonder.co.uk. 

Improvements to Vinegar Alley Section of St Mary’s Churchyard 
Head Gardener Tim Hewitt and his churchyard volunteers have started to improve the Vinegar Alley section of our churchyard with sculptural path edging using natural materials. Tim says this is a ‘cue to care’, meaning that this intervention shows how the less visited sections of our churchyards are still cared for and how this subtly invites others to care as well. Feel free to add sticks to the edging and explore this bit of the churchyard which we are keen to have more widely used whilst making it as nature-friendly as possible. 

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:

• Children, parents/ carers and school staff as half-term begins on Monday 
• All who are unwell or worried about their health: for healing and peace 
• Those in our parish who are struggling financially: for assistance and hope 
• Places of conflict and tension, including Ukraine, Sudan, Iran and Greenland 
• The school shooting in Canada and recent violence at a school in West London 
• Efforts by Christian leaders to make it clear that God welcomes all, and to stand against divisive rhetoric around refugees and people of different backgrounds 
• The work of our Walthamstow Welcomes cafe helping people access needed support 
• The UK government: that politicians would focus on important issues like reducing the cost of living, improving public services and protecting our climate/ environment 
• Campaigners working to stop the development of the Rosebank oil field, and that the UK government would make the right decision to stop it 
• All exploring faith at St Mary’s this Lent 
• Churches around the world as Lent approaches, especially those in conflict zones 
• Farmers in the UK dealing with an especially wet winter which is threatening crops 

Reflection: ‘Let the Daylight In’ 
Revd Vanessa Conant, Rector of St Mary’s and the Parish of Walthamstow, writes: 

Despite the unremitting greyness and seemingly interminable rain of these last weeks, I have been thankful for the lighter afternoons. Just yesterday, I realised that walking my children home from school felt somehow easier in the remaining daylight than it had in the gloomy darkness of just a couple of weeks earlier.

Lent – the liturgical season we are approaching this coming week – comes from an Old English word ‘lencten’, meaning lengthening, and really refers to those longer days and the coming of Spring. Over time, the Christian observance of 40 days of penitence and fasting in remembrance of Jesus in the wilderness, became associated with this season and the word ‘Lent’ came to mean a time of reflection, self-denial and preparation. 

In the Church’s calendar, the forty days of Lent are marked by a sobriety and solemnity which could make us approach the season with some trepidation or reluctance. In some seasons of life, when we are particularly exhausted or overwhelmed, the thought, let alone the reality, of giving up something we like, or of becoming more keenly aware of our shortcomings or deficits, can feel positively grim.

Perhaps, then, that picture of increasing daylight is a helpful image to take into Lent. The season is not intended to depress or diminish us, but in fact to reveal – to invite us into new learning and to create more room in our hearts and minds for the presence of Christ. Lent is an expansive season, a time of possible growth and change – an invitation to receive the joy of Easter in a new way, with new depth and new perspective. 

In his book Discovering Christianity, Rowan Williams writes: ‘Faith is most fully itself and most fully life-giving when it opens your eyes and uncovers for you a world larger than you ever thought – and, of course therefore, a world that can be a bit more alarming than you ever thought. The test of true faith is how much more it lets you see, and how much it stops you from denying, resisting or ignoring aspects of what is real.’

The spiritual disciplines of Lent are part of this enlarging of the world. It may be that you choose to fast from something and the relinquishing of that thing is demanding or difficult. Or it may be that you choose to take something up – a habit, an act of kindness or studying or praying in a different way. Whatever you choose, the important thing to remember is that disciplines, in whatever form they take, are not punishments. 

In fact, the etymology of the word discipline comes from the Latin, discipulus, meaning pupil, with its connections to the word, ‘disciple’. To undertake a discipline is therefore to choose to be someone who learns, is open to instruction and seeks to expand their knowledge. 

It is to be someone who lets a little more daylight into their life. 

In St Paul’s letter to the Romans, he writes in Chapter 12: ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.’

The invitation to each one of us is into the expansiveness of God which can renew our minds and so transform us. And these practices and commitments of renewal have real-world implications: they help us to discern and act well in the world, to be people who know what it is God is asking of us and to be people who have the courage to respond affirmatively. 

May you be blessed by the lengthening of days. May the coming of Spring hearten and encourage you. May you be guided into a Lent that is marked by new imagination, holy curiosity and a fresh discovery of God’s unfailing mercy and love. 

May you know more light. 

With love,  

Vanessa