The good news is that the carpet is up in the Lady Chapel and that Richard and I removed the staples and the tape from the front half on Tuesday. However, somebody (!) glued down the underlay (on top of stapling it down), so the only way to remove it is to scrape it off … Continue reading Would you like a REALLY horrible job?
Services following the Death of Her Majesty the Queen
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
Developments over the Summer
After the frenzy of activities of the last few months (remember: Lent, Holy Week & Easter, May Festival, National Pilgrimage, internal reordering (Stage 1) and the Parish Feast in June with the re-consecration of the High Altar) things are slowing down a bit over the summer. A lot of people are travelling or on holiday, … Continue reading Developments over the Summer
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