Dear St Mary’s, 

On Sunday 3rd November, we’ll mark All Saints Day with services of Holy Communion at 9am and 10.30am. Revd Alan Moss will preside and Revd Jacintha Danaswamy will preach.

According to the Church of England, All Saints Day celebrates the lives of people in whom ‘the Church as a whole has seen the grace of God powerfully at work. It is an opportunity to give thanks for that grace, and for the wonderful ends to which it shapes a human life; it is a time to be encouraged by the example of the saints and to recall that sanctity may grow in the ordinary circumstances as well as the extraordinary crises of human living’. 

This Sunday, we’ll have supervised children’s groups in the Welcome Centre at 10.30am as well as a Baby Lounge in the South Vestry at both services. For those unable to join us in person, we’ll live-stream the 9am service to Facebook (facebook.com/StMarysE17). 

And then at 5pm, our Youth Group will meet in the Welcome Centre. 

We hope to see you this All Saints Sunday at St Mary’s! 

Volunteers Needed for Walthamstow Welcomes Cafe 
Our Walthamstow Welcomes Cafe is an amazing ministry led by Sue and Tony Peacham which helps the wider community with confusing paperwork while also offering a safe, welcoming space for people to come and have a cup of tea and a chat. While the free service – which is offered on alternate Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10am to Noon, in the Welcome Centre – has become more popular, the volunteer team is stretched and more volunteers are needed to make the cafe sustainable long-term. If you would like to learn more about volunteering, email the team at . 

Saturday Crochet and Knitting Group at St Mary’s to Begin 2nd November
St Mary’s is starting a crochet and knitting group which will meet for the first time on Saturday 2nd November, 10am-Noon, in the church. Crochet and knitting are both brilliant ways to relieve stress and anxiety, make friends and get creative. The group, which is open to the whole community, will initially meet for six consecutive Saturdays, with the exception of Saturday 23rd November, but the hope is that this could be extended if there is sufficient interest. Bring wool, needles, crochet hooks and whatever you’re working on; if you’re a beginner, come along but let us know in advance so we can provide wool and crochet hooks! For more details, email Revd Jacintha Danaswamy at . 

Vespers Returns on Wednesday 6th November 
Join us on Wednesday 6th November at 7.30pm for our monthly Vespers gathering, with Holy Communion celebrated afterwards in the side chapel for those who would like to stay. Vespers is held on the first Wednesday of every month – a beautiful candlelit space in our ancient church where many have gathered over eight years to practise contemplative prayer, explore faith or simply sit in silence. Whether you’re looking to deepen your prayer life or just need a quiet place to sit, do come along to Vespers – it would be wonderful to have you. 

Vestry Sessions: Thursday 14th November Gig to Explore E17 Film Scores 
We’re excited to welcome The Vestry Sessions to St Mary’s: a new music series offering affordable one-hour shows covering a range of genres, from jazz to classical. The first gig will be on Thursday 14th November (doors at 7.30pm, music at 8pm) where a mostly acoustic ensemble will perform film scores with a connection to East London and Walthamstow. Tickets are £12.50 on the door or can be purchased in advance for £10 each by clicking here, or by going to www.wegottickets.com and searching for ‘Vestry Sessions’. 

Volunteers Needed for 23rd November Christmas Fair at St Mary’s 
St Mary’s will host a Christmas Fair on Saturday 23rd November, 11am-5pm, which will include a craft market, refreshments and family activities in and around St Mary’s, and we’re looking for volunteers to help us run several St Mary’s stalls as we welcome people into our ancient building. We’re looking for people to take one of two shifts – 10am-2pm or 2pm-6pm; can you help? Email Louise at . 

Macbeth Coming to St Mary’s on Monday 25th November 
The group ‘Shakespeare in the Squares’ is doing an autumn and winter season in London churches and will be coming to St Mary’s on Monday 25th November at 7.30pm with a performance of Macbeth. Tickets are available at www.shakespeareinthesquares.co.uk. 

Limited Spaces Left: Advent Book Group at St Mary’s Starts 28th November 
Revd Jacintha Danaswamy will lead an Advent book group on Thursday evenings, 28th November to 19th December, exploring Revd Dr Rachel Mann’s book, Do Not Be Afraid, which is this year’s Archbishop of York’s Advent Book. If you’re interested in joining our Advent book group, email Jacintha at . There is a recommended £10 donation for the book, but no one will be excluded due to the cost.  

Revd Alan Moss Appointed to New Diocesean Role 
Revd Alan Moss – who serves as a pioneer priest in our Parish, primarily working on The Drive and Attlee Terrace estates but also regularly preaching and leading services at St Mary’s – has been appointed Estates Youth Missional Lead for the Diocese of Chelmsford. Alan joined us in 2021 after completing his curacy in Romford and we are both delighted for Alan and sad to see him go! Alan begins his new role in January, and his last service at St Mary’s will be sometime in December. Do join us congratulating Alan on this exciting new opportunity, which will see him advising churches around the diocese on estates ministry. 

Please pray this week for:

• Revd Alan Moss as he advocates for estates ministry in his new diocesean role 
• All unwell in body, mind or spirit, including those awaiting test results or treatment
• Peacemakers in places of local and global conflict 
• People in and around Valencia, Spain where many have died due to flash flooding
• The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza/ Palestine/Israel, Sudan and elsewhere 
• Negotiators and campaigners at the UN biodiversity and climate summits 
• The 5th November US presidential election, which will have significant global impacts 
• The people/ ministry of St Mary’s, as we seek to welcome all in the name of Christ 
• Homelessness charities and homeless shelters as winter approaches 
• All struggling to make ends meet and provide for themselves/ their families 

Next Week in the Welcome Centre (4th November to 9th November)

Monday 4th November 
Waltham Forest Community Choir, 7.30-9.30pm 

Tuesday 5th November 
Tai Chi, 7-9pm 
Walthamstow Singers (in the church), 7-8.30pm 

Wednesday 6th November 
HulaFit, 6.30-7.30pm 

Thursday 7th November   
Baby Massage, 10.45am-12.45pm 
FoodCycle (free community meal), 6.30pm 
The Singing Room, 7.30-9.30pm 

Friday 8th November 
Sing and Sign, 11am-12.15pm 

Saturday 9th November 
Walthamstow Welcomes Cafe (free help with confusing paperwork), 10am-Noon (www.stmaryswalthamstow.org/WalthamstowWelcomes) 

Reflection: ‘The Communion of Saints’ 
Natalie Burwell, our churchwarden, writes: 

Do you have a favourite autumn tree? We are blessed by a rainbow of rowan trees and birches on our street, but this season my chosen tree is elsewhere, inside the ancient walls of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London. I found the tree in the churchyard of St Bartholomew the Less, little sibling of St Bartholomew the Great just outside the hospital complex. 

‘My’ tree is small and spindly and living in an orange pot in the church’s quiet garden. Its leaves looked a bit outsized for its bare body, and it had maybe ten heart-shaped yellow leaves, a handful of orange ones, and a single green one at the top.

Even a week ago it probably looked huge (for itself), filling its space with yellow leaves. But now we can see the size of it, and it fits the ‘Lesser’ church very well. This tree is imperfect, but I love that it’s participating!

If any of us feels a bit windblown and tattered as we head into the part of the Church year that will take us through into Advent and Christmas, we might take comfort in All Saints Day on Sunday — a moment to feel connected to and carried by others. To feel part of a shining community of love across time and place and season.

Catholic theologian Elizabeth A. Johnson writes, ‘In the first place, the communion of saints comprises all living persons of truth and love. The point is to emphasise “all”: all Christians as well as all persons of good will. While the term itself springs from the experience of grace within the church, the communion of saints does not limit divine blessing to its own circle.’

The same Spirit poured out lavishly on everyone at Pentecost — indeed poured out on ‘all flesh’ (Acts 2:17) — is constantly working to draw all of reality into abundant life. And so ‘all saints’ includes too, in Johnson’s words, the ‘circle of companions who have run the race before, who are now embraced in the life of God and accessed through memory and hope.’ 

Both the living and the dead, though imperfect, can show us something of God’s compassionate face and help us hear God’s loving voice in our own times.

Are trees included in the communion of saints? Surely they are part of ‘all saints’, speaking of holiness and showing us something of who God is, don’t you think? Do you have a favourite autumn tree that might just be a saint?  

May we all be formed into friends of God who act in mercy and justice towards our neighbours and the created world. May we know how deeply interrelated we are, and how loved. Amen.