Remembering those we’ve loved and lost

candle-in-hands2Many people find their way to St Luke’s through the saddest of circumstances –planning a funeral for a loved one. Others have found comfort in the love and support of people at St Luke’s during the dark time after losing a friend or family member. As a church, we often include opportunities during regular services to remember and give thanks for people we’ve loved and lost – perhaps through lighting a candle, saying a prayer, or the shared experience of communion, which symbolically gathers together all people, both living and dead.

However, once a year there’s a special service dedicated to those who’ve departed this world. All Souls Day (also known as the Commemoration of All Faithful Departed) falls on 2 November. St Luke’s will be holding its All Souls service the next day, on Sunday 3 November, at 4pm. It’s an opportunity to pray for departed souls, give thanks for those we’ve loved, and light a candle in their memory. Their names will be read out as part of the service.

The service is particularly popular with people who’ve attended funerals at St Luke’s in the preceding year, but anyone is welcome to attend, and some people make the journey every year.

If you’d like the name(s) of your loved one(s) to be read out at the service on 3 November, you can fill in a form (which you’ll find at the back of the church) and pass it to Pat Tomlinson. Alternatively, if you’re not a regular at St Luke’s, you can email your request to patriciatomlinson@mac.com. We look forward to welcoming you to the All Souls service to remember those you’ve loved and lost.

Vox Holloway raise their voices for Syrian refugees

cropped-rolled_stave It's easy to feel helpless in the face of a humanitarian crisis, such as the horrors currently taking place in Syria. St Luke's community choir, Vox Holloway, has decided to take positive action by donating all profits from its next concert to help Syrian refugees.

The choir is currently rehearsing hard for its performance at St Luke's on Sunday 1 December – an event entitled Songs Of Exile, which will include music from around the world, and performances by two world-class soloists. The audience will get to hear a brand new composition, Cry Palestine, written and performed by Palestinian musician Reem Kelani. Catalan musician Clara Sanabras (whose work regularly appears on film and TV soundtracks, including the second The Hobbit film) will be performing a new choral setting of songs from her latest album, Scattered Flight: Songs of Spanish Exile. Arrangements and musical direction will once again be provided by British composer Harvey Brough, and Justin Butcher, Vox Holloway’s founder and artistic director. It's a unique event, and not to be missed – so put the date in your diary, and invite friends and family to join you.

All the profits raised by the event will go to the charity Hand In Hand For Syria, which was featured in Panorama on BBC1 last week. You can see the programme at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03c7m8s/Panorama_Saving_Syrias_Children/ and learn more about the charity at http://www.handinhandforsyria.org.uk/

If you feel inspired to join the choir yourself, there's still time (but only just) to sign up and perform in the big event. The choir is especially keen to hear from tenors and basses (in other words, men – or women with very deep voices!). There are no auditions and you don't need to be able to read music. Most songs are in English, with a few easy-to-learn sections in Arabic, Spanish or Catalan (transcriptions and recordings are provided). However, you do need to commit to weekly rehearsals at St Luke's every Tuesday, 7.30pm-9.30pm, between now and the concert. Singers are also asked to make a voluntary donation (if they can) of £30 to pay rehearsal costs, and £15 for sheet music. If you're interested, please get in touch as soon as possible by emailing voxhollowayn7@gmail.com

Since it was founded in 2009, Vox Holloway has raised over £50,000 for charities around the world. We're very proud of the choir's amazing achievements, and look forward to enjoying its latest musical extravaganza on 1 December.

Faith, hope and charity

charitieslogoscompositeAs a church, St Luke’s supports a number of charities – but individual members also have causes that are close to their hearts, and we like to support their efforts as well. Last week, Rachel Blackamore completed her first half-marathon to raise money for Joshua Orphan Care in Malawi. This charity creates feeding stations and funds education projects in a country devastated by poverty. Rachel has been involved with the charity for several years, has visited Malawi twice and even helped to build a medical clinic there. So far, Rachel’s half-marathon has raised £1,600. If you’d like to boost funds, please visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RachelBlackamore, and to learn more about the charity, visit www.joshuainmalawi.org.uk. Well done, Rachel – we're impressed!

Meanwhile, another St Luker, John Cruse, recently shaved his head to raise money for Cancer Research UK. Those who know his family will understand why this cause is close to John’s heart. So far, John has raised £380. If you’d like to give his fundraising efforts a boost, visit www.justgiving.com/John-Cruse, where you can also see a video of John’s lustrous locks hitting the deck. (We still think you’re still gorgeous, John.)

Finally, it’s not too late to donate to Grace Wroe’s fundraising drive to send former South African street child Thutukani on his way to university and a better life. You can read more about Thutukani’s story at www.saintlukeschurch.org.uk/2013/05/14/reaching-out-across-the-world/ So far, £445 has been raised towards the £500 he needs. Visit www.justgiving.com/Umthombo-University to help us hit that target.

Well done to Rachel, John and Grace for their efforts to make the world a better place – we’re proud of you!