Dear St Mary’s, 

It was wonderful to see so many children bring their school bags to church last Sunday for our Blessing of the Backpacks. This Sunday, 8th September, Revd Tim Scott will lead and Revd Ola Franklin will preach as we celebrate Holy Communion at 9am followed by a 10.30am Morning Worship service. 

We’ve now finished our summer series on the Parables of Jesus, and are back in the lectionary, with a gospel reading from Mark 7.24-end which includes Jesus’ healing of a Syrophoenician woman’s daughter as well as his healing of a deaf and mute man. 

After pausing for the summer, we will once again have supervised children’s groups at this Sunday’s 10.30am service, as well as our baby lounge in the South Vestry at both services. 

No Morning Prayer on Friday 6th September 
Due to a lack of clergy availability, there will be no Morning Prayer this Friday 6th September. We typically say Morning Prayer every weekday in the side chapel of St Mary’s at 8.30am, and all are welcome. We also livestream Morning Prayer to our Facebook page. 

Supervised Children’s Groups Return on Sunday 8th September
On Sunday 8th September, supervised children’s groups will return as part of our 10.30am Morning Worship service. After over a month of Summer Sundays, we are now back to our normal pattern with supervised children’s groups on the first three Sundays of the month at 10.30am and our intergenerational service on the fourth Sunday of the month at 10.30am. If you haven’t yet registered your child or children for supervised groups at St Mary’s, please do so here.

Newcomers’ Breakfast on Saturday 21st September at 10am 
Join us for a Newcomers’ Breakfast on Saturday 21st September, 10am-11.30am, in the St Mary’s Welcome Centre. Whether you’ve only recently discovered St Mary’s or have been coming for some time now, we’d love to get to know you better as well as share more about the life of St Mary’s and ways to be involved. We’ll have free tea, coffee and pastries, and members of our clergy team will be there to greet you alongside some of our lay leaders. There’s no need to book, but if you are planning to attend, you can help us with catering by letting us know that you’re coming; please email . 

Eco-Themed Book Group Begins Thursday 26th September at 7.30pm 
Mike Forbes will lead a six-week discussion on the book Like There’s No Tomorrow by Revd Frances Ward, a Church of England priest, on Thursday evenings, 26th September to 31st October, from 7.30-8.45 pm in St Mary’s Church. Frances Ward shows how Christians can live and act with hope and faith in God in the face of environmental anxiety. Interested? Please email for more details and to book a place. 

Giving to Revd Jacintha Danaswamy in Celebration of her Priesting 
Revd Jacintha Danaswamy, who was ordained a deacon last year, will be priested on Saturday 28th September at 10.30am at St Edward’s Romford, and will preside at St Mary’s on Sunday 29th September, and we would love to give Jacintha a gift in celebration of her priesting. If you would like to contribute, you can donate on the tap and go boxes at the back of church by selecting ‘Jacintha’s ordination gift’ or you can give via our website (www.stmaryswalthamstow.org/donate) by noting that your donation is for Jacintha. There are also still a few tickets available if anyone would like to join a group from the Parish travelling to Romford for Jacintha’s priesting – just email . 

Refugees at Home is Looking for New Hosts in London 
Refugees at Home is a UK charity that connects those who have a spare room with refugees and asylum-seekers in need of a temporary home. The charity works to ensure that those who seek sanctuary in the UK don’t end up on the streets, and members of our congregation have stepped up to host refugees in the past. The charity contacted us last month to say that they urgently need new hosts in London, especially ones who live near good transport links. Refugees at Home carefully assesses each guest and host, matching both according to their preferences and providing advice and support throughout the process. Placement lengths can vary from a few nights to several months – hosts decide. For more information on the scheme or to apply to host a refugee, visit www.refugeesathome.org. 

EcoTip: Green Jobs for Young People 
As the UK transitions to a green economy, there will be opportunities to train in green industries in order to deliver clean energy to homes and businesses, to decarbonise UK transport and heavy industry, and to support nature. On Thursday 19th September from 3.30pm-7pm, Waltham Forest Council will hold a Green Careers Showcase at the Walthamstow Wetlands for young people ages 16-25 to explore career options in the sector. Do you know someone who might want to attend? To book a slot, click here or visit eventbrite.com and search ‘Green Careers Showcase Walthamstow’.  

Please pray this week for:

• Those who are approaching the end of life or mourning the loss of a loved one 
• Those who are going through challenges in relationships or family life 
• Clergy, staff and lay leaders at St Mary’s and around our Parish 
• Children, young people, teachers and school staff as a new term begins 
• All who work for peace and community cohesion in Walthamstow and beyond 
• The ongoing conflict in Gaza/ Israel, Ukraine and other places of war 
• Our bishops, Lynne and Guli, and our Archbishops, Justin and Stephen 
• Those in our community who are struggling with the cost of living 
• Those working to decarbonise the UK and protect/ restore nature 
• All who visit our cafe and churchyard or connect with St Mary’s in any way

Next week in the Welcome Centre and Church (9-14 September) 

Monday 9th September 
Waltham Forest Community Choir, 7.30-9.30pm 

Tuesday 10th September 
No events in the Welcome Centre; to book a space, contact us at . 

Wednesday 11th September 
HulaFit, 6.30-7.30pm 

Thursday 12th September 
Baby Massage, 10.45am-12.45pm 
FoodCycle (free community meal), 6.30pm 

Friday 13th September 
No events in the Welcome Centre; to book a space, contact us at . 

Saturday 14th September 
Walthamstow Welcomes Cafe (free help with confusing paperwork), 10am-Noon 

Reflection: Grace and Peace 
Revd Andrew Stewart, vicar of St Gabriel’s Walthamstow, writes: 

‘Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’

We often hear a greeting like this at the beginning of our church services.

These are among Paul’s opening words in 2 Corinthians. For the next few months at St Gabriel’s, we will be delving into this letter to close off the Church Year before the Advent Season commences. Though this greeting in 2 Corinthians 1:2 is probably something we listen to on autopilot, it carries a depth of meaning and beauty. It’s more than a standard salutation – it’s a powerful declaration about where true grace and peace originate.

The grace Paul speaks of is not just a warm feeling. It’s not an impersonal transaction, or some kind of spiritual substance that we need to be topped up with regularly. No – grace is the personal presence and attention, the favour and friendship, of God, freely extended in Jesus Christ to all who turn to Him.

Christ our Lord shares His very life and self with us, despite our flaws and failures. He helps us to leave the old life behind, and participate in his glorious life. This peace, too, is not merely the absence of conflict or stress, as Paul will go on to say in the letter when he talks about the long list of hardships and difficulties he faces.

In a world where we so easily chase after fleeting comfort and security, Paul’s greeting offers the only lasting source of peace – Jesus himself. He is the Prince of Peace – all that he is and does. His presence, his reality, his aliveness, is what we need to calm our troubled hearts, heal our broken relationships, and reconcile us to God. Inner peace, harmony between people, and between us and creation – all of this is available to us in Jesus.

Paul is setting out his agenda right at the beginning of his letter. He wants the Corinthians to know that help and friendship flow from God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ. It is a brilliant reminder that whatever peace or favour we long for can only truly be found in Christ – never without Him.

Every time we begin worship with this greeting, we are invited to step into that friendship and peace once again. May we, like the Corinthians, remember that grace and peace are not found in the shifting sands of this world, or even our own ideas and resources, but in the unshakable foundation of Jesus Christ.