St Lukes would like to install double glazing in the church office and in the Vestry.
The Petition is available to view here
If you would like to see the installers product brochures, please click the following:
Community Plan for Holloway Placard Parade
Saturday 19th September 1-3pm
Read moreOnline Survey Results
A Massive thank you to all everyone who took the trouble to complete the online survey. It is really helpful when planning to have some sense of the prevailing mood and whether our provision is sustainable. Although one thing increasingly evident is that wellbeing and attitudes to online content are very changeable. Particularly with fluctuating restrictions and their implications.
There were 82 respondents including 2 who are new to St Lukes during lockdown. This will no doubt be weighted towards those of us who are comfortable online. Our current electoral roll is around 140 so we might of captured the views of around half our congregation? Most had been to the online 11:00am Sunday service. A third had been to zoom morning prayers and a third to the zoom quiz.
A quarter of viewers are watching alone and 15% are watching with kids and or teenagers. Which means that on average, for every screen view, there are 1.9 folks watching.
A large majority of folks said they valued most seeing Familiar Faces, followed by Connection, Inclusivity and Variety. Some also mentioned Morning Prayers, Music and the simple fact that it happens. Many said thank you which is really appreciated by those of us putting services together.
Once this crisis is over 79% would be interested in some kind of online presence although not necessarily weekly. Other than an occasional high quality online service or morning prayers, ideas included:
A Coffee / Social / Book / Film / Newbie club.
A Midweek / Bible / Home group.
An Evening / Iona / Quiet service.
So if you feel like you can make happen or contribute to any of the above, please do get in touch.
Once again,
Holloway Prison
Consultation on the Draft Masterplan for the redevelopment of Holloway Prison opened last Friday. Go to the Community Plan for Holloway website for details: https://plan4holloway.org/views/
Please have a look and make your comments - it's really important that as many people as possible respond. There will be around 2,500 people living in the new development and of course it's important that the development is good for them, their neighbours and the environment.
First impressions are summed up in my letter to the Islington Gazette:
Holloway Prison Over-Development
Peabody have launched their consultation on the future of Holloway prison, which is lacking in detail but gives a worrying idea of what is proposed. I am seriously concerned about the poor quality of homes that will be created by the proposed high-density redevelopment - resulting in many homes with poor daylight and dangerously prone to overheating, and heavily overshadowed windy streets and parks.
The documents indicate up to 12-storey tall and deep buildings densely packed together, targeting 1,050 homes. The most Islington council has considered for this site is 900 and this was already thought to be too dense.
The proposed design is likely to result in many homes not receiving adequate daylight. The developer, Peabody has not published figures yet but, from the initial presentation, informed estimates suggest there could be in the region of 100 homes without adequate daylight.
The proposed form and layout of the apartment blocks means that approximately only 20% of the homes have good cross ventilation. This leaves hundreds of homes at risk of overheating, unless air conditioning is proposed which is expensive for tenants and environmentally damaging.
The height and density means that neighbouring homes and even the large central park will be heavily overshadowed and may experience windier conditions. This must be a high quality outdoor green space that this part of Islington so badly needs.
The environmental assessment process is also neglecting to study impacts on health and wellbeing of future residents, and climate change. Peabody need to up their game and seek a higher quality of design. At this early stage, now is the time to establish a design that can deliver the required quality for all.
Jonathan Ward
Contact: jonathanbward22@gmail.com for more information.
White Allyship Training
I’ve been thinking about the events of the past week and thought it might be good to share resources from the white allyship training session we did in 2018. The first from Paul Kivel and the second from the Collective Liberation Project. Thanks. Grace
6 ways to engage in Anti- Racist Practise
1) Learn about the history of racism, colonialism, whiteness
and intersectionality
→ Take responsibility for your own continued learning. Do not expect Black/Brown people to educate you. There are many resources available on these topics including books and documentaries.
2) Listen to Black & Brown people’s experiences of racism
→ Listen attentively to people of colour when they talk about racism. They are the experts.
→ Do not interrupt, play devil's advocate, get defensive or compare their experiences to your life. This is hurtful.
→ Acknowledge that you do not have the same lived experience.
→ Take the initiative to research your questions and queries.
3) Work with white people in your community
→ Every day aim to challenge ignorant comments amongst your family and friends.
→ Use your privilege to interrupt racism when you see it happening.
→ Instigate conversations about racism with your peers and strategise about what you can do to dismantle it.
4) Assume racism is affecting everything, all the time.
→ Notice which people are in positions of power in your office/ school/ organisation.
→ Who is present and who is missing? Which voices dominate decision making/ How are people treated differently?
→ Support the just redistribution of power in the spaces you access.
5) Respect Black and Brown Spaces
→ These safe spaces are needed for people of colour to heal emotionally and mentally. They are not a personal attack on you. Please respect their autonomy and encourage other white people to do the same.
6) Find ways to express your feelings safely (Affinity Group)
→ Racism and systems of oppression affect everyone emotionally, albeit in different ways.
→ Release your emotions! Peer counselling, meditation, dance and movement can be great ways to release complex emotions about these issues.
→ If you are white, express your feelings to other white people you feel safe with, ideally in an affinity group. This is a space for people of a shared identity to support each other educationally and emotionally. It’s a great format in which to develop anti racist practise.
Resources
Anti-racism organisations with Educational Resources
www.raceequitytools.org
www.showingupforracialjustice.org
www.collectiveliberation.org/
www.whiteawake.org/
Books
Mike Davis, ‘Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the making of the Third World’
John Newsinger, ‘The Blood Never Dried: A People’s History of the British Empire’
Reni Eddo-Lodge, ‘Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race’
David Olusooga, ‘Black and British: A Forgotten History’
Michelle Alexander, ‘The New Jim Crow’
Paul Kivel, ‘Uprooting Racism’
Nell Irvin Painter, ‘The History of White People’
Noel Ignatiev, ‘How the Irish became White’
Dr Joy DeGruy, ‘Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome’ * (She has lectures on Youtube)
Rae Johnson, ‘Embodied Social Justice’ *
Ta-Nehisi Coates, ‘Between The World and Me’
PDFs
http://criticallegalthinking.com/2017/10/31/britain-empire-never/ [British colonialism]
http://nationalseedproject.org/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack
www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/whiteaffinitygroup.pdf
Documentary/ Film
Black and British: A Forgotten History *BBC iPlayer*
Generation Revolution (2016)
The Hard Stop (2015)
The 13th (2016) *Netflix*
The House I Live In (2012) *Netflix*
The Colour of Fear (1994)
Training & Consultancy:
www.thecollectiveliberationproject.com
thecollectiveliberationproject@gmail.com
~ Be patient with yourself!
This is work that lasts a lifetime ~
Easter at St Luke's
Easter & Holy Week
Maundy Thursday Supper 9th April
With your family or phone those you love.
Watch via zoom at 9pm
“This year we will all miss being able to gather and share a meal. If you would like to have some sense of sharing together, while remaining apart, this is the recipe for the vegetable soup I made for the supper last year. I’ll be making this on Thursday evening before we gather for the online vigil. - One of each: onion, stick of celery, clove of garlic and large carrot, all finely chopped. One medium potato (peeled if you want), chopped. Small handful of red lentils. Teaspoon tomato paste. Butter or vegetable oil, salt and pepper. In a saucepan, soften the chopped vegetables (not including the potato) in butter or oil for a few minutes. Add the potato and lentils then add enough water to cover. Simmer until the vegetables are cooked: potato squishes easily with a spoon against the side of the pan. Add tomato paste and salt and pepper to taste. Blend with a hand blender or mouli”.
Joy
Good Friday Passion Reading 10th April
Watch via zoom at 2pm in conjunction with
St Luke’s Creation at Easter
Art from our own community on the website
Available from Thursday
Easter Day Dawn Service
Sunday 12th April
Watch on zoom at 5:30am
Easter Day Service
Sunday 12th April
Watch our live stream at 11am
Easter Message for Children
Click here to read
A Letter from John
My dear sisters and brothers
I hope that this letter finds you well. I know many of you will be anxious for yourselves and those that you love - I also know that you are keen to support others in your neighbourhood. Thank you for all that you are doing and have done to support the most vulnerable.
The times we are living in are changing rapidly, we at St. Luke's are trying to ensure that we respond in the most appropriate and creative way whilst encouraging the well being of all connected with our community.
We are closing your church building to public worship. This is following instructions from both Government and our Bishops. We will, however continue to shine light and love and hope and enable St. Luke's to continue as a community of good news. We will need to find different ways of being, we have made a start on what this new way might look like. We also know that this will evolve as something won't work and you will come back to me with far better ways of being!
Our plans today are:
To suspend all services of public worship with immediate effect. We will be live streaming a simplified service on YouTube at 11.00 on Sunday morning (Use this link to tune in, set a reminder or watch on catchup. Liturgy and Lyrics will be included)
To begin a service of morning prayer at 9.30 every day (not Sundays) - we would invite you to email your prayer requests to here and these will be prayed for at this time. For the time being the church will be open at this time and therefore an opportunity for you to come and light a candle - we will need to monitor this and ask that we maintain social distancing etc.
We know that we want to support our neighbours and church family, we have therefore divided up the electoral roll (our only database of members) into smaller groups and will be asking a member of that group to coordinate that local response. ensuring that everyone is contacted, perhaps setting up a WhatsApp group to aid local communication. Martin, the Churchwardens and I will communicate with those coordinators and contact others as appropriate. I know that not all our family are on the Electoral Roll - if this is you please do send your contact details to Tina with your permission for us to contact you in this way.
We would encourage you to give to Foodbanks, contact those nearby (especially those you know are in high risk categories) to see what we can do practically, to be a people of prayer, especially joining us in spirit (if not in person) at our 9.30 time of prayer.
We will have more updates - please do read these as they come, we will try to keep them as concise as we can. These plans, as I said will continue to evolve, please be prepared for more church emails than just the regular once a week!
I know that this community has been a beacon for many of you in the past, I know that you will ensure that it continues to be so in the present difficulties.
Much love
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.
