Fight poverty – go fairtrade this Christmas

Here at St Luke’s, we’re keen to support fairtrade companies. If a product is labelled ‘fairtrade’, it means the producers are paid a decent price for their products and labour, and have better working conditions. This counters the injustices of conventional trade, which discriminates against the poorest producers.

St Luke’s has its own regular Traidcraft stall. Open every Sunday after the 11am service, you can pick up fairtrade basics such as rice, pasta, sugar, cereal, tea, coffee, dried fruit and chocolate. By choosing to spend our money on these products, we can each do our bit to help fight poverty and give people more control over their lives.

With Christmas fast approaching, now’s the time to check out the selection of fairtrade gifts, advent calendars, cards, decorations and wrapping paper on the Traidcraft stall. You can browse the catalogue or look online at www.traidcraftshop.co.uk, then place an order with Rachel Blackamore or Rosie Sheldon and collect your items at church (saving on postage and packing costs).

The absolute deadline for Christmas orders is 14 December (to pick up on 21 December) but popular items may sell out, so get your orders in early!

Remembering those we’ve loved and lost

Many 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, and St Luke’s will be holding its All Souls service 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 2 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.

Welcome evening at St Luke’s – and you’re invited!

St Luke’s is a fast-growing church, and although we endeavour to be friendly and welcoming, it can sometimes be easy for newcomers to get lost in the crowd, and to struggle to get to know people.

During our after-service coffee time, new folk – or indeed, anyone who wants to get to know others – are often invited to congregate at the font to chat. But every now and again, we have a special newcomers’ evening, when people can get a proper introduction to the church – and each other!

Our next St Luke’s Welcome Evening is on Friday 10 October, at 7pm. It’s mainly aimed at those who’ve joined the church in the last three years or so. However, it’s open to anyone who wants to learn more about getting involved at St Luke’s, or who’d like an opportunity to socialise for longer than we’re able to on a Sunday morning.

There’ll be wine and cheese, and a chance to get to know each other in a relaxed atmosphere. Our vicar, Dave, will give you an introduction to St Luke’s and how it works – including a tour of the building, to check out all those secret rooms and winding tower staircases you’ve never seen! There’ll also be a brief “who’s who” of the people who make things happen at St Luke’s.

So if you’re new ¬– or not so new – please consider yourself invited. If possible, drop us an email at stlukespcc@hotmail.com so we know how many to cater for. We look forward to seeing you there!

The Speakeasy returns

Here at St Luke’s, we love a party. We’re also blessed with some amazingly talented people in our congregation, from singers and musicians, to actors and comedy writers. Our yearly Speakeasy is an opportunity to be entertained by the best of the church’s talent – and to enjoy a great social evening and a singalong, too.

The Speakeasy is conceived and created by Crispin Holland, who promises us a night that is: ‘Mildly diverting, slightly amusing, marginally better than sitting at home on your own’! On past form, it’ll be a lot more than that!

So, what can you expect from a St Luke’s Speakeasy? First, you’ll walk into the church to find it’s been transformed into a twinkling candlelit cafe, with the stage set for the show. There’ll be a bar in the kitchen, and nibbles to snack on while you relax among friends and enjoy some top-class musical performances, sketches, cabaret acts and a few surprise moments. Plus there’ll be a house band to lead a singalong we can all join in with. Crispin will, as usual, be our master of ceremonies.

So put the next Speakeasy – our seventh – in your diary for Friday 17 October, 8pm-11.30pm. Tickets cost £5, or £2 concessions, and the event is only open to those aged 16+ (no exceptions). As well as a chance for us all to get together and have some fun, it’s also a great opportunity to invite friends, family and neighbours along for a relaxed evening out. So get your gladrags on, brush up your vocal cords and get ready for a great night at St Luke’s!

Community choir celebrates its fifth anniversary – and invites you to join

Vox Holloway, the community choir of which we are very proud, celebrates its fifth anniversary this year with an invitation to new members and plans for a spectacular anniversary concert in November.

Vox Holloway (“Voice of Holloway”) was founded by St Luke’s choirmaster Justin Butcher in 2009 to allow anyone, from complete beginners to experienced singers, to come together for the joy of singing. The choir performs an eclectic range of classical, ecclesiastical, folk, pop and world music, and its concerts have raised more than £60,000 for charities all over the world.

The new term of Vox Holloway kicks off this week, and if you’d like to join, you’re warmly invited to the first open rehearsal on Tuesday 9 September at 7.30pm to see how you like it (if you miss this week, you have another couple of weeks to join up so do get in touch). You don’t need any previous experience or to be able to read music (audio aids are used so you can learn by ear). All that’s required is a love of singing, a willingness to commit to weekly rehearsals, and some enthusiasm! The choir is especially keen to hear from tenors and basses (in other words, men – or women with very deep voices!), but everyone is welcome.

The choir will then spend the next three months working towards its fifth anniversary concert on 30 November, when it will perform jazz epic Requiem In Blue by Harvey Brough (directed by the composer himself), and a celebration of the life and music of Nigerian singer/songwriter Ben Okafor.

Although the choir rehearses and performs in St Luke’s, it’s not aligned to any particular set of beliefs. Rehearsals take place on Tuesday evenings, 7.30pm-9.30pm, and there’s a small subscription fee (bursaries available for those on low income). To find out more, visit www.voxholloway.com or email voxhollowayn7@gmail.com

Dave Tomlinson launches The Bad Christian’s Manifesto

Many people have found their way to St Luke’s through reading one of the books penned by our vicar, Dave Tomlinson. His last book, How To Be A Bad Christian… And A Better Human Being, which came out in 2012, has been a massive hit – and not just within the church.

This September sees the launch of Dave’s follow-up book, The Bad Christian’s Manifesto: Reinventing God (And Other Modest Proposals). As members of the congregation, we’ve enjoyed advanced snippets over the last year or so when they make their way into Dave’s sermons on Sunday mornings. We’re excited to see the book published and available for a wider audience to enjoy.

The Bad Christian’s Manifesto will be officially launched on 11 September, and there’s a launch party here at St Luke’s on Friday 5 September, at 7.30pm. There’ll be fun, entertainment, Bad Christian ale and Bad Christian cupcakes! And of course, it’s a chance to chat to Dave, buy copies of the book and have them signed. Please do come along!

Anne Lamott to speak at St Luke’s on 26 August

Anne Lamott isn’t (yet) a widely recognised name in the UK, but in her native USA she’s well known for her books on life and spirituality, which are full of self-deprecating humour, candor and tenderness – and no easy answers.

Anne’s best-known book is Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts On Faith, a personal and funny memoir shining the light of faith on the dark parts of ordinary life. Her most recent release, Help, Thanks, Wow is about the simple prayers that get us through everyday struggles. It’s been described as: “A book on prayer that surpasses all faith, denomination and big word bias, and instead deals with the reality of heart and prayer” (thegoodbookstall.org.uk).

Anne will be speaking at the Greenbelt festival (www.greenbelt.org.uk) over the bank holiday weekend. But if you don’t get to hear her there – and even if you do – you’ll have another opportunity when we have the honour of hosting an event with Anne right here at St Luke’s, on 26 August (the day after the festival).

“I try to write the books I would love to come upon – that are honest, concerned with real lives, human hearts, spiritual transformation, families, secrets, wonder, craziness – and that can make me laugh,” says Anne. “Books, for me, are medicine.”

This is an event not to be missed. So spread the word and see you at St Luke’s on Tuesday 26 August, at 7.30pm, to enjoy a rare opportunity to hear from this exceptional writer.

Feeling festive

If you happen to visit St Luke’s over the August bank holiday weekend, you’d be forgiven for thinking the congregation is on the sparse side. That’s because a lot of St Lukers will be decamping to Northamptonshire for the weekend for the Greenbelt festival.

If you haven’t heard of Greenbelt, it’s a fantastic faith, arts and justice festival, where around 20,000 people gather to listen to great music, learn and debate at talks and seminars, spend time catching up with old friends and new, and chill out in the famous Tiny Tea Tent.

St Luke’s has a long association with Greenbelt. For many years, Greenbelt had its offices in St Luke’s (before we opened up the east aisle of the church to make space for our growing congregation). Many of our members are involved in running and overseeing different parts of the festival. You may even see a few familiar faces on the programme, including our vicar, Dave Tomlinson, who will be speaking on his new book, and leading an All Souls service.

To learn more about our favourite festival, check out the website at www.greenbelt.org.uk.

However, if you’re in London on Sunday 24 August, rest assured that St Luke’s will still be open for business. There’ll be an 11am service as usual, and friendly faces to greet you. The rest of us will see you when we get back!

Vox Holloway commemorates The Great War by celebrating universal harmony

2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. St Luke’s community choir, Vox Holloway, will be marking the centenary with a performance on Sunday 20 July – not with a war requiem or medley of popular wartime songs, but by celebrating harmony across the ages.

The 70-strong choir will explore the concept of universal harmony through works by composers from Germany, Austria and England. Entitled “From Harmony”, the programme includes Handel’s Ode For St Cecilia’s Day, Vaughan Williams’ Serenade To Music, and Haydn’s Missa Sancti Nicolai. The choir will be joined by a 20-piece baroque orchestra and acclaimed guest tenor soloist, Simon Walton.

Justin Butcher, founder and artistic director of the choir, says, “We needed a way to commemorate World War I that also reflected the ethos of our choir, which is that music brings people together. What better way than to sing some of the most beautiful music from Germany, Austria and England that celebrates harmony and humanity? As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, ‘Music is the universal language of mankind’. And so, as a way of remembering conflict, we’re celebrating the unifying power of music.”

Founded in 2009, Vox Holloway (“Voice of Holloway”) is a community choir open to all, which performs an eclectic range of classical, ecclesiastical, folk, pop and world music. Its performances have raised more than £60,000 for charities all over the world, including over £10,000 for Hand In Hand for Syria in December 2013.

Tickets for this musical spectacular on 20 July cost £12 (£8 concessions) and are available from http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/from-harmony-tickets-12110487795?aff=es2&rank=1 or on the door. Doors open at 7pm, and the performance begins at 7.30pm. We hope to see you there!