Dear St Mary’s, 

On Sunday 19th October, we will celebrate Holy Communion at 9am and 10.30am, with Revd Tim Scott presiding and Revd Vanessa Conant preaching. We will have supervised children’s groups at 10.30am, with a Baby Lounge in the South Vestry at both services. 

Our lectionary readings this week are 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 – a section of St Paul’s letter to Timothy in which he encourages Timothy to ‘continue in what you have learned and become convinced of’ – and Luke 18:1-8, which is Jesus’ parable of the Persistent Widow. 

There will be a short meeting after this week’s 10.30am service for anyone interested in volunteering at our 29th November Christmas Festival. Later in the day, from 5pm-6.15pm, our youth group will meet in the Welcome Centre (email Revd Jacintha Danaswamy at for details), while at 6pm, there will be evening prayer in church hosted by the St Luke’s Community. We hope to see you this Sunday at St Mary’s! 

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.  

Get a Team Together for our Big Community Quiz Night this Saturday 18th October 
Join us for our Big Community Quiz Night this Saturday 18th October 7.30pm (doors at 7pm) as we raise money for the life and work of St Mary’s. Test your knowledge on a variety of topics and enjoy a pub-style quiz with engaging questions, a talented local host, a bar and a prize for the winners! Tickets are £10 (+ a processing fee) for adults and £5 (+ a processing fee) for under 16s and can be purchased via eventbrite or stmaryswalthamstow.org/events. 

Join our Christmas Festival Volunteer Team: Meeting After 19th October 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 19th October 10.30am service. Join us then to learn more about volunteering and how you can help!

Night Shelter AGM at St Mary’s on 23rd October at 7pm
The Forest Churches Emergency Night Shelter – a charity we have supported for many years – will hold its Annual General Meeting at 7pm on Thursday 23rd October at St Mary’s and all are welcome. Trustees will share updates on the charity’s work and discuss future plans. To learn more about the Night Shelter, visit www.forestnightshelter.org.uk. 

Black History Month Celebration at St Gabriel’s Church on 25th October  
St Gabriel’s Church will host a celebration of Black History Month with storytelling, music and a Caribbean meal (included with the price of admission) on Saturday 25th October, 6-9pm. Tickets – which are £12 for adults, £6 for under 16s – will be available on the door. St Gabriel’s is located on Havant Road near the corner of Havant Road and Wood Street. 

Evening Worship Service to be Held on 26th October, Now at 6.30pm 
Join us for an hour of sung worship on Sunday 26th October at 6.30pm. ‘Embers’ is our semi-regular Sunday evening gathering led by a team of musicians and singers.

Eco Church Meeting on 2nd November at 7pm at St Mary’s 
Our Eco Church team will hold a meeting on 2nd November at 7pm in church, where they will discuss future plans. All are welcome, including those who had expressed interest in joining the Eco Church team at our recent Climate Sunday service. 

7th November Funeral for Sue Peacham at St Mary’s 
A service to remember and celebrate Sue Peacham – a beloved member of St Mary’s who died last month – will be held on Friday 7th November at 11:30am at St Mary’s. 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, listed at suepeacham.muchloved.com. If you can make scones or cake for Afternoon Tea – or help set up or pack down the church on the day – 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. 

Petite Performers Children’s Dance Class on Saturdays in the Welcome Centre 
One of our new Welcome Centre hires is Petite Performers. Petite Performers run dance classes – everything from ballet to hip hop – for children up to five years old. Classes are held in the St Mary’s Welcome Centre (our church hall, located across the churchyard from the church) on Saturday mornings. You can find times and details, as well as how to book a place for your child, by visiting their website: www.thepetiteperformers.com/walthamstow. 

New Pilates Class on Wednesday Evenings in the Welcome Centre 
There is a new Pilates class which has started in the Welcome Centre on Wednesdays from 7-8pm. All abilities are welcome. Classes are £5 for the first session and £10 thereafter, all booked online. To book, click here. For details, email .  

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:

• A just peace in the Middle East alongside efforts to promote a two-state solution 
• All who suffer as a result of war and conflict, and for the rebuilding of Gaza 
• Wealth inequality in the UK and around the world: for policies which ensure that not just the wealthy, but everyone, has what they need to lead a healthy, fulfilling life
• The UK government to reject the proposed Rosebank oil field
• Politicians to work more closely with those most impacted by their policies 
• Church leaders to speak out against racism and to support the most vulnerable, especially in light of recent attempts by the far-right to co-opt Christian symbols   
• St Mary’s and our Parish as we seek a Schools’ Worker and Operations Assistant
• All in our Parish who are recovering from surgery or from other medical treatment – for healing and support – as well as for those who are unwell in any way 
• More support for people who are struggling with addiction, as well as for all efforts to prevent children and young people from getting involved in selling drugs 
• St Mary’s as we continue to try and work out how we can help and support more people in our Parish alongside keeping our buildings open and staffed in the week 
• More people in our Parish to experience the love of Christ this autumn, and for our preparations to welcome thousands of people to our Advent and Christmas services 
• Prison chaplains and other Christians ministering in prisons: for changed lives 

Reflection: ‘Reunion’ 
Revd Vanessa Conant, Rector of St Mary’s, writes: 

Ever since childhood I have been moved by reunions. I have strong memories of watching the Railway Children and my eyes filling with tears at the scene where Bobbie, peering through the smoke of a departing steam train, realises that her father – who has been wrongly imprisoned for years – is standing before her on the platform. Even now, I can’t watch Jenny Agutter cry out, ‘Daddy! My Daddy’ and being swept up in her father’s arms without weeping. 

I have found the reunions of this week – the release of both Palestinian detainees and Israeli hostages – to be almost unbearably moving. It was overwhelmingly touching to see a mother gathering her newly-freed son to her with both joy and sorrow, to witness husbands returning to wives and children, and brothers, friends, uncles, neighbours – all falling into the arms of loved ones. In all these embraces and reunions was relief, comfort, pain and trauma. 

This is, of course, only the very beginning on a tentative path to peace. And there is so much suffering to be reckoned with. So much loss and so much devastation faces the people of Gaza. In many places, the region is no more than a post-apocalyptic landscape of rubble and dust. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in this war. So many people have experienced the most profound and harrowing bereavements. 

Many Palestinians who have been released have told of terrible torture and mistreatment in the Israeli prison system. They bear wounds which are both physical and psychological and will take a lifetime to heal. 

At the same time, those taken hostage on October 7th have also experienced unspeakable horrors at the hands of Hamas – their release is the only beginning of a long journey of recovery and restoration. 

In his book on reconciliation, Croatian theologian Miroslav Volf reflects on the immense power of embrace, and on the need to move away from exclusion and towards embrace in any process of peace-making. He describes the human tendency to exclude ‘the other’ – those who are different, those who will never be like us, those who present a threat. He says that humans deal with ‘the other’ by various means of exclusion, including elimination (such as we have seen in Gaza over the last two years), forced assimilation, domination or abandonment.

What is needed, he argues, is instead embrace. This is his metaphor for forgiveness and reconciliation. He says that for true peace to come, for justice and mercy to prevail, enemies must find pathways to embrace the other. 

Reunions are at the heart of the gospel. I am struck by the fact that one of Jesus’ most powerful images for the love, healing and redemption of God is the story of the Prodigal Son in which a Father is reunited with his estranged Son, a reunion marked by a heartfelt and restorative embrace. 

On the cross, Jesus hangs with arms outstretched in embrace of the enemy. Volf writes that, ‘Christ extends his arms so that God and humanity may fall into each other’s arms and restore broken communion’. The Son of God extends to us the invitation of reunion over and over again, enabling us to return to the redemptive love of God, to find healing and wholeness and fullness of life and to walk the way of peace. 

It is hard to fathom, as we survey the horrors of the past two years, how Israel and Palestine will journey towards a true, just and lasting peace. Let us pray for all those reuniting with loved ones – may these poignant embraces be the beginning of true healing, comfort and deep peace. 

And as for us, may we be people who are willing to move from exclusion to embrace in our own lives, to be people who find ways to be daily reunited with God, and out of this mercy, to restore those places of broken communion around us. 

With love, 

Vanessa