Parish Blog

The end for the time being

2010-11-13T14:06:00.002Z

The time has come to draw a line under the blog as it stands at the moment. Preparations are hard at hand in the vicarage disposing of books, kitchenware and furniture and tasks in the parish are being gradually shared around - so far the creative team of parish bloggers are waiting to be found! But it may be that the blog returns under new leadership in the new year.

A Normal Sunday

2010-10-18T09:57:00.003+01:00

Well there's no such thing as a normal Sunday of course, but last Sunday was pretty close. After the morning service there was a great parish lunch from area 6 down in the crypt and the evening closed with Modern Evening Worship. We missed Phill on the piano and Ann on the drums but Mary and Sheila did brilliantly. In the morning I preach a historical teaching sermon about the Exile and the theory that the Bible as we know it was born out of that disaster. You can read it here http://home.clara.net/pkennington/sermonexile.htm

"If I had a hammer"

2010-10-04T19:49:00.004+01:00

With Peter at the altar, Paul beside him and Mary at the piano it was obvious that someone somewhere was going to mention "Peter, Paul and Mary". Peter's first Sunday as a priest went really well and was a happy and joyful occasion. "Creation" - the film about Charles Darwin which we showed in the evening was a little ponderous and psychological and tantalisingly never really got us near the Origin of Species - although the performance by Jenny, the pyjama wearing orangutan was worthy of an oscar! We enjoyed a good discussion afterwards about whether or not the discovery of the theory of evolution made God redundant, as some would have it, or in fact made God bigger than people had previously thought. Most of us thought the latter. And I guess, like Peter, Paul and Mary we've still "got a song to sing all over this land"

The previous Sunday evening Sue preached a great sermon on truth: You can read it here http://home.clara.net/pkennington/sermontruth.htm

Peter's Ordination

2010-09-30T09:29:00.003+01:00

The Cathedral service was great - Peter's ordination was a prayerful, dignified, beautiful and joyful occasion and he was well supported by family and friends from St Mary's. And on Wednesday he presided at the Eucharist for the first time - an important day for him, of course, and an important day for us too. It was wet, cold and pretty miserable outside, but inside we were warm and radiant. Peter had chosen his favourite hymns (and I suspect his favourite anthem - "I was glad" - so that's why the choir had been rehearsing it!) and Christina Beardsley preached a great sermon about angels. She started off by telling us that she sees angels every morning on her way to work - tall thin and elegant pointing to heaven, small and childlike curled and caring - I wondered if this was going to be a bit of a strange sermon from a new age mystic - then she explained that she always took the short cut to work through the Brompton Cemetery! and after "the song of them that triumph" we all shared in "the shout of them that feast". (Hymn 381 if you don't recognise the words)

Hellos and Goodbyes

2010-09-19T22:16:00.003+01:00

A fantastic fair yesterday, with so many people from Battersea, old friends and new, passing through the churchyard. The stalls were laden with many wonderful things (the flower stall's king size onions being amongst the most remarkable) and then round the back a whole load of fun things to do - bouncy castle, a coconut shy, games and prizes and a portable bell ringing tower. All in all it looks like we will have raised about £6,500. And then on Sunday morning a community celebration of St Mary's. It's good that we thank God for the gift of our community and each one of us who do so much to build it up and make it flourish. At the end we welcomed Sunny our new parish administrator in the office, and we said goodbye to Stephanie Osei-bonsu, going off to uni, and to Ann Lynes who is heading off to Theological College in Oxford to begin her training for ordination. And then at the end of the service I announced that I too shall be leaving St Mary's. I have been here for 9 wonderful years but have been offered the position of Dean of Montreal Cathedral in Canada- a great opportunity, although a little daunting. My sermon was fairly challenging as the Gospel reading for the day needed quite a lot of explaining, especially when Jesus tells us to "make friends by means of dishonest wealth" - you may or may not agree with me! you can read ithere:http://home.clara.net/pkennington/sermonmammon.htm

Peace and beauty - Sacred Space

2010-09-15T22:29:00.003+01:00

It always amazes me, the busier my week has been (and this one has been truly frenetic!), the more helpful I find Sacred Space (9.15 pm on a Wednesday).
It provides an oasis of peace and calm - somewhere to be still, reflect, re-focus, re-charge and lay everything before God - wonderful.
If you haven't tried it, you really should... especially if you feel like you really can't spare the time!
Silence, music, candles, space: Beautiful.

Angel voices

2010-09-14T10:03:00.006+01:00

Three baptisms at the 11am and a church full for a happy occasion. I enjoyed being in the vestry with the babies during Adam's Bible sermon - we had great fun singing and praying together, but I think some of the parents who had come for the baptism were a little surprised to see the vicar turn up in the baby "escape" space. Sunday morning was Phill's last Sunday with us before he goes off to university. We will miss his singing, music and friendship Sunday by Sunday - but thankfully he will be back with us from time to time. Evensong was a triumph - fabulous music sung wonderfully by the choir - Howells' "Mine eyes for beauty pine" was gentle and moving and the descant and organ part to "Angel voices ever singing" simply rang round the church. Leslie preached a fabulous sermon - you can read it here:http://home.clara.net/pkennington/sermoninclusive.htm

The Virgin Mary again!

2010-09-10T20:02:00.002+01:00

Good to be back from holidays and to catch up with people. Sunday was our Patronal Festival (or should that be Matronal?) - For those of you who didn't get away over August you will have kept the Virgin Mary's feast day twice in the space of three weeks! That's because we always keep the first Sunday in September as our Patronal (being closest to her birthday on 8th September) and because her main feast day, 15th August, fell on a Sunday this year. The band was even more spectacular than usual with an excellent sound coming from the brass and bassoons. I preached the shortest sermon ever (in two parts) and the Gospel reading was a whole two verses long - all in all the whole service should have been over in about 45 minutes, which must be a record. I managed to spin out the notices to make it respectable and people stayed over coffee for a good time as well. Any way all steam ahead for the fair now. ......

Losing Faith

2010-08-08T22:25:00.006+01:00

I can't resist just adding one more blog before going on holiday. This morning was great and a really good congregation for the middle of August when so many people are away. I'm always amazed at the visitors who pass through Battersea on their holidays. The faithful few in the choir sang Rutter's "The Lord bless you and keep you" and we finished with "Jerusalem the golden". I love that hymn - I love the idea of the "shout of them that feast" and the last verse always moves me to tears when it says "exult O dust and ashes, the Lord shall be thy part". Good stuff!

I had been working on a sermon about Faith throughout the week, and became more and more intrigued at how Hebrews 11 moves us through different stages of faith - and of course reminds everyone of the obvious that there was a great deal of faith around before Christianity! You can read the sermon here: http://home.clara.net/pkennington/sermonfaith.htm

Holiday Season

2010-08-03T14:52:00.002+01:00

August is always a rather strange month. Sunday was a first Sunday, but should the sermon be a children's sermon, an all age sermon or just a sermon? And how many people would be there anyway? In the end I set a young child the challenge of finding someone in the congregation older than the vicar - he hesitated just a little too long for my liking! The impromptu choir delighted us with their delicate singing of Tallis's "If ye love me" and the Liberal Democrats in the congregation secretly smiled as the last hymn was sung to Marching through Georgia. (You'll need to Google to find out why that tune is important to them.)

The blog may well go silent now for a couple of weeks - but we'll be back!

Cursillo and Bethany

2010-07-20T13:50:00.004+01:00

I was away staffing a Southwark Diocesan Cursillo weekend so I missed Adam's scintillating sermon on Queen Esther. The Book of Esther is known for not mentioning God - which is quite a feat for a book of the Bible!

The Cursillo weekend went well with four people from St Mary's being 'pilgrims' and another four of us staffing. If Cursillo's a mystery for you, then speak to Libby or Ann or Sheila .....

This picture is of Sr Martha, Mother Superior and me at the Girls' School in Bethany - just behind the separation wall outside Jerusalem. Sr Martha spoke at St Mary's last night about their work with the girls. It was poignant to hear her talk of the difficulties, especially with water - if you only have water twice a week and have 200 girls to wash, feed and care for, it presents quite a challenge. When asked about money she told us that one third comes from school fees, one third comes from the Biblelands Society and one third comes from God - and God has never let them down! Inspirational!

When I visited the school I did my best at introducing the group to Mother Superior in Russian, as they're a Russian Orthodox Convent. Eventually she took off her shades and said "Let's speak English, it's so much easier all round" - it turns out she's Australian!

I've just heard that we raised almost £800 for the Bethany School on Monday evening - marvellous news, and with Gift Aid that may well reach £1000! Thank you.

Sea Sunday

2010-07-13T11:39:00.002+01:00

What a glorious sunny morning in July! And what a pleasure to have Don Prescott visit us to preach at the 11am Eucharist. Don has just celebrated 50 years as a reader in Warlingham, but he grew up in Battersea and was first licensed as a reader here at St Mary's. He's still kept his humour and weatlh of stories - I loved the one about water from a leaky roof landing on his nose when he was preaching and him exclaiming "there's a drip in the pulpit".

We read the whole story of Jonah and there was a great drawing of a whale on the service sheet - so it was particularly fitting for the choir to sing "They that go down to the sea in ships" as the anthem. I wasn't at evensong but I hear that Sue preached another one of her great sermons and the choir made a great sound with Noble in B flat.

A wonderful Sunny Sunday

2010-07-04T22:13:00.002+01:00

What a great morning - the band was on exceptionally good form with the hymns and other music and the whole atmosphere was really uplifting. Perhaps I'm feeling that because I did so little and was able just to sit back and enjoy all around me. Adam baptised baby Mia who was a star throughout the service, the service ended with a moving few words from Joan as she retires - and a chance to give her a present and a bunch of flowers. It was very special to see so many of her friends there who had come especially to wish her well. And to top it all the sun was shining and the geese were gaggling on the grass by the main door.

In the evening we showed "Rabbit Proof Fence" - as the film came to its end with the real Molly and Daisy walking in a field the whole audience sat in stunned silence - a very moving film and well worth watching. One of the most frightening thing is how so many good people could do such bad things while thinking they had got it right. I wonder what future generations will accuse us of?

Joan Endean says farewell

2010-07-01T14:16:00.002+01:00

After about 15 years and several vicars Joan is retiring as our Parish Admistrator. She has seen so many changes from being a vicar's letters secretary to becoming a premises manager, IT wizard, and running a busy office. It was all a bit emotional on Wednesday when she left - People had popped in all afternoon for cake and tea- the lovely people from the Royal Academy of Dance gave her a bunch of flowers and later that evening the Junior Choir sang her a song - all squeezed into her little office. Finally at about 8 o'clock the choir waved her off as she drove off for the last time. We all hope that she and Alan will have a lovely and happy retirement.

Parkinson's UK, and Beds in Ghana

2010-06-27T22:03:00.005+01:00

This morning Nicola Brian from Parkinson's UK came to speak to us at the 11am Eucharist about the charity. We gave them a cheque for £1,500 as part of our Mission Giving and it was good to hear about their work. We also gave £500 to Thrive in Battersea Park and £500 to Cherubs' Orphanage in Ghana for beds and bedding. It's good to be part of a church which gives money away as well as spending it on our own needs.

Father's Day and a den of lions

2010-06-20T21:28:00.003+01:00

I'm not sure whether it's divine providence or just God's sense of humour that made the World Cup coincide with the only Sunday in the year when we sing Jerusalem at the Parish Eucharist. The congregation loved it - the football mad thought it was for them; the fathers thought it was for them and one of the married couples (at least) thought it was specially chosen to mark their wedding anniversary!

Jonathan had sorted out a string quartet so we really did sound more like the Royal Albert Hall than usual. The string quartet was for a lovely Bach motet and for Zadok the Priest.

The Old Testament story was Daniel in the lions' den and Alison and Alec divided up the reading between them which was very effective. The children in Sunday School all emerged at Communion wearing bright orange lion masks - which was great fun and mildly amusing to see a load of young lions walking up the aisle.

The sermon caused me quite a few problems as I just couldn't get to where I wanted to be at the end. I started it on Wednesday and struggled for days. It's quite a "tour de force" giving a theology of the whole book of Daniel and then a somewhat unusual take on the Gadarene Swine. You can read it here: http://home.clara.net/pkennington/sermondaniel.htm

Zombies, Zimbabwe, Zebras, Zest and Zoe

2010-06-14T10:00:00.005+01:00

Good to have Adam and his family safely back from Zimbabwe. Adam has lots of stories of razor wire, police raids and Zimbabwian Zest for life and Zeal for worship - we cautious Church of England worshippers have much to learn about simply enjoying God. Joseph loved the animals - rhinoceroses and Zebras.

How to tell the story of Ezekiel and the dry bones without it sounding like "The Return of the Zombies" presented a bit of a preaching problem - especially in Toddlers' Church. In the end I made a string of tissue paper people which I could stretch out like a great crowd. The real miracle happened when I blew on the tissue paper - representing the breath of the Holy Spirit - and the figures all stood up on their own. This captivated the toddlers far more than my telling of the story. Zoe, by the way, is Greek for life - which is what Ezekiel's dream is all about, - it is not a subliminal reference to a member of the congregation!

And a great concert in the evening - musical, uplifting, entertaining, spiritual and full of friendship and community. What a wonderful end to a wonderful Sunday!

2010-06-07T22:35:00.000+01:00

A Weekend of Mixed Feelings

2010-06-06T16:23:00.002+01:00

Saturday began for me with blessing the gravestone of a 14 yr old who died tragically last year. It's hard to find words for family and friends in the light of such a tragedy even after 22 years of ministry. It made me think about all the clergy trying to find words in Cumbria this weekend.

From sorrow to exuberant joy in the afternoon with a bellringer's wedding: horsedrawn carriage, Zadok the Priest and glorious summer sunshine bouncing off the surface of the River Thames. That was followed by a delightful glass of wine talking with someone who finds the sound of the bells rather difficult - we left agreeing that people will always disagree when it comes to anything to do with church!

Sunday morning was St Mary's First Sunday at its best: friendly, prayerful and strangely peaceful, even with the children's percussion at the end. The band was on really good form and Peter guided us beautifully through the story of Jesus raising the son of the widow of Nain: the best moment for me being when he looked at the group of small girls before him and asked for a boy to play the part of the widow's son - as if by miracle a small boy simply walked down the aisle from the back of church and went on to play his part in the drama.

Trinity Sunday

2010-05-30T13:23:00.005+01:00

I thought a Bank Holiday Sunday at the beginning of Half Term would be fairly quiet, but no, we had a good congregation and a good relaxed feel. I teased the choir (or they teased me!) with the realisation that some of the Eurovision Song Contest songs could be used in church and no-one would notice - I'm looking at ways of making "It's for you" - the Irish song by Niamh Kavanagh into another Celtic hymn! I don't even think you have to change the words much. "I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity" was a more meaty hymn in the Celtic tradition with the fantastic, if slightly over the top, organ part by Stanford. Sven announced that we would be keeping the church open again on Sunday afternoons during the summer months and Jonathan told us about the London Citizens meeting next Sunday - and I gave an advance notice that we had overtaken our 2009 Christian Aid total by about £700 and still counting! Watch this space! You can read my Trinity Sunday Sermon (which only mentions "homoousios" once) here:http://home.clara.net/pkennington/sermontrinity.htm

South London Citizens

2010-05-28T20:29:00.002+01:00

Just before the General Election about fifteen of us went from St Mary's to the Methodist Central Hall to hear Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg address South London Citizens. The whole atmosphere was electric and I just loved the steel band from a local school. They all promised to put an end to keeping children in detention centres. On Tuesday the Queen announced “My Government will …end the detention of children for immigration purposes.” Great for us to be a part of that change! On Sunday 6th June a group of us are going to meet with Jonathan Cox of South London Citizens to see how we can be more involved as a church in listening to the needs of our community. (read about it all here www.sanctuarypledge.org.uk. )

Holy Fire

2010-05-23T16:49:00.003+01:00

Pentecost came this morning with a full church and a wonderful mix of Faure, Byrd and "We are marching in the light of God" with full everything. Jonathan Bailey made the wonderful announcement that we are close to last year's total for Christian Aid and that we have funded the equivalent of a new water pipe in Kenya the same distance as from the church to the vicarage gate... It would be nice to fund the extra few yards so that Catherine and her community can have clean water. I preached a sermon about the need to keep learning, keep praying and keep giving and made the point that although I have often regretted money I have spent on myself I have never regretted money I have given to charity! You can read it here http://home.clara.net/pkennington/sermonpentecost.htm

Choral Evensong, this Sunday!

2010-05-19T11:33:00.002+01:00

Go to Evensong at St Mary's for a month and you'll possibly experience the widest variety in styles anywhere in London, from modern-music Evensongs on the third Sunday in every month to traditional Choral Evensongs from the Book of Common Prayer on the second and fourth Sundays of each month.

This Sunday, 23 May, a chamber choir will be singing the service, under the direction of the organist. Choral Evensong is a reflective service, and is rich in music. This week we will be singing some of the true greats of the choral repertoire: Bernard Rose wrote his magnificent preces and responses for the choir of Magdalen College, Oxford (at one point, the second sopranos sing the chimes of the tower bells!), the Lord's Prayer is a particularly beautiful setting of the words.

Herbert Howells is known as one of the twentieth century's great British church composers, and composed many settings of the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittis. We sing the 'Gloucester Service'. Written for Gloucester Cathedral Choir at a time of personal unrest for Howells, the graceful, fragile first phrases leave the listener unprepared for the apocalyptic Gloria at the end of both canticles. The soaring top A's from the sopranos towards the end offer one of the most affecting moments in any set of canticles, and provides a powerfully climax to both pieces.

In contrast, the anthem - Mendelssohn's 'For He Shall Give His Angels Charge Over Thee' - is much more dancelike and light to the touch. The work is taken from the oratorio Elijah. In it, Mendelssohn conjours up the image of a double quartet of angels offering support to the beleaguered Elijah. The musical result is magically uplifting, and one of Mendelssohn's most entrancing pieces.

Leaving the country

2010-05-18T12:13:00.002+01:00

Not me this time, but Adam who has gone to Zimbabwe for a few weeks, both as much deserved holiday and as part of the Diocesan link with the Anglican Diocese there. I was away over the weekend at the Annual General Meeting of British Anglican Cursillo - which is much more fun that it sounds! If you haven't heard about Cursillo, go online. I was sorry to miss both the wonderful community event in the square - which I hear was a great success, and the the baptisms in church on Sunday, which I also hear went well. Next Sunday is Pentecost and we have a few surprises up our vestment sleeves to mark the coming of the Holy Spirit - although I think the Holy Spirit will probably have a few extra surprises up her sleeve as well, as she always does!

Ascension Day

2010-05-14T19:54:00.002+01:00

Living in the south south east corners of the parish makes you appreciate all contact with St Mary's and I am lucky enough to pass church each day at least once. How wonderful then to run along the river path yesterday morning and begin to hear the sound of our choir and then in the distance to see the excited gesticulating of the vicar waving and encouraging as the choir sang from the very top part of the belfry. They were so high! It was wonderful, a glorious sunny morning plus beautiful music. A great start to a long and busy day. Thank you.

Fire and Brimstone

2010-05-09T17:02:00.002+01:00

Well not exactly! We've reached the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel in our weekly journey through the stories of the Old Testament, and it started with the interesting line, "How long will you go limping with two different opinions" - quite topical given the outcome of the general election. The story also gave me the chance to translate the Hebrew in verse 27 in a rather more risky way - but you had to be there to hear the vicar use swear words in a sermon - it just doesn't work online! Christian Aid week has duly started with the Shake, Rattle and Smile campaign outside the church and people taking two envelopes away with them. The aim is to beat our £3,500 total from last year. Come on guys, we can do it! And the old Salvation Army favourite - Send the Fire - by William Booth, sent us out with a smile and a dance.

A New Alpha Course

2010-05-05T16:35:00.005+01:00

We started the new Summer Alpha Course on Tuesday evening with a great group of seven people. Carol's baked potatoes were a success as always, as was the chilli sauce and grated cheese topping. Although I preach on Sundays and feastdays I really enjoy the opportunity of sharing why I believe Jesus is worth following. Alpha is so good at this sort of thing, and the smaller intimate group makes personal sharing so much more powerful. Some people think it's a bit strange a church like ours - which is open, inclusive, questioning, gay friendly and liberal on most things - running an Alpha Course. I guess that lots of people have found some of the churches which run them to be narrow minded and too conservative in their views. We've always enjoyed using the Alpha talks to spark off discussion, thought, disagreement, wondering .....

Christian Aid Sunday, Cleaning the Thames and BBQ burgers

2010-05-05T15:37:00.004+01:00

Sunday got the Christian Aid month off to a good start with Jonathan showing us three DVDs about their work in Kenya. The new plan this year is for everyone to take two Christian Aid envelopes, put some money in one and find a friend to fill the other one. You can also sign up to join us in knocking on doors next week - I know it sounds a bit daunting, but we go round together and have a great time. You'd be really surprised how many people are really looking forward to seeing us collecting. "He's got the whole world in his hands" was a triumph of band, piano, organ, drums and saxophone - pretty good!

After the service Thames 21 got knee-deep into the mud to pick up the rubbish from the banks of the Thames. The sky was like the water - cold and grey - but a small group of dedicated souls climbed into huge wellies and got stuck in. The weaker amongst us stayed indoors drinking fairtrade wine and amazing beefburgers and sausages.