Dear St Mary’s, 

Last Sunday we heard a wonderful sermon from Revd Ola Franklin which shed light on a difficult Gospel reading; we also returned to supervised children’s groups at the 10.30am service after a series of Summer Sundays in which our children’s ministry team took a break. This Sunday, 15th September, we’ll celebrate Holy Communion at 9am and again at 10.30am with Revd Alan Moss presiding and Revd Tim Scott preaching at both services. 

Our Gospel reading this week is Mark 8:27-end – a series of interactions between Jesus and his disciples which includes Jesus explaining that those who want to be his disciples must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him (Mark 8:34). 

We will also 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 who are unable to join us in person, we’ll live-stream the 9am service to our Facebook page (facebook.com/StMarysE17). 

Gift Aid Volunteer Needed
St Mary’s is thankful for the work of Martin Kearney who provides a huge amount of support to us as Parish Treasurer, however, as we seek to assist Martin in this work, we are looking for a volunteer to help us to manage our Gift Aid donations. Gift Aid allows registered charities like St Mary’s to reclaim 25p on every £1 donated by UK taxpayers – money which can make a huge difference. If you would be interested in learning more about this vital role, please email Dan Copperwheat, Operations Manager, at . 

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 a member 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 from 26th September to 31st October, 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. 

Bring and Share Lunch at St Mary’s on Sunday 29th September 
On Sunday 29th September after the 10.30am service – at which Revd Jacintha Danaswamy will preside at Holy Communion for the first time – we’ll share lunch together in the church in celebration of Jacintha’s priesting. Please bring your favourite dish to share! 

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 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 or you can give via our website (www.stmaryswalthamstow.org/donate) 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 . 

Raising Funds for Forest Churches Emergency Night Shelter 
David Hoskins from the Forest Churches Emergency Night Shelter is cycling from London to Brighton on 15th September to raise funds for emergency beds this winter for local people who are homeless. St Mary’s has long been involved with the Night Shelter and has often supported it financially, and this cycle ride is a great way to support their work. To donate to David’s cycle ride, click this link, or visit www.justgiving.com and search ‘FCENS’. 

EcoTip: Support the Climate and Nature Bill 
Written by scientists and campaigners, the proposed Climate and Nature Bill (CAN) is the only comprehensive piece of UK legislation to fully address the climate and nature crises – a bill now backed by several Church of England bishops as well as by the Christian climate charity Operation Noah. First introduced in 2020 by then-Green MP Caroline Lucas, this private members’ bill is now supported by over 200 MPs and Peers representing all major political parties and has the opportunity to be considered within the first 100 days of this new Parliament. Earlier this month, 20 MPs were selected to bring a bill of their own choosing forward, including some who have publicly supported the Climate and Nature Bill. CAN campaigners are now asking people to contact their local MP and to encourage them to call on their colleagues to put forward the Climate and Nature Bill. You can email our MP Stella Creasy at  or learn more at www.zerohour.uk. 

Please pray this week for:

• The PCC (Parish Trustees) meeting on 23rd September 
• All who are adjusting to new work, life or school patterns this month 
• Those who are struggling with the cost of living and finding it hard to make ends meet 
• The work and ministry of the Forest Churches Emergency Night Shelter 
• All youth workers and youth work in Walthamstow and across Waltham Forest 
• Efforts to stop new fossil fuels, including the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
• More people to know the love of God in Walthamstow and around the world 
• Healing for those who are unwell in body, mind or spirit 
• Those in our community who are lonely and longing for connection 
• Places of war and violence, and for the cessation of fighting and a lasting peace 
• Churches around the world as they mark the Season of Creation 

Next week in the Welcome Centre (16-20 September) 

Monday 16th September 
Waltham Forest Community Choir, 7.30-9.30pm 

Tuesday 17th September 
Tai Chi, 7-9pm 

Wednesday 18th September 
Walthamstow Welcomes Cafe (help with confusing paperwork), 10am-Noon 
HulaFit, 6.30-7.30pm 

Thursday 19th September 
Baby Massage, 10.45am-12.45pm 
FoodCycle (free community meal), 6.30pm 
The Singing Room, 7.30-9.30pm 

Friday 20th September 
Sing and Sign, 11am-12.15pm 

Reflection: ‘Acting with Creation’ 
Natalie Burwell, St Mary’s Churchwarden, writes: 

This week is feeling decidedly autumnal! Scarves and shackets have been spotted in Walthamstow, and the backpacks blessed at St Mary’s at the start of September now bob along, fully in the flow of the school year. 

In September’s Vespers, we reflected on a special season the worldwide church has just entered. From 1 September to 4 October, the Church marks a time of ecumenical solidarity called the Season of Creation. It’s all about thankfulness and prayer and action to protect our planet home. This year’s theme encourages us ‘to hope and act with Creation’.

Not for Creation but with Creation.

As the Season’s organisers write:

‘We celebrate God as Creator and acknowledge Creation as the divine continuing act that summons us as collaborators to love and care for the gift of all that is created. As followers of Christ from around the globe, we share a common call to care for Creation. We are co-creatures and part of all that God has made. Our well-being is interwoven with the well-being of the Earth.’ 

You may want to take a moment to read the verses that inspire this Season of Creation – Romans 8:19-25 – and consider St Paul’s image of the whole of God’s created order, including humanity, groaning, longing for liberation together.

In the liturgy of the Season, ‘Creation’ is capitalised as a way of showing respect, as if to address the created world by name – very much the way St Francis of Assisi spoke of Brother Sun and Sister Moon. We are reminded to treat the whole cosmos – stars, rocks, plants, people – as subject rather than object. 

At St Mary’s, we take action on environmental issues all year round, and we are proud to be an eco-church. We’re looking forward to our Harvest Festival in October and Climate Sunday in November. But perhaps we can take a cue from the weather as it gets wild, and the balance of day and night as it changes, to ponder Creation and our place in it.

How do you act in solidarity with others and the natural world to bring about wellbeing, peace and flourishing? How do you care about Creation? Is there anything at the moment giving you a deep feeling of interconnectedness? If not, how might you find that?

I suspect Jemar Tisby’s words apply to a lot of us: ‘We are longing for an expanded vision of the Universe, a reawakened love affair with Earth, and a deepened sense of spiritual presence in every moment and encounter of life.’ 

May we experience this week, and in this Season, an expanded vision of how we are connected and a renewed will to hope and to act and care. Amen.