Mothering Sunday
Next Sunday, 30th March, we celebrate Mothering Sunday, when we give thanks for the many ways our mums have cared for and influenced us. During the service our children will give flowers to every woman in the congregation while the choir sings Lakmé’s Flower Duet. We will also have a collection of dried and tinned foods in support of the food bank at St Matthew’s, Bayswater.
Annual Vestry and Parochial Church Meetings
Our APCM this year is on Sunday, 6th April, immediately following the 10am service. These are the meetings where we receive the annual report and accounts and elect our churchwardens and members to the Parochial Church Council (PCC). This year we will be electing churchwardens and two members to the PCC. Nomination forms are available at the back of church. Completed forms can be given to Bryan Sollenberger.
Our thanks to Andy Beverley and Ian Nelson, who complete their terms on PCC. We are especially grateful to Ian for serving as our treasurer. The vitality of a parish like St John’s is dependent on people being willing to give of their time and skills in leadership of the parish. We are as a community grateful for all that they have brought and shared. Please think carefully about whether you might have skills you can share by standing for PCC.
Easter Baptisms
Are you considering baptism? Easter is the perfect occasion and the dawn service at 6am on Easter Day is a great opportunity for it. This is a very special and unique service and there will be an opportunity for adults and children to be baptised as part of the Easter liturgy. If you are interested in being baptised at this service, please speak to one of the clergy as soon as possible.
HOLY WEEK & EASTER 2025
Passiontide Carols
Sunday 13th April, 6pm
Something new this year is a carol service for Holy Week! A special service on Palm Sunday evening where we recall the events leading up to Easter: the Last Supper, the betrayal of Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. This will replace our Stations of the Cross service.
Maundy Thursday, 17th April, 6pm
A special sung mass commemorating the Last Supper takes place on the Thursday night before Easter. The mass setting is by Joseph Jongen and the anthem is John Stainer’s The Agony. The service concludes with a brief vigil.
Good Friday Children’s Workshop, 18th April, 10am
A children’s activity morning is planned for Good Friday between 10am and 12 noon for children. Coffee, biscuits and hot cross buns will be available and we will build the Easter Garden. Volunteers are needed to help with the activities. A donation of £5 per child is requested (babies go free). If you can help, speak to Alex or Marcus.
Good Friday Liturgy of the Day, 18th April, 2pm
Good Friday is one of the holiest days in the Christian year. This service of reflection and prayer, centred on the passion and death of our Lord, is led by our choral scholars and is based around Will Todd’s Passion Music.
Mrs Mops’ Easter Special! 19th April, 10am
Come join us in our special effort on Saturday morning before Easter to clean and to get the church ready for Easter. Please speak to one of the staff team if you are happy to don your housecoat and report for duty for a morning of hard work and fun along with a mid-morning refreshment of the Vicar’s special hot milky brew. Come armed with your marigolds, Brasso and Pledge. Many hands make light work: please help if you can.
Dawn Vigil and First Mass of Easter, 20th April, 6am
At 6am we meet in a darkened church for a Vigil of readings as we await the dawn and the resurrection of our Lord. This colourful and dramatic service incorporates the Service of Light, Renewal of Baptism Vows and the First Mass of Easter. Well worth getting up for! The service is followed by breakfast and champagne.
Easter Breakfast
A cooked breakfast is served in the hall following the dawn service. Please sign up in the porch if you plan to stay for this. Anyone wishing to volunteer to help with breakfast would be very warmly welcomed by the Vicar (who will be coming off his Lenten diet).
Easter Reception
Following the Festival Eucharist on Easter morning there will be a fizz reception with finger food. Please bring a plate of finger food to share and indicate what you will be able to bring on the sign up sheet in the porch or on one of the clipboards that will be circulating during coffee.
Bible Book Club
Bible Book Club is held at 7.30pm on the first Wednesday of the month. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, 2nd April, where we will be exploring some of the relics linked to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. From the True Cross to the Holy Grail, we will be examining their biblical origins, significance and history, including Hitler’s search for sacred artefacts. Please contact Alex for more information.
Truth, Faith and Politics in a Post-Truth World:
exploring Bonhoeffer today with Rowan Williams
St Paul's Cathedral, Tuesday 20th May, 6.30-8pm
In the final months of his imprisonment in Flossenbürg concentration camp in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer looked beyond the walls of his cell—and beyond the walls of the Church itself—considering a way to speak of God that was not confined to religious insider language. What does that vision mean for us today?
Join us as Rowan Williams reflects upon how the Church can remain truthful in a post-truth world; how it can resist the urge to defend itself at every turn and instead become a community that welcomes the unexpected. In a time of uncertainty, what does it mean to live with courage, integrity and radical hospitality? Dr Williams is a poet and theologian and was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury.
Please contact Alex if you would like to reserve a free seat at this event. He will be meeting outside the front of the cathedral at 6.15pm.
Safeguarding and Photography at St John’s
Safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults is a priority at St John’s. A copy of the PCC’s Safeguarding Policy is available in the porch and on the parish website. Photographs of the church may be taken outside of services but please do not take any pictures during the service. When photographing the church, should you happen to capture people in your photographs, please delete them. Safeguarding concerns can be raised in the first instance with the church’s Safeguarding Officer, Mary Langford.
COMMUNITY NOTICES
Refugee Drop-in Volunteers
Since May St John’s has been hosting a monthly Sunday drop-in centre for refugees run by the West London Synagogue. This provides families with a hot meal, a shopping voucher and a contribution towards their transport, as well as signposting for other practical help. The drop-in centre normally takes place on the third Sunday of the month and they are always open to volunteers to assist them. If you would like to join the volunteer crew, please speak to the Vicar. The next drop-in centre is this afternoon at 12.30pm (not the third Sunday as normal).
Book Club
St John’s Book Club met recently to discuss The Road Home by John Wyndham, which was a popular choice. Their next meeting will be on 12th May and the book choice is Prophet Song by Paul Lynch – winner of the Booker Prize in 2023 – which imagines Ireland slipping into totalitarianism after the rise of the right-wing National Alliance Party. Civil liberties erode and civil war breaks out. For further information about the book club, please speak to Irwin Nazareth.
