Annual Vestry and Parochial Church Meetings
This year’s annual meetings take place this morning immediately after the 10am service. Churchwardens will be elected at the Annual Vestry Meeting. At the Annual Parochial Church Meeting, which follows immediately on, we receive the annual report and accounts and elect members to the Deanery Synod and the Parochial Church Council. All who are on the parish Electoral Roll are entitled to attend and to take part at the meeting.
A very special thank you to Gaynor Scruton, who has served as churchwarden for the past three years and retires. Our thanks also to Neville David and Mary Langford, who finish their terms on PCC. The vitality of a parish like St John’s is dependent on people being willing to give of their time and skills in leadership of the parish. We as a community are grateful for all that they have brought and shared. Please think carefully about whether you might have skills you can share by standing for PCC.
Anthems in Lent
Gospel is a music genre in Christian music. The creation, performance, significance and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. It is composed and performed for many purposes, including aesthetic pleasure and religious or ceremonial purposes. The music usually has dominant vocals (often with strong use of harmony) with Christian lyrics. It can be traced to the early 17th century, with roots in the black oral tradition. Most of the churches relied on singing a cappella with hand clapping and foot stomping as rhythmic accompaniment.
Sunday evenings in Lent, 6.30pm
Reformation 500
2017 marks 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, sparking the Protestant Reformation all around Europe. Our excellent five-week series of evening services designed to introduce people to the most significant figures in the Reformation era concludes this evening with a look at the Protestant reformation in England.
Sunday, 2nd April
Cranmer and Henry VIII: A Match Made In Heaven
The Reformation in England: Why was the Reformation in England so peculiar? Would there have been a Reformation in England had King Henry not needed a divorce?
Morning Prayer Thursdays in Lent - 9.30am
After the school drop-off, come to St John’s for a moment of quiet, reflection and prayer. During Lent we will be having a simple said morning prayer on Thursdays mornings. Speak to Robin or Antonio if you would like to know more.
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday falls this year on 9th April. We bless the palm crosses and hear the Passion Gospel in the morning. In the evening at 6.30pm we’ll have our annual Way of the Cross service based upon the ancient liturgy of the Stations of the Cross, using our very own rarely seen stations and with wonderful music, this year featuring Haydn’s Stabat Mater. This beautiful and poignant service is a very proper way to begin Holy Week.
HOLY WEEK & EASTER 2017
Maundy Thursday
A special sung mass commemorating the Last Supper with the washing of feet takes place on the Thursday night before Easter at 8pm. The mass setting will be Messe Solonnelle by Vierne and the anthem Duruflé’s Tantum Ergo. If you would be willing to have your feet washed at this service, please speak to one of the clergy.
Good Friday Children’s Workshop
A children’s activity morning is planned for Good Friday between 10am and 12 noon for children from 0-11. Coffee, biscuits and hot cross buns will be available and we will build the Easter Garden. Volunteers are needed to help with the activities. A donation of £5 per child is requested (babies go free). If you can help, speak to Antonio or Becky Stringer.
Good Friday Liturgy of the Day
Good Friday is one of the holiest days in the Christian year. This service of reflection and prayer, centred on the passion and death of our Lord, is led by our choral scholars and is based around Stainer’s Crucifixion. The service begins at 2.00 pm.
Mrs Mops’ Easter Special!
Andre is organising a special effort on Saturday morning, 15th April, to clean and to get the church ready for Easter. Please speak to him if you are happy to don your housecoat and report for duty for a morning of hard work and fun along with a mid-morning refreshment of the Vicar’s special hot milky brew. Come armed with your marigolds, Brasso and Pledge. Many hands make light work: please help if you can.
Dawn Vigil and First Mass of Easter
This service begins at 5am with a Vigil of readings as we await the dawn and the resurrection of our Lord. This colourful and dramatic service incorporates the Service of Light, Renewal of Baptism Vows and the First Mass of Easter. Well worth getting up for! The service is followed by breakfast and champagne.
Easter Baptisms
There will be an opportunity for adults and children to be baptized as part of the Easter liturgy at 5am again this year. If you are interested in being baptized at this service, please speak to one of the clergy as soon as possible.
Easter Reception
Following the Festival Eucharist on Easter morning there will be a fizz reception with finger food. Please bring a plate of finger food to share and indicate what you will be able to bring on the sign up sheet in the porch or on one of the clipboards that will be circulating during coffee.
Celebrate!
Marking a special birthday? Celebrating an anniversary? Wanting to remember that special person? St John’s can help! To honour a loved one or to commemorate a special event, you can sponsor some music or flowers, have fizz & refreshments after the service - there are lots of possibilities. If you would like to observe a special occasion or honour someone special, speak to Bryan Sollenberger.
Culture Vulture Ventures
12 noon, 7th April 2017
A Docklands Lunch and Exhibition
Venture to the East End, to visit the exhibition ‘Not a Split Second; Remembering the Docklands Bomb’ at the Republic Gallery, Capstan House, Clove Crescent, East India Docks, E14 2BA. This exhibition is a collaboration between Dr. George Legg and the artist Lucy Harrison. The Docklands Bomb ended a 17 month ceasefire but was may also have been instrumental in bringing about the peace talks culminating in the Good Friday Agreement. Dr. Legg will guide us round the exhibition, which features a short film investigating the effects of the IRA bomb on local residents and architecture in Docklands. The video is accompanied by archival images of the bomb damage and its relationship to urban renewal in the area: http://www.lucy-harrison.co.uk/projects/docklands.
We have lunch beforehand, meeting at 12 noon at the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station Westferry for the short walk to Ian McKellan’s The Grapes, 76 Narrow Street, E14 8BP, www.thegrapes.co.uk. Recommended in The Good Pub Guide since 1996 and one of the oldest pubs in London, Charles Dickens was a patron and referred to it in the opening chapter of his novel Our Mutual Friend: ‘A tavern of dropsical appearance… long settled down into a state of hale infirmity. It had outlasted many a sprucer public house, indeed the whole house impended over the water but seemed to have got into the condition of a faint-hearted diver, who has paused so long on the brink that he will never go in at all.”
The Exhibition is free of charge, individuals pay for their own lunch. Names to Margaret please, if this tickles your fancy!
COMMUNITY EVENTS
A Night of Hollywood Galmour
in aid of Children Change Colombia
Fernando Montano, Royal Ballet Soloist and member of the congregation, is organising 'A Night of Hollywood Glamour' at the Hippodrome Cabaret Theatre in aid of Children Change Colombia, one of our charities for 2016, on Sunday May 21st at 7.00pm. Guest artists also performing on the night include: Carolyn Rose (former ballerina, Ballet of Monte Carlo), Axel Zischka (European/World Same Sex ballroom dancing champion), Thorsten Dreyer (international ballroom dancer) and Jonathan Hill (leading international violinist, Les Miserables and other West End musicals).
Tickets can be booked on eventbrite or by calling the Hippodrome on 020 7549 0225. (Stalls: £65 + £2.62 fee, Balcony: £35+£2.76 fee). For more information go to: http://www.childrenchangecolombia.org/news/114/35/Fernando-Montano-presents-Hollywood-Classics/d,event-detail.
St James and St John School
This is our school; a school with a proud history and an aspirational future. St. James & St. John School provides both academic and personal development for every child, underpinned by Christian values. To quote Ofsted: "This is a good school. It is strongly supported by parents and carers. The strong provision for development of pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural qualities ensures that pupils are kind to new arrivals and respect one another's values. Progress in English and mathematics is good and this reflects the good teaching and curriculum."
Under Five’s Playgroups
An international playgroup aimed at Russian speakers meets in St John’s on Wednesdays at 10am. Other playgroups meet on Wednesdays at 3.45pm and Thursdays at 10am. Suggested donation for all groups: £2. Information about the playgroups can be found at www.HPPplaygroup.weebly.com and www.HPPrussian.weebly.com for the Russian speaking playgroup.
