Harvest Sunday Family Eucharist
7th October 2018, 10am
This morning we are celebrating Harvest with a family service. Our theme this year is fish: how we benefit from them and how we need to look after the rivers and oceans where they live. The older children will read the lessons and lead the intercessions, and the younger children will be in church for longer than normal. There will also be the traditional collection of tinned and dried foodstuffs, which will be donated to the West London Day Centre. A list of their particular needs has been circulated by e-mail earlier this week.
Jenny Clark Memorial Concert 2018
Our annual Jenny Clark Memorial Concert this year is on the 28th October after the 10am service. We are privileged to have our resident leader of the St John’s orchestra, Jonathan Hill, playing his violin and accompanied by our very own Nicky. The programme will include Oliver Davis’s violin concerto Lost featuring the first movement ‘Lost Lake’ that he recorded for Signum Records with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which got to no.4 in the classical singles chart.
Remembrance Sunday
11th November 2018
This year marks the centenary of the armistice ending the fighting of World War I. We will mark this at 10am with an Act of Remembrance during the 10am service. At 6pm we will have a very special service of readings, poetry and music, sung by the choir and accompanied by orchestra, commemorating this historic event. Mark this date in your diaries now.
Silent Film
At 8pm on Friday, 16th November, our series of silent film screenings continues with Robert Wiene's horror classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Directed by Robert Wiene and starring Werner Krauss and Conrad Veidt, it has been called "the first true horror film" and "cinema's first cult film"
The story tells of an insane hypnotist who uses a somnambulist (sleep-walker) to commit murders and sets a script written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer - two pacifists left distrustful of authority after their military experiences during World War One - which deals with themes of brutal and irrational authority, the contrast between insanity and sanity, and the duality of human nature.
Featuring live, improvised organ accompaniment by Nicholas Miller. Tickets £8 in advance online or from the Parish Office, or £10 on the door.
https://hydeparksilentscaligari.eventbrite.co.uk/
Sponsor a Buttress
Goal: £50,000
Raised so far: £20,943
Last year we undertook some very essential repairs to the roof, gutters and parapets. If you look up on the north or south sides of the church on your way home, you’ll notice the beautiful new stonework. To fund the works, however, we had to borrow £200,000 from the Diocese of London and we are looking to raise £50,000 to pay this year’s commitment plus interest.
The ‘Sponsor a Buttress’ campaign is to raise funds to cover this year’s commitment. There are 40 buttresses consisting of three stones each. A stone costs £416, a buttress £1,250 (£333 and £1,000 respectively if Gift Aided). To sponsor a stone or buttress or for more information about Gift Aid, speak to Bryan Sollenberger.
Culture Vulture Ventures
Culture Vultures visit Colchester Friday 12th October
A late Autumn day trip to the historic Roman City of Colchester on Friday 12th October. Full itinerary nearer the time but may well include visits to the Roman Circus and Claudius Gateway, the city walls, the castle and Firstsite, the spectacular golden building which houses Colchester's new contemporary art space. Bring a packed lunch and then enjoy tea, perhaps at Tiptree Tea Rooms or Brutus’s top tea shop, Tymperleys. Travel by train from Liverpool St. Station. Please let Margaret know if you would like to join this Venture.
St John’s Book Club
St John’s Book Club was unable to meet last month so will now meet on Monday, 29th October so you now have a few extra weeks to read Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip North. For further information the book group, please speak to Michael King.
St John’s Big Gay Night Out
A new social activity for gay guys & girls and their friends.
Friday 7th December - Mother Goose Cracks One Out!
This year’s pantomime follows years of sell out performances at Above the Stag theatre. You’ve not really been to a panto until you’ve been to Above the Stag.
Tickets are £25. Meal before the show at Pico bar and grill (next door to the theatre) – pay as you go. For tickets, please contact Ian Smith (ipas@hotmail.co.uk) or leave your payment, together with your name, email address and phone number at the church office.
Mid-week Services
St John’s isn’t just a church for Sunday! There are services at 5.30pm Monday to Thursday. Monday’s service is a eucharist and there is a said evensong Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Services take place in the sanctuary and are open to all.
Children’s Community Choir
Thursdays, 4.10pm, St John’s Church
The Children’s Community Choir meets on Thursday afternoons. The choir is open for children 6 years old and above. Sessions are 30 minutes long and children will sing different genres of music. If you are interested in bringing your children along please let Robert know.
Bru’s News
Brutus and Rhiannon are pleased to announce the arrival of their first child, a boy, who arrived on Wednesday, 26 September. Mother and son are doing well.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
School Gate Gossip
It's been a particular busy week for the children of our school St. James and St. John. Last Sunday we welcomed Bishop Sarah to our church as she visited our parish for the first time. Thank you to all the children who came in their school uniform. On Wednesday we were back to church to celebrate Harvest Service. As is tradition, we were asking for children to bring a donation of dried packet or canned goods to be donated to a homeless charity. Also on Wednesday was the School Information Evening & PFA AGM. We want to particularly thank the PFA for all their effort in raising important funds to complement our children's learning experience by subsidising trips, buying material and organising other extra-curricular activities. Year 1 has been looking at different groups they belong to in R.E. and there were some wonderful celebrations of their backgrounds. Year 3 took on the role of cave people as a part of their reading of The First Drawing and their study of the Stone Age and they produced some wonderful writing about their lives. Year 4 has been getting arty this week, trying to find creative ways to represent the different states of matter – liquids, solids and gases. Amongst the variety of Home Learning tasks brought in from Year 5 have been further examples of Egyptian-inspired jewellery and creations of pyramid models and hieroglyphics. Year 6 has also been creative this week, with their collages of the heart. It’s quite impressive that the same materials can produce such a wide variety of beautiful results.
Under Five’s Playgroups
A community playgroup meets weekly in St John’s on Thursday mornings from10-11.30am. Suggested donation: £2.
