Dear all
It is starting to feel like summer has properly begun here at St Mary Abbots. A significant reason for this is that the school broke up for holidays this week. As you may know the school comes to the Church every Thursday morning for a Eucharist service, as well as clergy taking assembly in the school every Monday morning. This week we had a special Eucharist service for Year 6 who will be leaving St Mary Abbots School. This was my first experience of this type of service here (or anywhere actually) and I found it to be an amazing combination of joy, sadness and gratitude. Amid the service the pupils were invited to share memories of their time at school. I wasn’t expecting the openness and heartfelt reflections from the pupils. They obviously have had a great deal of love for their teachers and each other over the years, and their willingness to share this in front of each other and the whole school and parents was lovely to hear. It made me reflect on my time at primary school and the friends I had made and all the fun stuff I did. You forget sometimes the preciousness of these times at such a formative age. Joining with the school on Thursday is a highlight in our calendar. We are incredibly thankful for all who make the service happen, especially our verger Martina, and Alison from the congregation who plays piano throughout the year. We continue to pray for Year 6 as they move on and for all pupils, parents, teachers, and staff; that they have a blessed summer. Although we may be in the middle of the summer, we continue to meet for daily offices and midday Eucharists and our Sunday services follow the normal pattern. While there will be no Sunday School provision there will be a pack of activities prepared by Martina for the 9.30 am service and families are always welcome. We would love to still see as many children, young people, and parents as possible. Looking ahead to future events at the Church – on Wednesday 31st there will be a special free concert featuring the music institute of The Music Institute of Chicago Virtuoso Strings. A great opportunity to hear quality music during the week from a group of talented musicians of a variety of ages. They have generously asked that the retiring collection at the end of the concert will go towards the work of our partners at Glass Door. Speaking of Glass Door, in October the Church will be taking part in the annual sleep out fundraiser. This is open to all our congregation from teenage years upwards, so if any families want to get involved, please contact me for more details. Lastly there will a final opportunity to enjoy a summer fete in the Vicarage Garden on August 14th arranged by a group of volunteers from M&C Saatchi who are fundraising for refugee charity ‘Choose Love’. More details can be found on the 'what is on' page of the website. For those who are about to go away on holiday, we pray for relaxing time and safe travel. Best wishes, Fr Tim 25th July 2024 |
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