Dear St Mary’s, 

On Sunday 7th September, we’ll celebrate Holy Communion at 9am and 10.30am with Revd Jacintha Danaswamy presiding and Revd Vanessa Conant preaching. As this Sunday’s services will be held a day before the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we will hold our Patronal Festival this Sunday during which we will celebrate the life of our church, with an emphasis on St Mary – our namesake –, reflecting on her faithfulness and service. 

Our scripture readings will be from Micah 5:1-4 and Luke 1:26-38 (‘The Annunciation’). 

After a summer break, we will once again have supervised children’s groups this Sunday at 10.30am, with a Baby Lounge in the South Vestry at both services. For those unable to join us in person this Sunday, we will livestream the 9am service to our Facebook page (facebook.com/StMarysE17). We hope to see you this Sunday at St Mary’s! 

Marriage Preparation Course to Begin on 7th September  
Are you considering getting married or currently planning a wedding? St Mary’s will run a free Marriage Preparation Course for couples on three consecutive Sunday afternoons beginning 7th September, 3pm-4.30pm. The course is a great opportunity for all couples to consider and discuss the building blocks of a lasting relationship. St Mary’s is an inclusive church and our course is open to all couples, including those getting married elsewhere. To register or to learn more, please email Josie Wilson at . 

‘Discovering Christianity’ Course Starts on 11th September 
Explore faith with a free four-week course starting 11th September and running for four consecutive Thursdays, 7.30pm-9pm, in the church. The course is ideal for anyone interested in learning more about the Christian faith or considering getting baptised or confirmed. We will be discussing the book, ‘Discovering Christianity: A Guide For The Curious’ by Rowan Williams. Sign up here or email .

Tickets Now Available for BBC Radio 4’s ‘Gardeners’ Question Time’ at St Mary’s 
We are excited to announce that on the evening of Monday 3rd November, St Mary’s will host two live recordings of ‘Gardeners’ Question Time’, the much-loved BBC Radio 4 programme. Ticket-holders will sit through back-to-back recordings of separate episodes of the iconic programme, which will take approximately two hours in total. As of 10.30am today, 4th September, tickets for the 3rd November event are available to purchase for £4.50 (+ a processing fee); purchase a ticket here or via our website at stmaryswalthamstow.org. 

Just Peace: Praying and Acting for Peace in Palestine + 19th September Film 
Many of us were deeply moved by the visit of Peter Nasir from YMCA in the West Bank earlier this year. His story, and the stories of others he shared, touched us profoundly and we have been eager to learn more and do more to support Palestinians living under occupation and oppression. On Friday 19th September at 7.30pm, we will gather to watch films made by Christian Aid partners and friends, talk together and pray for a just peace in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. To reserve a space, please email . 

Walthamstow Film Lounge Coming to St Mary’s on 20th September
On Saturday 20th September, Walthamstow Film Lounge will hold a screening of the 1927 futuristic science fiction film ‘Metropolis’ at St Mary’s with doors at 7pm for a 7.45pm start. Tickets to the screening – which will feature a live band – are £12.50 (concession) and £17.50 (full price) and are available here or by visiting www.stowfilmlounge.com. 

Worth Unlimited Quiz Evening at St Mary’s Welcome Centre on 20th September 
The Waltham Forest youth charity Worth Unlimited will be raising funds by holding a Quiz Evening in the St Mary’s Welcome Centre on Saturday 20th September at 7.30pm. You can purchase £10 tickets on the door, by clicking here, or visiting worthunlimited.co.uk/quiznight.

Stories & Supper Presents ‘Expressions of Belonging’ at St Mary’s on 27th September
‘Expressions of Belonging’ – which will be held at St Mary’s on Saturday 27th September at 6.30pm – will feature powerful performances, conversation, poetry and delicious food, all exploring the importance of belonging and home. Stories & Supper is a Waltham Forest-based charity that works to create spaces of welcome and encounter where refugees and asylum-seekers can connect with local residents over food and stories. Tickets for ‘Expressions of Belonging’ are £15 and available here or at storiesandsupper.co.uk/events. 

Opportunity to Give Blood at St Mary’s on 2nd October 
The next opportunity to give blood at St Mary’s will be on Thursday 2nd October. For those who would like to donate blood, the best way to do this is to book through the Give Blood app or via www.blood.co.uk. If there is a slot available at St Mary’s, that will be noted when you book. Please note the booking process is not managed by us but by the NHS. 

Save the Date:12th October Confirmation Service, now with Bishop Guli at 3pm
There will be a Deanery Confirmation service at St Edmund’s, Chingford, on Sunday 12th October, though due to a recent change, that service will now be at 3pm and led by Bishop Guli, Bishop of Chelmsford. Confirmation is a special service in which a person confirms the promises that were made for them at baptism (also known as ‘Christening’). If you were christened as a child, your parents and godparents made these promises on your behalf, however, as a young person or adult, you may now be ready to affirm these promises for yourself and publicly commit to following Jesus Christ. Your friends and family as well as the local Christian community are there to promise to support and pray for you. At the service, the bishop will also lay hands on candidates’ heads and ask God’s Holy Spirit to help them follow Christ. Register interest here, or speak to Revd Vanessa Conant to find out more.

EcoTip: National Day of Action to Stop Rosebank on Saturday 6th September 
Join campaigners on 6th September for a Day of Action to Stop Rosebank – a proposed North Sea oil field – by attending a gathering in London near St Pancras Station, one of more than a dozen gatherings happening around the UK. Stop Rosebank campaigners write: ‘Any day now, the UK government will face a major climate test. Equinor is expected to reapply to develop Rosebank, the biggest undeveloped oil field in the UK. Rosebank is a climate disaster that we can still stop. Together, we already overturned the last government’s approval of Rosebank in the courts and helped to bring in new government rules that make it harder to approve new oil fields. Now it’s up to this government to make the right call’. Register for the London gathering here or visit stoprosebank.org.uk. 

Please pray this week for:

• Schools in Waltham Forest and around the country as a new year begins 
• Food banks and other critical forms of assistance offered to those in financial need 
• All who care for others, whether paid or unpaid: for strength and encouragement
• Anyone in need of a job but struggling to find one, as well as those in low paid work  
• The work of our Walthamstow Welcomes cafe: for its volunteers and those it serves 
• Anyone at the end of life, as well as for all who are unwell: for Christ’s presence 
• A truly Christian response to the nihilism infecting politics in the UK and globally 
• For all asylum-seekers and refugees, and for all who work to support them 
• Youth charities in London and Waltham Forest – for funding and support – and for the youth after-school safety programme being trialled by Waltham Forest Council 
• More people to come to faith or to deepen their faith at St Mary’s this autumn 
• All in our parish who feel far away from God: for renewed hope and faith 
• In this Season of Creation, that millions of Christians would renew their commitment to care for our world and to campaign for an end to the fossil fuel era 

Reflection: ‘Surprised by Joy’ 
Revd Vanessa Conant, Rector of St Mary’s, writes: 

I think I might be suffering a little with post-holiday blues. I am often afflicted (and conflicted) by September. In many respects, I love the new year feeling with its new pens, new books and fresh starts. There is a feeling of possibility and beginnings which is exciting. But I can also find myself to be a little sad at the passing of summer, at the return to the pace of autumn and the darker nights, and I sometimes find these days accompanied by waves of anxiety. Perhaps you feel the same. 

I suspect that these more melancholic feelings are exacerbated by living in an increasingly bewildering world. Terrifying shows of nuclear strength in China, a seemingly inexorable slide towards authoritarianism in the United States and the rise of frightening proto-fascist movements in our country create a background of fear and unease. And when compounded with devastating, genocidal famine in Gaza and the horrors of endless war in Ukraine or Sudan – it’s not surprising that we might find ourselves feeling bleak at best, and sometimes, genuinely unhappy. 

I recently watched a short piece from mathematician, Dr Hannah Fry, in which she explored scientific studies into happiness. She describes how humans have a relatively stable baseline of happiness (unique to each person, of course) and how circumstances might make us happier or less happy at a given moment but, over time, we tend to revert to our general state of happiness. So we might secure our dream job, we may even win the lottery or we may experience heartbreak or great difficulty; over time, most people, whether they have experienced hardship or great success, will return to a fairly normal state of happiness. This phenomenon is called hedonic adaptation and has been the subject of considerable psychological scholarship. 

Perhaps this is reassuring in some way: the world turns, good and terrible things happen, and yet we stay, ultimately, relatively the same. I can’t help feeling as though this, too, is a rather bleak position – a sort of terminal state which can only be marginally shifted. 

The Christian position is that our calling is to joy rather than happiness. Here, happiness is more of a transient, circumstantial pleasure which is directly linked to our personal well-being. Joy, by contrast, is a deeper and more enduring sense of meaning and purpose focused on others, commitment and relationships. 

Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Rowan Williams, describes it this way: ‘Joy is what happens when you have stopped planning for happiness. It is the unexpected grace that overtakes you as the focus from the ego shifts to something else, whether that is the child who wakes you in the middle of the night or the moment on the dance floor where you are completely given over to the music or the breaking-through of generous action in the face of need and pain – what we might call “moral joy”’.

In the letter to the Thessalonians (5:16-18), the early Church is exhorted to ‘rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.’ This is not a call to a head-in-the-sand denial of reality, or to a false joy, but a leaning into that selfless love which leads to sustaining joy. 

The poet, Wendell Berry, describes it thus: ‘Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.’

I find this helpful as the new term begins. There is no purpose in chasing after a happiness that is, at best, fleeting. But there is rich delight, hope, strength and encouragement in pursuing joy rooted in commitment, in service of the other, in prayerful devotion to Jesus Christ. 

I am praying for you, whatever September brings. 

May you discover and embrace the gifts of joy. 

With love, 

Vanessa