Easter at St Luke’s

Easter is one of the busiest periods in the Christian calendar, and St Luke’s will be buzzing with activity over the bank holiday weekend.

Events kick off on 2 April, when we’ll gather for a Maundy Thursday meal at 8pm. Food is provided but you’re invited to bring a bottle (‘With something in it, preferably – alcoholic or not,’ says vicar Dave). The meal will be followed by a brief meditation and table communion. It will be a relaxed and sociable evening, and an ideal opportunity to bring along friends (churchgoers or otherwise).

Good Friday meditations at 12 noon will be a short, reflective service, when we’ll be using a series of ‘stations’ to aid our contemplation. These are artworks or installations created by members of the congregation. This year, the theme is ‘Wind in our sails’ – the things that inspire us.

In the evening of Good Friday, at 7.30pm, Justin Butcher will be performing his latest play, The Devil’s Passion (or Easter In Hell) on the final night of its tour. You can learn more here: http://www.saintlukeschurch.org.uk/2015/03/17/the-devils-passion-at-st-lukes/

On Saturday 4 April, we’ll gather at 11.15pm for the most dramatic service of the year. The St Luke’s Easter vigil of fire (midnight mass) uses darkness, fire and light to meditate on the dark hours after Christ’s death, followed by his glorious rising.

Finally, due to the midnight vigil, there won't be a 9.15am communion service on Easter Sunday. Our only service will be the family Easter celebration service at 11am, when there will also be activities for the kids.

Whether you’re a regular at St Luke’s, an occasional visitor or have never joined us before, we’ll be delighted to welcome you to any of our Easter events.

A special Palm Sunday at St Luke’s

Palm Sunday – the Sunday before Easter – commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, before the tide rapidly turned, leading to his crucifixion five days later. Churches traditionally start their Palm Sunday services with a procession by the congregation carrying palms, woven crosses and other symbols.

In keeping with tradition, that’s how we’ll be kicking off our 11am service this Sunday, 29 March, gathering in the garden before processing into the church. But that’s just the start of a rather unusual Palm Sunday at St Luke’s.

Morning worship will be a service with a difference. A large part of it will be handed over to Andrew Harrison, a talented professional actor in our congregation, for a special performance. We’re not quite sure what Andy is planning, but we know from experience that it will be moving, powerful and thought-provoking.

In the evening, there’ll be another memorable performance: the latest extravaganza from our resident community choir, Vox Holloway. Overseen by Justin Butcher, musical director at St Luke’s, the choir will be performing the world premiere of The City In The Sea, and the first London performance of Ona’s Flood by Harvey Brough.

The City In The Sea is a new setting of a suite of poems by various writers on the theme of Submerged Cities. Ona’s Flood is the story of a young girl who has a premonition of a modern day flood, and the piece focuses on the effect humankind has on our environment.

Vox Holloway ( http://voxholloway.com/ ) will be joined for this special event by guest soloists, an ensemble of 16 musicians, and children’s choirs from two local schools. Tickets cost £13 (conc £8) and are expected to sell out quickly, so get yours now from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/onas-flood-tickets-16073595557. The door and bar open at 7pm, and the performance starts at 7.30pm.

The Devil’s Passion at St Luke’s

Our talented musical director Justin Butcher wears many different hats: as well as overseeing all the wonderful music at St Luke’s, he’s also an award-winning playwright, director and actor.

On Good Friday 3 April, at 7.30pm, we have a chance to see Justin performing his latest play, The Devil’s Passion (or Easter In Hell), here at St Luke’s on the final date of its tour.

A divine comedy in one act, The Devil’s Passion follows Satan’s ascent from Hell to stop Jesus fulfilling his ultimate destiny. A cosmic battle begins, for the very soul of humanity. By turns comical, gripping and heart-stirring, the play offers a fresh perspective on the timeless Easter narrative: an audacious ‘Hell’s eye view’ of the Passion of Christ.

The play is written and performed by Justin, and directed by Olivier Award-winner Guy Masterson, with music and sound by Jack C Arnold. You can learn more about this evocative production at http://www.justinbutcher.co.uk/devilspassion/

Tickets cost £12 (£8 conc), and are available from http://thedevilspassionstlukes.bpt.me, or at Sunday morning services (avoiding the booking charge). Fifty per cent of the proceeds will go to The Grand Scheme, our current fundraising effort at St Luke’s (http://www.saintlukeschurch.org.uk/2015/01/25/the-grand-scheme-is-back/ ).

The Devil’s Passion promises to be a powerful experience to kick off the Easter weekend. Don’t miss it!

Bishop of London to visit St Luke’s for confirmation service

This Sunday, 15 March, St Luke’s will be holding a confirmation service – and we’re excited to be welcoming Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, to preside over this special evening event.

Confirmation is a ceremony that marks the point in the Christian journey when you affirm for yourself the faith into which you were baptised as a child, and your intention to live a life of Christian discipleship. People are often confirmed in their teens, but adults get confirmed too.

At the service, the St Luke’s candidates will make their declaration in front of the congregation, and their decision will be affirmed through prayer and the laying on of hands by the Bishop. The church will pray for the Holy Spirit to help the candidates live in the way of Jesus, and promise to support and pray for them.

We’re honoured to have the Rt Revd & Rt Hon Richard Chartres with us once again to conduct the ceremony. You’re warmly invited to join us for this special service at 6.30pm.

The day St Luke’s went worldwide

If you didn’t make it to last week’s crack-of-dawn service, which was broadcast around the world on Radio 4’s Sunday Worship programme – or you’d like to listen back to see how we sounded – you can hear it on BBC iPlayer until 15 March.

Our vicar Dave Tomlinson was given the theme of ‘Fifty Shades of Love’, and rose to the challenge with an inspiring sermon on God as the source of every kind of love, including romantic. Rhian Roberts led the service warmly and expertly, with contributions from St Luke’s regulars for readings and prayers. Our music director Justin Butcher and the wonderful St Luke’s choir did us proud, as always. Thanks also to guest organist Michael Haslam, for his excellent contribution.

If you’d like to hear the service – broadcast live to two million listeners around the globe – you can listen in here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0520t2m

(Thanks to Stefano Cagnoni for the photograph)

St Luke’s live on Radio 4 this Sunday!

Few people are fortunate enough to have a church like St Luke’s. This Sunday, 15 February, we have the chance to share a little bit of St Luke’s with the rest of the world, when our morning service will be broadcast to two million listeners, live on Radio 4’s Sunday Worship programme.

However, to give people around the globe a taste of St Luke’s at its best, we need to get ourselves there earlier than normal. Getting to church for 7.30am may sound like a challenge, but we need a good turnout of people to sing heartily and create a good atmosphere for the service. You’ll be rewarded afterwards with a delicious church breakfast.

‘The congregation are the people who make listeners feel they’re part of a community, through enthusiastic and sensitive singing, clear words and responses to prayers,’ says the show’s producer.

The timetable for the morning is as follows:

7am – Rehearsal for the choir 7.20am – Run-through for everyone involved in the service 7.40am – Congregation seated and ready for a quick rehearsal 8.09am – Silence for red light 8.10am – We’re LIVE on Radio 4! 8.50am – Off air 9am – Coffee and croissants!

There’ll be no Sunday school or kids’ activities during the service, so if you have children, you’ll be responsible for them throughout the broadcast. (There’ll also be a short 11am service, but this isn’t the main service of the morning.)

Sunday Worship is a God-send for many people who can’t get to church due to being sick, disabled or elderly – or non-church goers who are simply curious – and this is a wonderful opportunity to share a little of our wonderful church with them. So please make an effort to be there.

If you’re away, tune into Radio 4 at 8.10am to hear St Luke’s being beamed around the world.

The Grand Scheme is back

Running a church like St Luke’s is an expensive business – it costs around £2,500 a week to keep things going, and that’s without special projects such as repair work to the building, running our winter night shelter for homeless people, and the charities we support. Raising money can be a tiresome business, so here at St Luke’s, we try to combine it with having some fun, trying out new experiences, and getting to know each other better.

That’s where the Grand Scheme comes in. Throughout February and March, lots of members of the church will be putting on events – at home, at the church, and out and about – with the aim of raising a ‘grand’ for St Luke’s. Events in the past have ranged from film shows to roast dinners; bird watching walks to crochet lessons; and beer ‘n’ hymns to silent meditation sessions. And here’s the twist – when tickets go on sale, no one knows who is running each event, so it’s a great opportunity to get to know new people. (Of course, if you’re feeling shy, you can always book to go with a friend.)

If you come up with an event you think others might enjoy, chat to Susie or Bernadette about it as soon as possible (or email them at stlukespcc@hotmail.com). Once the details are confirmed, you can get organising, while Susie and Bernadette start selling tickets for your event. (If you need to use the church building, check availability with Lucy on saintlukesbookings@gmail.com – there’s no booking fee for Grand Scheme events).

If you’re not running an event yourself – and even if you are – keep an eye on the events list and start buying tickets. Why not invite non-church friends along, too? Events are appearing in the weekly church email and are flagged up at services. You can buy your tickets after Sunday morning worship.

So get ready to have some fun, make new friends – and raise a grand for St Luke’s!

‘Half The Sky’ film and discussion evening, in aid of the Hunger Project

Many St Lukers have charities that are particularly close to their hearts, and we’re always keen to facilitate and support their efforts to make the world a better place. On 21 January, Denyse Whillier is hosting a screening of the film Half The Sky, based on the book that challenged and inspired her to take action.

“Half The Sky: How To Change The World by Nicholas D Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn stunned and captivated me,” says Denyse. “It describes how families and states systemically fail to provide education and healthcare for girls and women – and shows why empowering women in the developing world to realise their full potential is so important, not only for themselves, but so we can all benefit from their contributions to our global society.

“The book played a major role in crystallising my own thinking around development, education and the economic empowerment of women. Through stories of the power and resilience of women, it shows how each of us can meet one of the great humanitarian challenges of our times. As a result, I became an ambassador for the Half The Sky Movement (www.halftheskymovement.org ).”

Denyse’s first action as an ambassador is to host this event at St Luke’s, when we’ll have a chance to see the documentary based on the book, followed by a panel discussion led by the CEO of The Hunger Project (one of the charities highlighted by Half The Sky). The event is on Wednesday 21 January, at 7.30pm, here at St Luke’s, and proceeds from the evening will go to The Hunger Project.

You can reserve your tickets at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/half-the-sky-film-screening-tickets-14941241656?utm_campaign . People who attend are asked to make a £10 donation, either on the door or on Denyse’s Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/Denyse-Whillier/ (and of course, if you can’t make the event, you can still donate). It promises to be an informative and inspiring event – we hope to see you there!

St Luke’s Nightshelter prepares to open its doors

One of our most important projects at St Luke’s is our annual cold weather shelter. Each January to March (the coldest three months of the year), we join forces with six other local churches to offer dinner, bed and breakfast to a number of homeless people – each church taking one day a week.

The Nightshelter is a project that involves many members and friends of the church, and we’d love as many people as possible to get involved. Volunteers are needed for evening, overnight and morning shifts every Saturday (into Sunday), and making dinner and breakfast for guests. We also need help with the laundry each week, people to run entertainment and activities for guests, and help with various other behind-the-scenes tasks.

This year’s Nightshelter starts in a couple of weeks’ time and Dan Northam Jones, who oversees St Luke’s part of the project, is busy drawing up rotas and making sure everything is in place to ensure this year’s project runs as smoothly as possible. If you’d like to help or find out what’s involved, please speak to Dan or email him at daniel.northamjones@googlemail.com. The first two weeks are now staffed, but there are plenty of slots to fill after that, particularly the overnight shifts. It’s great to sign up with a friend – many hands make light work, and having a buddy makes the experience less daunting (although there’ll be plenty of support for volunteers).

Nightshelter is also on the lookout for donations of clothes (especially warm clothes, jackets, socks, shoes and jumpers for men). Toiletries (toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors etc) are also needed, and any donations will be gratefully received.

Dan is also keen to hear from anyone with fundraising or sponsorship ideas to help cover the costs of the project.

Christmas at St Luke’s

Christmas is one of the most important festivals in the Christian calendar, and here at St Luke’s, we’re looking forward to some wonderful services and events over the festive period. We kick off with our annual candle-lit carol service on 14 December at 8pm. The St Luke’s choir will lead us in singing favourite hymns and carols, and wow us with some of their own stirring performances, too. Afterwards, there’ll be mulled wine and mince pies (it’s the congregation’s responsibility to provide the mince pies, so please buy or make extras to bring along).

The 11am service on 21 December will be given over to the children’s nativity play. The kids are rehearsing hard, and we’ve been promised a fun and creative rendition of the Christmas story. Based on previous years’ efforts, this is not to be missed!

After Sunday morning services during December, there’ll be stalls selling church members’ handmade and fairtrade gifts, from books to jewellery, and crafts to Palestinian olive oil products. So if you’ve got presents to buy, bring your wallet. (Don’t forget our regular Traidcraft stall for Christmas goodies, too – visit http://www.saintlukeschurch.org.uk/2014/11/16/fight-poverty-go-fairtrade-this-christmas/ )

On 24 December at 11.30pm, we gather at St Luke’s for midnight mass. We’ll see in Christmas day with a beautiful candle-lit service, and more evocative performances from the choir. There’ll be an opportunity to remember and pray for absent friends, who we often miss more than ever at this time of year.

On Christmas morning, there’ll be a family service at 10.30am (earlier than usual, so you can get home to put the dinner on). It’s a joyous all-age gathering to kick off the big day with a celebration of the true meaning of Christmas.

We’ll be back in church on 28 December at 11am for our usual Sunday morning all-age worship service.

Whether you’re a regular at St Luke’s, an occasional visitor or you’ve never joined us before, you’ll find a warm welcome at all our services over the festive period. Season’s greetings to everyone in the parish of St Luke’s, West Holloway, and beyond.