Dear St Mary’s, 

On 29th March – Palm Sunday – we will mark Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem with services of Holy Communion at 9am and 10.30am. Revd Jacintha Danaswamy will preside, Revd Vanessa Conant will preach, and various members of our congregation will read the Passion story with the wider congregation participating as well. At 10.30am, children will process around the church with palm crosses, and all ages will be together for the service. 

Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week, and as the Church of England writes, ‘(Palm Sunday) marks the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, an event that is recorded in all four Gospels. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, while the crowds waved palm branches and shouted “Hosanna!” (an exclamation of praise)…Palm branches were widely associated with victory and triumph during the time in which Jesus lived. People also laid their cloaks on the ground, a sign of respect and honour for someone of great importance.’ 

‘Palm Sunday is a time of mixed sentiment because, although triumphal, it precedes the marking of events which led to the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus. It is a time for Christians to reflect on their faith and to prepare themselves for the solemnity of Holy Week, which culminates in the celebration of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus.’ 

Holy Week and Easter Services  
Join us for Holy Week and Easter at St Mary’s and in the Parish which begins on Palm Sunday (29th March) and will include a reading of the Passion Story and a procession with palms around the church. On Tuesday 31st March, we will offer Stations of the Cross at 7.30pm. On Wednesday 1st April, St Mary’s will host a Tenebrae service at 7.30pm, which will feature a reading of the Passion story with music and poetry. On Thursday 2nd April at 7.30pm, there will be a Maundy Thursday Holy Communion at St Gabriel’s. 

And then on Good Friday 3rd April, there will be Morning Prayer with Hymns at St Mary’s at 9am; a 10.30am Messy Good Friday service at St Mary’s for children and families with crafts; a 12-3pm Watch at the Cross at St Gabriel’s; and a Quiet Easter service for neurodiverse children at 2pm at St Mary’s (booking required – sign up here). In the evening, there will be a 7.30pm Good Friday Service at St Mary’s. There will be no services on Holy Saturday. On Easter Sunday, we will have an Easter Sunday Dawn Service with Easter Fire outside St Mary’s at 6.30am; a 9am Easter Holy Communion at St Mary’s; and a 10.30am Easter Family Communion at St Mary’s. 

Upcoming Opening/ Closing Times for St Mary’s Play Area and Ruttle & Rowe Cafe 
Please note that there will be changes to the opening and closing times for our church Play Area and Ruttle & Rowe cafe in the coming days and weeks: 

• Play Area closed today (26th March), cafe service mainly through the outdoor hatch
• Updated: The Play Area and Cafe will now be closed on Friday 27th March 
• Cafe/Play Area closed on Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Monday

Holy Week and Easter Volunteers Needed 
Every year, we welcome hundreds of people to St Mary’s to share in Holy Week and Easter services. We can’t do that without the generosity and kindness of our church members who welcome, host and guide. If you are able to help prepare resources, serve refreshments or welcome people for services, sign up here or email for more information. Full training will be provided if you are serving in a role for the first time. 

Register for Good Friday ‘Quiet Easter’ Service for Neurodiverse Children & Families 
Quiet Easter is a 2pm service on Good Friday for neurodiverse children and their families – a place where children can be entirely themselves – and booking is now open. Please note at least one parent/ carer needs to stay with their child/ children during the service; however, tickets only need to be booked for children, as adults do not need a ticket. This is our only Holy Week service which requires booking due to the need to keep numbers low. Book here. 

Knitting & Crochet Group Paused for Two Saturdays 
Our drop-in Knitting & Crochet group, which meets on Saturdays in our Exhibition Space from 10am to 12pm, will not meet this Saturday 28th March, but will return on Saturday 4th April. If you have any questions about the group, email . 

Join Other Christians on 28th March in Celebrating Love, Hope and Unity 
This Saturday 28th March, a coalition of civil society organisations – including churches and Christian charities – are gathering in Central London to walk for hope, love and compassion in the face of rising movements of division and hostility. Called ‘Together’, this march will be a family-friendly day of welcome, unity and prayer, with activities for children as part of the day and a Christian Bloc which will march together. We are taking a group from St Mary’s. Find out more about the march here or at togetheralliance.org.uk. To join us, register your interest here or email Revd Vanessa Conant at . 

Upcoming Parish Office Hours + Pastoral Contact 
Our Parish Office at St Mary’s will be open through Maundy Thursday but will be closed from Good Friday through the following week, reopening on Monday 13th April. For urgent pastoral matters in the week after Easter, please contact Revd Tim Scott, Associate Priest at St Mary’s and Area Dean, Waltham Forest, at . 

New 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 . 

Introduction to the Bible Course in April at St Mary’s
We are pleased to announce a new Introduction to the Bible course, beginning after Easter on Thursday 16th April and running for the following three Thursdays. If the Bible fascinates, challenges, delights, or troubles you, come along to this course which aims to help you know a little more about how to read the Bible, the shape and structure of the Bible, its history and development, and how to approach difficult passages. Led by our lay minister Rob Duddridge, the course is a great opportunity to learn alongside others. Register interest here, speak to Rob or email Vanessa at to find out more. 

Join St Mary’s Children’s Ministry Team
Children’s Ministry is one of the fastest growing parts of our church life, with occasionally as many as 60 children at our 10.30am service. We celebrate this and recognise that in order to respond to this growth we need to build our team of Children’s Ministry leaders and helpers, as we currently have a small team. Leaders plan and host each session but there are also roles for helpers, who support and assist. Training and support is provided for anyone interested in serving in this way and we follow safer recruitment processes when appointing volunteers. If you are interested in having a conversation about joining the team, sign up via this form or email Revd Jacintha Danaswamy at . 

Save the Date: Waltham Forest Citizens’ Assembly at St Mary’s on 22nd April
For nearly 15 years, St Mary’s has been a member of the Waltham Forest Citizens’ Alliance. This is a group of local schools, colleges, community groups and faith communities working together on issues which promote the Common Good. Over the years, we have organised around affordable housing, climate and youth safety. On Wednesday 22nd April at 6.30pm, St Mary’s is hosting a borough-wide assembly in advance of the local council elections on 7th May, meeting with candidates for the election and bringing before them stories of local people and the issues which matter to us. This is positive politics where we demonstrate the power of local institutions and their members and show the possibilities for working together across difference. Assemblies are dynamic, fun and inspiring. Register your interest here! 

Joining the Electoral Roll 
If you consider St Mary’s to be your church home and would like to make a commitment to our church, 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 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. You can sign up for the electoral roll here or by visiting 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. Please speak to Vanessa 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 oversee our governance and we are looking for new members. Email for details or for an informal conversation about serving on the PCC.  

Openings for Regular Classes & Birthday Parties in the Welcome Centre 
We have space for new regular bookings as well as children’s birthday parties in the Welcome Centre – our church hall located across the churchyard from St Mary’s – and invite anyone looking for space to get in touch. Alongside monthly giving from our congregation (which is our largest source of income), a significant source of income comes from regular and occasional hires of our Welcome Centre lounge and hall – money which helps us keep the church open in the week. The Welcome Centre is a great space for children’s birthday parties, after-school activities, choir rehearsals, fitness classes and baby and toddler groups. To get in touch, visit welcomecentreE17.org and fill out our enquiry form. 

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 ongoing war in Iran and violence in the Middle East: for a peaceful resolution
• The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally: for wisdom in leading the Church
• A positive politics to emerge in the UK and globally, focused on the Common Good 
• Accountability for social media and tech companies related to online safety and AI 
• Our church and parish as we mark Holy Week and Easter: that we would be changed 
• All who are facing cost of living pressures, and for immediate help for most in need 
• Safety of children, parents/carers, teachers and school staff during Easter Holidays 
• Other places of global conflict, including war in Sudan and Ukraine 
• Christian leaders to be brave in challenging racism, climate misinformation and divisive politics which attempt to pit people against each other 
• All in our parish who are unwell in body, mind or spirit: for help, healing and hope 
• All parents and carers: for support, encouragement and rest 
• Many people in our parish to come to faith this Holy Week and Easter

Reflection: ‘Pilgrim Path’ 
Revd Jacintha Danaswamy, Curate at St Mary’s, writes: 
I was deeply moved this week as we witnessed the installation of the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally. It was an historic and monumental moment in the Church of England and the global Anglican Communion. As she knocked on the door of Canterbury Cathedral with three loud knocks of her pastoral staff, the large ancient doors were opened to welcome her in with the words, ‘We greet you in the name of Christ’. When I heard these words, I felt a profound sense of gratitude and joy to witness this day! 

Perhaps our own journeys of faith and God’s calling on our lives will come to mind. We may be reminded of where those journeys began, where they were nourished and continue to be nourished and encouraged to grow. We may be reminded of the bumps and the twists and turns of the path, and of the unexpected places and people we met as we journeyed. 

In her sermon, Archbishop Sarah spoke about her recent pilgrimage, walking the ancient pilgrim’s trail from St Paul’s Cathedral to Canterbury Cathedral. This journey was not only a physical one, but also richly symbolic as she moved from her ministry as the Bishop of London to Canterbury and into her new role as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury. 

She walked the path that so many pilgrims had walked before, and she reminded us that in our journeys of faith, we are all walking the pilgrim paths, each step connecting us with our ancient Christian traditions, and like others before us, unsure of where it might lead, yet knowing we do not walk alone as we are guided through Christ by God’s loving presence.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey to crowds and cheers. In Holy Week, we journey with him to the last supper on Maundy Thursday; to his crucifixion and death on Good Friday; through the silence of Holy Saturday; and finally to the joy of his resurrection on Easter Sunday! 

As we journey through Holy Week, I pray that we will each be encouraged to draw closer along the pilgrim path to the all-encompassing love of God. May this journey be nourishing and hopeful, and may we know that as we travel together – as Archbishop Sarah reminded us in her installation sermon – ‘Nothing will be impossible with God’ (Luke 1:37). 

Much love,

Jacintha