Season’s Greetings
The staff team, Stephen, Bryan, Robin, Antonio, Margaret and Andrejs, and our Churchwardens, Louise and Gaynor, wish you and your families a joyous Christmas and a prosperous New Year. They especially wish to thank all those who have given so generously of their time and resources over the past year.
High Notes Rest!
Our thanks to our Director of Music, Robert Greenhill, our choral scholars, guest singers and volunteers, along with all of our musicians for providing us with such wonderful and inspiring music throughout Advent and Christmas. Once again the music here at St John’s has reached new heights and everybody’s hard work in both planning and rehearsing is very much appreciated.
The choir are on a well deserved break this morning. We use our Folk Tunes setting this morning with a guest soloist and organist.
EPIPHANY
The arrival of the Magi, after their long journey following a star seeking Jesus, is one of the oldest festivals of the Christian Church. In the Eastern and Russian Orthodox Churches, this is the equivalent of Christmas. St John’s will celebrate Epiphany with a festival Eucharist on Sunday, 8th January 2017. There will be a procession of the Magi and Presentation of Gifts before the crib as part of the service. Afterwards, there will be a reception of fizz and finger food. Members of the congregation are asked to bring a plate of finger food with them and, in order to help with numbers, please sign up on the form in the porch, indicating that they will be able to attend and what food they will be bringing with them.
Epiphany Carols
6 pm, 15th January 2017
After our fantastic Advent and Christmas carol services, what next? Epiphany carols! Robert, Nicky and the choir have prepared another special treat to conclude our seasonal celebrations marking the events of the Epiphany season. The service features music by Debussy, Respighi, Cornelius, Bach, Mendelssohn, Jenkins & John Williams and will be followed by fizz and seasonal delicacies. A great way to beat the post-Christmas blues!
Church Flowers
Thank you to all those who have donated towards the cost of decorating the church for Christmas. Our thanks go also to David Hodgkinson, our florist, who has done a splendid job as usual with his floral arrangements.
Services in Church between Christmas and New Year
There will be no midweek services until Tuesday, 3rd January 2017. There will only be a 10am service on Christmas Day and 1st January.
Parish Office
The office will be closed for Christmas and will reopen as normal on Tuesday, 3rd January. A member of the clergy team will be in residence in case of pastoral need. Messages can be left on the office answering machine as they will be collected regularly.
Culture Vulture Ventures
Fuller’s Griffin Brewery, Chiswick
Saturday, 25th February 2017
Meet at the Mawson’s Arms next to the Brewery on the Chiswick High Road, W4 2QD, at 11 o’clock for the tour of the Fuller’s Griffin Brewery, opened in 1845 on the site where beer has been brewed since the 1600s. The one and a half hour tour will give us an insight into British beer-making history and culminates in a visit to the best pub in the world - there is no till - for a tutored tasting of some of Fuller’s finest ales (https://www.fullers.co.uk/brewery). We will then decamp to the High Road Brasserie (http://www.highroadbrasserie.co.uk), 162-166 Chiswick High Road, W4 1PR, for a two course meal with coffee. Note: Margaret has sampled the French Onion Soup which was out of this world, but note the menu is seasonal and the French Onion Soup may not be available in February. Tour and lunch comes to a total of £35 per person but spaces are limited so book now by giving a member of the clergy a cheque for the full amount made out to 'Margaret Legg'. Please note, there are several flights of stairs and few places to sit down during the tour and no children under 18 years old are allowed on the tour.
