Retiring Collection for All Saints School Uniform

Congregations at All Saints Church last Sunday donated a total of £717.20 towards the gift of school uniform jumpers for every child at All Saints Church of England Primary School.

The new uniform will be worn next term when the amalgamation of Whitelocke Infants and Palmer Junior Schools is complete and the new All Saints Primary School opens.

The aim of the All Saints Church Council was to ensure that no family or child was without the new uniform from day one of the new school.

During the Parish Communion service an example of the new uniform was displayed - worn by Peter Wellman - and All Saints School headteacher Mrs Tina Norman and new Inclusion Manager Mrs Maxine Cronin read the bible readings.

First Leadership Forum planned

Invitations are now being delivered to all group leaders in All Saints Church to attend the first meeting of the new Leadership Forum.

It will take place on Saturday 6th September from 9.30am until 12.30pm in The Oaks Building, All Saints Church of England Primary School (the old Palmer Junior School building.

The purpose of the Leadership Forum is to move forward our Vision 2010 goals and keep everyone informed and inspired. The Forum will meet as a large group 2 or 3 times a year.

The meeting is for leaders of all the different church groups in All Saints Church.
Rector David Hodgson comments: "In a large church such as All Saints, the strength of the church lies in its smaller groups, and it is through these groups that we will continue to see our Vision goals attained"

Leadership Forum convenor, Mrs Barbara Smith said: "Participants in the meeting will come away feeling good about what they are doing as group leaders; and inpired about how their groups can develop as part of the Vision for our church. They will know more about the changes in how we work as a church and meet people they can turn to for help".

"we believe we have an exciting session lined up and we are pleased that we have been able to get "Mosaic" to lead the meeting"

Mosaic is a Wokingham-based group which specialises in the use of cartoons, illustrations and drama to enahnce learning and development.

Churchyard developments

As the new Gathering Space area and pathways project in All Saints churchyard moves forward, a newsletter with information and photographs of the projects and developments in the churchyard is published this week by Friends of All Saints Churchyard.
Click here to download a copy

All Saints is praying every day

This week members of All Saints are making a special focus on its practice of Daily Prayer.

Prayers are offered in All Saints Church every day, morning and evening, for the local community and the wider world, and for individuals and families.

Members of All Saints who are able to be in church at 9am or at 5pm each day gather for a few minutes and pray. Two bible readings, one from the Old Testament and one from the New, and a psalm are read. The service of Daily Prayer is used as a framework.

There is a particular emphasis in the prayers this week for the forthcoming Lambeth Conference - a once in a decade event in which hundreds of bishops of the Anglican Communion across the globe converge on Canterbury at the invitation of the Archbishop.

Last Sunday All Saints was privileged to be visited by one of the overseas bishops en route to the conference, the Rt Reverend Henry Parsley, Bishop of Alabama, USA and his wife Rebecca. Henry preached a moving sermon at the Parish Communion urging the need for all Christians to be in the forefront of concern and action to revere and protect the natural world as God's awesome gift. At the evening service he held a conversation with members of the congregation, answering questions about women bishops, gay Christians, religion and politics, and the Iraq war.

Those who cannot be in church during the week at 9am or 5pm are able to access the prayers and readings being used each day through the All Saints Church website at http://www.allsaintswokingham.org.uk

Wonderful news

All the negative publicity around the Anglican church in recent weeks is in danger of overshadowing the wonderful news which came out of General Synod this week -that the office of bishop in the Church of England will no longer be barred to women.

Our church has finally rid itself of a constitution which suggested, or at least, gave quiet support
to the notion, that women are somehow less significant than men in God's eyes. And it has opened the door of the House of Bishops to a fresh infusion over coming years of a rich and life -giving stream of gifts and talents.

Of course there are those in our church who cannot accept women may be bishops. The lengthy and passionate debate in Synod -matching this year's Wimbledon Men's Final for its uniquely titanic struggle - was not so much about the main issue as about what should be done to accommodate those who disagree with the decision.

Synod rejected calls from traditionalists for separate enclaves for priests and congregations who cannot accept women bishops. This is a cause of pain to some; but to accept women bishops on that basis would create first and second class bishops.

Instead Synod has grasped the nettle of genuine reform; which will lead to a single body of bishops for the church consisting of men and women together.

I believe that our successors will look back in 50 years and marvel there was ever a time when priests and bishops were men only, just as we are amazed to think there was a time women had to leave their jobs when they were married.

This week the Church of England has taken a historic step towards a sustainable future.

Revd David Hodgson July 2008

Marriage preparation session begins today.

Today sees the start of the current marriage preparation course, for couples being married at All Saints during the rest of this year.
The course gives couples the opportunity to consider issues relating to their future married life, as well as helping them plan the big day itself.
Based on questionnaires and exercises for couples to discuss between themselves, the course method avoids a lecturing or advice - giving approach. The key note is facilitating conversations about important matters. Topics covered include: coping with conflict, intimacy; what about children; values.
The sessions are facilitated by a team of volunteers working alongside a member of the All Saints clergy team.

Sins cast into the water at All Saints

In a moving ceremony of confession, designed by the All Saints young people, congregants at yesterday's Parish Communion service were invited to take a pebble, symbolically load it with their sins, and cast it away into the water; to represent the cleansing and removal of sin and guilt which God freely gives to those who repent with faith in Christ. The water was a paddling pool installed for the purpose in the south aisle!

Other elements of the service supported by young people's groups linked to All Saints included a mime by StageFright, Wokingham's new faith-based youth drama group, to illustrate the gospel reading of the story of Jesus walking on the water and Peter's efforts to do the same. Children and young people also led the reading, the intercessory prayers and the sharing of the Peace. Words of explanation for those parts of the service which were adapted from the norm were devised and read by youth group members.

The service picked up on themes from the life of St Peter ("the rock"), as it was celebrated on the Feast of St Peter and St Paul. It was the annual Service of Thanksgiving for children's and young's people's groups. A parade of youth organsisations included Beavers, Cubs, Brownies, Guides and Scouts.

American bishop to visit All Saints

The Bishop of Alabama, Rt Revd Henry Parsley, will preach at Parish Communion on Sunday 13th July. Bishop Henry will spend a weekend here in Wokingham with his wife Rebecca before travelling on to Canterbury for the 2008 Lambeth Conference.

As a bishop of the Episcopalian Church in the United States of America, Bishop Henry is one of the hundreds of Anglican bishops gathering for the ten-yearly conference of bishops of the Anglican Communion. The conference is mired in controversy because some bishops who disagree with the others on the subject of honosexuality in the church are not willing to attend the same conference as the others with whom they disagree. An alternative conference has been held this week in Jordan. The dissident bishops include a diocesan bishop of the Church of England, Rt Revd Michael Nazir-Ali, who thinks that he is right and Archbishop Rowan Williams and the many bishops who support his stance are wrong.

Sun shone on All Saints Church Family Picnic

The dire weather forecasts of rain and howling gales came to nothing in Wokingham yesterday. The sun shone instead and so the All Saints Church Family picnic went ahead as planned in the playing-fields of Palmer C of E Junior School. There was rounders, and outdoors bowls, mega-Connect 4 and parachute games. A great time was had by all!