SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING

Today Father Mervyn presided at the Parish Mass, Father Martin read the Gospel, preached and concelebrated and Pamela led our Intercessions which included a sung response.

In his sermon Father Martin highlighted the differences between Shepherds in the Middle East where they lead their flocks and the UK where they walk behind.  Jesus, our Good Shepherd leads from the front even prepared to suffer death on the Cross for his sheep.

After Mass a card was presented to Ken who is currently exploring his possible vocation to the Sacred Priesthood. He currently attends a church in the Evangelical Tradition and the DDO wanted him to experience Anglo-Catholic worship which he has been doing for a number of weeks. He leave us, with our prayers, as he continues this exploration.

PARKING RESTRICTIONS

Following a meeting at the Town Hall a compromise has been reached over the proposed Parking Restrictions which were  highlighted in the Blog last week. Father Martin attended the meeting on Thursday armed with the many signatures we collected at our Winter Bazaar and at Mass last Sunday; also the Council had received objections via the on-line petition we organised on our Web Site.

The new proposals introduce Free Parking Bays on both sides of the road, near to the junction with Rush Green Road, giving a maximum stay of 3 hours stay, Monday to Saturday 8.00 a.m. – 6.30 p.m. (with no return within 2 hours) There will be no restrictions on a Sunday. This will mean people attending Sunday and/or weekday Masses, Nursery School, Beavers, Rainbows, Cubs and Brownies or folk attending a funeral or wedding or the Saturday Shop will be able to park.

Please agree to these revised proposals which meet all our requirements by contacting Streetcare, at Havering Town Hall  by email to schemes@havering.gov.uk : stating you are in favour of the proposals and if you wish to add further comment please restrict this to no more than 100 words

YESTERDAY’S SATURDAY SHOP TOOK £320 – AN INCREDIBLE RESULT.

DATES FOR DIARY’S

ADVENT SUNDAY  1st December

Mass at 8.30 a.m. and 10.00 a.m

ADVENT CAROL SERVICE

6.00 p.m. Service of 9 lessons and Advent carols and hymns

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FRIDAY 6th DECEMBER

Annual Christmas Meal at the YMCA  Cost £13.50

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TUESDAY 17th DECEMBER  The Rosary at 7.30 p.m. (Rosaries are available to borrow)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SATURDAY 21st DECEMBER

CAROL SINGING AT QUEEN’S HOSPITAL

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Change or face Extinction”

The retired Archbishop of Canterbury Lord George Carey recently forecast that unless the church changed it could face extinction within a generation. Is that true? Many commentators have agreed with this statement but what about those churches which are growing?

Certainly my experience at St. Augustine’s, Rush Green is that it has been consistently growing for the past five years. There are more communicants; the Sunday School flourishes; there are many members of the congregation who are in their thirties and forties – also many who are retired and quite a few teenagers. I believe that churches who preach the undiluted Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ are the churches that are growing and are either in the Catholic or the Evangelical sections of the church.

33rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

After the success of our Annual Winter Bazaar it was good to come together this morning to give thanks in our well-supported Parish Mass. Father Martin presided and Father Mervyn read the Gospel, preached and concelebrated. Father Martin led us in our Intercessions.

In his sermon Father Mervyn reminded those who had recently been on our pilgrimage to the Holy Land, that they had witnessed the truth of the prophecy of Jesus about the destruction of the Temple. Jesus had warned Christians that they were likely to be persecuted for their faith and he quoted several examples from around the world where there is persecution in our day and age. We should keep these Christians in our prayers: they  have truly taken up their cross and followed Jesus. We must be prepared to do the same should we be called to do so.

TONIGHT THERE WILL BE SOLEMN EVENSONG AND BENEDICTION AT 6.00 P.M.

WEDNESDAY  20th NOVEMBER

THE ROSARY WILL BE SAID AT 7.30 P.M. IN THE LADY CHAPEL.

A rosary can be borrowed for the service if needed.

SUNDAY 1st DECEMBER – ADVENT 1

Mass at 8.30 a.m. & 10.00 a.m.

ADVENT CAROL SERVICE OF NINE LESSONS  6.00 p.m.

WINTER BAZAAR 2013

Today we held our Winter Bazaar, and a good number of people came to support us. All the stalls did well and the total came to £1,859.12 – a wonderful result.(There may be some small expenses of around £50 still outstanding)

We are very grateful to Paul at Hawkins the Butchers of Rush Green who supplied and donated bacon, sausages and eggs for our justly famous bacon butties and our sausage sandwiches. In fact, the kitchen was busy up until we finally sold out. Our many thanks to Hawkins & Sons Butchers. 94 Dagenham Road Rush Green Romford · Essex RM7 0TJ.

Many thanks to all those who worked so hard to make today such a resounding success: the stallholders, those who donated items for us to sell, the cake, pastry and pie makers, our in-house electrician who tested items for sale, Father Martin and his team for their cooking, those who set up the Bazaar and those who helped clear up afterwards and especially all those who came and spent their money.

CAR PARKING RESTRICTIONS AT ST. AUGUSTINE’S CHURCH, RUSH GREEN

Please sign the online petition to Havering Council objecting to the proposed restrictions which will have a very detrimental effect on worshippers and hall users:

Please click here to sign

This will go direct to Havering Council

32nd SUNDAY OF THE YEAR REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

There was a full church today for the Requiem Mass for those who have given their lives in the service of their country in Two World Wars and many other conflicts over subsequent years, .Father Mervyn presided and Father Martin read the gospel, preached, concelebrated and led a short service in the Memorial Garden at the end of Mass  In his homily Father Martin talked about the horrors of war. He mentioned several people with whom he had trained when he was in the Royal Navy and who died on HMS Sheffield during the Falklands War. He mentioned the sinking of the Belgrano. For a Christian it was never right to be joyful at the death of an enemy. Ann led us in our Intercessions and just before11.00 am we were in the Memorial Garden for the Two Minutes silence at exactly 11.00 a.m. .A wreath of poppies was laid and members of the congregation placed their own commemorations under the Memorial Crucifix. In addition extra provision had been made in church to light a candle for family members and/or friends.

Yesterdays Saturday Shop took £225

CAR PARKING

Members of the congregation were horrified when they learnt of the scheme by Havering Council to impose Residents Only Parking in the road by the church.  where there are no restrictions at present. These will be in force everyday from 8.00 a.m. until 8.00 p.m. Objections have to be with the Council by the end of November and the new restrictions, if approved, will be in force in February. Many people who regularly attend church will be unable to park here as before and there is no where else apart from a very small church car park which is impossible to expand. It will affect the Nursery Scholl and other  activities in the hall. After Mass a petition was launched to object to these new parking restriction and so many signed extra sheets had to be made. There is to be no “dropping of” provision and with very active “spy” cars operating in this area no one will be able to stop for just a moment or two. It could mean the end of our well-supported Saturday Shop and our weekday Masses and other organisations which, at present, use our hall..

PLEASE REGISTER YOUR OBJECTION EITHER BY SIGNING THE PETITION OR DIRECTLY WITH HAVERING COUNCIL

31st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME–ALL SAINTS

First, an apology; as many of us were in The Holy Land it wasn’t possible to post details about the Parish Mass at St. Augustine's last Sunday. We were attending Mass at St. George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem where the Dean made us very welcome. The Cathedral was full. After Mass we enjoyed refreshments in the beautiful gardens around the Cathedral and then we had an enjoyable lunch in the Refectory after which we drove to Tiberias.

Today, Father Martin presided and Father Mervyn read the Gospel and preached. In his sermon Father referred to the great number of saints in the Calendar many of which we celebrate but he then pointed out that there are many other saints, men, women and children, who were unknown. The Solemnity of  All Saints gave us the opportunity to remember those we don’t know as well as those we do. He pointed out we were all called to be saints and the Beatitudes gave us a pattern for a way of live we should aim to achieve. He reminded those who had been on  the pilgrimage that it was only a few days ago that we were standing on the Mount of the Beatitudes where Jesus gave these wonderful words to his disciples and through them to us. After the sermon Father Martin led us in the Litany of the Saints.

ALL SOULS REQUIEM

Monday 4th November at 7.30 pm.

Saturday Shop

Yesterday’s Saturday Shop took over £240.