St John’s Late

St John’s Late continues our winter series this evening with a popular jazz mass at 6pm in an informal jazz club setting. The choir will sing the mass setting – Chilcott’s Little Organ Mass - and the anthem is Hogan’s arrangement of This Little Light of Mine.

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!

NB Make sure you order your lunch tickets today as final numbers will be given to the cook Monday morning!

Bible Book Club

Bible book club meets once a month to read and to discuss the gospel reading for the coming Sunday and concludes with Compline. Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of the month – the next meeting is on 5th February. For further information, speak to one of the clergy.

Ash Wednesday, 26th February 2020, 12.00 noon & 7.00pm

We begin our Lenten observations on Ash Wednesday, which this year falls on 26th February. As usual there will be a said lunchtime service at 12.00 noon. In the evening there will be a sung Eucharist at 7.00pm (note the slightly earlier time this year), the setting Victoria’s Missa Quarti Toni, featuring Allegri’s Miserere and Casals’ O Vos Omnes. If you still have your palm crosses from last year, bring them in and we will burn them to make this year’s ash.

Rainy Day Appeal

Raised: £30,058

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 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).

A Big Gay Night Out

Dick Whittington (an adult Panto) December 2020! There’s nothing like planning ahead – and tickets for this year’s panto at Above the Stag are now on sale! If you are interested in coming to the Panto on Tuesday 8th December 2020, please contact Ian Smith [ipas@hotmail.co.uk] asap. Tickets, £28 a seat, sell fast (even this far ahead!).

A Big Gay Night Out

COMMUNITY EVENTS

School Gate Gossip

This week has seen a big focus on reading at St James and St John. We've been starting the day with reading and also dropping everything and reading when we get the signal! We've also started to use our new school library. We're beginning to organise our books and have started to order some new furniture. Keep a look out for our ‘sponsor a new book’ campaign as we try and ensure we have a really good stock of books - your name could appear in the front of one of our books for years to come! Our year two class visited the Tower of London this week to support their history and design technology learning. At the moment we are preparing to take part in our upcoming special Science week where we will be carrying out different practical experiments and preparing our homework projects for the Science Fair. Our children's fundraising committee has launched our annual penny wars fundraiser and some of our classes have got off to a flying start - we will know the winning class by the end of this term.

We hold school tours every other Wednesday at 9:30am so if you are interested in visiting our school, please get in touch with our school office by email - office@stjstj.co.uk

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.