Announcements and news from the parish of St. Anselm, Hayes.
There are many things about this time that have been less than great. However, some things have been wonderful – and I have to admit that being allowed to install our wonderful Churchwardens, rather than the Archdeacon doing so at a special service, was a real treat.
To be able to admit into office Cynthia and David was truly a delight – and what a team we are going to make. The future of St. Anselm is in very good hands with David and Cynthia.
May God bless their leadership and service.
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
A tough week.
It has been a very tough week. First, the news that one of the children at Dr. Triplett’s Primary School had been run over and killed on Sunday evening. Then, the tragic news of a violent act of murder in the heart of the parish.
How can we possible react to such horrible and heartbreaking news? How can we support each other in our hurt and pain?
As ever when we struggle to know what to do we can turn to scripture and to the example of the saints. St. Teressa of Avila (who’s memorial we celebrated on Thursday) was no stranger to hurt and pain. She reacted by taking it all to God in prayer. She would reproach God in the strongest terms. Through that prayer she would seek out the peace of God’s love for her and attempt to be healed by it.
Easier said than done perhaps. So how do you take this anger and pain to God in prayer? What words can you possible use?
St. Paul helps us…
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Romans 8:26 (ESVA)
Take it to the Lord in prayer, in the power of the Spirit.
Fr. Matthew
A huge thank you goes to David & Stan for their sterling work in cleaning the outside of church. What an amazing difference it has made – thank you.
Cleaning – after mass on Sunday 25th we’re going to stay to give the church a big clean. Please bring your own packed lunch and refreshments. We’re going to tackle the brick dust on all the surfaces, sweep and mop the whole church. Bring your dusters!
Parish Giving Code – 230 623 503.
Call – 0333 002 1271.
At St. Anselm we strongly believe that in order to bring people to Jesus we need to be deeply rooted in Scripture and Sacrament. With that in mind we have a growing Sermon & Teaching section of the website, but we’ve also created the St. Anselm Sunday Sermon Podcast for you.
It’s a very easy way to hear our weekly sermons (about 10 mins long) whenever works for you. It’s available on both Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts or directly via the RSS Feed – https://stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/feed/sermon-podcast/
Don’t forget you can also subscribe to the videos of our Sunday Sermons over on YouTube or watch/listen/read them via our Sunday Sermons section on this website.
However you want to hear the word of God preached each week – we’ve got you covered.
Rooted in Scripture & Sacrament.
How do we stay rooted?
Our three guiding principles are designed to keep us strong in our faith and in our community. They are:
Perhaps the most important is being rooted in scripture and sacrament. I say that because it’s the one principle that is utterly unmoving. It is the one place where we will ALWAYS find Jesus.
When the world rocks, when our faith stumbles, when we question those around us our ability to come back to mass and receive Jesus in the sacrament and in our ability to read scripture is what will still us.
Those things that we take for granted – our ability to read scripture – our ability to come to mass – are often those things that we dismiss first. We may not come to church for a few weeks – 10am is very early after all! We may say we are too busy to pick up our bible this week.
It’s when we start making these small excuses that we start to run the risk of tearing ourselves away from Jesus.
But don’t worry, because Jesus never abandons us, and even when we have been away for a while He will be there to welcome us home.
You may find it helpful to bring your worries to confession. To lay before God your sins and ask for forgiveness, be forgiven, to start again with a clean sheet. Why not come for the first time this Tuesday evening after Evening Prayer – or arrange a time with me.
Fr. Matthew
You’ll be pleased to know that the dodgy wiring has been replaced. The sound engineer is returning on Monday to complete the instal of the new system now we have safe cables.
Your generosity in prayer and in money towards helping those most in need in Hayes this week has been hugely appreciated – thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Have you set up Parish Giving yet? It’s the easiest and most tax-efficient way to give to St. Anselm. Call them on 0333 002 1271 with our Parish Code (230 623 503) and have your bank details to hand – it takes just 10 mins.
We are delighted to welcome First Class Tuition to St. Anselm on Friday afternoons between 4pm and 6pm.
James and Jagdish will welcome your child for tuition in English and Maths each week. They care deeply about the eduction of your child.
At First Class Learning, we aim to develop your child’s knowledge and understanding, providing them with a solid foundation in maths and English, relevant to their current studies and future goals.
Whatever your child’s ability – whether they’re aiming high or need a little bit of extra help – we want to make sure that THEY COUNT.
If you have any questions or would like to book in you can find their contact details on the First Class Tuition website or you can pop in between 4pm and 6pm on Friday afternoons.
The Botwell Ward Labour Councillors have decided to cease meeting people at St. Anselm Church and are now meeting them in the library. We were very happy to provide a COVID-safe space when the council was unable to, and continue to support community groups in Hayes. If you would like to use the church or the church hall for your community group do get in touch.
Botwell ward councillors Farley, Gardner and Oswell are holding fortnightly ward surgeries at St Anselm’s Church Foodbank, Station Road, Hayes Town, UB3 4DF.
The St Anselm’s Foodbank operates every Wednesday between 12pm and 2pm.
At least 2 of the Botwell ward councillors will be available at the foodbank every fortnight, to help with any resident’s council related concerns between 12.30 and 2pm.
The schedule for the coming months (Covid-19 restrictions permitting are as follows:
However, you do not need to wait for the surgery at the foodbank. If you have any council related concerns, your councillors can be contacted by email as below or by telephone on:
01895 250 780 (office hours)
Cllr Scott Farley
sfarley@hillingdon.gov.uk
Cllr Janet Gardner
jgardner@hillingdon.gov.uk
Cllr John Oswell
joswell@hillingdon.gov.uk
On Sunday 20th September Fr. Matthew commissioned four new altar servers at St. Anselm’s. The children are all part of the new and growing Sunday School at the church where children are taught the faith in a safe and encouraging environment.
Over the coming months the children will learn the basics of serving at the altar, giving their time on Sunday mornings to be closer to Jesus in the blessed sacrament. It’s a fun time with great friends.
As the altar team grows and the children become firm friends they can be assured of our prayers and encouragement.
We’re always looking for new people to join our amazing and growing community. If you’d like to discover more about us come along on a Sunday morning (10am) or drop us a line via our Contact Us page.
Live to the world
This week our new webcam will go live to the world. Why does this matter?
I’ve been banging on about our new webcam for the last few weeks. I’m really very excited about it. I’m excited because it’s a practical outpouring of one of our three guiding principles; those being
Our Love of Proclaiming Christ is a practical love of telling people about our faith. There are so many ways to do this. It can be a simple conversation about what you got up to on Sunday when you’re in the hairdressers. It can be a suggestion to a son or daughter that perhaps it’s time they returned to the church they were baptised in. It can be the holding of the hand of a friend who is sick and in need of comfort.
The webcam, when it goes live later this week, will enable our worship to form part of our proclamation of the Gospel. It will be broadcast around the world for those who have thought about coming to church but have been worried about what it is we do. It will allow people to download and watch sermons and teaching on scripture. It will allow people to join in who may otherwise not be able to come physically to church.
Our love of Jesus will be made apparent to the whole world. That simple act is enough to change the world – because it is through our example that others will come to know Jesus.
Tune in via the website this week as we proclaim Christ.
Fr. Matthew
This weeks services will be disrupted as we have our new sound system and live webcam installed. You’ll notice very little change as we’re using the existing cables and speaker brackets to install everything – but on Monday and Tuesday engineers will be in church putting the new equipment in. As a result there are changes to the services and times. Please check the calendar.
The APCM will take place after Mass on the 11th October. Please see the notice at the door. Nominations for Church Wardens, PCC Members, Deanery Synod Rep, Parish Secretary & Children’s Champion should be give to Fr. Matthew – forms at the door.
An informal revision of the Electoral Roll has taken place. A new list is posted at the front door.
Uncertain times
With so much speculation about potential lockdown ahead of us, where can we find peace?
It is easy to fall into despair. To read the news, listen to the radio, watch the TV and be left feeling deflated, defeated and alone.
Are we heading into a new national lockdown? Are those things that we’ve started to enjoy again after months of privation going to be taken away from us again?
But that despair, whilst easy to drop into and hard to get out of, ignores the reality of the bigger picture. That this life is transitory and that everything we do is about the life to come.
An easy thing to say perhaps, and a rather harder one to live day to day.
Jesus Christ is always with us. Deep in our hearts He holds us and comforts us. We can ignore Him, push Him away, stifle Him by thinking of unedifying things – but He never leaves us.
In the depths of despair and worry all we need to do is open our hearts and He will fill us with His love.
How?
By coming to Mass, by coming to Morning and Evening Prayer, by praying the Rosary, by praying the Lord’s Prayer as we wake and as we sleep.
These simple things help us to re-connect with Jesus in our hearts – in the very depths of our souls.
To reconnect with His comforting presence – which will – if we allow it – banish despair and worry.
Jesus wants nothing more than to love us and take us to His Father. So this week when worry raises its head, send it away with a quick Hail Mary!
Fr. Matthew
Confirmations – given the current and expected advice we have taken the difficult decision to postpone the confirmations. After conversations with Fr. James at the Bishop’s office we have decided to invite +Jonathan in the new year once the hall is complete, the new Sunday School is up and running and circumstances allow a party… and what a party it will be! We will also do First Communions for those who may be too young to be confirmed. Please speak to Fr. Matthew if you have any questions.
The APCM will take place after Mass on the 11th October. Please see the notice at the door. Nominations for Church Wardens, PCC Members, Deanery Synod Rep, Parish Secretary & Children’s Champion should be give to Fr. Matthew – forms at the door.
The live-streaming webcam and new sound system are being installed in church the week of the 28th September. There will be some disruption to daily mass and the offices that week but we are hopeful all will be up and running in order to allow us to resume live streaming all our services from Sunday 4th October.
Building work
Our new sound system is almost ready to be installed, a new webcam is going live and the church hall will soon be with us.
We’ve made huge progress over the last couple of weeks with the building, sound and vision projects at St. Anselm.
At last weeks PCC we approved a new plan (available for you to see at the back of the church) for the new church hall space in the old Our Lady of Walsingham Chapel. This new plan includes a full kitchen and an additional fire escape. This means we’ll be able to increase the capacity for concerts and the like in the main body of the church and will also give us a facility that will be easier to rent out.
The new design does need to go to the Diocese to be approved (as we are now a listed building) which means we’ll be looking at completion of the project towards the end of February 2021, with work starting this side of Christmas.
Our new webcam has also been delivered and will be installed – alongside the new sound system – in the last week of September. We’re hopeful this means that we’ll be live-streaming our services from the second week of October.
All of this work is happening for one reason – to improve our ability to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in Hayes. With this in mind I wonder what part in this mission you will play? Will you join the PCC at the APCM next month (11th October)? Volunteer for the new Sunday School (launching in the new year)? Offer to be our Children’s Officer, or to sit in church for a few hours so we can leave it open on Saturdays? There are so many ways God calls us to proclaim His Son’s message… what way is he calling YOU?
Fr. Matthew.