Welcome, Bienvenue, Bienvenida,Witamy, Selamat datang....Wil CumaDear All Saints and St MarysI am very fond of the signs that have the world Welcome on their doors, especially the ones that have it in multiple languages. The world Welcome comes from two words - "Wil" which means "desired" and "Cuma" which means "Guest". Its a rather lovely way to think about the word - to desire a guest. To wish for company. At both All Saints and St Marys we welcome people in all sorts of different ways, and to many different things - worship, concerts, groups, cafes. To extend a welcome to a whole community is something that is core to the values of the Church of England, which has, a parish in every part of the country. Part of our DNA is that everyone in a parish immediately belongs and that we are all welcome, regardless of creed, colour, sex or sexuality. It also means that all are welcome regardless of ability, intellect, wealth or skill. We don't earn our parish - we simply are born, work, or live in it - we belong because we are here. As both churches, look at ways in which we can live out this welcome, whether that is through open churches, better access or more creative invitations, it is good to believe, trust in and know that Jesus is the person who teaches us and models for us a radical welcome. May we be parish churches who trust in that welcome that is extended to us all.All Saints welcomes our furry (and not so furry) friends to worship tomorrow for the Pet Service at 10.30 - do bring along your pet, or if not a cuddly toy as we look at place of animals in our lives. St Marys focus will be on raising awareness of disability and how we can make a difference here in this place with our welcome.Sunday 12th October8:00am Holy Communion, All Saints10:00am Sung Holy Communion, St. Mary’s10:30am Pet Service, All Saints 7:15pm Generations, The WoodThe week aheadMon 13thOct 10:30am -Tiny Tots, All SaintsTue 14th Oct 10:30am - Music 4 Tots, St. Mary’s Parish RoomsWeds 15th Oct 9:00am - Celtic Morning Prayer, All SaintsWeds 15th Oct 9:00am - 2:00pm - Bible Book Club, St. Mary’sThurs 16th Oct 10:00am - Holy Communion, St. Mary’sFri 17th Oct 11:00am - Living After Loss, St. Mary’sSat 18th Oct 12:00pm - 1:30pm - Saturday Lunches, St. Mary’sSunday 19th OctoberOct 10:00am - Sung Service of the Word, St. Mary’s 10:30am - Holy Communion, All Saints 3.00pm - A Time to remember - St MarysBlessingsRevd LizzieVicar of All Saints and St Marys Churches, Fishponds
GentlenessDear All Saints and St MarysHow do we live well in a world that marks many different life defining moments, almost simultaneously? The last 48 hours has brought us the news and horror of an attack on a synagogue during the Jewish festival of Yom Kippur. The news has also brought again a week of witnessing to continued bombing of Gaza and the subsequent loss of life. It has also been a week when a cure for Huntington's Disease is seemingly possible, and one when the Church of England has made a historic appointment of the first woman to be the Archbishop of Canterbury. There are things to mourn, times to weep and yet also things of thanksgiving and wonder and celebration. Is it okay to celebrate one thing at the same time as feeling aggrieved in prayer at another? How do we square that? Should we even try to make sense of it? Can we find genuine joy in one thing when it sits alongside tragedy in another? Today, the 4th October, is the day the church remembers St Francis of Assisi. A Saint whose story filled both extremes of wealth and chosen poverty. He may not have been aware in the 12th century of global news from around the world, but he did experience the extremes of both sorrow and joy. One of the striking things about Francis is perhaps once he had made his choice about how he was going to follow God, he appeared to have made peace with that decision, and in that he became a man of peace. A gentle, simple appreciative life was lived in the service of others and the created world. It was his intentional living in this way that perhaps gave rise to some of his more famous moments of compassion. No doubt he continued to have the same human responses of anger and injustice as others around him at what he saw and experienced. Yet he practiced peace. And for that I am truly grateful.Peace.Revd LizzieServices this Sunday 5th October10am - St Marys - Creative Church - Looking at Eve10.30am - All Saints - Harvest Festival Holy Communion Celebration with Band and Junior Church and Harvest Lunch6.30am - Choral Evensong for Dedication at St MarysThe week aheadMon 6thOct 10:30am – Tiny Tots, All SaintsTue 7th Oct 10:30am – M4T, St. Marys Parish RoomsWeds 8th Oct 9:00am – Celtic Morning Prayer, All SaintsThurs 9th Oct 10:00am – Holy Communion, St. MarysSat 11th Oct 12:00pm - 1:30pm – Saturday Lunches, St. Mary’s\Sunday 12th Oct 8:00am – Holy Communion, All Saints 10:00am – Holy Communion, St. Mary’s 10:30am – Pet Service, All Saints 7:15pm – Generations, The Wood
Dear Friends in Christ,Since I moved to Fishponds 2 years ago, I’ve spent a lot of time walking around the area. It’s sometimes chaotic diversity can be refreshing, exciting, sometimes challenging, but never dull! What strikes me within the diversity are the contrasts. Perhaps the starkest is between those who can afford to use the artisan and independent cafes and shops and those who sit on the streets begging. These are the visible ones. May more are just about scraping by unnoticed.Of course, other places are even more stark in contrast. I visited Sao Paulo in Brazil and there the contrast between the uber wealthy and the destitute is shocking. Our Gospel warns us of stocking up earthly treasure at the cost of our spiritual lives, our connection with God. the transient vs the eternal. Yet it’s not telling us to hate the things of the world, but to have the right relationship with them. Being totally consumed with the modern consumerist world is a way of life that will never be fully satisfying as its never ending. But we mustn’t become so holier than thou that we fail to see the real need that so many have for the means to live and thrive Instead, Jesus is teaching us to not make money and stuff our God, but to keep God at the centre of our lives. These other things are an undeniable and vital part of life, but they are not its fullest answer. The tension of this is real, but God gives us the way to navigate it as long as we constantly lean into and on him.May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, evermore. Amen.Blessings, Fr Kester de Oliveira This Sunday 28 September 15th after Trinity8:00 Holy Communion, All Saints10:00 Harvest Festival Communion, St. Mary’s10:30 Cafe Church, All SaintsThe Week AheadWeds 1st Oct 9:00am – Celtic Morning Prayer, All SaintsThurs 2nd Oct 10:00am – Holy Communion, St. MarysFri 3rd Oct 11:00am – Living After Loss, St. MarysSat 4th Oct 10:00am – Coffee Morning and Book Sale with Bristol Repair Café, All Saints11:00am – Communion in the Wood12:00pm - 1:30pm – Saturday Lunches, St. Mary’s7:00pm – Barn Dance, All SaintsSun 5th Oct 10:00am – Creative Church, St. Mary’s10:30am – Holy Communion, All Saints10:30am – Junior Church, All Saints6:30pm – Choral Evensong, St. Mary’s
Red Letter DaysDear All Saints and St MarysI always enjoy finding out new things! This Sunday 21st September happens to also be what was traditionally called a "Red Letter Day". It's a way of describing a special feast day that occurs in the calendar, often linked to saints and therefore in medieval times they were also always holidays! St Matthews feast day falls this Sunday and is a Red Letter Day. Researching the term was fascinating, as what I discovered is that they got their name when the printing press was invented. These festival days were marked out in the calendar in red, instead of black, so that they stood out, hence the name. Adopted almost universally when the Book of Common Prayer came into print, it meant that they were easy to spot and look forward to. They provide interruptions in our rhythms, sometimes welcome, sometimes not! They often require an ability to pivot, embrace a change, stop and consider rather than ploughing on. Jesus was a good interrupter. His call on people like St Matthew, marked moments of change, pivot and disruption in life, presenting opportunities to rethink and discover something new about God. The choice becomes ours, to either embrace them or avoid them, but my spiritual hunch is that that God will continue to put these disrupters in our lives until we are ready to listen and learn and grow.Services this Sunday 21st September10.00am - Sung Holy Communion - St Marys10.30am - Holy Communion with Hymns - All SaintsThe week aheadMon 22nd Sept 10:30am – Tiny Tots, All SaintsTues 23rd Sept 10:30am – Music for Toddlers, St. Mary’s Parish RoomsWeds 24th Sept 9:00am – Celtic Morning Prayer, All SaintsThurs 25th Sept 10:00am – Holy Communion, St. MarysSat 27th Sept 12:00 - 1:30pm – Saturday Lunches, St. Mary’sSun 28th September8:00am – Holy Communion, All Saints 10:00am – Harvest Festival Communion, St. Mary’s 10:30am – Café Church, All SaintsHarvest Festival at All Saints will be on the 5th October, with a barn dance on the evening of 4th October.BlessingsRevd LizzieVicar of All Saints and St Marys Churches, Fishponds
Dear All Saints and St MarysBefore we decided to move to Bristol, there was a charming story in the national news that endeared me to this city. Following troubles and riots, many were very angry with the Mayor, Marvin Rees. In protest, someone painted a message on the road just outside his house with the message: “Marvin must die”. Soon enough, the police were called and cordoned off the area – but not before, one of his neighbours had added a ‘T’. So, now the message read: “Marvin must diet”!Each one of us is allowed to be angry – but sometimes that is not all that has to be said. Take an example from today: painting the middle of a mini-roundabout with a flag of St George. Is that a message saying “we are proud to be British” (and, by implication: “migrants out!”)? Yes, be proud to be British, but I believe you are required then to complete the sentence – WHY are you proud to be British? And the answer cannot just be “because we hate the French”!Occasionally, you might hear in a documentary a story about someone who came to this country and her life was turned around. She will tell how, on arriving here, she felt safe, was enabled to go to university, raise a family and provide a future of hope for her children. She is, very evidently, proud to live in this country – and we should be proud to be part of this country which made this happen. How can we enable such a voice (of which there are thousands of examples) to be better heard?This coming weekend, we mark the Dedication Festival of St Mary’s, partly by hearing the Gospel reading of the Magnificat. It expresses not only Mary’s pride in her God, but also names why – God is the one who raises the lowly, and who feeds the hungry. Mary was a single teenage mother. Thank God a voice was found for her so that, even today, we can sing God’s praise, associate ourselves with God’s compassionate works and give hope to those in need.Revd BobSunday 14th September Services8am - Holy Communion All Saints10am - Sung Eucharist St Marys10.30am - Muddy/Messy Church Reptile Experience7.15pm - Generations - All SaintsThe week aheadMon 15th Sept 10:30am - Tiny Tots, All SaintsTues 16th Sept 10:30am - Music for Toddlers, St. Mary’s Parish RoomsWeds 17th Sept 9:00am - Celtic Morning Prayer, All SaintsWeds 17th Sept 2.00pm - Bible Book Club, All SaintsThurs 18th Sept 10:00am - Holy Communion, St. MarysFri 19th Sept 11:00am - Living After Loss, St. MarysFri 19th Sept 12:30am - 2:00pm – Concert performance, St. Mary’sSat 20th Sept 12:00am - 1:30pm – Saturday Lunches, St. Mary’sSun 21th Sept 10:00 – Sung Service of the Word, St. Mary’s 10:30 – Holy Communion, All Saints
Dear All Saints and St Mary’sThis Sunday’s epistle reading is taken from the shortest of all Paul’s letters. The letter to Philemon, is a very personal letter, written to a specific individual at a specific time and in a cultural and legal context far removed from our own. Yet, possibly because of that very specific context, it speaks out clearly about the Christian values of forgiveness and reconciliation.The recipient, Philemon, is a wealthy Christian. His house has served as a meeting place for the local Christians. Like all wealthy people, he owned slaves. One of his slaves, Onesimus, had run away, possibly having stolen from Philemon. When Onesimus met Paul, Onesimus became a Christian. Paul persuaded Onesimus to live up to the social expectations of the time and return to his master Philemon. However, Paul urges Philemon not to punish Onesimus, but to welcome him back with the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation that is at the heart of the gospel. Paul also tells Philemon that, if Onesimus has stolen from Philemon, Paul will pay back what has been stolenAlthough Paul does not challenge the idea of slavery in his letters, he does challenge the attitude that many slave owners had to their slaves. Onesimus was Philemon’s brother in Christ and should be treated as such. This lays a foundation for a new way of thinking about relationships. Everyone, whether the most powerful or the weakest in society is a child of God. Those with power have a responsibility to treat those weaker than themselves with the respect and dignity that God gives to every human being. That includes forgiving those seeking reconciliation and working towards a world that supports and values all. This message, rooted in the Old Testament prophets, was proclaimed by Paul and has been echoed by Christian social reformers ever since.This Sunday we have our normal first Sunday pattern of services. There is creative church at St Mary’s at 10.00 am and Holy communion at All Saints at 10.30 am. In the evening, we have Choral Evensong at 6.30pm. This will be the start of St Mary’s Patronal Festivel, which will conclude with Holy Communion next week.This gives the following services for this Sunday, 7th September10.00 am St Mary’s Creative Church10.30 am All Saints Holy Communion with Junior Church6.30 pm St Mary’s Choral EvensongWe have our usual midweek services. Next Sunday has our normal second Sunday pattern with Holy Communion at All Saints at 8.00 am and at St Mary’s at 10.00 am. At All Saints at 10.30 am will be Messy/Muddy Church. This gives the services for the coming week:Wednesday 10th 9.00 am All Saints Celtic Morning PrayerThursday 11th 10.00 am St Mary’s Holy CommunionNext Sunday 14th September8.00 am All Saints Holy Communion (said) 10.00 am St Mary’s Patronal Holy Communion 10.30 am All Saints Messy/Muddy ChurchSo remembering the call to reconciliation and forgiveness that Paul urges in his letter to Philemon, let us pray in the words of the collect for this Sunday:God of constant mercy,who sent your Son to save us:remind us of your goodness,increase your grace within us,that our thankfulness may grow,through Jesus Christ our Lord.AmenYours in ChristMark