Feeling festive

If you happen to visit St Luke’s over the August bank holiday weekend, you’d be forgiven for thinking the congregation is on the sparse side. That’s because a lot of St Lukers will be decamping to Northamptonshire for the weekend for the Greenbelt festival.

If you haven’t heard of Greenbelt, it’s a fantastic faith, arts and justice festival, where thousands of people gather to listen to great music, learn and debate at talks and seminars, spend time catching up with old friends and new, and chill out in the famous Tiny Tea Tent.

St Luke’s has a long association with Greenbelt. For many years, Greenbelt had its offices in St Luke’s (before we opened up the east aisle of the church to make space for our growing congregation). Many of our members are involved in running and overseeing different parts of the festival. You may even see a few familiar faces on the programme.

To learn more about our favourite festival, check out the website at www.greenbelt.org.uk

However, if you’re in London on Sunday 30 August, rest assured that St Luke’s will still be open for business. There’ll be an 11am service as usual, and friendly faces to greet you. The rest of us will see you when we get back!

St Luke’s Nightshelter: another successful season

Here at St Luke’s, one of our biggest projects each year is our part in the Islington Churches Cold Weather Shelter. Throughout January-March (the coldest three months of the year), we open our doors each Saturday to offer a bed and meals to homeless people (six other churches in the area cover the rest of the week).

Now the dust has settled on the 2015 project, we’re pleased to report it was another successful season. Over three months, the Islington Nightshelter hosted around 90 guests. As well as food, friendship and a safe, comfortable place to sleep, we also offered services and recreational activities for guests to enjoy. Plus they were able to make use of the shower cubicle and washroom installed last year.

Over 6,000 hours of volunteer time went into making the 2015 Nightshelter run smoothly – as well as many thousands of pounds’ worth of donations of food, clothing and toiletries. Without the involvement of so many members and friends of St Luke’s, the project wouldn’t be possible.

‘As in previous years, guests remarked on how enjoyable they found the St Luke’s ethos of inclusivity,’ says Dan Northam Jones, who runs our part of the project. ‘Two guests in particular were remarkably successful this year. Both had previously failed to engaged with support services. During their stay, they built effective relationships with other outreach agencies and are now housed securely and getting help for their other needs.’

Dan adds: ‘We express enormous gratitude to the many volunteers who make Nightshelter happen – donating and cooking food, speaking to guests, running activities, putting out beds, sorting clothes, washing sheets and much more.’

The biggest thank you of all goes to Dan himself, who has tirelessly run the St Luke’s Nightshelter on a voluntary basis for the last few years – an enormous task, which he’s done with skill, commitment and compassion.

Dan’s job will be taking him overseas for the next couple of years, so he won’t be around to run Nightshelter next year. He’s currently putting together a small team who can keep this vital project going next winter and beyond. Please speak to him if you’d like to help.

Christian Aid week, 10-16 May

This Sunday kicks off Christian Aid Week, when churches around the country come together to campaign, pray and raise money to improve the lives of people around the world who are struggling to survive.

This Sunday’s 11am service at St Luke’s will include a focus on the work of Christian Aid, with a short film to help the children (and the grown-ups) understand a little about the issues affecting people in the developing world, and the work Christian charities are doing to tackle those problems.

To learn more about Christian Aid Week, click on the poster above.

Steering the good ship St Luke’s

Life at St Luke’s isn’t all fun and games (although it mostly is!). Running a church is a big task and a serious responsibility. We’re very grateful to our PCC (parochial church council) and church wardens for helping to steer the ship, and supporting our hard-working clergy and their families as St Luke’s sails through sometimes choppy waters. All hands on deck!

On Wednesday 29 April at 8pm, St Luke’s has its APCM (annual parochial church meeting). This is the church equivalent of an AGM, when we review the last 12 months, make plans for the upcoming year, and have the chance to air any issues.

The APCM is also when we vote to appoint our two church wardens (‘officers of the bishop’ and legal custodians) and nine members of the PCC (trustees of the church). Most of the nominations are now complete, and personal statements must be in by 22 April, so if you have any last-minute nominations, you’ll need to move quickly. Then we’ll vote in the committee for the coming year.

To be eligible to vote at the APCM, you need to be on the electoral roll at St Luke’s. As well as giving you the right to vote and hold office in the church, and to be married here, the electoral roll gives the Church of England an idea of numbers, so it’s important to St Luke’s that you’re on the list. You don’t have to attend every week or live in the parish – you just need to identify yourself as a part of the St Luke’s community. Ask Dave or Pat for a form.

The APCM will also include supper – cooked by Dave’s own hand! Please email stlukespcc@hotmail.com if you plan to come, so we know how many to cater for.

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)