Dear St Mary’s, 

On Sunday 21st September – St Matthew’s Day – we will celebrate Holy Communion at 9am and again at 10.30am with Revd Vanessa Conant presiding and Revd Tim Scott preaching. We will also have a baptism at 10.30am alongside supervised children’s groups. On St Matthew’s Day we remember a person who, as the prayer below reminds us, set an example for all by abandoning ‘the possessive love of riches’ to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

The full St Matthew’s Day prayer from the Church of England is: 

‘O Almighty God,
whose blessed Son called Matthew the tax collector
to be an apostle and evangelist:
give us grace to forsake the selfish pursuit of gain and the possessive love of riches
that we may follow in the way of your Son Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.’

This Sunday, churches across the UK will also be praying for peace in the Middle East – an initiative which coincides with UN World Peace Day and a global call to prayer from the World Council of Churches. This Sunday, we will also be admitting children who have been prepared to receive Holy Communion. 

For those unable to join us in person this week, we will livestream our 9am service to Facebook. We hope to see you this Sunday at St Mary’s! 

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. This Friday 19th September at 7.30pm, we will gather in the Welcome Centre 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 free space, please email , or please just turn up. 

Crochet & Knitting Group Returns on Saturday 20th September, 10am-12pm 
Our Saturday drop-in crochet and knitting group will meet for the first time since taking a summer break this Saturday 20th September. Whether you are a beginner or have been crocheting/ knitting for years, join us in our church Exhibition Space, 10am-12pm, for a relaxed time of conversation and crochet/knitting. Pop in for a bit or stay for the entire time. For details, email Revd Jacintha Danaswamy at . 

Walthamstow Film Lounge Coming to St Mary’s on Saturday 20th September
This 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 this Saturday 20th September at 7.30pm. You can purchase £10 tickets on the door, by clicking here, or visiting worthunlimited.co.uk/quiznight.

Vestry Sessions Returns on Thursday 25th September with ‘Flamenco Maqam’
Our Vestry Sessions music partners will hold their first gig of the Autumn 2025 season – ‘Flamenco Maqam’ – next Thursday 25th September as musicians explore the roots of flamenco. Expect an evening of traditional Spanish dance mixed with Arabic and Indian influences. Doors are at 7.30pm for an 8pm start. For tickets, click here, or visit wegottickets.com/TheVestrySessions. 

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. 

Waltham Forest ‘Listen and Lead’ Daytime Course to Begin Thursday 9th October 
In association with the Centre for Theology and Community, ‘Listen and Lead’ is a free course which begins on Thursday 9th October, 12-2pm, and includes lunch. The six-week course begins at Holy Trinity, Leytonstone (9th and 16th October, Holloway Rd E11 4LD) before moving to St Barnabas, Walthamstow (23rd October and 6th November, St Barnabas Rd, E17 8JY), and ending at our church, St Mary’s (13th and 20th November). The course will allow you to explore practical ways to live out your faith in the wider community. For details or to register, email Revd Jacintha Danaswamy at or email Revd Vanessa Conant at .

Save the Date: 12th October Confirmation Service in Chingford 
There will be a Deanery Confirmation service at St Edmund’s, Chingford, on Sunday 12th October at 3pm led by Bishop Guli. Confirmation is a special service in which a person confirms 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, but as a young person or adult, you may now be ready to affirm these promises for yourself and publicly commit to following 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.

Join our Christmas Festival Volunteer Team: Meeting After 5th November Service
St Mary’s will hold a Christmas Festival on Saturday 29th November which will include a craft market, Santa’s grotto, games, food, mulled wine, and opportunities for people to donate to the ministry of St Mary’s. We are looking for volunteers to help us on the day and will hold a short meeting in the South Vestry at 12pm after our Sunday 5th November 10.30am service. Join us then to learn more about the volunteer roles and how you can help! 

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. 

EcoTip: This Saturday, Call on Polluters to Clean Up the Mess They’ve Made 
The Make Them Pay Campaign is calling for polluters like fossil fuel companies to pay to clean up the mess they’ve made alongside other demands related to worker protections and taxing the ultra-wealthy. Campaigners will gather in Central London this Saturday 20th September in order to urge the government to act on these issues, with faith groups in attendance. Register to attend this Saturday’s rally here or visit makethempay.org.uk. 

Please pray this week for:

• The next PCC (church trustees) meeting on Monday 22nd September 
• Christian and community leaders to stand against racism and division in the UK 
• All who are unwell in body, mind or spirit – for healing – and for all who care for them 
• UN World Peace Day and for peacemaking efforts everywhere 
• Our church to be a place of encounter and connection for the whole community  
• People to experience the love of Christ, especially those exploring faith at St Mary’s
• All who are living in conflict zones, especially the people of Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan
• Communities in the UK feeling vulnerable in the wake of Saturday’s far right march
• All who are lonely in our community/ country, especially those at risk of radicalisation 
• Faith leaders, including our bishops, Lynne and Guli, and also for Pope Leo 
• Local and global efforts to reverse nature decline and move away from fossil fuels 
• Our Walthamstow Welcomes cafe as it offers help to all in need of support

Reflection: ‘Don’t Skip an Emotion’ 
Revd Vanessa Conant writes: 

This week will be the final session of our Marriage Preparation Course, a three-week programme through which we support couples exploring the next stage in their relationships and those preparing for the commitment of marriage. Each week focuses on a different subject – communication, balancing time, money, friendship and family. 

I always value these sessions, not only as a way of serving people in our community and congregation, but also because I always find myself revisiting my own relationships, my own ways of relating to others, and am reminded again of the ways in which the walls of my own heart need to be expanded and enlarged. 

In the last session on Sunday, we explored conflict and ways to resolve conflict in a relationship. As we listened to the different speakers who have been filmed for the course,  I was particularly struck by Dr Roger Bretherton, clinical psychologist, who talked about anger. 

He said that he often found that people who get angry quite easily do so because they are skipping another emotion; for example, they express anger but maybe they actually feel scared. Or maybe they’re disappointed, or sad, but it feels more powerful to be angry. Ultimately, he said, our really deep relationships are built on vulnerability, and yet we go for anger because we think it’s safe. Anger feels commanding and domineering, and yet we’re much safer when we say, ‘I’m scared, I’m sad, I’m stressed.’

 It’s in those moments that we soften and true relationships are built. 

I thought about how this can be true both individually and corporately. We can all be disconnected from our emotions as individuals. We can also, as communities or groups, express anger which has, in fact, skipped an emotion and become unmoored from our true feelings. Prejudice – in all its ugly forms – often has its roots in real or imagined scarcity, and so in fear. Tribalism often arises from a desperate hunger for belonging and identity in an increasingly fragmented and lonely world. Less inclined to recognise or admit that we are frightened or lonely or sad, it is easier for many of us to quickly move to anger. 

I found myself thinking about this as I tried to make sense of the alarming ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march on Saturday, and the violent rage that seemed so prevalent. I thought about the ways that speakers used language designed to enrage and inflame those who were gathered, and the ways that anger intimidated and terrified others in London that day.

In John, chapter 8, Jesus says to his disciples: ‘You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.’ In these verses we are invited into freedom from sin, from that human brokenness which leads us to wound others, the world around us and ourselves.

In the book some of us are reading on Thursday evenings, ‘Discovering Christianity’, Rowan Williams writes: ‘I’m going to suggest that one of the tests of actual faith, as opposed to bad religion, is whether it stops you ignoring things. 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.’ 

In short, healthy faith helps you not to skip an emotion. 

When we gather on Sundays, or pray through the week, or take time in stillness alone, the invitation is to really see ourselves in order that we might experience the freeing redemption that Christ offers us. We are asking ourselves what’s really going on, and we are choosing to confront what’s real in order to discover God’s merciful, healing, redemptive love. 

And when we immerse ourselves in the language of the liturgy, in the presence of God in communion, and in the fellowship of others, we might find that we discover both the courage and the vocabulary to say to one another: ‘I’m frightened, I’m lonely, I’m sad’ in order that these feelings don’t metastasize into rage or hatred. 

Perhaps, too, we can find ways to help others not to skip their emotions either – to know the truth and to be set free. Maybe there are ways for us, by the grace of God and in union with Christ, to enable other people to see what is real for them too. 

May we be so rooted and built up in God’s love that we can challenge and resist the movements that divide communities, foster fear of the other, and encourage senseless violence. May we instead be people who point to the ways that lead to everlasting life. 

Amen.