Advent has many different themes and people to focus our prayers and reflections on. They can run separately or all at once. One structure is that over these four weeks of advent we reflect on the four themes of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Another is that we look at Patriarchs, Prophets, John the Baptist and Mary.

In this week of advent the themes of Peace and Prophets collide which can be a surprising mix. Issiah sees a vision of a peaceful kingdom. John the Baptist cries in the wilderness preparing people for Jesus. Both these prophets were happy to “tell it how it is” to kings and rulers even if that meant severe consequences for them – they don’t pull their punches when talking to power. But the idea that the purpose of the prophets challenge is to bring about a peaceful kingdom can be missed.

One of the challenges of advent is to do the difficult things today in order that when tomorrow comes we are ready to receive “The Prince of Peace”. That is one of the reasons that Advent is a Penitential season. A season of repentance. A time of getting our stuff in order – or in the simplest of prayers “Sorry”. That is the path of Advent we are asked to keep walking at this time.

We have a variety of worship and services this weekend that continue our advent journey. Junior Church start to practice for the Nativity at All Saints. Open Church is an informal worship space that is an easy place to get to know people and invite friends. The Advent Carol Sequence at St Marys is a beautifully sung advent service that allows for moments of wonder and reflection.

Services this Sunday – 4th December 2022

10am – St Marys – Open and Creative Church Team – Advent theme

10.30am – All Saints – Sung Holy Communion with Junior Church – Revd Lizzie

6.30pm – St Marys – Advent Sequence – Revd Lizzie

A poem from Malcolm Guite (Parable and Paradox) for your reflections

Repent

Repent, repent! What can it mean to me,

But turn around, let go, release, relent,

Unshackle your dark mind and set it free.

Your heart always knew better, so repent!

Repent the cringing and the compromise,

The whole long sorry settlement with sin,

The lowered expectations, the fine lies

That kept the Kingdom locked within.

Your demons threatened dreadful things: they lied!

Repent, resist their tyranny, withstand

The false advances of the prince of pride.

The King is coming, he is on your side,

Rise with him now, rise up and make a stand.

Repent! The true fulfilment is at hand!

Revd Lizzie

The photo above shows a greenly glimmering wood we found ourselves in by the River Dart near Buckfast Abbey – a day or two before the November 2020 lockdown.It reminds me of the mysterious green wood with dark pools discovered by two children in ’The Magician’s Nephew’. If you’re a fan of the Narnia Chronicles by C.S.Lewis you might remember the scene where Polly and Digory find out that if they put on yellow rings and jump into a different pool, they enter a new world. Then by swapping the yellow rings to green ones they get back to the sleepy ‘wood between worlds’.
In her ‘Lectionary Reflections’ the theologian Jane Williams compares the season of Advent to Polly’s ‘Wood between the Worlds’ – or, as Digory prefers to call it, this ‘in-between place’. The children had to actively choose to jump into a different pool to reach a new world.
The Advent Sunday Bible readings all invite us to be active – to be squirrels not sloths, gardeners not gunmen, to seek the light – not cower in the shadows.

In Romans 13:11-14 Paul shakes his readers out of complacency. “Wake up!” he says. “The night is far gone, the day is near!” Be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!

Isaiah rallies God’s people saying ‘Come on! Let’s walk in the light of the Lord!’ God’s clarion call at Advent urges us to wake up and wage peace, beating swords into ploughshares and swords into pruning hooks.

In Advent we are invited to walk towards the manger by the light of a guiding star to discover the Jesus child. Maybe a vulnerable, beautiful baby, who invites care and protection, can actually teach us how to live more peacefully on God’s earth.

Services this Sunday 27th November

The First Sunday of Advent

Readings: Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44

08.00am All Saints Said Holy Communion

10.00am St.Mary’s Sung Holy Communion with St.Mary’s Kids

10.30am All Saints Cafe Church on the theme: Why go to church?

10.30am All Saints Christingle

Coming up in the week ahead

Wednesday 30th November 9am Celtic Morning Prayer at All Saints Church

Thursday 1st December 10am Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church

Saturday 3rd December 11am St.Mary’s Christmas Fair

Next Sunday 4th December

10.00 – Creative Open Church St Mary’s Church on the theme of Waiting

10.30 – Holy Communion at All Saints Church

18.30 – Veni Emmanuel – Advent Sequence at St Mary’s

So many joyful and reflective services to help you get ready for Christmas…

This Advent, how you will choose to let the light of love be born in you …?
Come, O come Emmanuel!

Revd Diane, assistant curate.

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” (John 18.36)

Jesus’ answer to Pontius Pilate, when asked if he is the King of the Jews, is in some ways enigmatic. But it is very clear about what the kingdom of God is not. It is not “from this world”. In John’s gospel, the term “world” (cosmos in the Greek), does not refer to the physical world. A different word is typically used for that. When Jesus says, “My kingdom is not from this world”, he means it does not fit into the worldly system of kings, armies, nations, and wars. It does not work in the same way as the Roman empire or the kingdoms that surrounded it. It does not use armies of followers to try to make Jesus king by force. It is not a kingdom in the way that Pilate or even the Jewish authorities understand. It “is not from here”.

But what is the kingdom and what does it mean to proclaim Christ as king?

Many of Jesus parables give images of what the Kingdom of God is like. It is like a tiny mustard seed growing into a great tree or a tiny bit of yeast that causes a whole loaf to rise. It is like hidden treasure or a beautiful pearl that someone would give up everything to own. It is like a great net catching all types of fish. It is like a great feast to which many are invited, but not all come. It is like a king who forgives the debts of his servants. It is like workers, who get a fair day’s pay however long they have worked.

But above all, it is about the king who is himself the way. It is about the king who leads by example and never with force. It is about the king who calls and waits patiently for a response. It is about the king born in the manger and the king hanging on the cross.

In the end, the kingdoms of this world cannot bring about peace or justice by force. It is only the love of God, shown in Christ on the cross, ruling in the hearts and minds of people that can bring good out of evil. That is the seed of the kingdom of God.

This Sunday, we will be reflecting more on the theme of Christ the King some more in our services, which are:

10:00 St Mary’s – Sung Baptism

10:30 All Saints – Holy Communion

There are the usual midweek services. Next Sunday there is Holy Communion at 10.00 at St Mary’s and Café Church at 10:30 at All Saints. In summary, the coming week’s services are:

Wednesday 23^rd – 9.00 am – All Saints – Celtic morning prayer

Thursday 24^th – 10.00 am- St Mary’s – Holy Communion

Sunday 27^th – 8.00 am – All Saints – Holy Communion (said)

10.00 am – St Mary’s – Holy Communion

10.30 am – All Saints – Café church

As we follow Christ in our lives, let us pray:

God the Father, 
help us to hear the call of Christ the King
and to follow in his service,
whose kingdom has no end;
for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, one glory.
Amen

Yours in Christ

Mark

Dear All Saints and St Marys

This weekend we gather in different ways and in different places for Remembrance Sunday. At All Saints Church we join with our Scout Groups and at St Marys we gather at the war memorial in the park. And although we are in different parts of Fishponds, we will be joined together by the collective silences, with a multitude of other gatherings all over the world, as people hold a pause. A moment. A time. A Space. A Silence. There is power to a collective gathering of remembrance. When we look around at others who join in the same simultaneous act, there is a glimpse of hope. In our unified silence I often find a gentle defiance that we know that we are people who are not made for war but for peace. In this I find a renewed commitment to want to be part of a more just world. I look forward to us remembering together.

Our services this Remembrance Sunday – 13^th November

8am – All Saints – Holy Communion

10am – St Marys – Sung Holy Communion followed by

10.55 – An Act of Remembrance in Fishponds Park

10.45am – All Saints – Service of Remembrance with the Scouting Association.

7.15pm – All Saints – Generations – Looking at Saints

THE WEEK AHEAD

Wednesday 16^th 09.00 – Celtic Morning Prayer at All Saints Church

Thursday 17^th 10.00 – Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church

Sunday 20^th 10.00 – Baptism Sung Communion at St Mary’s Church

10.30 – Holy Communion at All Saints Church

A prayer of Peace (Church of England)

O God of the nations,
as we look to that day when you will gather people
from north and south, east and west,
into the unity of your peaceable Kingdom,
guide with your just and gentle wisdom all who take counsel
for the nations of the world,
that all your people may spend their days in security, freedom, and peace,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Blessings

Revd. Lizzie

God of the Living

Greetings All Saints and St Mary’s!

As we walk this season between All Saints and Advent our thoughts turn to the people we love and see no longer. This week’s Gospel reading is very comforting because Jesus reassures his disciples that those who have died are still all alive to God.

Paul’s message to the Thessalonians likewise encourages the believers not to be alarmed at the passing of their friends. We are still connected to them – they live on through us too, when we imitate their good deeds to bless others in our turn.

Services this Sunday 6th November

Third Sunday before Advent

Readings Job 19:23-27a 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-5, 13-end; Luke 20: 27-38

10.00am St.Mary’s Creative and Open Church with Open Church Team

10.30am All Saints Holy Communion with Revd Lizzie Kesteven

6.30pm St. Mary’s Evensong with Graham Biddlecombe LLM

Coming up in the week ahead

Wednesday 9th 9am Celtic Morning Prayer at All Saints Church

Thursday 10th 10am Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church

Next Sunday 13th November is Remembrance Sunday

8am at All Saints Said Holy Communion

10am at St.Mary’s Sung Communion followed by Act of Remembrance in the Park

10.45 at All Saints All Age Remembrance Service with 13th Bristol -NOTE: later start time

Christian Art: All Saints

This wonderful website, which my sister introduced me to, reflects on each daily Gospel reading using a work of art. I was struck by the comment given for this painting depicting female saints.

“The illuminated page we are looking at today is stunning. As the perspective takes us deeper into the composition, the faces slowly disappear and the halos take over… It is a beautiful way to show us that there are so many anonymous saints around us too… people who never get recognised but do wonderful work for God.

The saints are actually not so very different from us: they come from similar backgrounds, similar education, similar worries, fears, strengths, etc… But what distinguishes them is that they took seriously God’s invitation to holiness.”

Painting: All Saints (females), From theBook of Hours of Luis de Laval, Louis de Laval Seigneur de Chatillon, Lord of Châtillon (1411-89) French, Executed 1470–1475 and 1485–1489, Workshop of Jean de Colombe, Paint, ink, gilding on vellum

The world we live in has been described by the acronymn VUCA – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. It is therefore humbling and a relief to remember saints are in fact forgiven sinners – people who discovered their need of God -who accepted with joy and thanksgiving that Christ died and rose again for them and the certain hope held out to them. Death and sin do not have the last word. Earth will know the peace of heaven in the end.

Special Prayer for this Sunday 6th November

God, our refuge and strength bring near the day when wars shall cease and poverty and pain shall end, that earth may know the peace of heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Revd Diane, Assistant Curate for All Saints and St.Mary’s churches

This week marks a change in direction. The church pivots to face the next season of the year and that begins with the celebrations of All Saints Day and the Commemoration of All Souls Day. For us that also means a celebration of a Patronal Festival, and Benefice Service, at All Saints Church. One of the readings for this Sunday is found in Pauls letter to the Ephesians 1. Here there is a very clear link to the church community and the power of the Holy Spirit, the promise that we remain connected through prayer to God and Christ and all those who have gone before us, are present with us now, and to those to come. It is a complete sense of belonging. An invisible yet tangible thread, through our experience of it, that binds us together as Christians in the church community of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

The link to the Holy Spirit and the thread that binds us is interesting, as the first celebrations of all the “Saints” used to occur just after the feast of Pentecost. Pentecost was seen as the natural season to celebrate and honour all the early Christian Saints and Martyrs. It was not until the later 9^th Century that All Saints day was moved to November 1^st by the Pope.

The shops are currently filled with pumpkins, and cobwebs, as people ready themselves for Hallow “een”. Yet even Hallow “eve” is a night linked to Christian Tradition when people would exchange prayers for gifts, prior to All Hallows Day (All Saints Day). I welcome the chance in this season to stop and reflect on the many great saints, and faithful loved ones from our families and communities whose stories teach me so much about how to live and who God is. It is a reminder to me of the connecting thread of the Holy Spirit through time and space that links us so closely to a universal communion that is far more expansive than I could ever possibly imagine. It is also a timely reminder that I belong to not just a communion of saints, but to God.

The following services this Sunday:

8:00 am – All Saints – Holy communion (said)

10:30 am – All Saints – Patronal Festival and Benefice Communion

6.30 pm – St Marys – Evensong

Please also join us for a special service of sung compline at All Saints on November 2^nd at 8pm. It will be a short, reflective, candlelit sung service by a bass and tenor choir directed by Andrew Morgan (RSCM Trustee). A chance again to belong to that communion of souls and saints.

Also this week:

The week ahead

Wednesday 2^nd 09.00 – Celtic Morning Prayer at All Saints Church

20.00 – Sung Candlelit Compline at All Saints Church

Thursday 3^rd 10.00 – Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church

Sunday 6^th 10.00 – Creative and Open Church at St Mary’s Church

10.30 – Holy Communion at All Saints Church

18.30 –Evensong at St Mary’s Church

Do join us for the Fish and Chip Quiz Supper at All Saints on Saturday 29th Oct 7pm if you fancy testing your wits against others. All Welcome.

I love the collect for All Saints Day, there is something about that phrase “knit together” that seems poignant and profound and yet at the same time joyful. And so I leave it here for your prayers.

Almighty God,

you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship

in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord:

grant us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living

that we may come to those inexpressible joys

that you have prepared for those who truly love you.

Blessings

Revd Lizzie

The opening up of your words gives light
it imparts wisdom to the naïve and inexperienced

Psalm 119.130

Dear All Saints and St Mary’s

The bible is such a fundamental part of our lives as Christians that we sometimes forget how significant a role it plays. Along with prayer, reading the bible is one of the essential parts of every service that we have in church. As this Sunday’s psalm puts it, it is the opening up or unfolding, of the scriptures that gives the light that we need to walk in the path of Christ. Even those with little experience of the complexities of life can gain valuable insight into how to follow the path that Jesus has set before us by understanding what the bible has to say. At our communion services this Sunday, Diane will be helping us think about the centrality of the bible to what we believe and how we live by reflecting on Jesus’ use of scripture in the synagogue at Nazareth.

At the Café service at All Saints this Sunday, we will be continuing our journey through Graham Tomlin’s book, Why being yourself is a bad idea. This month we will be looking at two chapters, Why everyone needs and identity crisis and Why freedom is not what you think it is. Chris will be guiding our discussions and helping us to think about what it really means to be free and what we do with that freedom.

This gives us the following services this Sunday:

8:00 am	All Saints	Holy communion (said)
10:00 am	St Mary’s	Holly communion
10:30 am	All Saints	Café service

We have our usual midweek services with Celtic morning prayer at All Saints on Wednesday and Holy Communion at St Mary’s on Thursday.

Next Sunday, we have our benefice service for All Saints Day at All Saints. As such, there will be no morning service at St Mary’s, but there will be choral evensong for All Saints Day in the evening. This gives the following services for the coming week:

Wednesday 19th	All Saints	9:00 am	Celtic morning prayer
Thursday 20th	St Mary’s	10:00 am	Holy communion
Sunday 30th	All Saints	8:00 am	Holy communion (said)
	All Saints	10:30 am	Benefice communion service
	St Mary’s	6:30 pm	Choral evensong

Some activities won’t be happening this week as it is the school half term. Please check with the leaders concerned. One activity that is happening is the Fish ’n’ Chip Quiz night on Saturday. Contact Dave Williams for further details.

Blessed Lord,
who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
help us so to hear them,
to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them
that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word,
we may embrace and for ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Yours in Christ

Mark

I have spent some time this week away on the Bristol Diocese residential clergy conference. We had the opportunity to spend time together in prayer, and worship and be blessed by some heart stopping testimonies and talks. (It was also great fun catching up with many familiar faces and learning new ones although I recognise that 150 clergy in one room is not everyone’s idea of fun!) The focus was Psalm 23, where we reflected on the valley, lament and hope. There were some amazing images that I hope over the coming months and years we will be able to share in. One that I has continued to capture my thoughts was when the speaker reshaped my concept about the banquet table. I had always imagined the two scenes, the valley and the table being separate. Two different places even. Yet her image was that the banquet table was set in the depth of the valley – it is there in the darkest and most dangerous of places that the shepherd feeds and nourishes the sheep. I will continue to reflect and pray around that for a while I suspect. This week our readings lend themselves to perseverance in prayer, the wrestling that Jacob does with God, and the continued knocking of the widow on the judges door. Life can have times and seasons where it feels like a continual slog of wrestling and knocking. Yet both of these stories from scripture, along with Psalm 23, are stories that bring hope, restoration and new things. I pray that is the case for you, others, the parishes and beyond this week.

Services this Sunday 16th October

Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity 

Readings  Genesis 32:22-32; 2 Timothy 2:8-15 Luke 18:1-8.

10.00am     Baptism in a Sung Service of the Word at St. Marys with Revd Lizzie and Revd Diane 

10.30am     Holy Communion Service at All Saints with Canon Paul Denyer

 

Coming up in the week ahead

Wednesday 19th  9am             Celtic Morning Prayer at All Saints Church            

Thursday 20th  10am             Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church    

 

Next Sunday 23rd October

8am at All Saints – Said service of Holy Communion

10am at St.Mary’s       Sung service of Holy Communion

10.30 at All Saints       Cafe Church

 

 

Blessings

 

Lizzie

Blessings of Creativity and Healing

Dear All Saints and St Marys

 

It has been a joy to celebrate Harvest Thanksgiving in both churches recently. The whole season is known as Creationtide. Just look at these amazing collages Creative Church made last Sunday using natural materials found in St.Mary’s Churchyard and petals from sunflowers donated by our friendly local Fishponds Sainsbury’s. Aren’t they just a stunning riot of colour and pattern!

 

Services this Sunday 9th October

Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity 

Readings  2 Kings 5: 1 – 3, 7 – 15; 2 Timothy 2: 8 – 15; Luke 17: 11 – 19.

8.00am       Holy Communion at All Saints with Revd Lizzie

10.00am     Holy Communion at St.Marys with Revd Diane & Mark 

10.30am Muddy / Messy Church at All Saints With Revd Lizzie

Coming up in the week ahead

Wednesday 12th  9am             Celtic Morning Prayer at All Saints Church            

Thursday 13th   10am             Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church    

Saturday 15^th 4.30pm Choral Evensong at St.Mary’s (3pm Organ recital, 4pm afternoon tea)

Next Sunday 16th October

10am at St.Mary’s       Sung Service of the Word with Baptism

10.30 at All Saints       Holy Communion

 

This Sunday’s Bible readings from the Old and New Testament are about people being healed from leprosy and wanting to show their gratitude for their cure. Naaman the Syrian army commander wanted to lavish expensive gifts on the prophet Elisha, but he would not take them because he knew that that the thanks and praise should go to God. In a story of healing from Luke we will hear about 10 people whom Jesus healed from leprosy. Much is made of the fact that only one came back to say ‘Thank you’. By sheer coincidence I was given two original batik banners (see photo) which were made during the 1970s in India by people with leprosy in the place where Irene Blessit was working.  If you are in All Saints, do go and see the Mary and Child batik in the Lady Chapel. Creativity and healing are closely linked.

Following Revd Lizzie’s encouragement last Sunday, let us continue to count our blessings and name them one by one, day by day. Then, as the song says, it may surprise you what the Lord has done.

Thanks be to God!

Revd Diane

 

Dressing for the colder weather at church

As the colder weather starts to become apparent we are trying a variety of different ways in which to conserve energy in both churches as well as still provide welcoming spaces for worship. Some services will move to easier spaces to heat, others will remain in church. We will experiment with what works best during the coming months. Please do feel free to wrap up warm, leave hats on during a service, bring your favourite hot drink or water bottle with you. We are also asking people to talk to PCC members and others in the congregations about what might work for them, and what their needs are. Some of us may not feel the cold as much as others, some of us have vulnerabilities that we are not aware of – we are all different, and yet have a shared responsibility to each other.

A couple of weeks ago I was encouraged to reset my daily routine. I am not very keen on trying to introduce new routines and was hesitant and suspicious of this ask – which didn’t bode well. The routine involved taking just 5 minutes a day, preferably when I could be undisturbed, to stop and just notice what was going on around me. I started to walk outside with a cup of tea in the early morning, or sometimes later just before it got dark. It was a breath in, a pause. I started to notice the sounds of the road, the house and the birds. I noticed the cold, the slight evening chill, and how it made me feel. But most of all it made me feel grateful. It was a way of reintroducing counting the blessings of the day to come and the day that had ended. It didn’t even matter if what ahead looked hectic or challenging, or if what had been had been hard or tiring. I surprisingly still felt thankful for something, often someone.

This week All Saints celebrates Harvest, a way of physically saying thankyou in worship and being able to share in the goods that God has given. If you can bring something to the service that would be wonderful and the gifts will be divided between the Julian Trust and Fishponds Food Bank. After our worship there is a harvest lunch and everyone is welcome to come and be together and eat together. There is no need to bring food, that is all pre prepared and there is a suggested donation towards this.

St Marys shares in creative ways reflecting on creation in the morning, and then thankful ways with Dedication Choral Evensong. A chance to give thanks for all those that make up the body of Christ.

As the colder weather starts to become apparent we are trying a variety of different ways in which to conserve energy in both churches as well as still provide welcoming spaces for worship. Some services will move to easier spaces to heat, others will remain in church. We will experiment with what works best during the coming months. Please do feel free to wrap up warm, leave hats on during a service, bring your favourite hot drink or water bottle with you. We are also asking people to talk to PCC members and others in the congregations about what might work for them, and what their needs are. Some of us may not feel the cold as much as others, some of us have vulnerabilities that we are not aware of – we are all different, and yet have a shared responsibility to each other.

The Week Ahead

Wednesday 5^th: 09.00 – Celtic Morning Prayer at All Saints Church

Thursday 6^th: 10.00 – Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church

Sunday 9^th:

• 08.00 – Holy Communion at All Saints Church
• 10.00 – Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church
• 10.30 – Messy / Muddy Church at All Saints Church

I found this prayer helpful when thinking on what thankfulness and blessing. I hope it blesses you.

Almighty God, Lord of all humanity, we bring our prayers to you not just for this day but for everyday, the everyday world in which we try and follow you from dawn to dusk, and often lose our way. But in this everyday world we depend utterly on so many people you give us. May we celebrate them and thank you for them and pray for them. Amen

Blessings

Revd Lizzie