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Loving Others Course from Holy Trinity Richmond
The phrase ‘pastoral care’ can be very confusing. Just what is ‘pastoral care’? How is it different from any other kind of care? Who gets involved in pastoral care, and who doesn’t? It can all seem rather overwhelming and something that church staff do, so perhaps we should just leave it to them…
But pastoral care is the joy and privilege of every Christian and something that Jesus calls us to be involved with. This four week course is intended to break some of the misconceptions of pastoral care, encourage us to get involved and give some very practical advice on how to care for one another with the love of God. The course runs for four weeks on Thursday evenings, 6, 13, 20, 27 May, from 8pm to 9pm on Zoom. Each evening will consist of some teaching, discussion in small groups and whole group feedback. We would love everyone to be part of the course so if you don’t feel comfortable speaking or sharing via Zoom, don’t let that put you off. You will not be asked to do anything you are not comfortable with.
Anyone is welcome to join in with the course even if you don’t feel you are involved in church ‘leadership’ at the moment. You will get the most out of this course if you can attend all four weeks. However, if you need to miss a week there will be some course materials you can access.
You will need to register for the course so we can send you the relevant Zoom information and course materials. To register click here.
Church of England Vision Webinar SERIES
The Church of England are holding a series of webinars that will explore what it means to be a church that is centred on Jesus Christ and shaped by Jesus Christ – a church that is simpler, humbler, bolder.
Keep checking this page as details of more webinars are added.
“Our vision for being a Jesus Christ centred and Jesus Christ shaped Church will help us focus on what truly matters: the Christ like life of prayer; our worship and our service; the proclamation of God’s good purposes for the world; and how all this is fed and nurtured by word and sacrament, and by our own humble acknowledgment of our need of God’s grace, so that, together, we can build a better, more hopeful future.”
Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell – General Synod, February 2021.
Click here to read full address.
Click here to find out more about the Church of England vision and strategy for 2020s.
Webinar 26th April, 2021
You are invited to join Archbishop Stephen Cottrell and panel members to find out more about the emerging vision and strategic priorities for the Church for the next decade on Monday 26 April, 12.30 – 1.30pm.
This session will focus on the strategic priority to be a church where the mixed ecology of many forms of church is the norm. It will use questions raised in the first of the webinars in this series to inform the content of the session.
As well as hearing from the panel, there will be time for your questions and to find out what the vision and in particular this strategic priority means for you, your church, or diocese.
- a church of missionary disciples
- a church which is younger and more diverse
- a church where the mixed ecology of many forms of church are the norm.
Click here to register for the webinar
If you miss the webinar, it will be available here shortly afterwards
Webinar 25th March, 2021
On 25th March, Archbishop Stephen Cottrell and panel members held a webinar to find out more about the emerging vision and strategic priorities for the Church for the next decade.
If you missed the webinar, you can view it here. You can toggle the view between Gallery and Speaker view should you need to view the BSL interpreter.
Prayers and Reflections
A Prayer for the Duke of Edinburgh
‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant:
enter thou into the joy of thy lord.’ (Matthew 25.21)
God of majesty,
give rest to your servant Philip
who, having served his Queen and Country,
has passed from this life,
full of years yet strong in spirit.
As we give thanks for his life,
as Prince and husband,
as Consort and family man,
we pray that all that he has done
may continue to bear fruit
in the lives of individuals
and the life of this nation,
to your honour and glory,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
I will miss Prince Philip. I didn’t know him, never met him, and yet, along with The Queen, he has been there for the whole of my life to this point. It’s quite remarkable, when I stop to think about it, and as my 63rd birthday approaches, that this couple have symbolised and provided a sense of permanence and stability stretching back so far. Part of me thought it would go on for ever, and perhaps part of me wanted it to: there’s a lot to be said for continuity in a world of constant, rapid and sometimes bewildering change. I knew it couldn’t, of course, if only for the reason that we’re all mortal. Some things have to come to an end, just as new things will certainly come to birth; that’s the way of it. But endings can sometimes be hard beyond measure, and painful to bear. In the case of Prince Philip, at almost 100 years old, death hardly comes as a surprise, but it does mark the end of an era. The prayer above, written by the Dean of Southwark, Andrew Nunn, is succinctly insightful and encouraging. Although Prince Philip may have been frail in body lately, he undoubtedly was ‘full of years’ and remained, it seems, ‘strong in spirit’.
Many words have been written and spoken about the Prince this past week, and there will be more to come. As someone whose early life had its share of difficulties, he died as someone leaving behind a global legacy. I tend to think his famed no-nonsense approach would probably make him the first to urge those left behind to get on with life and living as best you can. Value what you can of the past, but, hard though it might be, have the courage and the faith to move on and look forward. His own interests in the environment, science, technology and engineering saw the Prince looking beyond his own horizons to new ones. His personal religious conviction and Christian faith were, by all accounts, strong, though not rigidly dogmatic. He engaged widely and actively with other belief systems and philosophies, and remained open to new ideas, possibilities and discoveries.
The Christian faith is one which looks to its past, but it doesn’t leave us there, constantly urging us to look ahead. The Eucharist is part memorial, but it nourishes and equips us for today and tomorrow. And the Christian philosophy always seems to me to be more interested in what we can yet become, rather than what defines our past. St Paul in the Letter to the Philippians puts it like this: ‘I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus’. It’s patently true that Good Friday brought death, with anguish, pain and tears. It made contemplating a different future a bleak, tough and daunting prospect for those left behind. But Easter Day dawned out of the darkness, promising much more than a ‘happy ever after’ ending to the story. Rather, it brought an insistence that new beginnings are possible, with a resurrection hope which has lasting significance, not just for a lifetime, but for all eternity.
Rev Neil Summers
Click here to read previous meditations and reflections.
Holy Week and Easter Across the Deanery
Christ is Risen! Children’s Easter Service at St Michael and All Angels, Barnes
Socially Distanced singing on Easter Sunday at St Mary Magdalene, Richmond
Maundy Thursday 
Good Friday
Vineyard Easter Newsletter
Poetry Workshops at St Mary’s Barnes
St. Mary’s, Barnes is collecting poems that have helped individuals through lockdown and through times of difficulty. They would like to share these poems with each other through a series of informal poetry workshops on Zoom. If you have a poem which is special to you and which could help others who are experiencing challenging times, please join them.
The Zoom workshops will take place
on Mondays 19th and 26th April at 6pm.
To register, please send your choice of poem to: catherine.putz@googlemail.com
At the workshop we will read each other our special poems and discuss the aspects of the writing which appeal to us. Afterwards, our poems will be written on cards to be issued to those who would benefit from them, and printed on laminated, decorated sheets kept in church for
our visitors to enjoy.
Glassdoor Across the Deanery
Glass Door Update – 17 March 2021
In the last 4 months, over 6,750 meals have been served at our community dinner service, run in partnership with local churches. These meals have been served by our lovely volunteers.
Thanks to all who have kept this service running during the pandemic!
But it’s not just a case of feeding the hungry. In the last nine months, Glass Door have offered advice and support to over 1,113 people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Click here to read some of the stories.
Glass Door Meal Service at the Vineyard – 19 February 2021
Glass Door Meal Service Starts – 9 November 2020
Homeless charity Glass Door usually operates a circuit of homeless night shelters in Richmond & Twickenham, including at St John the Divine and St Matthias, Richmond and Christ Church and All Saints, East Sheen. Due to COVID-19 the communal shelters cannot be operated this year so instead, to offer some form of support and respite, a 7-night a week hot food service will operate from the Vineyard Richmond from Monday 9 November until April. Guests will be able to access a hot meal, somewhere to warm up for a few hours and practical support from the Glass Door case workers.
As the night shelter network stopped back in March, we now need help in spreading the word to those who could benefit from the service. If you see someone regularly sleeping rough in your neighbourhood we’d really appreciate it if you could print and share this leaflet to let them know the service is available. Glass Door is an amazing charity and alongside the emergency services like the food services they have a fantastic record of helping people into long term accommodation.
Click here to read more about Glass Door’s plans for the winter 20/21.
Rev James Hutchings is Sleeping Out in October
Rev James writes:
“Glass Door do brilliant work, I’m so blessed to have a roof over my head, and I’d like others to have the same chance. So, on 2 October 2020, I will be joining Glass Door Homeless Charity’s Sleep Out to bring shelter and support to men and women affected by homelessness.
I’m raising money for Glass Door because I know they are doing good work to support and shelter those in our community who are at an absolute crisis point. Glass Door welcomes everyone as their guest, giving them some stability before helping them make the necessary steps and move off the streets for good.
While running winter night shelter in a shared space may not be possible, Glass Door is committed to finding ways to ensure that individuals in need can find safe shelter, a hot meal and a warm welcome.”
Click here if you would like to sponsor him.
It’s not too late to take part yourself, either sleeping out at Duke of York Square (still allowed with covid regulations) or in your own garden with a virtual livestream to join in with.
Rev James Hutchings from St Mary’s, Barnes spent the night of 2nd October sleeping on the rectory floor instead of the usual gathering in for the Glassdoor annual sleepout in Duke of York Square. He hoped that even that mild discomfort would sharpen his awareness of of what it must be like to be homeless in London on a night of terrible rain and what it must be to not have a secure place to live.
From Rev Anne Nickson, Richmond Team Ministry – 18th May:
At the beginning of lockdown, as our churches were required to close, we were unable to continue to offer accommodation in our buildings as part of Glass Door’s Winter Night Shelter. Thankfully the government stepped in to work with homeless charities to provide accommodation to protect these most vulnerable people and keep them safe as the crisis deepened. Sadly, this government aided assistance came to an end as lockdown began to ease and as you will be aware the numbers of homeless sleeping rough on our streets is increasing by the day.
This desperate situation will only continue to worsen as we move towards the winter and we obviously are eager to continue to support Glass Door in appropriate ways so that both guests and volunteers stay safe. At the moment – and the situation constantly changes – it seems very unlikely that night shelters as we have offered them in our churches over the last three years will be able to open, but there will be opportunities to support the homeless by working with Glass Door in other ways. Our coordinators are keeping in regular contact with the directors at Glass Door so that when the time is right we can step up and offer the help which is needed.
If you would like to know more about Glass Door then please see their website at www.glassdoor.org.uk
GlassDoor is starting to plan night shelters for the 2020-2021 season – they may not be operating rotating shelters as usual in the Borough of Richmond upon Thames, but are working hard to think about alternatives.
At our January synod meeting we agreed to give £2,000 to Glass Door to support the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons of their work in Richmond churches and their letter of thanks is below.
Update From Glassdoor – 23rd March
Shelter guests now all moved to hotels! (Apart from a few guests in the Kensington and Chelsea circuit) Glass Door shelters shut so all guests and volunteers can safely go into self-isolation.
Update From the Vineyard Community Centre – 23rd March
We are pleased to say that the government’s initiative to temporarily home rough sleepers in hotels has been initiated in Richmond and that the higher health risk of the Glassdoor winter nightshelter has now closed.
With others, we will continue to support the needs of this group with food and essentials as they now also have the possibility of staying indoors.
Our borough foodbank service continues and is very likely to increase in demand. We are in touch with our local authority to see how vulnerable groups can best be supported.
Winter 2019-20
The winter night shelters are now open until April 2020. In the Richmond Circuit the following churches will be hosting one night each week:
Sundays at St Marys, Ferry Road,Teddington
Mondays at St Elizabeths, The Vineyard, Richmond
Tuesdays at Vineyard Life Church, The Vineyard, Richmond
Wednesdays at All Saints, East Sheen Avenue, East Sheen
Thursdays at St John the Divine, Kew Road, Richmond
Fridays at Christ Church, Christ Church Road, East Sheen
Saturdays at St Matthias, Friars Stile Road, Richmond
St Michael and All Angels will host one night of the Hammersmith circuit. (A circuit is a group of 7 churches – close together in distance – who open their doors, on the same night every week, from October – April, each year offering the homeless a hot meal and a bed for the night.)
Please prayer for the men and women who will stay at the shelters and for the the volunteers and caseworkers that will help the guests to better lives.
If you would like to volunteer, please contact Megan Preston (megan@glassdoor.org.uk). For enquiries about donations and anything financial, please contact Ian Foster (ian@glassdoor.org.uk).
Individuals looking for shelter will be able to register online, by phone or by dropping into the Vineyard Community Centre. Visit www.glassdoor.org.uk/Pages/Category/shelter for more details.
If you are concerned about someone over the age of 18 that you have seen sleeping rough, you can send an alert via StreetLink who connect people sleeping rough with the local services that can support them.
On Sunday 2nd February, St Mary Magdalene reported:
After the first 60 days of this Glass Door Homeless Charity season, 422 men and 88 women have been helped with a hot meal and a bed for the night – a 20% increase thanks to a 5th circuit.
Since June 2018 caseworkers have worked with 950 individuals and helped 114 into housing and 38 into employment.
Would you be able to provide any of the following for our Glass Door guests (travel size particularly wanted): deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, face wipes, body wipes, sanitary towels, tampons, lip balm, hand cream, anti-bac gel. Please pop into the baskets at the back of St John’s or St Matthias or them into the Parish Office, Ormond Road. Thank you.
Waitrose have kindly donated oranges which have been made into delicious Marmalade, which went on sale at church this morning with profits going to Glass Door.
Our first evening of the new night shelter season with Glass Door. Delicious butternut squash soup, lasagne, red cabbage and peas, lots of donated fresh bread, chocolate crispy cakes made by a local school and cakes made by one of our church families.
We welcomed 20 guests in from the cold, for a hot healthy meal and somewhere safe to sleep. Case workers are on hand to support the guests in their next steps.
Thank you all for showing God’s love in action
Sleep Out 2019
The total raised to date has reached over £191,000 – the highest amount raised within a week after the event, which has taken place the first Friday of October every year since 2013. Glass Door is hoping to surpass the £200,000 target before the end of the month.
Winter 2018-19
The winter night shelter project in across the deanery in partnership with GlassDoor was hosted by St Matthias and St John the Divine in Richmond and All Saints and Christ Church in East Sheen. The project has now ended and the shelters are empty…..
The work continues throughout the year click here to find out how NextDoor are looking ahead to next winter.
- Glass Door Update to Deanery Synod 5th June 2019
- We had 158 guests in our shelters – ⅓ from the UK, ⅓ from the EU and ⅓ from the rest of the world . Guests included 58 women, the highest percentage of the four circuits. However some women would just come for the meal and then go..
- 35 people have been rehoused.
- Large numbers have been reconnected with benefits and family.
- The Glass Door project was mentioned in a recent council meeting. This year the council have been very supportive of the project unlike three years ago.
- Issues arising this year that GlassDoor are addressing for next year:
- Need to consider disabled access
- Need to make closer links with women’s refuges
- Training in mental health issues so issues with guests can be spotted. It was noted the police needed training as well as the volunteers.
- The Deanery hosted 4 out of the 7 nights in the Richmond circuit and the level of volunteering has been wonderful.
One guest was quoted as saying “I had no home and lost my business but GlassDoor turned my life around”.
As the GlassDoor shelters closed in April, Father Peter Hart asked us to pray…
…for the guests who may have returned to sleeping rough or sofa-surfing.
… for all those who have been rehoused, found work, had their benefits sorted out, put back in contact with family, had their documents restored – a blessing for them.
…for the staff and volunteers at the Vineyard Centre, Richmond as they continue to offer support and practical help throughout the year.
We should also give thanks….
…for the amazing volunteers who have made the winter night shelter project in partnership with GlassDoor possible.
…for an amazing community response to the project. Not just from the Churches but from the wider community and local schools.
…five months of welcome, fine food and good company
Welcome to New Clergy
St Phillip and All Saints and St Luke’s, Kew
Rev Dr Melanie Harrington has been announced as the new incumbent of St Philip and All Saints and St Luke’s, Kew. Melanie is currently Assistant Curate, St Michael’s Lichfield & St John’s Wall in the Diocese of Lichfield, where she also serves as a Vocations Adviser. Melanie will be instituted by the Bishop of Kingston on Wednesday 23rd June.
Christ Church, East Sheen
We welcome Rev Chris Griffiths who was licensed as the new team vicar of Christ Church, East Sheen on Wednesday 24th February by Bishop Richard via a Zoom service. The service was also attended by clergy from the Mortlake and East Sheen Team Ministry, Church Wardens from Christ Church and the Archdeacon. And many more people watched it live on Facebook.
Foundation Governor Wanted for Christ’s School, Richmond
Christs-School-Foundation-Governor-Advert
Christ’s School is a fantastic school which strives for the very best in the children who go to the school, the development of the staff and how they care for the local community. They are looking for Foundation Governors who passionately believe in the values of the Gospel who want to get involved in a secondary school who has those values too. If you would like to know more you can contact Canon Wilma Roest (rector@richmondteamministry.org) or the Senior Clerk to the Governing Body, Mrs Sally Chapman (schapman@christs.rschool).