#530 Putting it all together
Fr Sam writes
Magnificent progress continues in the Parish Rooms toilets: it’s time for the men’s to be gutted and put back together. It is all going smoothly so far!
The PCC met on Monday this week. We heard encouraging updates about the work with young adults in the parish, along with financial updates and some important policy work – and the first thoughts of works that need doing on the fabric of St Paul’s…
This is my last update for a little while: I will be off on holiday for a couple of weeks. For anything urgent, please contact the parish office or one of the churchwardens.
This Sunday: all about the Kingdom
Our first reading this Sunday the conclusion of Romans 8, where St Paul teaches about our dependence on God, ending with the knowledge that nothing will separate us from the love of God (Romans 8.26-39).
Our Gospel reading is a sequence of parables about the Kingdom of Heaven, including the mustard seed, the leaven, the great pearl, the treasure in a field, and the dragnet (Matthew 13.31-33, 44-52).
Image: The Pearl of Great Price by Domenico Fetti
Services this Sunday
| 9.30am | St Paul’s | Parish Mass | Fr Sam Tanna-Korn |
| Organ prelude: Voluntary no. 1 in A major – Maurice Greene Anthem: Angels, ever bright and fair (from Theodora) – G. F. Handel Voluntary: March (King’s Birthday Ode, 1769) – William Boyce | |||
| 10am | Woosehill Church | Holy Communion | Revd Cara Smart |
| 11am | St Nicholas’ | Community Eucharist | Fr Sam Tanna-Korn |
Fr Tony Kemp RIP
Fr Tony’s funeral will be on 4 August at St Mary’s on Hayling Island.
We are exploring whether we might be able to organise a coach to the funeral. If enough people are keen to go, the cost will be no more than £30 (and possibly cheaper depending on the numbers). If you would like to go, please let Rhoda Hart know by email or sign up on the sheet at St Paul’s on Sunday. We need to know final numbers by the end of the day on Sunday.
August Organ Recital
On Sunday 16 August our organist, Christopher Cipkin, will be giving an organ recital at St Paul’s. The recital will cover 300 years of music from England and North America by Burney, SS Wesley, WT Best, Darke, Carter, Bédard, and Groom te Velde.
Retiring collection for the organ fund. Refreshments will be served at the end of the concert.
Mothers’ Union lunch
This year celebrates the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the Mothers’ Union and, to mark this anniversary, the St Paul’s branch is planning to take a small part in the 9.30am service on Sunday 9 August, followed by lunch in the parish rooms. We should be pleased if members of the congregation would join us for lunch on this day, particularly if you would like to know more about the work of the Mothers’ Union. There will be no charge for the lunch, but a donation to the MU charities would be appreciated.
In addition, we are delighted that Rev Jane Kraft, who is a Diocesan Member of the Mothers’ Union, will be conducting the service.
9 August is doubly appropriate, as we also remember on this day, Mary Sumner, the lady who inspired this movement in 1876.
Please RSVP by 1st August to teri@theaustens.uk
This week’s calendar: the argumentative disciple
On 25 July the Church celebrates St James the Apostle, one of the first disciples called by Jesus and, along with his brother St John and St Peter, one of the three who witnessed the Transfiguration and who prayed with Jesus in the Garden.
James was ambitious, argumentative and sometimes impetuous, yet his life was gradually reshaped by following Christ, until he became the first of the apostles to suffer martyrdom.
His feast reminds us that discipleship is not about status or importance, but about sharing in Christ’s life.
Image: St James, by Rembrandt
