Dear St Mary’s, 

This is our last newsletter until 27th August, when we will resume our normal pattern of sending out newsletters weekly. We hope you will join us on Sundays at 9am or 10.30am over the coming weeks as you are able; we will be following our Summer Sunday schedule, with Holy Communion at both services but with no supervised children’s groups at 10.30am. 

However, there will be activity packs for children to work on at our 10.30am services. There will also be a Baby Lounge at both services for parents/carers to use as needed. 

Our preaching rota and Sermon on the Mount-focussed themes and readings are as follows: 

• Sunday 26th July: Revd Tim Scott presiding, Revd Jacintha Danaswamy preaching (‘Salt and Light’, Matthew 5:13-16)
  
• Sunday 2nd August: Revd Ola Franklin presiding, Revd Tim Scott preaching (‘Love for Enemies’, Matthew 5:43-48)
  
• Sunday 9th August: Revd Vanessa Conant presiding and preaching (‘Sincere Devotion’, Matthew 6:1-18)
  
• Sunday 16th August: Revd Vanessa Conant presiding, Revd Jacintha Danaswamy preaching (‘Trust and Treasure’, Matthew 6:19-34)
  
• Sunday 23rd August: Revd Jacintha Danaswamy presiding, Revd Ola Franklin preaching (‘Relationships and Judgement’, Matthew 7:1-12) 

• Sunday 30th August: Revd Vanessa Conant presiding and preaching (‘The Final Choice’, Matthew 7:13-29) 

We hope to see you this summer at St Mary’s! 

Summer Sundays: Changes to the 10.30am Service  
Beginning Sunday 19th July and running through Sunday 30th August, our 10.30am service will look slightly different. For these seven weeks, both our 9am and 10.30am services will be services of Holy Communion, with the 10.30am service lasting approximately one hour. 

There will be no supervised children’s groups at 10.30am throughout the summer but we will have activity packs for children to work on during the service and our sermons will be shorter than usual. During the summer, we will also deviate from our normal lectionary readings to study the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), looking at a different section of Jesus’ teaching each week. On Sunday 6th September, we will return to our normal pattern with supervised children’s groups on the first three weeks of the month at our 10.30am service and Holy Communion celebrated on the first and third Sundays of the month at 10.30am. 

Pastoral Contacts Over Summer 
Over the summer weeks, our clergy and staff team will be taking periods of rest. Please be aware that it may take longer to get a response to an email and that there will be times where our staff capacity is more limited. That said, there will be pastoral cover throughout the summer, and the pastoral contacts for different weeks of the summer are as follows:

• 18th-25th July: Revd Jacintha Danaswamy () 
• 26th July-3rd August: Revd Tim Scott () 
• From 3rd August: Revd Vanessa Conant () 

No Vespers on Wednesday 5th August 
Our Vespers team will take a break in August, which means there will be no Vespers held on Wednesday 5th August. Vespers is typically held on the first Wednesday of every month at 7.30pm in St Mary’s Church. Vespers is 40 minutes of stillness and contemplation and is an opportunity to explore faith, to practise contemplative prayer or simply to sit in silence. Vespers will return on Wednesday 2nd September at 7.30pm and we hope to see you then. 

Saturday Crochet and Knitting Group Returns 12th September 
Our drop-in crochet and knitting group, which meets on Saturdays from 10am-Noon in St Mary’s Exhibition Space, will not meet over the summer but will resume on 12th September. 

Spaces Now Available: Summer Saturday Churchyard Volunteer Sessions 
This summer, St Mary’s Head Gardener Tim Hewitt is running free Saturday sessions from 10am-Noon for volunteer gardeners who have struggled to attend Tim’s regular weekday sessions – an opportunity to learn new skills, meet new people and better understand the principles of gardening for wildlife. Due to anticipated demand, Tim is asking people to book in advance as spaces will be limited for each session. The free Saturday sessions will begin on 25th July and run the following five Saturdays through the end of August. Book here or find a booking link at stmaryswalthamstow.org/SummerSaturdays. 

Churchyard Tours in July and August to Raise Money for St Mary’s 
Join us for a tour of the award-winning St Mary’s Churchyard led by our head gardener Tim Hewitt as we raise money for the churchyard. Learn about gardening for biodiversity, explore the stunning planting around the churchyard, and discover some of the wildlife that calls St Mary’s Churchyard home. Finish the tour with a cup of locally-grown herbal tea. Tickets are £10 each (+ booking fee) with three dates to choose from: Wednesday 22nd July at 6pm, Wednesday 5th August at 6pm, or Wednesday 19th August at 6pm. Click here to book a churchyard tour, or visit stmaryswalthamstow.org/ChurchyardTours. 

Free Summer Activities for Children in August, Volunteers Still Needed 
After the success of our 2025 Summer Activity Programme, we are planning to offer another week of free children’s activities, 24th-27th August. Throughout the week, we will hold two free sessions per day for children and their parents/carers (10am-12pm and 1.30-3.30pm). The plan is to run outdoor fete games, crafts, board games and a movie day, and we are looking to build a team to serve our community. If you are available to help out at one or more sessions, email Revd Jacintha Danaswamy at or, from 3rd August, Revd Vanessa Conant at .  

Free Summer Activities in August at Greenleaf Road Baptist Church 
There will be free summer activities for children and families at Greenleaf Baptist Church on three consecutive Thursdays in August –  13/8, 20/8 and 27/8 – from 10am-1.30pm. Each Thursday gathering has a special theme and includes a free lunch for kids. Greenleaf Road Baptist Church is located near the corner of Greenleaf Road and Hoe Street, E17 6QQ. 

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:

• Places around the world where there is war, conflict or difficulty, including the DRC, Ukraine, Sudan, Gaza, Israel/Palestine, Lebanon, Iran and the wider Middle East  
• The US and Iran conflict: for a peaceful resolution and for effective diplomacy 
• All who are struggling financially in our parish and across the whole of Walthamstow, including the local families who lost everything in the fire on 12th July   
• All who are unwell in any way, praying especially for those undergoing tests, receiving treatment, or preparing for surgery: for hope, help and healing 
• Safety and rest for all who are travelling over the summer as well as for those who will be in Walthamstow throughout the summer  
• Children, parents/ carers, teachers and school staff over the summer, praying especially for school-leavers as they make the transition over the coming months 
• Firefighters across London working to keep people safe, as well as for all who work in public safety, including police, social services and health professionals 
• Efforts in our parish and across the UK to bring diverse groups of people together  
• Climate action around the world: for an end to fossil fuel financing and for an increase in green investment to reduce emissions/ mitigate impacts of global heating 
• A politics focussed on the Common Good and improving people’s lives – especially the lives of those who are struggling – and for the transition to a new Prime Minister 
• Our Rector, Vanessa, and all our Parish clergy, as well as for our bishops, Lynne and Guli, our Archbishops Sarah and Stephen, and for the leaders of all Churches, including Pope Leo: for rest, wisdom and courage 
• Our churchwardens, Natalie and Ollie, as well as for our lay leaders at St Mary’s over the summer, including those who help at – or access – our Walthamstow Welcomes paperwork cafe or volunteer with/access the Kindwell Foodshare or FoodCycle meal 

Reflection: ‘Creative and Connected‘
Revd Tim Scott, Associate Priest at St Mary’s and Area Dean, Waltham Forest, writes: 

In paying tribute to the response of the local community in the immediate aftermath of the devastating fire in Walthamstow last week, Vanessa said “It’s a real example of how Walthamstow as a community unites in times of crisis; people here are creative and connected and they always find a way to help people in need.”

Those who saw or were involved in the remarkable response can bear witness to the truth of those words.  But I have been reflecting a bit more on the words ‘creative and connected’. It is a privilege to be part of a church and wider community that has so much creativity. Such creativity enables us to broaden our imagination. And imagination is often the seed bed for energy, hope and further creativity, enabling us to connect with others, sometimes across differences. Such connectivity can also itself lead to new creative energy.

The opening words of the bible are: ‘In the beginning, when God created…’ The last two Chapters of the Bible (Revelation 21/22) speak of renewal and flourishing.  In between the book of Genesis and the book of Revelation there is an endless inter- weaving of connectivity and creativity, with God taking the initiative of creating and connecting with us and inviting our response so that we may be connected to God and each other and together flourish. 

In a globalised world, where what we do affects people across the world, where the effects of climate change are increasingly present and felt most acutely by the poorest communities of the world, where chaos and fragmentation seems to be ever increasing, maybe the invitation of God is to continue to stretch our imaginations, to be creative, to realise we cannot do things alone. But connected with others we can do far more than we first imagined. Connectivity and creativity build community and they are linked but they don’t just happen; they require determination, courage and at times sheer hard work. 

May the creative Spirit and the reality of being connected continue to inspire us to pay attention to each other, to give space for the telling of stories, allow us to pray creatively and imaginatively. In a world where there is increasing fragmentation and injustice, we tell, live out and believe in a different story which speaks of community,  justice and hope. It speaks of creativity and community so that all may flourish 

With my thanks, love and prayers,

Tim