Hearing the Service
St John’s has an Induction Loop System so if you have a hearing aid, please switch it to the ’T’ setting.
Epiphany Carols
12th January 2020, 6 pm
After our fantastic Advent and Christmas carol services, what next? Epiphany carols! Robert, Nicky and the choir have prepared another special treat to conclude our seasonal celebrations marking the events of the Epiphany season. Featuring music by John Williams, Somewhere in My Memory (from Home Alone), John Rutter’s Candelight Carol, The Call from Ralph Vaughan William’s Five Mystical Songs, Nunc Dimittis by Katie Melua, The Maji’s Epiphany Dreams by Sorenson and On the Nature of Daylight by Max Richter, the service will be followed with fizz and galettes des rois. A great way to beat the post-Christmas blues!
St John’s Late
St John’s Late returns for the winter from 19th January
19th January, 6pm
Choral Evensong
A candlelit choral service. Centred around a reading from the Bible, with the choir singing the service, including a psalm and the canticles Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis. The Responses are by Smith and the settings for the canticles by Stanford. The anthem is Wood’s Hail Gladdening Light.
26th January, 6pm
Jazz Mass
A joyous mass with choir and double bass in the setting of a jazz club. The setting is Chilcott’s Little Organ Mass and Hogan’s This Little Light of Mine the anthem.
2nd February
A mid-winter Sunday evening hiatus. There is no evening service this Sunday.
9th February, 7pm
Compline by Candlelight
Night prayer with choir and flute, preceded by a soup & cheese supper at 6pm. A sung service stunning in its simplicity. The anthem will be In Pace in Idipsum by O Lassus.
16th February, 6pm
Jazz Mass
Before the solemnity of Lent, the excitement of a second jazz mass! The setting will be Todd’s Missa Brevis and the anthem Hogan’s arrangement of Let the Heaven Light Shine on Me.
Margaret Legg
Sadly for St John’s, after 12 years of wonderful ministry here, Margaret is due to retire from being our Assistant Priest on 2nd February 2020. During her 12 years at St John’s, Margaret has become much loved as a dutiful pastor and friend to so many and has built up Culture Vulture Ventures as an integral part of our communal life together. She has entertained us with her royal tit bits in her sermons and brought her many years of experience to illustrate living out our faith in real life. There is much for which to give thanks and to celebrate and we will be doing so on 2nd February after the 10am service so please save the date in your diaries so that we can give Margaret a positive send off!
Nick Miller
Not only is Margaret retiring but Nick Miller, our organist for the past seven years, is moving on to new pastures. While very sad that he is moving on, we are pleased at his appointment as Director of Music at St Margaret's, Putney. Nick is a gifted organist and we have been very appreciative of the huge contributions he has made to the music at St John’s through his playing, especially his amazing voluntaries, and his arranging of the music for many of our large services. His last service will be Epiphany Carols on 12th January. We wish Nicky well in his new post.
Rainy Day Appeal
Raised: £27,208
Target: £40,000
Two years ago we undertook some very essential repairs to the roof, gutters and parapets. If you look up on the outside north or south sides of the church, you’ll notice the beautiful new stonework. To fund the works, however, we had to borrow £200,000 from the Diocese of London.
The goal of our Rainy Day Appeal is to raise £40,000 to cover this year’s repayment commitment and interest. There are 160 metres of guttering, which works out at £250 per metre (£200 per metre if gift aided). To clear one or more metres or for more information about Gift Aid, speak to Bryan Sollenberger. Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far.
Culture Vultures Venture
Culture Vulture Ventures Special Treat
A Private Guided Tour of Buckingham Palace: 24th January 2020
CVV have managed to snap up tickets for a Private Guided Tour of Buckingham Palace on Friday, January 24th at 4.30pm - an ideal Christmas or Birthday gift for that special person! Our guide for the tour will explain how the Palace has evolved from a private royal residence to become one of the most famous buildings in the world and will describe the paintings, porcelain, furniture and sculpture as we move through the State Rooms. There will be no barriers in place so we can view the treasures close up and ask questions galore, before enjoying a glass of champagne and doing some royal shopping (20% discount available)! Afterwards we enjoy a 3-course dinner (drinks self-paying) at The Naval and Military Club, known informally as The In & Out, (www.theinandout.co.uk) a private members club with a strict dress code, located at 4 St James's Square, SW1Y 4JU. A big thank you to Andy Beverley for facilitating this. Total cost £115 each. Meet at the Ambassadors' Entrance on Buckingham Palace Rd. Payment to Margaret please (cheques preferred). All tickets have been taken for this event but there is a waiting list.
Culture Vultures Venture again to The Cockpit Theatre: Saturday February 1st
Come and hear two of our choral scholars: Helen May, soprano and Kieran White, tenor (in the choir three years ago) sing with the Ensemble Orquesta (violins, cello, lute, baroque guitar, harpsichord and organ) in Italian with English surtitles, in Cavalli’s ‘La Calisto’ at 7.30pm on Saturday February 1st at The Cockpit Theatre, Gateforth St, Marylebone, NW8 8EH thecockpit.org.uk. This 17th-century baroque masterpiece is brimfull with beautiful music and emotions ranging from sexual intrigue and seduction to cross-dressing, comedy and disguises. It is thought-provoking, entertaining and uplifting. Meet at 5.30pm for supper (self-paying) at The Seashell, 49-51 Lisson Grove, NW1 6UH, 020 7224 9000 seashellrestaurant.co.uk, one of London’s finest fish restaurants and just a short walk from the theatre. Thanks to our churchwarden we have a 50% discount so tickets are only £8.50. Please give Margaret payment (cheques preferred).
COMMUNITY EVENTS
School Gate Gossip
The new year has started at St James and St John with a busy first week at school as we start our exciting curriculum topics for this term and look forward to our poetry week in February. Our Year 5 class have been on a trip to the British Museum to enhance their learning about the Ancient Egyptians. Our year six children have been to visit the Science museum to continue their work on evolution and adaptation. We had exciting news this week that our Year 6 children will have the opportunity to take part in an engineering project being run by Rolls Royce and the Royal Albert Hall. They will be using computer programmes to help design a stage set for a Cirque de Soleil production. The project will involve using new computer software as well as attending a performance at the Royal Albert Hall. The school has also been awarded a grant from the My Westminster Fund set up by Westminster City Council to support community projects. We will be receiving funding to support our gardening and cookery clubs over the next two terms.
We were delighted that the school performance tables last year show that the school was well above the national average for attainment and progress at the end of KS2 and our results place us in the top 10 primary schools in Westminster.
We are welcoming several new children to our nursery class at the start of this term and wish them all well as they settle in. Our nursery class now has a waiting list for spaces, please do contact the school office if you are interested in your child joining our waiting list for a place or you would like to apply for a place to start in September 2020. If you are interested in applying for a Reception place to start in September 2020, the deadline for applications is Wednesday 15th January.
Stay and Play
A community playgroup meets weekly in St John’s on Thursday mornings from 9.30-11.30am. Come and stay for a play, a sing-song and to share stories over a cup of coffee. All children and babies are welcome (newborn to 5 years). Suggested donation: £2.
