Parish Magazine ~ October 2020 Due to the Coronavirus ‘Lockdown’ of March 2020 onwards, the Parish magazine is published mainly online and only a few copies printed for archival purposes. Our Curate, The Rev’d Maureen Lunn, have been writing by email to members of the congregation, and the content appears here. Trinity 13: We have a blueprint for dealing with … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ September 2020 Due to the Coronavirus ‘Lockdown’ of March 2020 onwards, the Parish magazine is published mainly online and only a few copies printed for archival purposes. Our Curate, The Rev’d Maureen Lunn, have been writing by email to members of the congregation, and the content appears here. Trinity 8: ‘Are you a feeder too?’ Dear friends, … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ August 2020 Due to the Coronavirus ‘Lockdown’ of March 2020 onwards, the Parish magazine is published mainly online and only a few copies printed for archival purposes. Our Curate, The Rev’d Maureen Lunn, have been writing by email to members of the congregation, and the content appears here. Trinity 4 Dear friends, Friends old and new. Another … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ July 2020 Due to the Coronavirus ‘Lockdown’ of March 2020 onwards, the Parish magazine is published mainly online and only a few copies printed for archival purposes. Our clergy have been writing by email to members of the congregation, and the content appears here. Trinity Sunday Dear friends, Time rolls onward as an inevitable stream, and even … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ June 2020 Due to the Coronavirus ‘Lockdown’ of March 2020 onwards, th Parish magazine is published mainly online and only a few copies printed for archival purposes. The Vicar has been writing by email to members of the congregation, and the content appears here. Easter 4 – May 3rd 2020 Dear Friends, Perhaps this saying is familiar … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ May 2020 Due to the Coronavirus ‘Lockdown’ of March 2020 onwards, th Parish magazine is published mainly online and only a few copies printed for archival purposes. The Vicar has been writing by email to members of the congregation, and the content appears here. Holy Week: Dear St Mary Magdalene Family, In order to slow down the … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ April 2020 Due to the Coronavirus ‘Lockdown’ of March 2020 onwards, th Parish magazine is published mainly online and only a few copies printed for archival purposes. The Vicar has been writing by email to members of the congregation, and the content appears here. Coronavirus Task Force Dear friends, This is a time of anxiety and uncertainty, … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ March 2020 Dear friends, By now you will probably have heard our news, announced on 23rd February, that after 17 years as Vicar of St Mary Magdalene’s, I have accepted the invitation from the Crown to take up the post of Canon Chancellor of Rochester Cathedral. Such a decision and all it entails yields a mixture of … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ February 2020 Lent 2020 How do we belong to God and with Jesus? This year’s Lent Book is by David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, who writes: ‘Again and again, as I have sought to look into both the scriptures and my own life, I have heard in the silence the one who assures me, ever more strongly, … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ January 2020 Dear Friends, I hope you had a good Christmas and a happy new year. Thank you for all the cards we received. It was a good Christmas in Church too, attendances at the Christmas services were up, as was the generosity from congregations, and indeed so too was the amount of money we raised for … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ December 2019 Dear friends, What a wonderful production the Drama Group put on of Dorothy L Sayers two plays He that should come and Kings in Judea recently. Described by one member of the audience on the Friday night as ‘nativity plays for adults’ these were great dramas and explored the hidden depths and theological meanings behind … Read More
Dear Friends, Epilogue to my sermon from Paul’s 2nd Letter to Timothy 1: 1-14 This I believe, may be my last sermon before I retire, and if I was writing a letter to St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Windmill Hill, in the style of Paul to Timothy. In a paragraph or two it might read something like this: To My Beloved … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ October 2019 When we commemorated the end of the First World War last November we looked back at the parish magazines from 100 years earlier to see what people were saying at the time – particularly what the vicar wrote in the magazine and other parish records. Since then I’ve been very aware that what one writes … Read More
We Need One Another! My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I’m sure most of you will have now heard that I will be Retiring at Harvest, on Sunday 13th October 2019 at the 10am Service; followed by lunch in the hall. Retiring, but definitely not leaving! After a holiday, I plan to join everyone back in the pews; and … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ August 2019 Dear Friends, Well what a Patronal weekend we had! A stunning and well-attended Organ Spectacular at which John Rippin, Keith Beniston and Jonathan Marten played wonderfully, including a topically themed improvisation on ‘Blue Moon’ by Keith. After delightful fizz on the lawn, we adjourned to the Hall, where Judy Smith had prepared a bumptious dinner … Read More
Dear friends, It really began in the spring of 2017 when my nephew brought his fiancé to meet the family at my sister’s home in Berkshire. They told us that they planned to marry in May 2019 in Bali and they would be delighted (made up) if any of the family could be there. This got Malcolm and I thinking. … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ June 2019 Dear Friends, There isn’t much room for me in this month’s packed magazine! I don’t mind – as the American Composer John Cage once said, ‘I have nothing to say and I am saying it’! To be serious, we congratulate and welcome Annaliese Fenwick on her election as new Churchwarden and, for the second time … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ May 2019 Dear friends, Happy Easter! You will know that we have been spending time and money on the organ, and while we had hoped it would be ready for Easter Day, it wasn’t quite ready, but it very soon will be. The weekend of 18/19 May will be the time to celebrate its inauguration, and we … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ April 2019 30, The Ridgeway Dear friends, We must congratulate the ladies on the choir, who have now been singing with us for a hundred years! In the Parish magazine of April 1919, our predecessors reported: “An innovation has been introduced into the services at S.Mary’s by the admission of ladies into the choir in place of … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ March 2019 Dear Friends, It is the time of year again, but this time in a year that only comes around every six years, when we revise and reconstitute the Electoral Roll of the Parish. From what follows, dug up by Joy Heywood from the Parish Archives, you’ll see that this is the centenary of our Electoral … Read More
