We finished the old year at Christ the King on 24th November with a flourish – an All Age Eucharist with some surprisingly well-informed children, a feast of music from the Junior and Senior choirs at midday and a magnificent Evensong featuring the Britten/Auden Hymn to St Cecilia (a nod to St Cecilia who had her feast day on 22nd). Now we’re ready for Advent “a period of preparation and waiting”. I’m not sure the Church means quite the orgy of cooking and shopping that seems to overtake us when it says that and it’s quite a challenge to find quiet moments in December for stillness, for inner preparation, for just waiting.
Christmas is also a time for giving and the church supports some 25 charities as part of a three-year programme which is reviewed by the PCC, taking into account requests and suggestions from members of the congregation. Collections at the Christmas services will be distributed amongst these charities and a complete list will be included in the Christmas service books, but if you want to know a bit more about each one look for the Giving and Reaching Out leaflets in the church; these include the names of each of the parish representatives who will be able to tell you more – or at least point you in the right direction. We try to include something about one of these charities each month so in this issue you’ll find an article about Island Hospice, a charity new to our list and working in Zimbabwe.
But of course we don’t just give at Christmas and over the last few weeks an astonishing surge of generosity has seen hundreds of shoeboxes packed up and sent off to Operation Christmas Child, a collection somewhere around £1,000 go to Christian Aid for the Philippines, much raised at the Christmas Market for the various charities involved, food pour in for the Foodbanks and toys for CARIS Haringey. Thank you letters do come in and are put in at the back of church but it’s easy to miss them – please don’t think the charities concerned aren’t grateful, they very definitely are!
However if you’re on our emailing list you’ll have received a very different kind of message – one telling us we’re not giving enough, that we can’t afford to go on as we are. The first casualty has been the church heating. What will go next if giving doesn’t increase remains to be seen!
Christmas is coming
I’m sorry if you don’t feel ready but it really is and you’ll find information about our plans further on in this issue – the Carol Service, Children’s Crib Service, friendship lunch on Christmas Day, the Christmas card board where you can either pin greetings to everyone in one card or leave cards for friends to collect and save the postage. And of course full details of all our Christmas services are included in the diary pages and on cards around the church if you want to take one away with you. These cards are delivered to every household in the parish – with your help – please have a look at the basket of bundles and see if there are any you could take.
Hospitality at Christmas
We don’t all have family to go to at Christmas – except that best of all families, the family of the church and this year, as well as the warmth (possibly metaphorical if we can’t afford heating) and joy of the services themselves a light lunch will be provided in the Crypt Room after the 10.30am Eucharist on Christmas Day. Sandwiches, mince pies and no doubt, this being Hampstead, alcohol of some sort, will be shared amongst any who want to come. You don’t have to bring anything but if you could help or provide some food see Diana and Elizabeth’s appeal further on in this issue.
Gold for HPS
Congratulations to Hampstead Parochial School which has recently won a Gold Standard Award. This award shows a commitment to developing teaching, learning, curriculum, leadership and professional development and involves interviewing pupils from each age group. A fitting climax to its 150th anniversary year – you can read about their founder, Thomas Ainger, in an article by Lucinda Moore further on in this issue.
It only remains now to wish you a peaceful season of preparation, whatever form those preparations take and after it, a happy Christmas!
Advent
Judy East