Dear St Mary’s, 

On Sunday 9th November – Remembrance Sunday – we will celebrate Holy Communion at 9am with Morning Worship at 10.30am. Revd Vanessa Conant will lead and Revd Tim Scott will preach, with an Act of Remembrance at both services and children’s groups at 10.30am. 

Our lectionary readings for Remembrance Sunday are Job 19:23-27 and Luke 20:27-38. 

On Remembrance Sunday, we remember those who have died in military conflict, pray for peace and reconciliation, and reflect on the devastating consequences of war. For those who are unable to join us in person this week, we will livestream the 9am service to Facebook. 

At 6pm, the St Luke’s Community will pray in the church and all are welcome to join. 

Tickets Now Available for BBC Radio 4’s ‘Any Questions’ on 28th November 
St Mary’s is excited to host BBC Radio 4’s ‘Any Questions’ political panel show on Friday 28th November. We have been given an initial 200 tickets to distribute to the entire community, and as of 11am today, 6th November, the link to claim a free ticket is live (click here or visit www.stmaryswalthamstow.org/AnyQuestions). There will also be a waiting list, as we may be able to release an additional block of tickets a few days before the broadcast; panellists will also be announced nearer the time. The show will be broadcast live from St Mary’s, with doors at 6.30pm and ticket-holders encouraged to arrive soon thereafter, with all ticket-holders seated by 7.30pm. The broadcast will start at precisely 8.02pm and end at 8.54pm. We will also need help putting chairs away afterwards in preparation for our Christmas Fair on Saturday 29th November; to volunteer to help on the night, email our Operations Manager Dan Copperwheat at . 

Friday Funeral for Sue Peacham at St Mary’s + St Mary’s Cafe and Play Area Closed 
A service to remember and celebrate Sue Peacham – a beloved member of St Mary’s who died last month – will be held this Friday 7th November at 11:30am at St Mary’s. This means that our cafe and soft play areas will also be closed for the day. Following the service, there will be a private committal service for immediate family at City of London Crematorium; everyone else is invited to stay and share memories of Sue at an Afternoon Tea which will be served immediately after the service. Instead of flowers, the family is asking for donations to one of Sue’s memorial charities (suepeacham.muchloved.com). If you can make scones/cake for Afternoon Tea, click here, or speak to Revd Vanessa Conant. 

Admission to Communion Preparation on 9th November, Service on 30th November 
Communion preparation for children over the age of 8 who are already baptised will be on Sunday 9th November after the 10.30am service, with lunch provided. Admission to Communion will take place on the First Sunday of Advent, 30th November. To reserve a place for the Communion preparation session, or for more details, please contact Revd Vanessa Conant at . If your child is keen to receive Holy Communion but has not yet been baptised, please also contact Vanessa. 

St Mary’s and the Parish of Walthamstow Seek Schools’ Worker 
St Mary’s and the Parish of Walthamstow are looking to appoint a Schools’ Worker on a one-year fixed contract – with the possibility of discussing a part-time contract, paid over two years, if preferable – in order to build on existing relationships and to develop outreach and connection with schools and youth networks in our Parish. Applications are due at 12pm on 11th November. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please let them know about this opportunity. For more information, visit stmaryswalthamstow.org/schoolsworker. 

St Mary’s and the Parish of Walthamstow Seek Operations and Maintenance Assistant 
St Mary’s and the Parish of Walthamstow are seeking a reliable part-time Operations and Maintenance Assistant to help keep our two churches and community halls safe, compliant and welcoming for worship, ministry, and community use. This role will work weekday mornings, carrying out daily checks, assisting with compliance logs, undertaking minor repairs, supporting contractors, and ensuring that our facilities are ready for hires and Parish events. If you know of anyone who might be interested in this crucial role which will work closely with our Operations Manager Dan Copperwheat, please let them know about this opportunity. Applications are due by 12pm on Thursday 13th November. For more information, visit stmaryswalthamstow.org/operationsassistant.  

St Mary’s Advent Book Group: ‘Listening to the Music of the Soul’ 
Our 2025 Advent Book Group will discuss ‘Listening to the Music of the Soul’ by Rt Revd Guli Francis-Dehqani, the Bishop of Chelmsford. We will be reading and discussing Bishop Guli’s new book over four Thursdays, beginning on 27th November, 7.30pm. If you would like to join us, please sign up here or email Revd Jacintha Danaswamy at . 

Join St Mary’s Community Christmas Choir 
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 at 7pm on 12th December 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 the choir! You can also listen to the choir pieces and learn the parts prepared by Jonathan and Helen Rathbone here. 

Open Letter to the House of Bishops on LGBTQ+ Inclusion  
An Open Letter to the Church of England’s House of Bishops, coordinated by Inclusive Church – an organisation of which St Mary’s is a part – is now available for anyone to sign. The letter calls on the House of Bishops to ‘offer leadership and direction that honours the inclusive majority of the Church of England and truly values LGBTQ+ people’. Sign the letter here or by visiting inclusive-church.org and clicking on ‘LLF Letter’ at the top of the page. 

Announcement About Sunday Children’s Groups 
We are delighted that our Sunday children’s groups are growing and are so pleased to welcome all who have joined us recently. If you have not yet registered your child using our online form, please complete a form here (you can also find a link to the registration form by visiting stmaryswalthamstow.org/childrenandyouth). Our growing numbers mean that we must ask that only one parent or carer stays with a child during Sunday morning groups in order to ensure that there is space for activities. If your child is over 3, we also encourage you to feel comfortable leaving your child with our DBS-checked team of volunteers and leaders and to return to the service. If you have any questions, please email Revd Vanessa Conant at or Revd Jacintha Danaswamy at .  

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:

• Those who have died in war or have been impacted by conflict 
• Sue Peacham – that she may rest in peace and rise in glory – and all who love her
• Those whose lives are exceptionally stressful: for support, help and encouragement 
• Anyone in our church or Parish undergoing medical treatment or unwell in any way 
• All who long for a safe home and for the charities and organisations that help them 
• A fair budget from the Chancellor which supports the most vulnerable 
• St Mary’s clergy, staff and parishioners as we enter our busiest church season  
• All who were injured or impacted by the attacks on the train near Huntingdon 
• Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and all places of conflict – for a just peace 
• Those working to build a more inclusive society that values the contributions of all 
• The Church around the world, and for wisdom for all Church leaders, including our bishops Lynne and Guli, for Archbishop-designate Sarah, and for Pope Leo 
• As we approach COP30, all efforts to eliminate global greenhouse gas emissions

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

I confess that I have been struggling to write this reflection. Usually, the season or an event or something in the news will capture my attention and something will start to emerge as the deadline approaches. But on this occasion, I have nothing. There is plenty in the news – both horrifying and hopeful. There is plenty in this season – the short weeks leading up to Advent are precious and poignant and beautiful. There are important and holy things happening in our community. And yet, for some reason, I am wordless. 

I was wordless in a more physical sense last week when I almost entirely lost my voice. Away on holiday with family, I often had to give up making myself heard and settle for being silent. This sudden absence of voice and language is disconcerting: I am rarely silent and the difficulty of finding words is by turns frustrating and humbling. 

In Scripture, Zechariah, husband of Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, is rendered silent by the angel Gabriel when he struggles to believe that his wife will bear a son. In its most simple reading, this appears to be a punishment. Gabriel even says, ‘and now you will be silent and not be able to speak because you did not believe my words’, and thereafter, Zechariah is, indeed, unable to speak until the birth of his son, John the Baptist. 

From this perspective, Zechariah is the anti-Mary. Mary receives the good news from the Angel Gabriel and accepts and believes. By contrast, Zechariah is faithlessly incredulous. 

But what if Gabriel’s intervention is not a punishment but an invitation? What if there is healing and hope in this silence? God does not reject Zechariah for his uncertainty; he gives him time and stillness in which to meditate, to learn and to change. And clearly something profound and necessary does alter within Zechariah. Upon the birth of his son, Zechariah breaks out in song – his voice has suddenly returned – proclaiming praise and freedom and hope. This song, also known as the Benedictus, is said daily in Morning Prayer. Thousands of years later, Zechariah’s words still draw us nearer to the heart of God: ‘In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace.’

Silence and stillness loosens our grip on the distracting, controlling power of words and so makes room for the fullness of God’s dynamic, healing power. In entering into silence, we enter more deeply into God’s mystery. In the quiet, God is still at work. 

On Remembrance Sunday, we fall silent. We honour those who have died in conflict by refusing to fill that space with words. We grieve the senseless violence and horror of war by being still. We lament and protest the untold suffering, we allow ourselves to yearn for peace, we ask God to eliminate the violence that exists in every human heart, including our own – and we do all of this in the quiet. The silence allows us to adopt a posture of repentance, humility, thanksgiving and hope – and maybe, if we are patient and courageous, to hear the voice of God. 

So may wordlessness come to us not as affliction, but as invitation. And may we, in the stillness, encounter the transforming power of the living God. 

With love, 

Vanessa