#519 Hail and farewell
Fr Sam writes
It is a week of new beginnings and farewells. At our parish meetings last week, John, Paul, and Sally came to the end of their time as members of Diocesan Synod and the PCC. We are very grateful to them for their work over the last few years. Christopher, Sian, and Steffi have joined Deanery Synod, while Alan and Nigel have joined the PCC, and others have continued in their roles. Thank you to all of you for your work in the life of our parish.
At the annual meeting I also announced that Vanessa has a new job and is leaving the role of Parish Rooms Administrator that she has done so brilliantly for the last eight years. We are so grateful to her and wish her all the best. We are hiring for a new administrator: the job description is on the parish website, so do take a look. Maybe you or someone you know would be a good fit?
Finally, those who attend the 9.30 service at St Paul’s will have noticed a surge in the number of children singing in our choir over the last few months. Over the next two Sundays we will be giving them their surplices and formally admitting them as members of our choir. This is very exciting: please do pray for them as they take this step in their life in the Church.
This Sunday: a young man named Saul
As the fifty days of Eastertide continue, we begin to think of what it will mean for Jesus to ascend into Heaven and not to be with us as he was with the first disciples.
In our first reading, we hear of the death of St Stephen, who was stoned by a crowd that included a young man called Saul, and who had a vision of Christ in glory at the moment of his death (Acts 7.55-60). Our Gospel reading comes from the Last Supper, where St Thomas asked how they could go where Jesus was going, and he responded “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life” (John 14.1-14).
Image: Saint Stephen by Luis de Morales
Services this Sunday
| 8am | St Paul’s | BCP Mass | Fr Sam Tanna-Korn |
| 9.30am | St Paul’s | Parish Mass | Fr Sam Tanna-Korn |
| Organ prelude: Chant de Mai (op. 53, no 1) – Jongen Anthem: The strife is o’er – Ley Voluntary: Pièce pour grand orgue (W. 28) – Jongen | |||
| 10am | Woosehill Church | Morning Worship | Revd Cara Smart |
| 11am | St Nicholas’ | Community Eucharist | Fr Sam Tanna-Korn |
Is this your new office?
We are looking for a new Administrator for the St Paul’s Parish Rooms. The job advert is online now so do check it out: maybe it’s the perfect job for you…
Taizé service
Our next Taizé Service will be held on Sunday 10 May, 3pm in Emmbrook Village Hall. All are welcome to this peaceful, reflective service. The service is led by Susannah and Vernon. There will be tea, cake and fellowship afterwards.
Taizé services are meditative and reflective, simple but deeply beautiful. If you haven’t been to one before, why not try it out?
This week’s calendar: a saint and a writer
Today, 1 May, is the feast day of Saints Philip and James. They share a feast day not because they were closely connected in the Gospels, but because their relics were venerated together in the early Church at the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles in Rome. Philip, known for his direct, practical faith (“Come and see”), and James, remembered as a leader of the Jerusalem Church, represent two complementary ways of discipleship: invitation and steadfast leadership.
If you become a saint, who would you like to share a feast day with?
Image: Saint Philip by El Greco
