Hearing the Service
St John’s has an Induction Loop System so if you have a hearing aid, please switch it to the ’T’ setting.
Annual Vestry and Parochial Church Meeting
Our annual meetings take place this morning immediately after the conclusion of the 10am service. These are the meetings where we receive the annual report and accounts, and elect our churchwardens and members to the Parochial Church Council (PCC). This year we will be electing two churchwardens and two members to the Parochial Church Council (PCC). Nomination forms are available at the back of church. Completed forms can be given to Bryan Sollenberger.
We give a special thank you to Louise Rowland, who has served as churchwarden for the past three years and retires after the Annual Vestry Meeting. Our thanks also go to Damon Greeney and Andy Moxon, whose terms on PCC come to an end. A particular thank you goes to Damon for serving the past two years as a deputy churchwarden. 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 are as a community 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.
Sunday Evenings in Lent
Jesus: the Living Water
In this series of Lenten evening services at 6.30pm, we explore how Jesus brings life in many different ways to many different people, using his encounters with water as illustrations. With our own lives as our templates we reflect, through music, worship, prayer and water-focussed practical interludes, on the times when we have been healed and reshaped and have felt we have no control. Ultimately, we focus on Jesus himself as the source of new life within us, through the cleansing and empowerment that he gives us through his death and resurrection.
Change Your Clocks
Remember to set your clocks one hour ahead this coming Saturday, 24th March. While we lose an hour of sleep, we gain an hour of daylight in the evenings!
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday falls this year on 25th March. 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 Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. This beautiful and poignant service is a very proper way to begin Holy Week.
Bible Book Club
Bible book club meets once a month to read and to discuss the gospel reading for the coming Sunday and concludes with Compline. Meetings take place on the last Tuesday of the month – the next meeting is on 27th March. For further information, speak to one of the clergy.
HOLY WEEK & EASTER 2018
Easter Flowers
Help us to decorate the church for Easter and remember loved ones at the same time by contributing to our Easter flowers. Fill in the slip in your order of service and give it to Andre Livins or Bryan Sollenberger after the service. A list of contributors and those commemorated will be posted in the porch at Easter.
Maundy Thursday, 29th March, 8pm
A special sung mass commemorating the Last Supper with the washing of feet takes place on the Thursday night before Easter. The mass setting will be Missa Brevis by Kodàly and the anthem Casals’ O Vos Omnes. 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, 30th March, 10am
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, 30th March, 2pm
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 Jesus Christ, Superstar by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Mrs Mops’ Easter Special!, 31st March, 11am
Andre is organising a special effort on Saturday morning before Easter 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 Breakfast
A cooked breakfast is served in the hall following the dawn service. Please sign up in the porch if you plan to stay for this. Anyone wishing to volunteer to help with breakfast would be very warmly welcomed by the Vicar (who will be coming off his Lenten diet).
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.
Heart Start Training
Claudia Finlay has organised this course, run by London Ambulance, for members of St. John’s Church on Tuesday, 3rd April. 18.30 – 20.30 at 220 Waterloo Road, London SE1. The course is available for 15 people only and is free, but you need to register. Please send your name, mobile number and email to Claudiafinlay@btconnect.com.
Confirmation
On Sunday, 22nd April, the acting Bishop of London will be presiding at a service of Confirmation. Courses preparing children and adults for Confirmation will be run in Lent. If you would like to be confirmed or if you would like to explore the possibility of being confirmed, please talk with one of the clergy. Do come along and support those who are being confirmed.
Help Robin Get to Church
Robin Plummer lives in Great Western Road and needs help getting to and from church. Would you be willing to help him? There is a rota and you would be expected to help Robin approximately one Sunday per month. Robin is particularly fond of riding in fast cars although he is also very happy to walk to church.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Children’s Community Choir
Thursdays, 4.10pm
The Children’s Community Choir is open for children 6 years old and above, sessions will be 30 minutes long and children will sing different genres of music. If you are interested in bringing your children along please let Robert or Antonio know.
LORD MAYOR’S CORNER
Last week I hosted the annual lunch in honour of the Lord Mayor of London, with around 50 guests including Steve, who led the proceedings with grace. Another important event last week was the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey, attended by senior members of the Royal Family, led by Her Majesty the Queen. I also spent time meeting the Mayor of Budapest at a breakfast meeting in my parlour and later the same day over lunch with the Hungarian Ambassador and several other mayors from London boroughs. Last Tuesday, Chris and I were guests of the Irish Ambassador for the annual St Patrick’s Day celebration at his embassy and the following evening we were guests of the National Gallery for the opening of their latest exhibition featuring the work of Tacita Dean. I also attended the topping out of Marylebone Boys’ School and the annual oranges and lemons ceremony at St Clement Danes. Chris and I ended the week by hosting a reception for local LGBT+ stakeholders in my parlour.
This afternoon, 18 March, we are at Westminster Synagogue for the induction of their new rabbi. Later this coming week I’m paying a visit to the local army cadet force’s annual presentation evening; attending a reception to mark Tunisia national day; the 150th anniversary Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust dinner at the Guildhall; a reception to mark Pakistan national day; and a London Handel Festival concert at St George’s Church. A highlight will be unveiling a commemorative paving stone in memory of a local holder of the Victoria Cross. Next Sunday morning, we shall be at Westminster Abbey for Eucharist with the Blessing of the Palms.
St James & St John School Gate Gossip
After a couple of very eventful weeks where many of our children were out on excursions or outside activities, this past week was slightly less exciting with a bigger focus on class-room teaching. That does not mean however that we did not have any fun activities at all. Dressing-up seems to be a recurring theme, with our children enjoying International Day on Thursday dressing up in country-specific costumes and organising colourful performances and entertaining dances. Key dates for your diary: Whole school end of term service at St. John's on 28th March.
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.
