The latest news from the parish
Treasurer’s report
February has been a quiet month although the Social Committee has been planning a busy schedule of fund-raising events for us to get involved with in the coming months. The recent Burns Night was a big success in kicking off the programme for 2023 and I would like to say thank you to the Social Committee for organising this event and raising £135 – 00. Their next planned event is a jumble sale, scheduled for 18th March. As you know, many hands are needed to make a jumble sale successful. Please do whatever you can to advertise and support it in whatever way you can to help us do well and have a successful day.
Last month I reported that EON Next had used an estimate (which was too low) when billing us for gas. I had calculated, at that time, that the next bill would be approximately £1,420 – 00 to realign to actual usage. However, the actual bill came in at £1,286 – 93, as reported above, pleasingly lower than anticipated. It is expected that the current month’s usage will result in a bill of approximately £ 640 – 00. Hopefully, the worst of the winter will then be behind us.
It should also be mentioned that an item of expenditure in my report last month, the payment to the cleaner of £145, should have been marked *** because the amount was settled by a generous non-cash gift-aided donation made by a member of the congregation.
Best wishes
Allison Scandrett – Treasurer.
Planned giving
If anyone would like to know more about the Freewill Offering Scheme, or would like to start using Freewill Offering Envelopes, please have a word with me and I can give you a set.
Gift Aid on your Giving
If you pay tax – please also consider filling in a Gift Aid form, if you have not already done so. This enables the church to claim an additional (much needed!) 25p from HMRC for every £1 you give us.
Dates for your Diary
There is no Office Hour at present.
Enquiries about baptisms, weddings and banns of marriage should be made by: e-mail to allsaintschurchSW19@gmail.com – or telephone 020 8542 5514 and leave a clear message.
Teddy Bear Church is taking a break.
Attendance at this short service on the 2nd Sunday of the month for the under 6’s and their families has not built up again since the Covid lockdowns, and the only regular attenders are now much older than 6.
To give Roger time to consider the future, and to publicise it in the school, and around the local community, there will be no Teddy Bear Church in March and April.
It will hopefully be re-launched in May. Watch this space for further information next month.
(If anyone has any thoughts / ideas about Teddy Bear Church, please have a word with Roger)
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Saturday 25th March is the Feast of the Annunciation of The Lord so there will be a Said Mass at 12 noon.
This will be followed by coffee and a short meeting of the Walsingham Cell. Everyone is welcome to attend, and it is hoped that all members of the Cell will be able to come.
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BRITISH SUMMER TIME begins on Sunday 26th March.
Remember to put your clocks FORWARD one hour on Saturday night. (If you get to church on Sunday morning and find the service almost over, you’ll know that you forgot!!)
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A REMINDER.
The Bishop of Southwark, the Rt. Revd. Christopher Chessun, is coming to preach at the 11 am Mass on Sunday 12th March. The Mass will be followed by a Bring and Share Lunch.
Please make every effort to be at Mass on that Sunday.
The Bishop of Fulham’s Chrism Mass will be at St. Andrew’s Church. Holborn on the Tuesday 4th April 2023 – the Tuesday of Holy Week – at 11.00 am.
SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE.
I know most of you enjoy having a cup of ‘proper coffee’ after the Sunday morning service – and we say a very big thank you to Nigel for providing it.
We are trying to become a greener church, so we reverted to china cups rather than the paper ones we used during the pandemic – although this means more washing up. They are also smaller – but many people now take advantage of a refill!
One or two people now bring their own mug each week, which seems a good idea. Perhaps you would like to do this too?
THE CHURCH HEATING.
During the winter months, we trust that all members of the congregation will help us to keep the church as warm as possible by shutting the outside doors behind them instead of leaving them open. This will keep in what heat there is, and keep out the cold winter winds.
JUMBLE SALE – Saturday 18th March
Jumble Sales can be a fun way of making money for the church, and they cost us nothing to run (apart from a little of our time!). Our next one will be held in the church (entrance using the level access and through the Garden door) on Saturday 18th March, and will be open from 1.00 pm. – 3.00 pm.
As you know, we rely on holding ‘fund raisers’ to cover all our expenses – so we are again appealing for you to help raise it.
Please put the date in your diary, and please let us know if you can help on the day
Posters will be available from Sunday 25th February. Please take one and put it in your window
And if you can get any put up in local shops, (or any other places), so much the better.
We can never have too much advertising !!
LENT AT ALL SAINTS’.
Tuesdays – (starting 28th February)
7.00.p.m. – Stations of The Cross. 7.30.p.m. – Low Mass
After Mass – Lent Study Group (in the Vestry.)
Thursdays – 11.00.a.m. – Low Mass-followed by Coffee.
Fridays – (starting 24th February)
9.00.a.m. – 12 noon – Open Church Coffee morning continues as usual.
12.15.p.m. – 1.30.p.m. – Lent Lunches – in the Church..
(Soup, cheese roll with pickle, & a piece of fruit – £2-00)
Details of services for Holy Week and Easter will be published next month.
ALL SAINTS’ LENT APPEAL.
This year, we will again be supporting the Bishop of Southwark’s Lent Call, which raises funds for local community projects in Southwark and our Link Dioceses in Zimbabwe and Jerusalem, as well as calling parishes to a time of prayer and contemplation.
In 2023, the theme is “mental health & well-being”, and the Bishop’s Lent Call is featuring projects that help with access to medical care both here and in our Link Diocese of Jerusalem. Access to food is a common theme too as worry about being able to feed the family leads to enormous stress, so it features foodbanks here and nutritional gardens in our Link Dioceses in Zimbabwe. Many also need support to deal with the pressures of life and we are asked also to support projects to facilitate well-being by developing strategies to cope with the stress and mental illness caused by our modern world.
Details about all the projects will be displayed on the pillars at the back of the church from Ash Wednesday.
Please put your donations in the Lent Box, which will be on a table at the back of the church throughout Lent. It will be opened on the Sunday after Easter – 16th April.
If you are a tax payer, please take an envelope to use for the whole of Lent, and fill in the form for the Diocese to claim back the tax paid on your Lent Call donations. (Envelopes should be put on the collection plate as the slot in the box is too small to take them.)
Holy Week & Easter Services
Palm Sunday – 2nd April – 11.00 am Blessing of Palms, Procession and Solemn Mass.
Monday 3rd April – 7.30 pm. – Low Mass
Tuesday 4th April – 7.00 pm Stations of The Cross. 7.30 pm – Low Mass
Wednesday 5th April – 7.30 pm – Low Mass
Maundy Thursday – 6th April – 8.00 pm – Solemn Mass of the Lord’s Supper and Watch until 11.00 pm.
Good Friday – 7th April – 11.30 am – Walk of Witness (in the parish). 1.00 pm – Stations of the Cross suitable for families with children. 2.00 pm – Liturgy of the Day.
Holy Saturday – 8th April – 8.00 pm – Easter Vigil – Blessing of the New Fire, Renewal of Baptismal Vows and Memorial of Christ’s Passover.
Easter Day – 9th April – 11.00 am – Procession and Solemn Mass. 6.30 pm – Solemn Evensong and Benediction.
EASTER LILIES.
This year, the price of lilies has again been kept at £3 each.
If you would like a lily placed in church at Easter in memory of a departed loved one, please put the money and name of the person, together with your name, into an envelope and give it to Jenny, preferably on Sunday 19th March but by Sunday 26th March at the very latest.
The names of all those remembered will be displayed in church on the Paschal candle.
Easter Flowers.
We would also be grateful to receive donations towards the cost of the flowers. This money should also be given to Jenny by Sunday 26th March.
We need to know how much money has been donated before we can order any flowers, as money for flowers is never taken from church funds. All arrangements will be done in vases this year – apart from those in the Easter Garden.
All Saints Social Committee
Welcome to news from the All Saints Social Committee. We have lots of really exciting things planned for the coming year. Our aim to have fun being together in Gods love and if we can raise some money for the church even better.
Thank you to everyone who came to our Burns evening. It was a great success, so much we are thinking of running it again next year!
This month we have the jumble sale on the 18th March, if anyone can help sort jumble or sell on the day any help even if only 15 minutes will be gratefully appreciated, many hands make light work. If you can help, please see Elizabeth.
On the 12th March we have the Bishop of Southwark coming and we are organising a hot/cold buffet to be at the back of the church. If you can bring a dish, please see Elizabeth or Nigel.
Dates for your diary:
In the coming months we have:
A Caribbean evening on 22nd April
(more information on that in the next newsletter!)
A Coronation ‘Big lunch’ on the 7th May
(this will also be the 131st anniversary of the Dedication of our church)
A Coronation Summer Fair on 20th May,
put your thinking cap on for a stall.
If you have an idea for a event, please come and see any member of the committee and we are happy to discuss it.
We look forward to seeing you at one of events in the near future.
FORTY YEARS ON
“Mr. David Coram, our new organist and choirmaster has lived in Wimbledon since he became a schoolmaster at Rutlish about 10 years ago. During much of that time he was organist and choirmaster at S. Mark’s, Wimbledon and he has been to All Saints’ as a member of the Servants of the Guild of the Sanctuary. When he was an undergraduate at Durham University – at the same time as Fr. John, though at a different college – he was organist and choirmaster at S. Oswald’s, Durham, and successor of the famous Professor Hutchings who had been Professor of Music for many years. We wish Mr. Coram a long and happy association with All Saints’.”
So ran the entry in the February 1983 edition of the All Saints’ News, as David took up his appointment as organist and choirmaster on the first Sunday of that month. Here he reflects on his forty years with us: –
“Well, I can honestly say that my service as organist and choirmaster of All Saints has been both long and happy! Length of service has been a feature of my career, for I taught at Rutlish for 25 years before moving to Channing School in Highgate, teaching Latin, Greek and Classical Civilisation for 18 years. I also had the pleasure of directing the Senior Choir there. It was quite a change moving from an all boys comprehensive school to an all girls independent school!
I have been active in music locally with a number of other groups, singing with Merton Opera (later Merton Abbey Opera), conducting Morden Park Choral Society and Wimbledon United Choirs for their annual Good Friday offering.
At All Saints I was made welcome from the very start – I particularly remember the gin served by Father John (Hall) in the vicarage after Mass on Sundays. I have been lucky enough to have an enthusiastic and loyal group of singers over the years and as well as church services we have performed a number of concerts and recitals. I am proud to say that we have regularly provided a communion anthem at Mass on Sundays – not many local churches can say that. As well as music for the Mass we sing Solemn Evensong and Benediction once a month, usually on every third Sunday. If you haven’t already attended you might like to give it a try sometime.
Since retiring I have had more time to practice the organ. I aim to do an hour every day. This has enabled me to tackle some more challenging voluntaries, which I hope enhance our worship. For those who are interested, a monthly list of all music is posted on our notice boards.”
Chris adds: –
On behalf of All Saints’ I am sure that we all appreciate the service that David has given over the past forty years. I note that he neglects to mention the Pantomimes that he accompanied – leading us in such easily forgotten and neglected classics as: – “We’re a Pirate Crew and we rule by fear, We’ll slit your throat from ear to ear!” and “Nobody loves a fairy when she’s forty!” And talking of Christmas festivities how can we forget David’s lovingly mulled wine served up at our Carol Service, and the annual rendition of Carols in the ‘Sultan’ on Christmas Eve in aid of The Children’s Society.
Given his knowledge of the classics, interest in Stained Glass and enthusiasm for cricket, David has also provided useful insights into the history of the church and – when the occasion warrants – timely updates on the latest Test Score! We have also benefited from choir concerts, musical evenings and latterly enjoyed excursions into the culinary delights of other countries – events in which David has played a major role. And David is not only there for our week on week services. When asked to play for additional services, whatever the reason may be, his support, and that of the choir, is unwavering, and we thank him for that.
Forty years ago the Austin Metro was Britain’s best-selling car, the first CD went on sale and the one pound coin appeared for the first time. Today the Nissan Qashqai is the best-selling car in this country, CD’s have given way to ‘streaming’ and you would need £4.32 to buy what you could have bought with a pound forty years ago! But happily some things remain unchanged, so let’s ‘pull out all the stops’ and send our best wishes, enormous thanks, and immense gratitude to David. And let us remember that, as we listen to his playing Sunday by Sunday – “Where there is devotional music, God is always at hand with His gracious presence.” (J.S.Bach)
Open Church
Friday Morning Open Church!
All Saints’ Church is open on Friday mornings from 9.00 am – 12 noon.
Somewhere dry and warm to sit and chat to your friends over a cup of tea or coffee.
You may also come in and sit quietly, or light a candle, – and there is a prayer board if you would like us to remember someone in our prayers.
The Quiet Garden is also be available for those who would prefer to sit outside. (if the weather permits!)
To ensure good ventilation, the main door will be left open when the weather permits, and the gates will be open and the garden door unlocked for those who require level access.
And if you would be willing to come and make the coffee from time to time, please have a word with Jenny as there may be an occasional Friday when she is unable to be there and having re-opened, it would be a shame to close if this situation arose.
Weekend Pilgrimage to Walsingham – 2023
LAST CHANCE TO BOOK for
The Weekend Pilgrimage to Walsingham.
Our 2023 weekend pilgrimage to Walsingham, led by Fr. Christopher, takes place from Friday 21st – Monday 24th July 2023.
Walsingham has sent me their charges:
The cost of accommodation, including all meals from supper on Friday to breakfast on Monday is: £230 for adults, £138 for children (5 -15) Free for under 5’s, but to this has to be added an amount to cover transport there and back.
I wont be able to book a coach until I know number of pilgrims who will be going – but I hope the total cost will be not more than £270 -00 for adults, £180 for children (5 – 15) and £40 for under 5’s.
I have to send names and non-returnable deposits to Walsingham by the end of April, so if you would like to come, (or know someone else who is interested) please let me know ASAP so I can give you a booking form, which must be returned to me with a £40 non-returnable deposit by Sunday 16th April at the very latest.
The balance of £230, which can be paid in instalments or as one lump sum, must be paid by Sunday 16th July.
At present I have 8 spaces – and hope to fill at least some of them, as finding suitable transport for a small number is not easy and tends to be more costly as smaller vehicles do not allow for passengers with suitcases / holdalls.
If you would like to find out what the Pilgrimage entails, have a word with Fr. Christopher, or with one of those who came on our pilgrimage last year.
If you have never been to Walsingham,
why not think about coming this year?
Jenny Hardy (Cell Secretary / Pilgrimage Organiser.)
Discover more about Walsingham by visiting their website:
There are also some information books on the Walsingham table you can borrow- but please return them to the table afterwards..
The Latest News from our School
“Growing Stronger Together in God’s Love.”
This month’s ‘News’ from All Saints’ School can now be found here
All Saints’ welcomes children . . . .
.… and caters for them as follows:
- Teddy Bear Service – 2nd Sunday of each month at 10 am
A short service for the under 6’s and their families.
Older children who come are encouraged to take part by reading the prayers. Everyone welcome!
- Junior Church – held during the 11 am Sunday Service.
Mainly for children of Primary School age. The children go into the hall after the opening prayers, for a programme of music, activities and prayer based on Bible Stories.
They come back into Church in time for Communion.
- Older children who come regularly will be encouraged to consider training as Servers, or to join the Choir.
Also … .
- Throughout the year, we support our Church School. We welcome them into church for school services. Apart from the end of each term, they have a service in church on All Saints’ Day and for other special occasions.
Each month, the ‘Parish News’ includes a write-up, often with photographs, produced by a different class each time. In addition, Art Work from the children is displayed in church for special occasions throughout the year.
If you would be interested in helping with any of our children’s activities, or have any suggestions to make about our work with children, please have a word with Roger.
All Saints' Church, South Wimbledon 