Category: Appeal

The Vicar Writes …

For it is when I am weak that I am strong

First, let me thank all of you for the warm and friendly welcome you extended to me and

Coleen at my collation and installation a couple of weeks ago. It was a lovely service, and a fitting start to my time among you.

In this week of the general election – and as I write this, I have no idea what the result will be – it’s appropriate that our second reading should include St Paul’s famous comment on the strength that comes only through what the world sees as weakness.

Lord Acton, a 19th century Roman Catholic politician and historian, wrote that “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  Whoever has, on Sunday, turned out to be our next Prime Minister will do well to remember this.

But it’s not just politicians who need to be mindful of power. And, indeed, it’s not just those with power on a grand scale who need to recognise the corrupting tendency that power always, and everywhere, brings with it. We probably all know, and have experienced, the tinpot dictatorships of big fish in small ponds!

To be installed as the vicar of a parish is hardly to have been vested with limitless power, yet priests are by no means immune to the dangers and temptations that even small-scale power can provoke.

Priests may not be immune from, but they should most certainly strive to be resistant to, these temptations since they are called to represent Jesus Christ not only at the altar, but in all their ministry. Jesus “came not to be served but to serve” and told his disciples that “whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

As I begin my work in this parish, it is my fervent prayer that I will, with God’s grace, always be your servant and never your self-appointed bossy-boots. But if, heaven forbid, I should ever forget these good intentions, I hope you will all feel free to tell me so in no uncertain terms!

Fr Stephen

Notices

We are still appealing for support for the Foodbank, We currently need the following items: Tin Fish, Cereals, Long Life Milk, Sugar, Rice, Biscuits, Tea, Coffee etc.

Please be reminded that our Brigade will be launched in September, so please sign up for your child who is 4yrs Six Months Old up to 11yrs. Please take note that it is for both boys and girls. To register your child, please contact Fr. Josiah.

We will be updating the Prayer List at the end of the Month so please contact Susan if you want a name to be added. 

We are grateful to all those who joined us at All Saint Hillingdon, for the Induction of our Church Wardens, Nicholas and Ruth.

Please support the church generously through your giving at stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

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A Huge Appreciation

We have eagerly awaited our dear Fr. Stephen to be collated and inducted to the Benefice of St. Anselm. It was not about just a Vicar but a Vicar who would love and bring us together. We are grateful to God for the life and ministry of our Vicar, Fr. Stephen George Brown and by his side his wonderful wife, Coleen. We have waited, and God has been faithful. Isaiah 40:31 is accurate: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” We can now say that our strength has been renewed because we waited patiently on the Lord.

We were not the only ones happy; Fr. Stephen and Coleen were full of smiles. Bishop Jonathan, because of the love and unity among us and how welcoming we are to all those who come through the doors of St. Anselm Church, the Mayor had heard so much about us and was happy she graced the occasion. Indeed, we all enjoyed every bit of the collation and induction. I am so proud of what we were able to do together, and we must be proud of ourselves. Oh, lest I forget, the food, the drinks and the Cake were so special, we all had enough to eat and drink. What a day!

I would like to express my sincere thanks, along with that of our Vicar and his wife, to every person in St. Anselm who contributed to making the service a blissful one. Everything was done to the glory of God, and God will undoubtedly bless all of us.

Fr. Stephen and Coleen will be in this parish officially on Sunday 7^th, July where he will be our principal celebrant. We cannot wait for them to join us, share their experiences, worship, grow Christ’s love, and proclaim Him in Hayes.

Fr. Josiah Myles Abadoo SSC

Notices

The Bishop of Fulham will ordain Deacons on Saturday, June 29th, at 11:00 a.m. and Priests on Sunday, June 30th, at 5:00 p.m. The venue is St. Andrew, Holborn.

The Swearing-in of our New Wardens is on Tuesday, July 2nd, at 7 p.m. at All Saints, North Hillingdon.

We will need some donations for the food bank in the coming days. Your support will be appreciated. We need the following items: Tin Fish, Cereals, Long-Life Milk, Sugar, Rice, Biscuits, Tea, Coffee, etc.

Nuffield Health will be conducting health assessments every third Wednesday of the Month here in St. Anselm during Foodbank, 12:00 – 1400. These assessments will include free BP Checks, Body Measurements, and exercise/nutritional advice.

Thank you to all of us for making the collation and induction of Fr. Stephen George Brown to this Benefice a success. Fr. Stephen is very grateful.

The Hayes Town Canal Festival is this afternoon, and our Brigade Volunteers will join Fr. Josiah to distribute fliers inviting children to sign up for the St. Anselm Brigade.

Please support the church generously through your giving at stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

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Collation of Our New Vicar

God willing, on Monday, 17^th June, the Bishop of Fulham, Rt. Rev. Jonathan Baker will join us in St. Anselm to Collate and Induct to this Benefice Fr. Stephen George Brown SSC. Monday is a significant day in the life of this parish, and it is a historical one as well. Fr. Stephen, as we can see in his short introduction of himself to us in last week’s pew sheet, portrays him as an outstanding and experienced servant to the church and the community we have all been called to serve. I have had several interactions with him, and I can say without mincing words that it is a joy to be around him. We cannot wait to have him here as our Vicar and show him how we love each other and stay together even in challenging times.

One crucial thing that our new Vicar will need from all of us is our constant support, especially through prayers. Prayer is the key to spiritual growth, direction, development and success. Our new Vicar will need all this to help build the church of God. Saint Joseph (Giuseppe) Moscati once wrote, “It is necessary to pray for priests because they are so often forgotten by the living since Christians often consider that priests do not need prayers.” Fr. Stephen and his family will need our prayers to help them in their ministry here.

We cannot wait to worship with the Bishop of Fulham as the principal celebrant, supported by the Clergy, with the Mayor of Hillingdon present. We will be hosting lovely people coming from our community and other places. This is an opportunity to show them how united, loving and welcoming we are. After the Mass, we will all eat, drink, and make new friends.

Monday night is a huge opportunity to invite people to church and pray that most of them will join us at St. Anselm after the collation and Induction.

Fr. Josiah Myles Abadoo SSC

Notices

It is the intention of the Bishop of Fulham to Collate to the Benefice of St Anselm, Hayes on Monday 17th June 2024, Fr. Stephen George Brown SSC.

The Bishop of Fulham will be ordaining Deacons on Saturday 29th June, at 11:00am and Priests on 30th June, at 5:00pm. The venue is St. Andrew, Holborn.

We will need some donations for the Foodbank in the coming days. Your support will be appreciated. We need the following items: Tin Fish, Cereals, Long Life Milk, Sugar, Rice, Biscuits, Tea, Coffee etc.

Nuffield Health will be doing Health Assessments Every 3rd Wednesday of the Month here in St. Anselm during Foodbank, 12:00 – 1400. Free BP Checks, Body Measurements and exercise/nutritional advice.

A huge thank you to all those who have accepted to volunteer in the Boys’ Brigade. Please know that the Brigade is going to be launched in September. Fliers will come up very soon.

Please support the church generously through your giving at stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

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Introducing the New Vicar

My name is Fr Stephen, and I’m very much looking forward to becoming your new Vicar on 17^th June.

Fr Josiah has asked me to write a few words of introduction and to tell you a little about myself, my background, and what I’ve done in the past.

I’m married to Coleen – this year is our 20^th anniversary, so we must be doing something right! Between us we have two sons, Wendell and Jamal. Coleen works for social services with young people leaving care. She has been a very important part of my ministry at St Alphege, and I’m sure that will continue when we move here.

I was first recommended for training to the sacred priesthood as I left university in 1974. I was told that I had to spend at least a year in the ‘real world’ before I could begin my theological studies – that moving seamlessly from school, university, theological college to ordination would not equip me for my vocation as a priest. Well, I clearly took this advice to heart as that one year in the real world became 40 years!

I spent 20 of those 40 years in the Youth Service, first as a full-time youth worker for local authorities and voluntary organisations, and then as a Youth Officer managing full and part time youth workers and advising the management committees of voluntary youth providers in the London Boroughs of Wandsworth, and then Greenwich.

When the Inner London Education Authority was abolished in the early 1990s, I went to work for Social Services in Greenwich, and became the head of their Information Technology Unit.

After a few years, I moved into the social housing sector as a management information specialist, later becoming the Director of Corporate Services for a large west London housing association. I moved to Manchester as Director of Business Services for the city council’s remaining housing stock, later taking on responsibility for property management as well. This was a difficult time in the sector as there were 24 tower blocks in Manchester’s stock and I took on this new responsibility only a few weeks before the Grenfell Tower disaster – as you may imagine, the shock waves of this tragedy ran through all social housing providers.

During my time in Manchester, I decided that 40 years was probably a sufficient real-world apprenticeship, and I went back through the discernment process and began my training for the priesthood. I trained in Salisbury and spent a couple of months studying at the Beda College in Rome – a wonderful and lasting experience.

Since ordination I served my title in St Augustine, Kilburn and in St Mary the Virgin, Hayes, so you could say that I’m coming home! My first incumbency has been at St Alphege, Edmonton where I have served since 2019 until February this year.

I can’t wait to meet you all, and to work with Fr Josiah and Susan as we embark on a new chapter for St Anselm. With many blessings for each and every one in the parish.

Fr. Stephen Brown SSC

Notices

It is the intention of the Bishop of Fulham to Collate to the Benefice of St Anselm, Hayes on Monday 17th June 2024, Fr. Stephen George Brown SSC.

The Bishop of Fulham will be ordaining Deacons on Saturday 29th June, at 11:00am and Priests on 30th June, at 5:00pm. The venue is St. Andrew, Holborn.

We will need some donations for the Foodbank in the coming days. Your support will be appreciated. We need the following items: Tin Fish, Cereals, Long Life Milk, Sugar, Rice, Biscuits, Tea, Coffee etc.

Please we would like to meet all those who would like to volunteer in the Boys’ Brigade to see Fr. Josiah after Mass.

Please support the church generously through your giving at stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

Downloads

Notices

It is the intention of the Bishop of Fulham to Collate to the Benefice of St Anselm, Hayes on Monday 17th June 2024 the Fr. Stephen George Brown SSC

We will need some donations for the Foodbank in the coming days. Your support will be appreciated. We need the following items: Tin Fish, Cereals, Long Life Milk, Sugar, Rice, Biscuits, Tea, Coffee etc.

Please we would like to meet all those who would like to volunteer in the Boys’ Brigade to see Fr. Josiah after Mass.

Please support the church generously through your giving at stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

Downloads

https://universalis.com/20240602/mass.htm

A Befitting Welcome

We have a huge welcome to celebrate when our new Vicar is Collated and inducted on the 17th of June at 7 pm here in St Anselm by Rt. Rev. Jonathan Baker, Bishop of Fulham. This is a massive occasion for all of us and the church. Although the time is short, we must do all we can to make him and his dear wife feel loved and welcomed. Romans 15:7 encourages us to welcome one another in these words: “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” 

We all have ways of expressing our welcome, and here at St. Anselm’s, we welcome people by sharing food, chatting, worshipping together and putting infectious smiles on our faces.

Once again, we will welcome a new Vicar, in the name of Fr. Stephen George Brown SSC. It would be great to say hello and introduce ourselves to him when we meet him; we could bring some food to share with him after the service. 

You may present a gift or card to him, assure him of our support and above all, pray for him. This is a new period in the church’s life, and it must start with joy, love, smiles, and every support and help we can give. He will need a little time to settle in, and this is the period during which our 

support and encouragement will be needed most.

By the grace of God, some parishioners have met him, and I must say he is a wonderful person to be with. I hope we will all remember him in our prayers for God to use him as a vessel to support the ministry in this loving parish of St. Anselm.

Fr. Josiah

Notices

It is the intention of the Bishop of Fulham to Collate to the Benefice of St Anselm, Hayes on Monday 17th June 2024 the Reverend Stephen George Brown.

HESA Medical Centre is organising a health fairWednesday 29th Mayfrom 12pm to 15:30pm at Hayes and Harlington Community Centre, Albert Road, Hayes UB3 4HR.

We will need some donations for the Foodbank in the coming days. Your support will be appreciated. We need the following items: Tin Fish, Cereals, Long Life Milk, Sugar, Rice, Biscuits, Tea, Coffee etc.

Please we would like to meet all those who would like to volunteer in the Boys’ Brigade to see Fr. Josiah after Mass.

Please support the church generously through your giving at stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

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A United Church

For almost a week running, most of our readings talked about loving one another as the Lord Jesus Christ loved us and Jesus praying to the Father that all may be one as the Son and the Father are one. This moves us to pause and ask why the emphasis is on loving one another and staying together as one whole body of Christ. Unity is very paramount in every organisation because it is the lifeblood, and so is it to the Church. A church that is not loving and united loses its relevance because that is the foundation of the Church. Divisions in the Church of God open the floodgate for the enemy to penetrate quickly and create confusion. 

1 Corinthians 3:4-6 tells us how the early Church was divided into individuals rather than God, who gives growth and sustenance. “For when one says, ‘I belong to Paul’, and another, ‘I belong to Apollos’, are you not merely human? What, then, is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” 

The Church of God is not about individuals. It is about Christ Jesus, so when we focus on mortal beings, we miss the mark; instead, our focus must always be on Christ Jesus. We are all human beings striving for perfection through the grace of God. The body of Christ comprises different parts, and all the parts work together to achieve the great commission. There will be other opinions here and there, but that must not divide us; all the differences must help us make the right decisions and come out with lovely and heart-warming music like a symphony orchestra through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

We are all on the same team headed by Jesus Christ, so we must remain in his love so that he will dwell in us. We all have a role to play; everyone is essential in Christ’s body. No role is small or more significant; we are all the same because our shared goal is to please our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Notices

We will need some donations for the food bank in the coming days. Your support will be appreciated. We need the following items: Tin Fish, Cereals, Long-Life Milk, Sugar, Rice, Biscuits, Tea, Coffee, etc.

Please we would like to meet all those who would like to volunteer in the Boys’ Brigade to see Fr. Josiah after Mass.

Please support the church generously through your giving at stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

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St. Anselm Foodbank

St. Anselm Church operates a food bank, which has helped many individuals and families struggling to feed themselves to have access to food during the official opening hours or anytime the church is open. Independent foodbanks like St. Anselm foodbank number about 1,172, and Trussell Trust Foodbanks are around 1,400 in the United Kingdom.

The Department for Work and Pension (DWP) reported in 2023 that 3% of people in the UK used a food bank in 2022. This percentage is expected to rise, hence the importance we must attach to our food bank here in St. Anselm. An average of 20 individuals and families use St. Anselm’s food bank every Wednesday, apart from those who come in on other days. 

What makes St. Anselm Food Bank easy to use is that we do not take vouchers to give out food. We give food to anyone who comes through the church doors needing it and offer people the opportunity to chat, have a cup of coffee, and socialize, which is very good for our mental health. You can use the St. Anselm food bank without a referral because we are a church, and this is a gift to the community of Hayes.

Our foodbank relies on donations from you, some community members, St. Edmund’s Foodbank in Yeading, and Nuffield Health, including cash donations from specific individuals. We are fortunate to have very dedicated volunteers who are always ready to help those who use the foodbank with love and smiles. For the foodbank to continue to serve the people in our community well, we will need your support and prayers.  “For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger, and you invited me in.” (Matthew 25:35)

Fr. Josiah

Other News

Please be informed that our Annual Meeting of Parishioners and APCM is scheduled to take place on 19th May. As part of the processes leading to that, the PCC will revise the Church’s Electoral Roll. Please let them know if any names should be removed or take a form from Greta if you want your name on the electoral Roll.

We will need some donations for the food bank in the coming days. Your support will be appreciated.

The Nomination Forms for election as Churchwarden and PCC Member of the Parish are ready. Please see PCC Secretary Jackie for a form.

Please support the church generously through your giving at stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

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