Sunday Services, Sanctuary Course and Eastertide

After the great celebration of Easter we are now in ‘Eastertide’ in which we reflect on the encounters that the first disciples had with the risen Jesus. Last week we reflected on the way in which Jesus met the disciples in their fear and offered hope. This week we shall reflect on the way in which Jesus explains the scriptures to his disciples and the way in which they in turn explain the scriptures in word and deed. 

Revd Tim Scott will lead and preach at both the 9am and 10.30am, and we shall also share communion at the 9am. There will be children’s groups during the 10.30am service. Please come and join us as together we continue journeying with the risen Christ.  

Morning Prayer 

This is normally said in church at 8.30am each weekday morning and is also steamed on-line via Facebook. Please feel free to join us.  Please note there will be no Morning Prayer on Friday 12th, Thursday 18th & Friday 19th of April  due to members of the clergy staff team being on holiday. 

Monthly Vespers 

Vespers is our Wednesday evening contemplative service – 40 minutes of poetry, stillness, reflection and music. It’s a beautiful space where many have gathered over 8 years. With the changes to our clergy team Vespers has now moved to a monthly rhythm and will be taking place on the first Wednesday of the month only. We’ll be offering communion after each gathering for those who would like it. 

Sanctuary Mental Health Course starting Thursday 2nd May – join us?

We are forming a small group to go through the wonderful Sanctuary Mental Health course together and we have a few more places. Would you like to join? The course was very well-received when we ran it last year. It involves high-quality video instruction, helpful materials such as a workbook, and best of all, enlightening conversations with each other. We’ll meet in St Mary’s on 8 consecutive Thursdays, 2nd May to 20th June, 7.30-8.45pm, but don’t worry if you wouldn’t be able to make every single session!

Find out more about the course here, and/or speak with Fiona Fouhy or Natalie Burwell who are leading it. If you would like to register your interest or ask a question, please contact and Natalie will get in touch with you.

We need your help!

If you feel you have particular skills, time, things to offer, let us know! 

Could you join our Church AV Team? Training on 23rd & 24th April, 7-9pm

Considering volunteering? Interested in developing new technical skills? Why not join our AV team, with training on 23rd and 24th April from 7-9 pm. Both sessions are identical so feel free to come to one or both! Learn how to operate our new system and become an essential part of our Sunday Services. Following the training, you will also have the chance to shadow experienced team members during Sunday Services from 12-26 May. For more information, contact Dan Copperwheat, Operations Manager, at . 

Or….

There are lots of ways to be part of St Mary’s . As our church grows, we are looking for more people to lead and support our different ministries. Could you be part of one of these teams: 

  – Our youth and children’s ministry teams (once a month/once every two months) 

  – Our coffee and welcome teams 

  – Our intercessions team (the people who lead our prayers on a Sunday morning ) 

If you think you would like to be part of one of these teams, please email any member of the clergy (Tim, Alan or Jacintha) and we would love to talk to you about how you can be involved or email Josie on . 

Froth & Rind to close, St Mary’s cafe to remain open

Some of you may have heard that our friends and cafe partners Froth & Rind are sadly closing. Froth & Rind currently run our St Mary’s cafe in addition to their original Walthamstow Village location on Orford Road. Froth & Rind will close their Orford Road location on 31st May but will continue to run our St Mary’s cafe well into June, with the intention of ensuring a seamless transition to a new cafe provider. We are pleased to report that we are already in discussions with a possible new cafe partner and hope to formally announce a new cafe partnership in the months to come. We want to thank Fraser and the entire Froth & Rind team – their partnership has been absolutely crucial in helping us to get St Mary’s ancient building open to the whole community throughout the week. 

Every Thursday: St Mary’s parents’ meet up from 11.30am-1pm in church 

Come and join St Mary’s parents, carers and little ones every Thursday from 11.30am to 1pm in St Mary’s Church for coffee and a catch up. Vanessa Chance, a member of St Mary’s, will be there with her daughter to welcome you! Come and get to know other parents and carers in a friendly and relaxed setting. Our soft play area (recommended £3 donation) and cafe will be open. For more information, email . 

Save the Date: London Mayoral Assembly on Thursday 25th April at 6pm

You may know that St Mary’s is a founding member of Waltham Forest Citizens, which is our local Citizens UK alliance – a group of schools, faith institutions and community groups that listen to each other and the wider community and then act on the things we want to change, from youth violence and low-paid work to unaffordable housing and high energy bills. 

This spring, thousands will join in person and online to put our agenda to the next Mayor of London. We’ve created a manifesto that will benefit our city – one which has involved local people working to identify positive solutions to the problems we face; this includes homelessness and housing, migration and refugees, ensuring a Living Wage and tackling climate change. London Citizens will gather to ask the top two mayoral candidates to commit to our manifesto, and a group of us will travel together from St Mary’s on 25th April. Email to book a free ticket. Friends and family are welcome too! 

Worth Unlimited Quiz Night: Saturday 11th May, 7:30-9:30pm.

The Worth Unlimited Quiz Night will be held at The Welcome Centre on Saturday 11th May from 7:30pm-9:30pm. Cheese and crackers provided, but bring your own drinks. Winners prize and raffle on the night! Tickets are £10 per person. To purchase tickets, visit www.worthunlimited.co.uk/quiznight

Eco tip of the week: 

Spring showers may be miserable for us, but they are great for the garden! 

As this is the time of year that many fall back in love with their gardens, we thought we would supply some tips to help you maximise the environmental benefit of your garden and reduce your carbon footprint:

1. Harvest rain water – Make the most of the April showers by collecting them in a rain water harvester. This water you collect can then be used in the summer to water your garden and plants. This will help to reduce your water bill and reduce your carbon footprint whilst also helping to conserve water reserves.  

2. Be Bee Friendly – Bees are essential for the environment, our crops and our economy (pollinating 80% of European wildflowers and providing at least £1.8 billion to the UK economy each year through pollinating our crops) but their populations have fallen significantly due pesticides and loss of habitat. Do your bit to support bees by providing a source of water and bee friendly plants in your garden (such as lavender, crocus and marjoram). You could even consider going an extra step and let your grass grow a little longer and building a bee “hotel” out of bamboo sticks. Small actions like these can go a long way to aid in protecting bees and supporting the pollination of plants and crops alike. 

Advance notice of the Church Annual Meeting: Sunday 28th April at 3.00pm at St. Mary’s.

Please pray this week for:

• All schools returning a new term
• All  people living through violence and conflict 
• Vanessa and Cameron and their new family.
• Those being baptised or preparing for baptism
• Our PCC as they continue to guide our parish and make important decisions
• All who are suffering in body, mind or spirit

Reflection

Revd Andrew Stewart, team vicar of St Gabriel’s Walthamstow, writes:

The glorious season of Easter continues!

At St Gabriel’s, we’ve just commenced a series looking at Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

Verses 19–21 in the first chapter fascinate me:

… His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the Heavenly realms …

Paul’s certainly making sure he emphasises the power and strength it took to accomplish what happened at Easter (and the ascension of Jesus)!

There’s such a heavy weight placed on the events of Holy Week in the biographies of Jesus – long chapters confronting us with the reality of what happened to Jesus in His final hours. 

Contrast that with the creation of the galaxies on the first page of the Bible, which gets one line – “He also made the stars.”

Or Job’s description of the work of creation as “but the outer fringe” of the works of the Living God (Job 26:14).

Surely the creation of the universe is a much greater task, requiring unbelievable levels of power and strength!

And yet, even though Almighty God had to rest after He made the universe, the Bible doesn’t regard that as the most difficult thing He’s ever done.

Creating the universe took effort and energy for the Living God – but it didn’t kill Him.

But His work of fixing us and restoring all things … this business of finding out how to rescue human beings from the mess we’ve got ourselves into, and of making it so that even one person can have forgiveness and a new beginning … Well, that literally killed Him. That took everything He’s got!

This is where we see how powerful the Living God is. The absolute maximum of the almighty power of God is not in the creation of the universe – rather, it’s in this work of rescue and renewal that required the death of God to achieve what’s necessary for real change and transformation in any of us.

That same power is at work in local churches all over the world – releasing people from corruption and death, and bringing them to share in the very life of God, as they turn towards Jesus, the Eternal Living God.

As we gather this week, just think what this Crucified and Risen God is capable of – imagine if He actually shows up in almighty power and gets to work!

Lord of all life and power,

who through the mighty resurrection of Your Son

overcame the old order of sin and death

to make all things new in Him:

grant that we, being dead to sin

and alive to You in Jesus Christ,

may reign with Him in glory;

to whom with You and the Holy Spirit

be praise and honour, glory and might,

now and in all eternity.