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

I was thinking a little this week about the phrase “A wing and prayer” and pondering where it came from. I have always viewed it optimistically, a sense of relying and trusting that all will be well, even if planning has gone awry. The phrase originated from an incidence when a pilot was returning from a bombing raid in WWII. He was very unsure of his chances of getting back, and so asked for prayers to get them home. The plane landed safely, and so was known as the plane that “prayed its way back”.

Prayer is the interconnecting thread of a faith community, a thread that binds us to God, and each other. It is why Christians often pray in “the power of the Holy Spirit”. When in a small group leading some discussion based on prayer the other day, I asked everyone to think about what their favourite prayer was. It was a really insightful and felt deeply connecting and spiritually deepening as people shared what that was and why. I have lots of “favourites” so it is hard to pick one, or even a top ten. However, for me one of the prayers that we use in the church, one used this week at the funeral not only of HM Queen Elizabeth, but also of our dear friend Kay Powell, is the prayer of commendation. It is a prayer that has such certainty and assurance that whenever it is prayed, it makes me feel deeply thankful for my Christian faith. I offer this prayer to you today, but invite you to consider what your prayer is and possibly share that with someone in the coming week.

God our creator and redeemer,
 
By your power Christ conquered death
 
And entered into glory.
 
Confident of his victory
 
And claiming his promises,
 
We entrust our sister/brother to your mercy
 
In the name of Jesus our Lord,
 
Who died and is alive
 
And reigns with you
 
Now and for ever.
 
Amen

Our Worship this Sunday 25^th September

8am – Holy Communion – All Saints

10am – Sung Holy Communion with St Marys Kids – St Marys

10.30 – Cafe Church – All Saints

The Week Ahead

Wednesday 28^th 09.00 – Celtic Morning Prayer at All Saints Church

Thursday 29^th 10.00 – Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church

Thursday 29th 19.30 – St Marys PCC – Parish Rooms

Sunday 2^nd 10.00 – Open Church at St Mary’s Church

Sunday 2nd 10.30 – Harvest Festival at All Saints Church

Sunday 2nd 6:30 – Choral Evensong at St Mary’s Church

Please keep Revd Jordan and Revd Mary in your prayers as they finish their time and ministry at St Johns, St Aidens and St Michaels in the Kingsway Benefice, and also for those parishes as they enter into a vacancy process.

Blessings

Revd Lizzie

Those who sow in tears shall reap with songs of joy! Psalm 126.5

During this past week of mourning for our late Queen Elizabeth II we have been reminded again and again of the good seeds she sowed across our nations and the whole world. The seeds of healing, forgiveness and reconciliation she planted were particularly remembered and emphasised during the visit of King Charles III to Northern Ireland last Tuesday. At a service of commemoration and thanksgiving for the Queen’s life at Belfast Cathedral the lines of the final blessing were poignantly shared among church leaders across a spectrum of denominations, and leaders of different faiths were introduced to His Majesty.

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This Sunday’s Harvest Thanksgiving at St.Mary’s at 10am will be led in part by the Guides, Brownies and Rainbows. How fitting, since Queen Elizabeth II was Patron of Girlguiding from 1953 until her death on 8 September 2022 and she herself had been a Guide, Ranger and she loved guiding which involved adventures out of doors.

Do come along and give thanks for both our late Queen, to support the guides and to give thanks for the fruits of creation at harvest-time. You are most welcome to bring donations of packaged and tinned food for the Loaves and Fishes Project run by the Community of the Sisters of the Church in Ashley Road St.Paul’s. The sisters help people in times of need with food, friendship and support and they give out a food parcel weekly to anyone who calls asking for one. https://bristol.sistersofthechurch.org/loaves-fishes-ministry

All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above!
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord for all his love!

Services of Worship

Sunday 18th September

10.00am Harvest Festival at St. Marys with Revd Diane & Guiding Unit

Donations of tinned and packaged food welcome for the Loaves and Fishes food parcel ministry of the Community of the Sisters of the Church in Ashley Road, St.Paul’s.

Reading: Leviticus 23:33-43

10.30am Holy Communion at All Saints with Revd Paul Denyer.

Readings: Amos 8.4-7; Psalm 113; 1 Timothy 2.1-7; Luke 16.1-13.

You are still welcome to write a message or memory of the Queen in the books of condolence at St.Mary’s or All Saints this Sunday.

The Week Ahead

Services

Monday 19th 11.00 The State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey, broadcast on TV and radio

Wednesday 21st 09.00 Celtic Morning Prayer at All Saints Church

Thursday 22nd 10.00 Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church

Thursday 22nd 10.15 Funeral of Kay Powell at All Saints Church

Sunday 18^th 10.00 Holy Communion at St. Mary’s Church

10.30 Café Church at All Saints – on the theme of justice

Other events and activities

Monday 19th 10.30 Tiny Tots at All Saints – cancelled due to Queen’s funeral

Tuesday 20th 10.30 Music for Toddlers at St.Mary’s Church

Next Sunday

Sunday 25^th 10.00 Holy Communion at St. Mary’s Church

10.30 Café Church at All Saints – on the theme of justice

The last 24hrs have been extraordinary. As the Church and the World come to terms with the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and at the same time give thanks for the ascension of King Charles III, we have also been witnesses to a historic moment in time. It is time of change. The realisation of how closely linked, so many of the threads of life are to the monarchy, has dawned repeated in the last days as everyday items from coins to stamps, to clothing and anthems start that process of change. Queen Elizabeth has been a monarch who saw huge societal change in her lifetime, yet at the same time acted as a constant and familiar unchanging presence in so many peoples lives. One constant in her life has been her steadfast unapologetic but simultaneously warm Christian faith. The Queen was a person of prayer and a person who prayed. This faithful Christian witness has been an inspiration to many different people across countries and generations. She will be greatly missed by many, and we join others in praying for her and the Royal family at this time.

This Sunday our services of worship have been adapted to pay tribute to the late Queen in different ways. St Marys celebrates its patronal festival and we will continue in that, whilst also including readings, hymns and prayers that commemorate Elizabeth II. All Saints will have a reflective and quiet said service of Holy Communion at 8am, and then Muddy/Messy Church will gather at 10.30 in a way that continues to give thanks for and remember the Queen. (If coming to Muddy Church please try and find something purple to wear!)

Over the weekend both churches will be open at different times so that people can light a candle, pray and sign the book of condolences. If you can offer some time to be in our churches at all over the weekend whilst they are open please speak to or email Revd Lizzie.

SERVICES OF WORSHIP

SUNDAY 11^th SEPTEMBER

8am – ALL SAINTS – Holy Communion – Readings and Prayers for the Queen

10am – ST MARYS – Sung Holy Communion – Celebrating the Patronal Festival and Commemoration to HM QUEEN ELIZABETH II

10.30 – ALL SAINTS – MUDDY/MESSY CHURCH – Please wear something purple – Thanksgiving for the Queen.

CHURCH OPEN FOR PRAYER AND BOOK OF CONDOLENCES

SATURDAY 10^th SEPTEMBER

ST MARYS – 10am – 2pm. (SATURDAY LUNCHES WILL GO AHEAD IN THE PARISH ROOMS AT 12-2)

ALL SAINTS – OPEN 11am – 2pm.

SUNDAY 11^th SEPTEMBER (Including the services)

ST MARYS – 10am – 4pm

ALL SAINTS – 8am – 4pm

THE WEEK AHEAD

Wednesday 14^th 09.00 – Celtic Morning Prayer at All Saints Church

Thursday 15^th 10.00 – Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church

Sunday 18^th 10.00 – Harvest Services at St Mary’s Church

10.30 – Holy Communion at All Saints Church

One of the strengths of the Church of England has been its deeply profound and historic prayers that it has shared over centuries and generations. These liturgical yet precise prayers can often give us the words we need when others fail us. For me the Commendation Prayer is one such prayer. I offer it this week to you all and invite you to pray for the late Queen, HM King Charles III, the World and all the Royal family.

God our creator and redeemer,
by your power Christ conquered death
and returned to you in glory.
Confident of his victory
and claiming his promises,
we entrust your servant Elizabeth into your keeping
in the name of Jesus our Lord,
who, though he died, is now alive
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever. Amen.

Revd Lizzie

Better to be a flowing river than a stagnant pond”….these were the wise words, although surprising ones, that we spoken to me by my training incumbent as I left Southville to come to Fishponds. I think that his reflection was meant kindly, he was sad to see us all leave. However, in that moment he saw hope and optimism. He always thought that a church that had a continue flow of people coming and going was a sign of health. Of course a flowing river is only possible and healthy if there are rocks and foundations, river beds and flowers that remain a constant – but his point was that changing seasons and people are also a positive force for good. How many people do we hold and treasure dearly who have pasted through our midst? What have we learnt from them? What did they take with them that was a little piece of us?

This week a small “delegation” of us went to send on from Fishponds our love and blessings to Revd Janey as she was licensed and installed in her new parishes in Hereford. It was a great and adventurous (my driving late through the Wye Valley always being amusing for passengers!) and a joy to be with her. It was a joy to be a sending church, and to see Janey received so warmly by her new parishes. It was good to know we are part of that eternal flowing river.

SERVICES THIS WEEKEND

10.00 AM – St Marys – Creative Church – Theme: Friendship

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

6.30pm – St Marys – Evensong

THE WEEK AHEAD

Wednesday 7^th 09.00 – Celtic Morning Prayer at All Saints Church

Thursday 8^th 10.00 – Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church

Sunday 11^th 08.00 – Holy Communion at All Saints Church

10.00 – Holy Communion for Patronal at St Marys Church

10.30 – Messy / Muddy Church at All Saints Church

Please find attached the Roots materials for at home and the activitiy sheets that link to our bible readings this week as well as our weekly sheets.

We all look forward to welcoming everyone for worship, prayer and praise this weekend.

Blessings

Lizzie