Palm Sunday

Donkey Tales from Barnes

Cheryl Cole who runs the office at St Mary’s in Barnes says that one of her most unusual tasks every year is hiring a donkey for the Palm Sunday Service. The donkey comes courtesy of the marvellously named company Dashing Donkeys.

We hear that this year Cheryl was expecting a donkey called Tubby Tabitha to do the honours but at the eleventh hour Tabitha was substituted with Stubborn Penny. The responsibility of looking after Stubborn Penny fell to parishioner Cate Summers who is an experienced horsewoman. Cate says that Penny was a lovely donkey but that her nickname was well deserved as nothing would entice her to enter the church. Nevertheless, she was a huge hit with younger members of the congregation with donkey rides around the churchyard being a hot ticket.

Unfortunately, the horse box due to transport Stubborn Penny home broke down leaving her temporarily stranded at St Mary’s, a disappointment which she took in her stride as she was happy to remain in the churchyard, providing gardening services (grass trimming and fertilisation) free of charge.

Over at St Michael and All Angels, Barnes,  where their Palm Sunday service featured a stablemate of Stubborn Penny, handy churchyard grazing wasn’t available, so a garden in Elm Bank Gardens was co-opted as a temporary home for Penny’s companion Miss Zenna, who, by all accounts, was a beautifully behaved animal.

from the Barnes Village Bugle April 2024 Newsletter

Keeping Watch on Maundy Thursday

Good Friday

Easter Dawn Fires and Vigils

Easter Sunday

On Sunday 11th February, The Reverend Canon Nick Jepson-Biddle was licensed by the Right Reverend Dr Martin Gainsborough, Bishop of Kingston as Associate Priest of St Anne’s, Kew and Director of the Kew Institute for Theology and Gardening. A joyous Choral Evensong was held with the choir singing service setting Stanford in C and Hadley ‘My Beloved Spake’.

The evening marked the beginning of the Kew Institute for Theology and Gardening (more details to follow in the coming months) of which Bishop Martin said:
“I have every confidence that the Kew Institute will make an important contribution to the greatest challenge of our time.”

On Sunday 28th January, St Mary the Virgin, Mortlake said goodbye to Revd Canon Dr Ann Nickson after over 13 years, who is now retiring. A joyous final eucharist was held with many tributes by the church wardens and the children:

“We cannot thank you enough for your dedication and your tireless service to the parish and particularly to Saint Mary’s. You have done so much and given so much over the last 13 years. We’re really going to miss your ministry, your preaching, but I think most of all your friendship and kindness to us all. “

“Thank you very much for everything you’ve done. Thank you, particularly for holding us all together, and not letting everything fall apart during the lockdown, and the Covid19 pandemic. A very difficult time for us and for all churches”

Ann thanked her church wardens and the many church warden teams she’s worked with over the years and of St Mary’s she said:

“It has been such a privilege to be your vicar and to be based here at St. Mary’s over the last 13 and a half years. Not too many clergy, I think, can say that even if they weren’t the vicar, they would go to their church on a Sunday but this is certainly where I would choose to be if I were not. You are an amazing group of people. It’s been a privilege getting to know you over the years. Thank you to everyone who’s served as church warden and to everyone who’s been involved in, so many different ways. You are, you are very special, I hope, you know it. Saint Mary’s is a wonderful place. I never feel embarrassed like some clergy, might to say, come along on a Sunday because I know that people who come here will find a welcome. They will find people like them. They will fit.

The church in a sense is meant to be a foretaste of Heaven. Now, of course, we’re not perfect here, but I think you do a pretty good job. Thank you for welcoming me 13 and a half years ago. Thank you for all that we’ve been able to do together over those years. Thank you for all the fun. Thank you for being with me and supporting me during the tough times. And there have been those times. You’ve also been very supportive when I’ve been trying to deal with vacancies or difficulties at the other churches. I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive and lovely congregation. And I will really miss you. I will be very sad to say goodbye but I know that I leave you in safe hands. Thank you very much.”

Questions Answered at St Mary Magdalene

St Mary Magdalene, Richmond recognised that they have people in their congregation who have joined at different life stages and have very different church or faith backgrounds. Some people have received Confirmation or First Communion preparation, but many have not. And many are coming from liturgical or Anglo-Catholic or Catholic backgrounds but lots are not.

So they decided to explore the Eucharist together. On 18th June, they took the opportunity to walk through the Choral Eucharist service and explained at each stage what it is they do each Sunday and why. In advance of the service, the congregation was ask to submit questions. There were questions on about liturgy, posture, bible readings and more and many of these were answered during the service.

You can watch the service by clicking the picture below:

Following the service, there were still unanswered questions and even more have been added. St Mary’s held another Q&A session over coffee a few weeks later and answered more questions about church life and faith.

St Peter’s Church, Church Lane, Petersham is looking for a part time (8 hours a week) parish administrator (see job description below).  The successful candidate will have administrative and organisational skills, good written and verbal communication and an ability to relate to a range of people and situations.  He/she will also be sympathetic to the aims of the church and its mission to the community.

If you are interested, please contact the Parish Office (st.peters.petersham@googlemail.com , 020 8940 8435) for full details.

Closing date for applications: 11 November 2023.

Richmond Team Ministry

The Revd Joe Moore was licensed as Team Vicar of St John the Divine, Richmond by the Bishop of Kingston on Wednesday 19 July.

Joe was previously Assistant Curate in the parish of St Mary, Battersea, where he served since August 2021. Joe was ordained deacon in June 2019, and has ministered in parishes in Croydon and Walworth. He trained for ordained ministry at Cranmer Hall, Durham, prior to that he worked as Pastoral Assistant at St Anne’s, Hoxton and in retail. Joe read Religion, Philosophy & Ethics at King’s College London and was educated in Fulham and Pimlico. He is Chaplain to the Sondheim Theatre in London’s West End. He loves theatre, good coffee, spending time with loved ones, and walking his rescue corgi, Revel. Joe is passionate about preaching, raising mental health awareness and inclusion.

Joe writes: ‘I am excited and honoured to have been appointed to the Richmond Team, with special responsibility for St John the Divine. I look forward to joining in with the mission of God in this place, and all that this new phase of ministry might hold.’

Kew United Benefice

Kew United Benefice has been joined by assistant curate, Dr Hannah Swithinbank.  Hannah trained for ordination at Westcott House and the University of Cambridge and was ordained deacon on 24th June at Southwark Cathedral.

Before training, Hannah lived in Earlsfield and worked for Tearfund, leading their Theology team, working with churches and theologians around the world to grow church participation in community development and social justice, and this was an important part of her discernment of her call to ministry.

She grew up in west Cornwall, before moving to the other end of the UK to go to university in St Andrews, where she spent nearly ten years, ending up with a doctorate in Ancient History. She’s excited to move back to Southwark, to experience the joys of life in Kew, and to serve in the parishes of St Philips and All Saints, and St Luke’s. In her free time, she enjoys reading, and going to movies, theatres, and concerts, and before moving to live in college in Cambridge, she was trying to be a better gardener.