On Wednesday 4 November, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and Bishop of London called the Church of England to prayer for the nation throughout the month of November.
Use the daily and weekly prayer themes below to join the nation in prayer at 6pm each day.
Although public worship was not allowed on Remembrance Sunday, churches across the deanery remembered the fallen and gave thanks for their sacrifice with Acts of Remembrance outdoors and private prayers inside church.
An invitation is extended to anyone from this parish who would like to join an online group of people practising Christian meditation. No previous experience is necessary. The group initially formed from members of the St Anne’s Church in Kew, but since the practice has been offered online it now includes Christians from across the country and others seeking a nourishing and contemplative practice which leads to inner peace and a sense of calm and well-being. It is led by David Boddy, an experienced Meditator and member of the St Anne’s, Kew community. The group meets online at 7am on Friday mornings and concludes around 7.50am.
If you would like to try a session, please email the group administrator Suzie Oweiss at soweiss@tutordoctor.co.uk, copying in David at dj.boddy@gmail.com. You would be most welcome.
Christ Church, East Sheen are releasing short videos each Sunday evening, comprised of a mixture of words and music. These aim to help continue worship at home and to bring some brightness to your Sundays at a time in which a sense of community is needed more than ever.
Watch the first of these videos from below and visit their YouTube Channel Christ Church at Home or their Facebook page for the weekly videos.
For the latest edition of TeamTalk, Richmond Team Ministry asked congregation members and clergy to write down their experiences of Lockdown. What emerged was the joyfulness and hope that was derived from the unprecedented and challenging situation we all found ourselves in. Read their stories below.
Keith Nurse writes in the latest edition of the Cornerstone:
The first Service at HTR took place on 18 June 1870, so this year is our 150th anniversary! 
Our plan was to have our main celebration on 20 June, the nearest Saturday to this, although it now seems likely that we will need to change this. The idea was to have a church morning together followed by lunch, and in the afternoon the Bishop of Southwark, Christopher Chessun, would join us for a Service of Thanksgiving followed by tea. We were also hoping to arrange other special events during 2020, which we will keep under review as the year unfolds.
The 28 August 1869 edition of the Surrey Comet reports on the laying of the Foundation Stone of our church on 26 August by Princess Mary Adelaide of Teck, a granddaughter of George III, grandmother of Edward VIII and George VI and great grandmother of Elizabeth II. The report explains that towards the end of 1868 “… a number of persons, feeling
the need of more Church accommodation in St John’s parish, owing to the great increase of population, consulted together and formed a committee for the purpose of promoting the building of a new district
Church, to be called the Church of the Holy Trinity.” The committee made its first appeal for subscriptions in November 1868, so it’s remarkable that the first Service took place little more than 18 months later!
The report describes in some detail the physical plans for the church and the funding needed, as well as the laying of the Foundation Stone, an event attended by some 2,000 people that ended in interesting fashion! – “The Princess had hardly left the place before several men – the attention
of the police and of the committee being temporarily diverted – commenced, in a very rough manner, pulling the festoons and wreaths to pieces, in order to secure the flowers of which they were partly composed. Probably it was done for the purpose of securing something, however frail, as mementos of the occasion, but it might have been done in a more becoming manner.”
Unfortunately the Coronavirus pandemic put a stop to the events that had been planned for the anniversary weekend. Rather than seeing this as a negative, Holy Trinity have decided that instead they will have a whole year of celebration, culminating in a big celebration on Trinity Sunday 2021. In that year Holy Trinity will not only have events but also some challenges the first of which challenges you to come up with 150 things to be thankful for over the next year.
Check back here for more events and challenges as they happen or click here to find out more.
Our Churches may have reopened and we may be seeing our fellow parishioners again but with sitting apart in the church, waving the Peace from a distance and no coffee after the service, we may feel more apart from our friends than before.
St John the Divine, Richmond recognised this and continued it’s Sunday after-service ‘coffee mornings’ via Zoom when the Churches reopened. They are looking at replacing these with weekday evening congregational get-togethers on Zoom. There will be about 20-25 minutes for conversation, and the session will then conclude with a short act of worship, the office of Compline (Night Prayer).
St Michael and All Angels, Barnes have resumed their Zoom coffee on Sunday mornings with a speaker each week and a chance for parishioners to catch up.
On Wednesday 21st October, 8pm to 9pm Holy Trinity, Richmond are running a Secret Church event. Hosted by Emma Worrell from Open Doors, Secret Church is an event created by Open Doors to help us understand and worship alongside the world’s hidden Christians.
The COVID-19 crisis has meant we’ve all experienced what it’s like not to be able to meet in a church building or gather in large numbers. But, for millions of Christians across the world, that’s what life is like all the time. In many countries, Christians have never entered a physical church building. They have never experienced the buzz of worshipping with hundreds of others, or even sung to God in anything above a whisper.
They are the secret church. They meet under the cover of darkness; in caves, forests and cellars; in the middle of the night, at dawn and on the run from secret police. They gather under the arches of bridges and even meet in stinking toilets in prison camps.
Yet wherever they meet – they find Jesus there. And that’s what we can learn from them: that lockdown doesn’t mean we are alone; that even though we are separated, we can still be Church.
This event will be run via Zoom. If you would like to join, email the Church Office (office@htrichmond.org.uk) for the Zoom details.
Congratulations to Rev Martin Calderbank from St Michael and All Angels and Rev Sarah Atkins from St Richard’s, Ham on their ordinations as priests by Rt Revd Dr Richard Cheetham, Bishop of Kingston at All Saints, Kingston on Saturday 17th October.
The wind blows where it chooses,
and you hear the sound of it,
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.
So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.
John 3:8
Rev James Hutchings from St Mary, Barnes, writes:
“Glass Door do brilliant work, I’m so blessed to have a roof over my head, and I’d like others to have the same chance. So, on 2 October 2020, I will be joining Glass Door Homeless Charity’s Sleep Out to bring shelter and support to men and women affected by homelessness.
I’m raising money for Glass Door because I know they are doing good work to support and shelter those in our community who are at an absolute crisis point. Glass Door welcomes everyone as their guest, giving them some stability before helping them make the necessary steps and move off the streets for good.
While running winter night shelter in a shared space may not be possible, Glass Door is committed to finding ways to ensure that individuals in need can find safe shelter, a hot meal and a warm welcome.”
Click here if you would like to sponsor him.
It’s not too late to take part yourself, either sleeping out at Duke of York Square (still allowed with covid regulations) or in your own garden with a virtual livestream to join in with.
Rev James Hutchings from St Mary’s, Barnes spent the night of 2nd October sleeping on the rectory floor instead of the usual gathering in for the Glassdoor annual sleepout in Duke of York Square. He hoped that even that mild discomfort would sharpen his awareness of of what it must be like to be homeless in London on a night of terrible rain and what it must be to not have a secure place to live.
