At its meeting in September the PCC unanimously approved our new mission statement and action plan. It will be published ready for Dedication Sunday, October 7: the day where we reflect on our foundations and heritage, and look to what God has in store for this parish. I’ll be preaching on our vision, mission and strategy on the 7 and 14 October, and everyone on our electoral roll and our database will receive a copy.
Our new strapline describes Hampstead Parish Church as “building an inclusive community of Christian love, faith, witness and action”. Key elements of our mission include “seeking justice, welcoming all, and walking alongside one another in faith and love.” It is enormously encouraging to see this happening already. Last winter over sixty volunteers helped HPC host the C4WS shelter for the homeless, and we will be doing so again from November 10. We have been exercising generous hospitality at events like Holiday in Hampstead, the Spring Fair, Ayla’s welcome, and the invitation Evensong which was a great success on September 23.
As I type (on the day they land) we are looking forward to receiving our Syrian family under the Government’s Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. By the time you read this a large number of people will have been involved in helping a young family (with two children aged 4 and 2) into life in London. The immense amount of work involved has exemplified many aspects of our vision and mission. There has been generosity, welcome, working for justice, working in partnership (with Churches Together in Hampstead, and people of different faiths and none). The provision of accommodation felt miraculous, and people’s financial generosity has been humbling.
It will be important to enable our family to settle in privacy and without fanfare. We will give as much information as possible, but won’t give out personal details or their address until they are ready to do so. All the families who will settle here under the VPRS are Muslim, and we will work to enable our family to settle in a place of worship and prayer which suits them. Everyone who has supported the project is invited to an evening of celebration and information on Thursday October 25 in St Anthony’s School. Look out for details.
As we build a community which expresses the love of Christ, we walk alongside people in every kind of need. At the end of October, on Sunday 28, at 4.30 pm, we will hold our annual ‘All Souls’ service, where we remember the departed and pray for the bereaved. We will give a special welcome to those whose loved ones have died this year, and everyone is welcome to add names from previous years.
There will be another kind of “walking alongside” this month also. Pilgrimage emerged as a strong theme as we consulted about the vision of HPC, and we will walk from Hampstead to Westminster Abbey on Saturday October 13 (from 7.45 for breakfast) to the Shrine of Edward the Confessor and the Abbey’s National Pilgrimage Eucharist at 11.30 am.
I’m excited about the ways in which Hampstead Parish Church is “confidently sharing the good news of God, Father Son and Holy Spirit”, to quote the vision and mission document again. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next. Thank you for sharing in this adventure.