Free concert tomorrow!

The second in our series of coffee break organ recitals takes place tomorrow morning at 11am, for around 30 to 40 minutes, followed by coffee and biscuits.

This month's organist is Michael Bonaventure of All Saints', Blackheath.

All recitals are free, with a retiring collection for the church choir's organ fund.

You can see the full list at www.organrecitals.com

Pass the mop ...

We sprang quite a bad leak in the Coffee Bar kitchen during the heavy rain :( Investigations are ongoing into where the water is getting in...
On a lighter note, the boys (and girls) in blue from the Safer Neighbourhood Team came to borrow a cup of sugar while they were at a meeting elsewhere in the building. Well, it made me smile, anyway!

Long time, no blog!

Apart from periods of extreme busyness I was struck down, nay, felled be some sort of a virus earlier in the year, leaving me feeling out of sorts for nearly three months. That meant that I missed most of Lent and all of Easter here. Fortunately, John was on hand with his camera for the Easter celebrations, including:

Bishop Christopher at the Easter Vigil













Confirmations














Blessing the Easter Garden













and not forgetting the chocolate Easter eggs!

The beginning of Lent

I usually post from home, however my computer is currently out of action, so I apologise for the lack of posts recently. I can assure you we are all still here!

Remember to have your pancakes tonight(!), as Lent starts this Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) with sung mass at 8pm with imposition of ashes (or said mass with hymns at 10.30am if you're a daytime person).

We have a special weekly Lent housegroup and visiting preachers each Sunday, so I'll add the details when I'm next in the office. If you are local, details of everything are on our noticeboards, so do come and have a look.

Meanwhile, in the centre, the main hall and kitchen are having a facelift this week and the painters are hard at work preparing and undercoating. The other rooms are in use as usual, and I'm looking forward to the parish office being painted! (but not looking forward to moving all the stuff ...)

Merry Christmas!

Preparations for Christmas are well underway. Finishing touches are being made to the crib and the trees in time for the crib service and this evening’s midnight mass, which takes place at 11.30 tonight after carols in the church at 11pm. Tomorrow’s services are mass of the dawn at 9am and family communion at 11am.

It feels unseasonably mild at the moment, rather than ‘deep and crisp and even’! I shall be having a quiet Christmas (once all the service sheets are done!) and will be posting again in the New Year.

Happy Christmas!

Carol Service

A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols at 6pm this Sunday - the traditional 'carols by candlelight'.

Advent - a time of preparation

A very busy time in the office, of course, which is why I haven't posted lately. This week the Christmas cards should be ready and will be distributed from this Sunday (they contain details of all our Christmas services).

Coming up this weekend, we have a quiet day on Saturday, starting at 10am. On Sunday our visiting preacher in the 'cathedrals' series will be Robin Osbourne.

An online Advent calendar worth visiting is here and meditation and readings for the first week of advent can be found here.