Dear St Mary’s, 

It was so lovely to mark All Saints Day with you last week. This coming Sunday, 10th November, we’ll mark Remembrance Sunday at 9am (Holy Communion) and again at 10.30am (Morning Worship), with an Act of Remembrance at both services and supervised children’s groups at 10.30am. Revd Tim Scott will lead and preach at both services. 

Remembrance Sunday is a national opportunity to remember the sacrifices of those who have served our country in times of war and conflict, from the First World War to the present day. As Christians, it is also an opportunity for us not only to remember and reflect on the sacrifices of others, but to pray and work for peace in our community and in the wider world. 

We will have supervised children’s groups at this week’s 10.30am service, with a Baby Lounge in the South Vestry at both services. For those unable to join us in person, we’ll livestream our 9am service to Facebook (www.facebook.com/StMarysE17). 

Crochet and Knitting Group to Meet on Saturday 9th November  
St Mary’s has started a crochet and knitting group which met for the first time last Saturday in the church Exhibition Space with over a dozen people turning up! Crochet and knitting are both brilliant ways to relieve stress and anxiety, make friends and get creative. The group is open to the whole community and will meet again this Saturday 9th November, 10am-Noon. Bring wool, needles, crochet hooks and whatever you’re working on; if you’re a beginner, please come along but let us know in advance so we can provide wool and crochet hooks! For more details, email Revd Jacintha Danaswamy at . 

Vestry Sessions: Thursday 14th November Gig to Explore E17 Film Scores 
We’re excited to welcome The Vestry Sessions to St Mary’s: a new music series offering affordable one-hour shows covering a range of genres, from jazz to classical. The first gig will be next Thursday 14th November (doors at 7.30pm, music at 8pm) where a mostly acoustic ensemble will perform film scores with a connection to East London and Walthamstow. Tickets are £12.50 on the door or can be purchased in advance for £10 each by clicking here, or by going to www.wegottickets.com and searching for ‘Vestry Sessions’. 

Bottles and Coins Needed for 23rd November Christmas Fair Fundraiser at St Mary’s 
St Mary’s will host a Christmas Fair on Saturday 23rd November, 11am-5pm, which will include a craft market, refreshments and family activities in and around St Mary’s; as well as looking for volunteers to help us run several St Mary’s stalls, we’re also collecting bottles of any kind for a bottle tombola as well as coins of any amount for a separate fundraiser. You can leave bottles in the clear plastic box in the church next to the A-frame sign announcing the bottle drop, while you can leave coins in the white donation box at the back of church. For more information, or to volunteer, email Louise at . 

Macbeth Coming to St Mary’s on Monday 25th November 
The group ‘Shakespeare in the Squares’ is doing an autumn and winter season in London churches and will be coming to St Mary’s on Monday 25th November at 7.30pm with a performance of Macbeth. Tickets are available at www.shakespeareinthesquares.co.uk. 

Volunteers Needed for Walthamstow Welcomes Cafe 
Our Walthamstow Welcomes Cafe is an amazing ministry led by Sue and Tony Peacham which helps the wider community with confusing paperwork while also offering a safe, welcoming space for people to come and have a cup of tea and a chat. While the free service – which is offered on alternate Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10am to Noon, in the Welcome Centre – has become more popular, the team needs more volunteers. To learn more about volunteering, email the team at . 

EcoTip: ‘Power Station’ Event on Saturday 9th November, 10am-6pm, Outset Centre
The local campaign group Power Station – which is led by the Walthamstow artists, filmmakers and environmental campaigners Hilary Powell and Dan Edelstyn – will hold a free day of ‘shared learning, imagining, mapping and modelling’ this Saturday 9th November, 10am-6pm, at the Outset Centre in Walthamstow (Grange Rd, E17 8AH) exploring topics such as solar for homes, heat and insulation, food and biodiversity, a community-owned power station and more. For the day’s schedule, visit: www.power.film/novevent. 

Please pray this week for:

• Those who currently serve in the military or have served in the past 
• People who feel threatened – as well as potential damage to global efforts to mitigate climate change – as a result of Donald Trump’s US election victory this week 
• All who are unwell in body, mind or spirit: for healing, hope and support 
• Clergy, staff and lay leaders at St Mary’s, around the Parish and across the Diocese
• The Anglican Communion, especially those churches ministering in places of conflict 
• The political leadership in this country, that leaders would govern with compassion 
• Anyone in our community who feels lonely, disconnected or on the edge 
• The work of our Walthamstow Welcomes cafe and its need for volunteers 
• The safety and wellbeing of children and young people across Waltham Forest 
• People in local government working to reduce emissions and increase active travel 

Next Week in the Welcome Centre (11th November to 15th November)

Monday 11th November 
Waltham Forest Community Choir, 7.30-9.30pm 

Tuesday 12th November 
Tai Chi, 7-9pm 
Walthamstow Singers (in the church), 7-8.30pm 

Wednesday 13th November 
Walthamstow Welcomes Cafe (free help with confusing paperwork), 10am-Noon (www.stmaryswalthamstow.org/WalthamstowWelcomes) 
HulaFit, 6.30-7.30pm 

Thursday 14th November   
FoodCycle (free community meal), 6.30pm 
The Singing Room, 7.30-9.30pm
Vestry Sessions: East London Film Scores (in the church), 7.30-9.15pm 

Friday 15th November 
Sing and Sign, 11am-12.15pm 

Reflection: ‘We Will Remember Them’ 
Revd Alan Moss writes: 

We will remember them! These are the words we often use every year as a nation to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. This Act of Remembrance was first held in 1919 in Buckingham Palace to mark the signing of the Armistice of Compiègne just a year before in 1918 which brought the First World War to an end, and later became known as Remembrance Day in 1946 and was widened to include those who bravely served in the Second World War and beyond. For over 100 years, we have regularly observed a two-minute silence to honour the sacrifices made by so many in conflicts around the world.

Most of us likely had family members who fought in those wars and their stories have been passed down to us, making the conflicts feel much more personal and real. My Grandfather fought in Burma while my nan served as a matron across London hospitals in WW2. My nan would tell me a little about what it was like to live and serve through the war, but she never gave too much away as the memories were so hard to repeat. 

Some things we don’t want to remember. 

Yet remembrance, as hard as it can be, is also an act of healing. It is through our shared memories that we see beyond the horror of war to the true heart of sacrifice that enables a deeper freedom for us all. It feels a little counterintuitive to suggest that sacrifice leads to freedom, but as followers of Jesus Christ, we have a unique perspective on this topic because at the very heart of our faith is the greatest of sacrifices made for all people for all time by Jesus himself.

John 15:12-13 says, ‘My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’ Jesus knew the nature of sacrifice and that more often than not it will be for the benefit of others rather than ourselves. 

He said these words mere hours before he was betrayed, arrested and killed for the sins of the world. Yet the great hope of Christ’s sacrifice was displayed in His resurrection and defeat of death itself so that we may all have access to the eternal kingdom of heaven and true life everlasting. At the communion table, we don’t only remember the death and resurrection of Jesus, but we are told in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 that we participate in it on a spiritual level. That participation includes the hope of the resurrection which points towards the hope of a greater freedom.

Every day that we wake up and live our lives, we do so as the beneficiaries of others’ sacrifices made for us; the greatest way that we can honour them is in the way we daily love our neighbours, our communities and our world because remembrance is not a passive act, but a lived out one. As we remember all those who fought and died for our freedoms this Sunday, let’s allow our lives to be an act of remembrance for them in the way we love others, following the example of Jesus in the hope of the resurrection we will all one day share in. 

There is no greater love than this.