The daily Masses from tomorrow morning 8am as well as the Mass on Sunday at 10.30am will be celebrated as Requiem Masses for the Repose of the Soul of Her Majesty. The church will be kept open for most of Friday and Saturday if anybody would like to offer prayers, light a candle or simply … Continue reading Services following the Death of Her Majesty the Queen
Turning from Summer towards Harvest
If you are looking for a coherent theme in this newsletter you will fail - it is simply a summary of things happening. As usual - once I start writing I notice how much is going on and I realise that I should write more often and not as much in one go. I keep … Continue reading Turning from Summer towards Harvest
Open wide the doors!
I did promise a few months ago to write less long and voluminous newsletters and instead to post things slightly more often. I admit to have failed - in spite of August being holiday season a lot is happening at St Andrew's! Opening the Church during the Week Over the past few weeks it became … Continue reading Open wide the doors!
Summerly Things
Stone and Tile Cleaning in the Sanctuary Over the last 3 days Andrew Blades has done a stunning job re-fixing some of the encaustic tiles we found under the pvc flooring and he cleaned the terrazzo steps in front of the altar - the difference is nothing short of amazing. Please have a look on … Continue reading Summerly Things
Celebrate in the Joy of the Lord!
I was nervous when we finally started to rip the church apart on Thursday, 12th May. Would those who offered help really come to help? Would the timings work out or would things run late, messing up further stages of the project? Would people get stressed and fall out with each other? Ben worked incredibly … Continue reading Celebrate in the Joy of the Lord!
Altar Consecration and Parish Feast, Sunday 12th June
In the last two weeks lots of organising and cleaning has been going on and Ben has been busy decorating the altar - he is confident to finish in time for Sunday! I am delighted that we found the encaustic Victorian tiles below the plastic tiles and lots of concrete to be in reasonably good … Continue reading Altar Consecration and Parish Feast, Sunday 12th June
Internal Reordering and looking into the Future
Most of you will know that we have been thinking, talking and blogging about how to make our building more fit for mission by increasing its impact and usability for more than a year. I preached about this last Sunday and possibly you want to read it again here: Reordering SermonDownload Clearing the Nave Work … Continue reading Internal Reordering and looking into the Future
May is the month of Mary
National Pilgrimage It has been a very busy and successful week at St Andrew's. On the Bank Holiday Monday about 30 of us went to the National Pilgrimage at the Shrine of our Lady of Walsingham - which after a pause of 2 years was finally happening again. I usually manage to sort the weather … Continue reading May is the month of Mary
Eastertide – lots of things are happening!
I am incredibly pleased with a a rather amazing celebration of Holy Week and Easter. It was great to go out in procession on Palm Sunday, to celebrate the Mass of the Last Supper together with our friends and neighbours from St Mary de Castro, to join Our Lord during his last hour on Good … Continue reading Eastertide – lots of things are happening!
Growing together
Over the last months our numbers have steadily grown. Not everybody comes regularly and not everybody who gave St Andrew's a try has continued to come - and that is all perfectly normal. I am often struck that St Andrew's brings people together who normally would not meet due to different origins, ethnicity, age, class … Continue reading Growing together
St Andrew's Jarrom Street 