SAINT THOMAS THE APOSTLE
FINSBURY PARK
CHRISTMAS 2021
YOU ARE WARMLY INVITED TO CHRISTMAS
SERVICES AND EVENTS AT ST THOMAS THE APOSTLE AND ST JOHN BROWNSWOOD PARK:
THURSDAY 16th DECEMBER at 7pm
Listen out for friends from St Thomas’s and St John’s carol singing around the parish, collecting for our two local food banks at St John’s and Elizabeth House.
SUNDAY 19th DECEMBER at 6pm
Carols by Candlelight at St Thomas’s:
An informal evening of readings, poems and congregational carols followed by festive refreshments. All welcome!
MONDAY 20th DECEMBER at 7pm
Another evening carol singing around the parish,
collecting for our local food banks at St John’s and Elizabeth House.
CHRISTMAS EVE at 3pm
Children’s service at St Thomas’s:
Christmas carols and the story of the Nativity, lasting 30-45 minutes. Please encourage your child to bring a present to put under the tree.
These will be given to The Toy Project*.
CHRISTMAS EVE at 6pm
Carols by Candlelight - if you missed Sunday's Carols by Candlelight, watch the enhanced version on Youtube, premiereing at 6pm, and available after... If you can't make it to church on Christmas Eve.
CHRISTMAS EVE at 11.30pm
Midnight Mass at St Thomas’s:
A traditional service starting in candlelight, our first
opportunity to make our communion together in
celebration of the birth of Jesus.
CHRISTMAS DAY at 11am
Christmas morning service at St John’s
St John the Evangelist Brownswood Park
Queen’s Drive, N4 2LW
Email: churchwarden@sjebp.com
ST STEPHEN’S DAY (Boxing Day) at 10.30am
Sung Eucharist at St Thomas’s.
SUNDAY 2nd JANUARY 2022 at 10.30am
THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY OF CHRIST
Sung Eucharist at St Thomas’s.
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Revd. Caroline writes:
As we get ready for Christmas we put up lights and decorations to make our ordinary places feel special, just for a bit. The good news of Christmas is that our ordinary lives really are special, not just at Christmas, but all the time and for ever. We can glimpse heaven on earth as the shepherds did, and in our own homes, in our streets, in our work and schools. Jesus is God’s present to us right here right now.
Scientists tell us our bodies are made of stardust; Christmas reminds us that our souls too are made of the stuff of Heaven. We are part of God’s bigger Christmas story. When we feel our world is less secure, when we’ve made mistakes and life feels far from peaceful, God comes to look for the lost person inside us and draws us close. As we gather round the Christ child at Christmas in this strange and surprising stable, God will surely meet us there. We will know that we are loved and lovely. There’s no cancel culture with God.
Why not say a simple prayer as we prepare for Christmas, when we open an Advent calendar window, open a card or open the oven door! ‘Christ be my light this Christmas, and in the year to come. Amen.’
May God bless us all richly this Christmastide.
Contact: Interim priest: Caroline Shuttleworth revdcaroline.stthomasfp@gmail.com
Assistant priest: Pauline Nashashibi priest.stthomasfp@gmail.com
The past 20 months have seen lots of changes at St Thomas’s with the disruption of the pandemic, the retirement of Revd. Stephen Coles, and new arrangements proposed for St Thomas’s by the Diocese.
Things have settled over the last couple of months. We said a proper farewell to Stephen at the Dedication Festival in October, most restrictions on how we worship have been lifted and many of our regular social activities have restarted.
There is also a clear plan for how St Thomas’s will be supported by clergy over the next couple of years. In September we welcomed our new interim priest Revd. Caroline Shuttleworth. She will minister to St Thomas’s with assistant priest Revd. Pauline Nashashibi, who looked after us so well during darkest times of Covid. We will be in their care well into spring 2022, when the Revd. Alice Smith, currently on maternity leave, will take up her new role as Priest in Charge at St Thomas’s. Revd. Alice will also remain vicar of St John Brownswood Park so our connection with our neighbours there will be strengthened.
These arrangements provide us with certainty and continuity and we hope you will join us this Christmas as this new chapter begins, celebrating the gifts our clergy and congregation bring to our church and the community.
Heather Pascall and Anne Rose, Churchwardens, St Thomas the Apostle
St Thomas the Apostle Finsbury Park
Corner of Monsell and St Thomas’s Roads, N4
Email: stthomasfp@gmail.com
Facebook: St Thomas the Apostle Finsbury Park
Charity Number 1179777