Getting to know you: Rev John MacKenzie

In January 2020, St Luke’s was delighted to welcome its new vicar, John MacKenzie. We decided it was time to learn more about him…

Have you always been a person of faith?

I grew up in the Catholic church and served as an altar boy. As a young adult, I grew disillusioned and angry about things like the damaging policy concerning birth control, and the infallibility of the Pope, so I left the church – except for turning up at midnight mass, worse for wear after the pub! I was still somewhat spiritual – on and off! – but I’d fallen out of love with the church. However, when my wife Sophie and I were preparing for our wedding at an Anglican church in London, we got to know the vicar and his family, and became part of the community. I started exploring my faith again.

How did you go from banker to vicar? 

I worked in investment banking for 20 years. In some ways, it was a dream job – long lunches and a big expense account! My clients included members of the Chelsea FC team, which I’ve supported since birth, and I got to spend time at the club. However, after I was mugged at knifepoint in London, Sophie and I moved to Surrey and joined a more evangelical church. I began studying the Bible in my spare time. In Revelation, I read that “our deeds will follow us”. It was as if God was asking me: what are your deeds – making rich people richer? I was feeling the call to ordination, but if I’d known the process ahead, it might have put me off! The selection panel felt I needed a broader experience of the church before proceeding. Initially I was angry, but it was the best thing to happen to me. I was reintroduced to a more liberal, catholic spirituality. The breadth and love and wholeness opened my eyes, my heart, my soul. It was a transformative time, leading me towards becoming the person God intended me to be. I was ordained in 2004.

Tell us about your most recent church…

I became vicar of a church in Ashford, Kent, in 2007 and went on a wonderful journey with the people there. The congregation was down to about 50, mostly older people. However, they had the will to see change and become a hub for the local area. I got involved in schools work, eventually becoming chair of governors at three schools. Joining eight local churches into one big parish allowed us to offer more services for children and young families, such as parent-and-toddler groups and after-school clubs. We partnered with the local council and various organisations for expertise and funding. We pulled out the pews to make room for a café and kitchen, providing daily lunches to counter loneliness and isolation. We joined a night shelter scheme, started a food bank, ran a debt service and offered children meals during school breaks to counter ‘holiday hunger’. It was a huge project, costing around £850,000. I liked being part of a church that was active and engaging with the community – something that means as much to the people who don’t attend church as it does to the congregation. However, as a consequence, our numbers grew to around 180. 

So why did you decide to leave Kent and join us here in Islington? 

Ashford Town Parish was wonderful to be part of, but I was no longer functioning as a parish priest. By this point, I was Team Rector and Area Dean, with responsibility for 850 parishioners. Pastoral work had been replaced by endless meetings, and I’d lost my links with local schools. Business meetings wasn’t what God called me to do! It didn’t feed my soul. A friend who knew I had itchy feet called to tell me about the vacancy at St Luke’s while I was on holiday on the Northumberland coast, and as I was buffeted by the wind, it felt like the winds of change. After exploring the St Luke’s website and watching the video of what members love about the church, I could see shared values of inclusion and God’s love for all. I felt excited – St Luke’s felt like somewhere my skills could be used. 

What’s your vision for St Luke’s? 

Well, it’s not about my vision, it’s about our vision, something we share as a church, so we can move together as one. I see a desire in St Luke’s for deeper roots in the community and to be good news for the area. I’m interested in creating a greater presence at the St Francis end of the parish, tapping into the need for health, wellbeing and social services, possibly involving a community nurse. We may also look at expanding resources for young families, showing that the doors of the church are open to all. For now, though, I’m getting to know you all! I’m blown away by the quality of the music, and I love the way St Luke’s uses language, and how different voices are heard during services and talks. 

What are your spiritual influences and (important question now you’re a St Luker!) are you a Greenbelter?

We’ve been to Greenbelt a few times and loved it – although Sophie’s not a fan of camping! – and we hope to be there this year. I’ve got a lot from the writings of Richard Rohr; and also those of Jean Vanier, who set up the L’Arche communities for people with special needs, so the recent revelations about his sexual abuse of staff has broken my heart, and I’m trying to work out how I now relate to his writing. 

Introduce us to the other residents of the vicarage… 

There’s Sophie, of course. She’s a lecturer in speech and language therapy, and we met when she was a student, observing a speech therapy group I was part of – with strict instructions not to fraternise with the participants! We’ve been married nearly 29 years. We’re joined by our son Jacob, 22, who recently graduated in philosophy and theology at Oxford, and his girlfriend Kate, a recent sociology graduate. And not forgetting Darcey the tabby cat, a former stray, and Socrates the guinea pig, who lives in the utility room (sadly, his companion Plato is no longer with us). 

Where will we find you on your days off? 

Probably at the Odeon – I love switching off for a couple of hours to enjoy a good movie. I’m a lifelong Chelsea supporter – we used to watch matches from the family enclosure, and Jacob had a Chelsea kit at three months old, but we watch it on TV these days. I also enjoy following cricket and hockey, I like a good beer, and Sophie and I love to dance, Strictly-style.

Finally, is it true you’re interested in the Enneagram (the subject of many a coffee-time chat at St Luke’s), and what type are you?

The more we find out who we are, the better we relate to others, and I think tools of self-discovery like the Enneagram and Myers-Briggs help that in process. I’m a type 7 – an optimist who enjoys life and good times!

QUICK FIRE:

Windsurfing or walk in the woods? Walk in the woods

Lark or night owl? Night owl – although I’m waking up early at the moment. 

Tea or coffee? Coffee, black, no sugar.

Winter or summer? Spring and autumn! Spring for new life, and autumn for the colours. 

Favourite band/artist? Bowie – I enjoyed his work throughout every reinvention. 

Favourite holiday? A trip to LA, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon for my 40th. 

Favourite book? The Brothers Karamazov or Lord Of The Rings.

What animal would you like to be? An eagle, soaring free and riding the winds.

Interview: Cath Francis

Photo: Stefano Cagnoni

Disinvesting from Fossil Fuel

St Luke’s  is one of twenty  Christian organisations in the UK which have agreed to disinvest from fossil fuels as part of the Epiphany Declaration for Fossil Free Churches.

The declaration was created in November by the Christian campaign group Operation Noah as part of its campaign Bright Now. 

It encouraged churches across the denominations to combat climate change by disinvesting on the feast of the Epiphany, which fell last Monday, January 6th.

“This is a powerful action that your church can take to respond to the climate emergency and highlight the need for urgent action,” the organisers said. “Even if your church doesn’t currently hold any fossil-fuel investments — for instance, if it only has a bank account — it can make a powerful statement by pledging not to invest in fossil fuels in the future.”

See the full report in this week’s Church Times.

Christmas Services

Give it up for St Luke's West Holloway

St Luke’s runs mainly on the goodwill, energy and commitment of hundreds of volunteers every week: contributing to services, making tea and coffee, singing in the choir, cooking church lunch, tending the garden, volunteering at Nightshelter, leading Sunday School and innumerable other tasks, see and unseen. Thank you.

Twice a year we have a Gift Day, when we ask people to think about their financial contribution towards the £175k that it costs to run St Luke’s each year. Half of this money goes to the Diocese to pay for clergy and vicarages, and for supporting other church communities around the country. The rest goes to keeping our C19th building safe and warm, our administration and music in good order with oversight from paid professionals, and supporting charities that share our mission locally and globally like the food bank, Amos Trust and Raising Voices.

For Gift Day this Autumn we're asking people to consider making a one-off donation to help us get going on an ambitious project in this 'No Ordinary Time'. Our routine building survey has identified structural problems on the South Wall, by the back garden. Renovating this wall, gives us an opportunity to embark on a plan we've had for several years - to restore our leaky south-facing roof with an array of solar panels. As well as upgrading the building, this will both reduce our carbon footprint and reduce our energy costs. It’s a big project, which will cost upwards of £50,000 and we've started to seek external funding from grant-giving bodies. To start the project we’ll need to fund a detailed survey, plan and costing.

Focussing on this in our Gift Day is an important expression of our response to the climate emergency; and showing our commitment to the project by part-funding the project will improve our prospects with grant applications.

Please can you support us now in raising £5,000 as a down-payment towards a new green roof, to get the scheme underway.

You can give easily online here or transfer from your bank using the details here.

We also invite you to consider your regular giving to St Luke’s. If you don’t have a Standing Order set up, it’s easy to do.

If you do have a Standing Order, you might considering increasing it, even by a small amount. As with things in our homes, all our costs go up by 2-3% each year; and next year we’re switching to a 100% renewable energy tariff that costs more than this. (If we achieve the goal of installing the solar roof, we’ll be able to generate some of our own energy.) Supporting St Luke’s in your regular giving makes it much easier to make these important commitments in service of our goals.

Five things you need to know about the Grand Scheme

A special gift day season Grand Scheme is coming, and it needs you to help make it happen. But what is the Grand Scheme? I hear you cry (through the magic of the internet.)

1. It's about having fun. Different people in church organise events and if an event sounds like fun to you, you buy a ticket to go along.

2. It's also about raising money. At the moment, St Luke's is only just managing to pay its bills. During the vacancy, we've seen a drop in giving and in the next few years we need to do some serious (ie, expensive) activity to fix some of our stone work. We can only get stuff done if we raise a bit more money. That's why Grand Scheme events are ticketed; the money goes to keeping the show on the road and prevent stones falling on your head.

3. It's about building community. When people organise events, only the type of event and rough location are promoted, and that means you're more likely to make friends with someone new.

4. It's about trying something new (or doing something fun). In the past, Grand Scheme events have included film nights, guided bird watching, cream tea, fancy dress dinner parties, singalongs, dance classes....it could be anything really, so if you have a passion for something then please consider putting on an event, and if you just want to have fun then please buy tickets to other people's events.

5. Did we mention it will be fun?

This year we're running a mini Grand Scheme in the autumn and planning for something bigger in the spring, when our new vicar will be around and presumably looking for fun things to do.

If you want to organise an event, please get in touch with Susie, Sarah or Joy (you can email Sarah) and if you want to use the church space to host your event, please check availability by sending Tina an email.

(Grand Scheme events are not charged a rental fee)

Speakeasy is back: Friday 4th October

The biggest event in the St Luke's calendar (except for maybe Easter and Christmas) is back. For the uninitiated, Speakeasy is a Crispin-produced cabaret, variety and singalong event, complemented by a live band, entertainment and bar (ooh, naughty). As ever, St Luke's will be magically transformed into a stunning night club setting. It's the perfect occasion to bring your friends, family and neighbours for a night of holy revelry.

• Friday 4 October, 20:00-23:30, at St Luke's

• £5 on the door, £2 concessions

• 16+ (strictly observed)

• Tickets available online

Photovoltaic Blessings

In the calendar of the church year in June we enter Ordinary Time, which takes us all the way to Advent.

But what’s ordinary about 2019?

In light of the climate crisis we seem to be finally waking up to, we’re reinventing the season as 'No Ordinary Time' and hanging our Sunday mornings at St Luke’s around our fractured friendship with the good earth. The home we share with 7 billion other humanoids, billions of other created beings… and soulful seas, forests, mountains, rivers, fields.

This is how Rowan Williams, former AB Of C put it, “Fewer and fewer people now doubt the urgency of our climate crisis, and a younger generation is showing us the way in resisting cynicism and passivity about this. It is imperative for people of faith to stand up and be counted – as witnesses to the sacredness of the world gifted to us by God, and as advocates in the cause of justice for all whose lives and livelihood will be most damaged by severe and unpredictable changes in climate.”

How do people in a community of faith, trying to follow a way of justice and peace, respond more urgently, creatively and radically to what we're doing to the planet we share… and those we share it with ? How do we rebel against a mass extinction?

Each week someone will dig into a different idea or theme: from non violent direct action to dealing with hopelessness or grief: from the use and abuse of holy writ to the hidden voices of climate justice in history, alternative icons like hildegard of bingen or dorothy stang; from asking how and what we eat to how we travel or where we get our energy…

We’ll ask how we can transform our shared life as a community, including reducing the carbon footprint of our great big Victorian building, and a group of creatives are at work on a new altar cloth, a tree of life to which everyone can add a leaf.

Find each talk on our Talks Page here. https://www.saintlukeschurch.org.uk/talks

Photovoltaic blessings on your lives in this no ordinary time.

An Arbor Blessing for Sissy

Every year on the anniversary of the death of her husband Bill, Sissy used to make a gift to Sam – and later to Jean – to plant some bulbs in the church garden. The beauty of the gardens over time was sponsored by Sissy without anyone knowing. On Sunday June 16th, some of Sissy’s children and grandchildren, joined us to bless an arbor in the garden in her memory. Here’s the blessing we shared.

May this be an arbor of shade and shelter

As Sissy’s presence through the years

Helped make this place a shelter of community

As we pass by and walk through,

May we notice the quiet life of plants, the silent grass

The earth that we come from, that holds us up,

Just as we come from each other and also hold each other up

As the life in this garden harnesses the great sun

To make real the unlikely dream of life

May we photosynthesize the light in the face of stranger and friend

Generating faith, hope and love to sustain each daily journey

And may Sissy always be a sign to us,

… like Jean and Norman, like Sam and Julia,

like those in decades past and decades to come,

who tend this hidden plot of planet

… a sign like all who nurture the hidden seeds of life

in flower pots and on window sills,  front and back gardens,

A sign of the life of this good earth

Which keeps us alive and longs for our friendship and care.

Amen

Easter at St Luke's

Easter is one of the Church’s great festivals and Holy Week a special way to enter it.  Join us at St Luke’s.

Palm Sunday (the Sunday before Easter) commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, before the tide turned, leading to his crucifixion five days later. On 14 April, in keeping with tradition, we’ll start our service at 10:45am in the garden, before processing into the church carrying woven crosses.

Maundy Thursday, marks the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his friends and we also share a meal together, along with a short service and reflection. (8pm, Thursday 18 April)

Our Good Friday meditation at 12 noon on 19 April takes the form of a contemplative service, where we move around the church through  a series of ‘stations’ created by members of the church. The theme of these installations this year is 'Hope Carriers’ - who are the people and what are the places holding hope in our world today?  

On Saturday 20 April at 11.15pm we gather for the dramatic  Vigil of Fire - a midnight mass of darkness, fire and light in which we meditate on the dark hours after Christ’s death, followed by his rising.

On Easter Sunday, 21 April, we’re back in the church at 11am to celebrate resurrection morning. 

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

Why I Am A Christian… and How

What draws us to faith… and why do we stick with it?

Is it because we’ve always done it or does the explanation change as we change?

Is it about logic or community? Ideas or relationships?

The season of Lent is a good time to ask questions of ourselves - and how we are living the days we are given. On Sundays at St Luke’s we will be hosting  a series of special guests who will join us for our 11am service and each will address the same subject 'Why I Am A Christian… and How’. 

We’ve invited people to explore what attracts them to faith and why they stick with it… as well as the habits they’ve found which help them to develop their spirituality as the years pass.

Contributors include the author Chine McDonald from Christian Aid (March 10th), Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons and to the Queen (March 17th), Rev Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James Picadilly,  (March 24th) Padraig O’Tuama, poet and leader of Corrymeela, Ireland’s oldest peace and reconciliation organisation (March 31st)  and Rev Pete Broadbent, Bishop of Willesden and acting Bishop of Stepney (April 7th).