Dear St Mary’s, 

On Sunday 20th September, we’ll share Holy Communion at 9am and again at 10.30am with Revd Vanessa Conant leading and presiding and Revd Ola Franklin preaching. 

There will be supervised children’s groups in the Welcome Centre at 10.30am with a Baby Lounge in the South Vestry at both services. 

This week’s lectionary readings are Philippians 1:21-end and Matthew 20:1-16 – Jesus’ Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. We hope to see you this Sunday at St Mary’s! 

New Email Newsletter Format 
To ensure we are complying with GDPR rules – and because our mailing list was large enough that weekly newsletters sent from our internal email account were often bouncing back to us or ending up in people’s spam folders – we are now using a GDPR-compliant email marketing platform to send these weekly emails. We would welcome any feedback you might have on the updated newsletter format; if you have thoughts, please email our Communications Officer Cameron Conant at . 

Vestry Sessions Presents Dramatised Work of Dylan Thomas This Friday 
The Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas’s ‘Under Milk Wood’ is a celebration of language, people and place. Adapted for the stage by director David Abramsky, this version – which will be performed at St Mary’s this Friday 18th September at 8pm (doors at 7.30pm) – reimagines this dream about a long-remembered homeland as a parable of what it means to be a migrant, refugee or anyone who ends up far from where they started. You can purchase tickets here or by visiting wegottickets.com and searching ‘Vestry Sessions’. 

Tickets Still Available for ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ on Saturday 26th September 
Stow Film Lounge will screen ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at St Mary’s on Saturday 26th September at 7.45pm (doors at 7pm). Tickets for this classic 1973 film are £15 (£10 concession). St Mary’s will also run a bar on the night. Book here or at stowfilmlounge.com. 

‘Ground Level: Gardening for Climate Resilience’ on Tuesday 29th September  
Our Head Gardener Tim Hewitt will present his next ‘Ground Level’ event on Tuesday 29th September, 6.30-8.30pm, at St Mary’s, with a focus on gardening for climate resilience. This ticketed event which will raise funds for our churchyard work will feature expert speakers and panellists, including Dr Erica McAlister, Senior Curator at the Natural History Museum and a gifted science communicator; Toby Shuall of Zophian Plants, who has a reputation for doing things differently; and Steve Edney and Louise Dowle of The No Name Nursery. You can purchase tickets here or by going to eventbrite.co.uk and searching ‘Ground Level’. 

Collecting Non-Perishable Food for Harvest on 4th October
On Sunday 4th October we will have our annual Harvest Festival at our 9am and 10.30am services. As part of our Harvest Festival, we are asking you to bring canned and other non-perishable food items to church on Sunday 4th October, with food going to Mill Grove Children’s Home in South Woodford as well as to other local food projects. 

‘Wave of Light’ Service on 11th October at 5pm 
St Mary’s will host a special ‘Wave of Light’ service on Sunday 11th October at 5pm to mark the end of Baby Loss Awareness week. The service will be led by a member of our clergy team and will be a gentle, reflective space for bereaved parents and families of all backgrounds. We are partnering with the Daphne & Friends baby and child-loss community on the service – for more information about Daphne & Friends, visit daphneandfriends.org. 

Notice About School Forms: 1st December Deadline and Attendance Requirements 
If you have recently started attending services at St Mary’s with the intention of putting in a school form to St Mary’s CofE Primary – our church school – welcome! Please be aware that school forms must be handed into our Parish Office by 1st December 2026 if at all possible. 

School forms should not be handed to a member of the clergy on a Sunday morning but should instead be given or emailed to our administrator, Josie Wilson, during the week; Josie will then have your school form signed by a clergy member. Once your form has been signed, Josie will then contact you to come and pick up your signed form. Please note that selecting ‘at the heart of the church’ on your form reflects a longstanding commitment to our worshipping community and will need to be confirmed by a member of our clergy team. 

Vestry Meeting Rooms for Weekday Meetings: £75 for Half-Day, £150 for Full Day
We are keen to promote our North and South Vestry rooms as weekday meeting spaces in an effort to increase revenue to cover operating costs and help fund ministry – can you help? We have a new web page (stmaryswalthamstow.org/weekdaymeetings) dedicated to these spaces which can accommodate weekday meetings of 8-10 people (South Vestry) or 2-4 people (North Vestry). These are great meeting spaces for teams that want to get off-site, and both Vestry rooms are equipped with tea/ coffee-making facilities, TV screens for presentations and their own private toilets. Rates are £75 for a half-day or £150 for a full day. 

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:

• The PCC (church/parish trustees) meeting on Monday 21st September 
• Democracy movements and faith leaders around the world working to promote human dignity, good governance, a stable climate and the Common Good 
• Global efforts to regulate the development and use of AI which poses significant risks 
• All in our church and parish who are unwell in any way: for help, hope and healing 
• All of those with caring responsibilities in our church and wider community 
• Those who are struggling with the high cost of living as well as for all efforts by charities and government to provide relief and support to those in need 

Reflection: ‘We Are All Here’ 
Revd Jacintha Danaswamy, Curate, St Mary’s and the Parish of Walthamstow, writes: 

Last week I had the privilege of attending a wonderful event at Lambeth Palace for Global Majority Heritage and UK Minority Ethnic clergy, ordinands, and lay ministers. It was organised by the Church of England Racial Justice Unit, and it was a joy to share experiences and hear stories from church communities across the country. 

The conversations were enriched by a broad range of leaders from the Church of England, including Bishop Rosemarie Mallett, Bishop Arun Arora, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, and the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell. 

There was also great music and delicious food! 

The day celebrated diversity and inclusion, and promoted racial justice. In the Eucharist Service, we were reminded that we are each a cherished and valued part of the body of Christ. And although the day was one of joyful community and deepening of friendships, we often returned to the issue troubling many of us: the increasing prevalence of Christian Nationalism in the UK and the co-opting of Christian symbolism by the far right. 

Listening to stories of fear and intimidation was deeply troubling and alarming. 

Commenting on the co-opting of Christian symbols by the far right, Bishop Arun said: ‘It is not the cross of Christ which is on display, but rather an accessory utilised by opportunists who fail to understand the sacrificial, self-giving, triumphant love exhibited by Jesus on the cross.’ 

This love exhibited by Jesus on the cross is the source of our new humanity, and it reminds us that our identity is found first in Jesus Christ.

Our Bible reading for Morning Prayer on Tuesday was from the Book of Acts; in it, we read how Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten and thrown in prison, and how, as they prayed, the ground shuddered and the prison doors flew open. When the prison guard thought they had escaped, he was distraught and attempted to take his own life, but Paul shouts,

‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here’ (Acts 16:28). 

It is a profound moment: in all the chaos, Paul and Silas – arrested and imprisoned – see the humanity of the guard; they see the anguish and pain of the person before them, and they choose empathy and compassion. Instead of anger or hate, they offer an outpouring of God’s love, and in doing so, they not only recognise the guard’s humanity, but do not lose their own.

Brother Sam, of the Society of St Francis, speaks of how in contemporary society, there is a danger of losing our humanity; to prevent this, he encourages us to return, again and again, to God, and to continually seek the pattern of our humanity in the image of Jesus Christ. 

I pray, this week, we will be encouraged by Paul and Silas – that in fear or anxiety, we will know God’s peace and grace, and that we will continue to seek the pattern of our humanity in Christ.

With love,

Jacintha