Welcoming couples and children

There's a general undercurrent in perceptions of the church that it's more and more neglected, "the pews are emptier" etc.etc.
Quite apart from the fact that we don't have pews in our church, it also doesn't bear out in our parish more generally.
Take a look at the figures below. These are a year by year count of the number of people who have been baptised (mostly infants but some adults) and the number of couples getting married in our parish church over the last four years.


Yes, it's quite a healthy picture, but it looks pretty static.
But what you've got to remember is the 2009 figure is still ongoing. We're not even in August yet and we've already done more baptisms than we did in the whole of 2006, 2007 or 2008. By the end of August, we'll have done almost 40.
And these aren't necessarily 'classic' people. For example, the parents of the baby we baptised on Saturday, weren't baptised by their own parents, yet they took this very seriously, it expressed what they wanted for their child and they are considering doing it themselves, as adults.
Similarly, marriage remains popular. We were quite pleased with the Church of England's new liturgy offering a combination service of baptism within a wedding: you may have read about it in the press. It matches the lifestage of many of the parents who come to us, either to get married or to get their children baptised.
They may not have done it in 'the right order', from the perspective of tradition, but I believe they are just as committed to each other and to their children as people from any other generation. In fact, maybe more so. There's no stigma in having children outside marriage or 'living in sin', as there once was, when people may have got married 'for the sake of form'. To choose to come to the House of God for a union of your relationship is more of a commitment than ever before.

If you want to come to get married or have your child baptised ("christened"), or be baptised yourself, just come to our parish office any Saturday at 10.30am.

And you're always welcome at our Sunday eucharist at 10am. With people away for the summer on holidays, it's easier to get a seat on a Sunday morning, and there's a generally quieter feel, so it can be a nice time to 'try out' a church.

One more important notice: Mother Sylvia's funeral is confirmed as happening at church at 10.30am on Friday (31st July). Apparently, she requested that people wear colourful clothes, rather than black, so please feel free to let your wardrobe run wild!

Father Robert

Mother Sylvia, RIP

Reverend Sylvia Martin died peacefully on Friday morning. Known as Mother Sylvia, she served as a non-stipendiary minister with Christ Church and St Paul and then St George Christ Church St Paul for over ten years, having been one of the first women ordained priest in the Church of England.
I never got to know her that well because, in the last few years, she had suffered a number of minor strokes, which hindered her mental faculties, but she was still able to exercise a ministry until just a few months ago. She presided at the eucharist (assisted by a deacon) for the last time at a quiet Tuesday morning service, late in 2008.
Her funeral will be on Friday 31st July. More details to follow.

May she rest in peace and rise in glory.

Father Robert

Chapel, Wedding, Marriage Preparation, Moving On

Developments at the Chapel on the Hill are going apace. we've certified our fire alarms now and are sorting out our intruder alarms. There's a bundle of duties and right now, I've been allotted purchasing Chairs (!).
What sort of chairs do we want? Comfy ones, stackable ones, wood ones, metal ones...
One of my tutors at theological college believed that really the only seating aid that should be required for good prayer was the plainest, most wooden and hard pews or chairs available: to add cushions was somehow to lessen the spiritual focus. I'm not sure I agree.
I'm having a meeting with Trudi on it next week.
But that's just one example. Someone else is sizing up the kitchen for a dishwasher... Not a spiritually rewarding task, but necessary.

This week is one of our Marriage Preparation weeks: we meet on Tuesday evening at the vicarage and also on Saturday in the church studio.
Meanwhile on Saturday, there's going to be a fabulous Wedding of David and Antonia. They are a lovely couple and we look forward to welcoming many, many people on that day. Perhaps you are one of them. Remember to arrive in good time to get a good seat!

Finally, on a personal note, just to say that, as I told the parish on Sunday - as all curates have to do at some point - I will be moving on to my next job in November. I'll be the chaplain of Archbishop Tenison's school in the Oval (see www.tenisons.com for more) and also the youth pastor to the North Lambeth team ministry, with connections to St Anne's with All Saints, which is next door to them. I'm excited about this, but also very sad to leave. Madeleine, Tessa and I have had a wonderful time here, and I am sure will continue to do so for the next three and a half months. Our final Sunday will be All Saints, on November 1st, 2009.
Father Robert

Summer Fayre photos, Chapel update, triple baptism

To the left, you can see the arrival of Nigella by black cab at the summer fayre.

Father John was pretty excited, I can tell you. Heaven knows what might have happened had the real one shown up.

But thank you to all who helped at the Summer Fayre. We raised over £3,000 towards church funds, which is just fantastic, as well as having a great day.

See below a great photo of the brownies leading the dancing. Reverend Sheila was right up for it. Dot and Karen look on, admiringly but less energetically.

This Sunday, we're looking forward to not one, not two but three baptisms on Sunday afternoon coming. It's a family, Maria, Leo and Eva are all getting baptised together: rather like the type of thing that happened in New Testament times. Great.

Meanwhile, we've now got a timetable of tasks to get done by autumn for the launch of the Chapel on the Hill. It should be a great launch on 1st October, 2009.

Father Robert

Amazing fayre, amazing year six event, photos to come

Just a quick post to say we've had a manic week, but the Year Six event was amazing. I'll be posting some photos soon.
I'll also be posting some of our photos of Nigella Lawson coming to open our Summer Fayre.
And we're looking forward to the baptism tomorrow of Latiyrah.
We had a great PCC away afternoon too.
One of the things we realised is that most people wouldn't know what PCC stands for (parochial church council) if you want to know, so plenty of thoughts from that too.
Hope to see you tomorrow.
It's a fascinating Gospel, Mark 6.1-13: Jesus can't perform miracles in his home town. Why?
Come and find out.
Father Robert