Carol Service and Blessing of the Crib
Our Parish Carol Service at St Stephen Walbrook will take place next Wednesday 13th December at 6.00pm. It will have well-known carols to sing, traditional readings, the Blessing of the Christmas Crib and St Stephen’s Voices will be accompanied by the renowned Willis organ. The service will last under an hour, be led by myself, with the Christmas message being given by Revd Sally Muggeridge. It will be followed by mince pies and mulled wine and you are all most welcome to this very popular service, but please arrive in good time if you want a seat with a view.
Christmas Eve Mass
On Christmas Eve at 11.30pm, we will be celebrating the arrival of Christmas with a sung Eucharist, celebrated by Revd Sally Muggeridge and the preacher will be myself. St Stephen’s Voices will lead the music and the organist will be Dr Andrew Earis. The service, to which all are welcome, will be followed by mince pies and hot drinks.
Fresh challenges
These two Christmas services will also mark the moving on to different pastures of both myself and Revd Sally Muggeridge.
Sally completes two years of her curacy this Christmas and will be moving from the Diocese of London to her home Diocese of Canterbury to, in time, be licensed in the parish where she lives. We have been very fortunate to have enjoyed Sally’s assistance and ministry at St Stephen Walbrook during this time and can be particularly grateful for the links she has established with the City and with businesses locally. I have greatly appreciated having her here as a colleague and I am sure we will all wish her well for the future.
In relation to my own situation, as Associate Vicar at St Martin-in-the-Fields, our partner church, I have been instrumental in creating and establishing HeartEdge, a new network of churches for those working at the heart of culture, community and commerce and with those at the margins and on the edge. In 2018 I will be developing this and other partnerships further and so will be moving full-time to St Martin-in-the-Fields to focus on this important work.
The Archdeacon for the Two Cities, in writing to the PCC with news of this development, noted that the three years I have been at St Stephen Walbrook have seen ‘significant change and growth’ including Start:Stop, our popular ten-minute Tuesday morning reflections, being just one among several examples of a key initiative that has created ‘a new pattern of missional engagement at Walbrook.’ Others include the uplifting ‘Discover and Explore’ series of services on Mondays, which have featured different themes accompanied by the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Archdeacon Rosemary also stated that the partnership with St Martin-in-the-Fields ‘remains strong and will continue to grow’ and the fact ‘that Walbrook can look confidently to the future is a sign of all that has been achieved.’
Our Christmas services will therefore provide an opportunity for both Sally and I to say goodbye to you all before moving on to these fresh challenges. Both Sally and I wish you all a Peaceful and Joyous Christmas.
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