#498 Drop down, ye heavens
Did someone say something about mince pies?
The wreath is going up. The choir are singing “Drop down, ye heavens, from above”. The Rector has been seen in the vestry trying on the purple cope. And from my mousehole in the choir I have heard mutterings of carol services near and far. Advent must be about to begin.
It’s a good time to be a mouse: the church is busy and warm, and people will always leave those crumbs for a hungry mouse to nibble on. But I never quite get all I want: really a mince pie needs a wedge of Stilton on top to make it perfect…
Fr Sam writes
When a priest arrives in a parish, they are always advised to make no drastic liturgical changes – very sound advice. And the worship in this parish doesn’t need it anyway!
Nonetheless, if you come to the parish mass at St Paul’s this Sunday you will notice some slight changes.
The first is to Pews News: Louise and I have been working on a redesign that will allow us to include the text of the readings. This improves accessibility for those harder of hearing, as well as allowing people to take the readings home and consider them over the course of the week.
And the second is to the order of service. There are no radical changes to the content: the most significant difference you will notice is to the layout. We have tried to make it simpler, so it’s easier to follow and again more accessible. There is also a slight tidy-up to the end of the service, which I think will make it flow better. The most significant change is having the final dismissal from the altar rather than the back of the church.
Hopefully you will find these changes helpful rather than distracting. Feedback is warmly appreciated!
This Sunday
This Sunday the great season of Advent begins. It is, of course, most famously the season of preparing for Christmas. But it is also a season of preparation for the end of the world, for the second coming of Christ. So in this season, think not only about preparing for the coming festival, but also about yourself.
In Advent, our liturgy is more sombre. We omit the Gloria in excelsis, and there is no organ music before the service. The altar and the priest are in solemn purple. But we are also aware throughout the season that the light is growing: the Christ-Child, after all, is on his way…
In Advent we look particularly at the book of Isaiah. Our first reading this Sunday has the prophet encouraging the people to “walk in the light of the Lord”. In our Gospel, Jesus tells us to be ready, because he will return “at an unexpected hour”.
Services this Sunday
| 9.30am | St Paul’s | Parish Mass | Fr Sam Tanna-Korn |
| Anthem: O come, O come Emmanuel – Parker/Shaw Voluntary: Toccata (from Variations on ‘Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland’) – Bédard | |||
| 10am | Woosehill Church | Café Church | Revd Cara Smart |
| 11am | St Nicholas’s | Community Eucharist | Revd Judi Hattaway |
| 6.15pm | St Paul’s | Advent Sequence | Fr Sam Tanna-Korn |
Advent Sequence
This Sunday evening is the Advent Sequence: a service of readings and music for Advent, focusing especially on the great Advent text Rorate Coeli: “Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness.”
The service is at 6.15pm and can also be watched on the church’s livestream.
The choir will be organising refreshments and carol singing in the Parish Rooms afterwards. They will be grateful for donations of mulled wine, soft drinks, beer, mince pies, savoury nibbles etc. Anything not used on the night will be donated towards the refreshments after Nine Lessons and Carols.
16 Days of Activism
The Mothers’ Union invite you a service at St Paul’s for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence on Thursday 4 December at 10am led by the Rev Jane Kraft.
Image: Esther before Ahasuerus by Artemisia Gentileschi
Yeldall Manor
Yeldall Manor is a Christian-based residential drug and alcohol recovery centre near Twyford for men struggling with addiction. Over the past few years we have been sending small gifts for the men to receive at Christmas. For any member of the congregation who would like to contribute, here is a list of appropriate items:
- Pens, stationery, pocket games
- Sweets, chocolate or healthy/savoury snacks (small packets only)
- Socks, scarves, gloves, warm hats
- Toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, cologne, razors (not disposable), nail brushes/clippers (no shower gel please)
Each item should be wrapped individually with a post-it note indicating the contents so that we can put the stockings together. You can also purchase items from our gift list.
I am happy to take the gifts to Yeldall Manor; please let me have them by Sunday 14 December at the latest. Thank you. Teri Austen
Lucky Numbers
The Lucky Numbers draw for November has taken place and the winners are:
£50 – no.94 Jane Bingham
£25 – no.33 Petra Johnson
£15 – no.81 David and Janet Charlton
£10 – no.36 Ann Eggleston
Congratulations to these winners!
Lucky Numbers is a monthly draw which supports our parish church fund for restoration and renewals work on St Paul’s church building
Each share in the draw costs £2.00 per month and the total number of shares is unlimited, so you can apply for as many as you wish. Should you wish to take part, and enjoying the chance of being a winner, please contact Tony Roberts or Liz Gallagher at St Nicholas or Jenny Perris, who has taken over the Lucky Numbers bucket from Mary, at St Paul’s.
This week’s calendar: the first apostle
St Andrew, one of the first disciples called by Jesus, was a fisherman from Galilee who is often remembered for his willingness to bring others to Christ, most famously his brother Simon, who became St Peter. Andrew was martyred, and today he is honored as the patron saint of (among others) Scotland and fishermen.
Advent always begins on the Sunday nearest St Andrew’s feast day, 30 November, so this year he is moved to Monday 1 December.
