Many congratulations to the Reverend Canon Wilma Roest from the Richmond Team Ministry who was appointed one of seven New Honourary Canons for Southwark Cathedral on 7th August.
Commenting on his appointments, Bishop Christopher said: “I am delighted that these very gifted priests have accepted my invitation to become Honorary Canons in recognition of distinguished service in the Diocese and wider Church. I look forward to being able to formally institute and install them in our Cathedral Church when circumstances allow and commend them to the Diocesan family for prayer.”
The Sub Dean of Southwark, The Revd Canon Michael Rawson, said: “The College of Canons at the Cathedral allows us to add to the diversity and skills of those who are ambassadors for the Cathedral around the Diocese and we look forward to being able to welcome these new members and working with them in the future.”
The new Canons will be instituted and installed in Southwark Cathedral when the guidelines around Coronavirus permit, and the Bishop of Southwark has said that they may use the designation Canon from today.
Commenting on her appointment, Canon Wilma said: “I am delighted to be made an Honorary Canon. Since coming to England from The Netherlands, in October 1988, I have lived and worked in Southwark Diocese, first as an au pair, then a teacher and since 1999 as a deacon and priest. It has been and is a joy to serve the people of South London, in their wonderful diversity, with their committed faith and great sense of justice. They are an inspiration and a blessing!”
Read full details in the official press release – follow the link below
Canon Wilma was Instituted and Installed as Honorary Canon of Southwark Cathedral, by Bishop Christopher On Sunday 4th October during Choral Evensong. In line with current Government Covid-19 restrictions the Service was held with restricted numbers. Exceprts from the service can be seen below.
Congratulations to Ruth Martin who is a Reader in the Richmond Team Ministry. She and with six others were awarded the Lancelot Andrewes Medal by Bishop Christopher for distinguished service during the pandemic on Sunday 27th September. As Diocesan Secretary, Ruth worked with Bishop Christopher on the Coronavirus Task Group.
Speaking of the award, Bishop Christopher said: “The Lancelot Andrewes medal is in my personal gift and I have awarded them initially to those who have worked closely with me or on the front line during the pandemic. They are given as a token of my personal esteem and appreciation. In the coming weeks and months I shall be making further awards to mark the heroic work undertaken around the Diocese as we rise to the challenges presented by the pandemic.”
Please see below a job opportunity with Riverbank Trust. Riverbank Trust is a Christian Charity which seeks to love, support and befriend vulnerable single Mums and their families in the London Borough of Richmond.
A new Zoom study group looking at some readings for the season of “creationtide” started on 21st September. During September and October, the Church of England, encourages us to focus on God as creator and sustainer of all life. Each week the group will look at a bible reading on this theme, and discuss it.
The group meets online at 2.30pm for an hour for 5 weekly sessions, from Monday 21st September to Monday 19th October inclusive. If you would like to join please email Rev James Hutchings (revdjames@stmarybarnes.org) to get the Zoom invitation.
If you want to get ahead the full resources are on this link: Creationtide Discussion Materials You will see that each week a number of readings, biblical and other, are given, and you might like to choose one each day, but this is an optional extra. Rev James encourages those who have not previously taken part to give it a go too – it is an excellent way to grow in your faith and to join with others in doing so.
The “Learning from Lockdown” series of reflections are from a variety of people, connected with St Mary, Barnes, on how they experienced lockdown in their context and any lessons that might be learned for us locally and further afield in the future.
Reflection from Julie Smith
At the beginning of 2020, I was very excited to become more heavily involved with the Youth Ministry at St Mary’s and our plans were all in place to relaunch the teen youth club and several other new initiatives. Then Covid-19 struck and lockdown followed. With almost no warning our lives were very different. As I was promptly furloughed, I had little time to contact the young people in the church at a time when their lives have been severely disrupted. I sent them the following advice and settled in to follow it myself!
“L.O.C.K.D.O.W.N.” is a time to: “L”isten to God’s voice and reflect. “O”bey his word and his teachings. “C”all on Jesus’ name and be calmed. “K”now what is the purpose of all this. “D”well in his presence. Do not panic. “O”ffer a prayer for everyone’s safety. “W”ait and be patient. This too shall pass over. “N”urture our personal relationship with God.
As we begin to come out of lockdown and I am once more able to make contact, however, I am impressed by the resilience and positive mindsets of these young people. Many had their last days at school interrupted and have been robbed of the rites of passage of carefully planned and long anticipated final assemblies and leavers’ balls. There was just no chance to properly say goodbye. They have had public exams cancelled. “Lucky them” is the response of many but rarely the teens themselves. Those exams were worked hard for, over many years, and would have provided an opportunity to our young people to prove themselves to the outside world, and indeed to themselves. Hopefully, the predicted grades provided to them by teachers and exam boards will do them justice and allow them all to proceed on their chosen paths of study. Some, however, will still feel cheated and many too will feel some doubt moving forward. Do I really deserve this grade? Could I really have achieved this on my own, on that one crucial day, under exam conditions? For those with exams still ahead of them, there are worries too. Will so many months of missed classes and homeschooling impact their final grades next summer, even if things return to normal in September, which must surely be a big if?! There will, no doubt, be mental health implications moving forward. Many young people have been ill with the coronavirus themselves or seen family members or friends suffer. Lots have been parted from grandparents and other family members who have been sorely missed. Sadly, in a country where the death toll has been higher than we hoped, there have been young people touched by bereavement and grief at a time when mourning has been especially difficult. Yet, despite all this, there is also a lot of positive feedback coming from our young people.
For many, lockdown has provided a welcome moment to step back from frenetic lives and really consider what is important. There has been an opportunity to spend quality time with parents and siblings. Many have challenged themselves with new interests and will be heading off to university with newly acquired cooking and cleaning skills. Many have really helped in the community with shopping for elderly or shielded neighbours, or making masks and PPE for the NHS. The environment really matters to this generation so the cleaner air and reduced pollution of early lockdown provided hope that their message was finally being heard, although the number of discarded facemasks currently being fished out of the ocean suggests there is still much work to be done. Our young people have led the way in keeping communication going throughout lockdown with the use of zoom and teams, alien terms to many only a year ago. We can be very proud of the way they have coped and be inspired by their enthusiasm to move forward to our new normality.
As I look back at the words of advice I sent out in March, I realise that understanding why God has permitted the global suffering and devastation of Covid-19 remains far beyond our understanding. For many, however, the knowledge that we can turn to God with our worries and anxieties and that he will carry our burdens has helped in the past months. We thank God that in any situation we can trust in him to be our strength, that he will always be there for us, to give us hope, to encourage us and to lighten our load. We have just started up our latest Confirmation preparation classes and, inevitably, there will be many questions concerning the events of the last few months. I believe that the very fact that we have an enthusiastic group of young people contemplating taking this positive step forwards in their faith, especially at such a difficult time, is surely a sign of hope for us all.
The Revd Alex Barrow, from All Saints’, East Sheen, was commissioned as the new Area Dean of Richmond and Barnes by Bishop Richard, via a Zoom service on Sunday 5th July. Please pray for Father Alex as he takes on this role. Our thanks go to Revd Peter Hart, the outgoing Area Dean, as he leaves the area soon to take up a new post in the Diocese of Worcester.
Reading: John 20, 24-29 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’
Reflection from Bishop Richard The Gospel reading comes from that set for St Thomas’s day, which was last Friday, 3 July. It’s always been a favourite of mine, partly because I was ordained as a priest on St Thomas’s day in 1988 in Newcastle Cathedral, but mainly because it speaks to me of the importance of a questioning and enquiring faith. Many people identify strongly with St Thomas in this regard. I have always found that engaging with the deep and often challenging questions which arise in both life and faith leads paradoxically not to a crippling doubt, but to a deeper faith and trust in God’s love. This was certainly the experience of Thomas in these few verses from John chapter 20. He moves from a position of finding it almost impossible to believe in the resurrection to the moment when he addresses Jesus as “my Lord and my God”. Prof Christopher Evans, who taught me New Testament in my ordination training, described this as the highest Christology in the New Testament. Thomas really did see the significance and importance of Christ after asking his searching and enquiring questions.
The context of our world today is certainly challenging and complex. It is deeply secularised in our part of the world. Around half of our contemporaries in this country self-describe as having no religion. There are many different major faiths and worldviews. Most people are disconnected from the Christian faith and the life of the Church.
The pandemic has exposed many fragilities in our self-confident modern world. Many of our assumptions about how things work have been shattered and we have been forced to consider what really matters in our lives, including consideration of our deep values and beliefs.
Those who are ordained in the Church of England or move to a new ministry are reminded of the importance of proclaiming the Gospel afresh in each generation. The time we are going through now with the pandemic has shaken our world to its core, and arguably in the short space of a few months we have moved into a new generation. There is undoubtedly a renewed interest in spirituality, a deeper appreciation of our connectivity with each other and with the planet, a new urgency about working for economic, racial and environmental justice. If the church is to connect with our current emerging generation we need to find the right language and the right actions in which to proclaim the good news of God’s self-giving saving love, and the hope that it brings to every situation.
As we rethink and reimagine both our world and the Church’s part in God’s mission, I believe the role of deaneries is more important than ever. The deanery structure is playing a very important part in our response to the pandemic. The archdeacons in the Kingston Episcopal area have had regular meetings by zoom with the area deans and assistant area deans and these have been vital in not only steering us through and supporting one another, but also beginning to imagine how things might be in the future. I have been very impressed and encouraged when I have joined these conversations. As we move through the process of beginning to open up our churches I would draw your attention to the pastoral letter from the bishops of our diocese, which was read today in our churches. In particular, the part which encouraged deanery coordination as we think through how to open up in a manageable and safe way.
Looking to the future deaneries can play an even more important role across their areas in combined action such as in the many food banks which serve our communities, links to the civic authorities and major charities which operate across the deanery, relationships with other churches and faith groups, and links to major institutions such as our secondary schools, and in the Richmond and Barnes deanery the globally important work of Kew Gardens relating to the environment, biodiversity and climate change.
I am very grateful to Peter Hart for all that he has done in recent years as area Dean and as ecumenical Borough dean, and we all wish him well as he moves onto his new ministry in Worcester. I am grateful too, to Marian Mollett for all her vital work as Lay Chair. We now thank Alex for his willingness to serve as area Dean in the years to come and we pray for him in this ministry that the deanery may play its full part in the emerging patterns of God’s mission across the Richmond and Barnes deanery.
On 26th July, St Philip and All Saints with St Luke’s, Kew said goodbye to Father Peter Hart after 16 years. Father Peter (who was also our Area Dean) will be instituted as Team Rector of the Worcester South East Team Ministry (with responsibility for Worcester St Martin with St Peter) on Tuesday 1st September 2020.
Rev Peter Hart’s Last Service at St Philip and All Saints, Kew
Farewell to Rev David Guest
On 2nd August, Christ Church, East Sheen said goodbye to Rev David Guest after four years. David will be the next Vicar of St Bartholomew’s, Otford in the Diocese of Rochester.
Revd David writes: There are always mixed emotions when one leaves something and prepares to move on. But I’m thankful for my years in East Sheen and am looking forward eagerly to the next part of the journey in Otford, Kent. The final service was special and I’m grateful for lots of cards, gifts and good wishes. Thank you & God bless
Each summer the Parish of Mortlake with East Sheen team ministry hold a Holiday at Home week. Local residents of Barnes, Mortlake and East Sheen who are unable to get away for a holiday or would like more company during the summer are invited to join in either for a day or two or for the whole week.
No week-long Holiday at Home for elderly and lonely in the parish this year, which was going to have a cruise theme. Instead a couple of safe distanced afternoons (the cruise ship hijacked by pirates!) with music, chat, quizzing and afternoon teas. That didn’t stop the fun everyone had as you can see from the pictures below.
praying together, learning together, working together
