Farewell, Owen Dobson
This morning we bid a fond farewell to Owen Dobson, who has been a temporary member of the clergy team since June. We wish to thank him for the pastoral care that he has provided, the work that he has done reviewing the service sheets for the said Eucharists and facilitating Bible Book Club and his course Being Christian. Do wish him well over a glass of fizz after the service.
Morning Anthem
Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) was a true child prodigy and the first-ever female winner of the Prix de Rome composition prize. She started attending the Paris Conservatoire before she turned five. Her style is particularly influenced by Debussy and reflects a profound sense of intensity, isolation and alienation partly caused by her struggles with depression and long-term illness; she eventually died of intestinal tuberculosis at age 24. Today’s anthem is an excerpt from one of her orchestral psalm-settings, Psalm 129, which begins; Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth up, now may Israel say; the plowers ploughed upon my back and made long furrows.
London-Berlin Link
This morning we welcome Jürgen Wandel from Berlin, visiting us as a partner in the Berlin-London link. Begun in 1999, a partnership was formed when the Bishops of London and Berlin-Brandenburg recognised that, while churches in both cities shared recognisable stories, there were striking differences. The partnership exists to deepen understanding and to think together about common issues. An exchange programme runs between parishes in the two cities for mutual learning about mission in our respective cities. We have welcomed guests from Berlin on previous occasions as well as sent representatives from St John’s to Berlin as part of this partnership.
St John’s Quiz Evening
17th October, 7pm
Our annual quiz takes place on Thursday, when Chris Cochran, landlord of The Victoria, will once again have an array of questions to test your general knowledge. The evening starts at 7pm in church. Tickets cost £20 and are available from the parish office. Included in the ticket price is a supper of homemade cottage pie! Several teams have booked but there is room for one or two more. Or come on your own and help to form a team on the evening – it’s great fun!
Lunchtime Proms, Autumn 2024
Sunday 27th October, 11.30am
Dorian Demeny, guitarist
The next prom concert in our autumn series features prize-winning classical guitarist Dorian Demeny. He made his debut concert performance at age six and since then has performed widely across Europe, collaborating with soloists, choirs and other ensembles. He is a graduate of both Stuttgart’s State University of Music and Performing Arts and London’s Royal College of Music. He will perform works by H. Villa-Lobos, F. Sor, A. B. Mangoré and J.S. Bach.
All Souls
4th November 2024, 6pm
We mark this special festival with a service at which we remember those who are part of the church community but who have died. This year the choir are singing the Requiem by J A Trotta and during the service we remember those dear to us. If you will be at the service and wish to have loved ones remembered, please add them on the sign up sheet in the porch. As part of the liturgy, there will be opportunity for you to light a candle and place it on the altar in remembrance of your loved ones.
Sunday, 10th November 2024
Remembrance Sunday
We will observe Remembrance Sunday on 10th November at the 10am service. We shorten the service in order to be outside at the War Memorial at 11am. For the end of the service the choir will lead us to the War Memorial in the north garden for a short Act of Remembrance, the laying of wreaths and a two minutes’ silence.
Jenny Clark Concert
This year’s Jenny Clark Concert also takes place on Sunday, 10th November, immediately following the 10am service. This year the concert marks 20 years since the purchase of our Yamaha C7 concert grand piano and features both it and our choral scholars. We are very much looking forward to their programme. The concert will last 35-40 minutes and is open to all.
St John’s Late
Returning in November, St John’s Late services offer a friendly but contemplative space for those who’ve missed the morning, want to try something different or need space for reflection.
Compline
10th November 6.00pm
This ancient monastic service, in a candlelit church, is stunning in its simplicity. The service is sung and the anthem is Evening Prayers (Three Prayers of Dietrich Bonhoeffer) by Philip Moore. Sign up if you wish to join us for supper beforehand in the hall at 5pm.
Choral Evensong
17th November, 6.00pm
This service is the foundation of English tradition, a gem in the crown of the prayer book. The setting for the responses is by Bernard Rose with the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis by C.V Stanford in A. The anthem will be Handel’s O Come, Let Us Sing Unto the Lord.
Jazz Mass
24th November, 6.00pm
The atmosphere of a jazz club, great music and the beauty of the eucharist meet in this fantastic service with wine and nibbles available throughout. The setting is Chilcott’s A Little Jazz Mass and the anthem is Acclamation (Gospel Mass) by R.Ray
Autumn Education Courses
Lower than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity
5th November 6.30pm - 9pm, St Paul's Cathedral
Few matters produce more public interest or division than sex and religion. Revolutions in attitudes in the last generations have brought liberation to some, fear and fury to others. Diarmaid MacCulloch, Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford, will seek to calm fears and encourage understanding by telling a 3,000-year-long tale of Christians encountering sex, gender and family, from the Bible to the present day. Entry is free. We will be meeting outside the cathedral at 6.15pm so we can enter and sit together.
Bible Book Club
Bible Book Club returned this September and is held on the first Wednesday of the month. Future meetings will be on 6th Nov and 4th Dec at 7.30pm. The November meeting will be at Alex’s house, 23 Archery Close.
Advent Course
Heaven and Earth Collide
The Advent Course will take place on Wednesdays, 11th and 18th December, at 7.30pm. In these two sessions we will be expanding on the theme of our Advent Carol Service, ‘Heaven and Earth Collide: An Advent Odyssey’. For further information and to book please contact: parishadmin@stjohns-hydepark.com. All events are free to attend.
Purcell Club Tour - Westminster Abbey
6.45pm - 9.15pm on Saturday 16th November
The Purcell Club is named after Henry Purcell, the famous composer, who was organist of Westminster Abbey from 1679-1695. It is a male voice choir formed predominantly from members of the Westminster Abbey Old Choristers’ Association, though guest singers join us from time to time. The singers give their services in order to put on these tours and all the profits from ticket sales go to support the Abbey and a range of small charities.
Visitors assemble at 6.45pm in the Cloisters for a welcome by a member of the Purcell Club or Abbey clergy. They then move into the Abbey and take seats in the Nave for the commencement of the tour at 7.00pm, when the first piece of sacred music is sung. Our guide describes the history and architecture of the Abbey in some detail, moving from one location of interest to the next, including the Quire, Sacrarium, High Altar, the Cosmati Pavement (unique in this country), St Edward the Confessor’s Shrine, Henry VII Chapel and Poets’ Corner. At various points there is a pause for members of the Purcell Club to sing suitable musical items ranging from the 16th to 21st centuries. On returning to the Nave for the final part of the tour, a short piece is played by one of the Abbey organists to demonstrate the Abbey’s magnificent organ. The tour ends with the choir singing a piece of suitable solemnity, such as ‘The Kontakion for the Departed’, around the Unknown Warrior’s Grave as the lights dim. The evening concludes at approximately 9.15pm.
Tickets are £50 each and we are strictly limited to 25 places. We will look to have a meal beforehand (payable separately) ensuring we are in the Cathedral for 6.45pm. Please email the office for further info and to book either of these two events.
Book Club
Book Club met recently and discussed The Night Watch, by Sara Waters. They chose their next book – Hilary Mantel’s A Memoir of My Former Self. They will consider this book at their next meeting on 14th October. As well as a celebrated novelist, Hilary Mantel long contributed to newspapers and journals, unspooling stories form her life and illuminating the world as she found it. “Ink is a generative fluid,” she explains. “If you don’t mean your words to breed consequences, don’t write at all.” A Memoir of My Former Self consists of the finest of this writing over four decades.
