Hello and goodbye

Fr Gideon Nnanemere, who will be licensed into St Aldhelm's this month

Life is full of change and church life is no different. This month we say goodbye to Mother Patricia and hello to Father Gideon.

Mother Anna writes: Yesterday was Mother Patricia's final service with us as she has now moved on to finish her curacy at Holy Innocents' church in Crouch End. As you know, Mthr Patricia has been off sick after a diagnosis of lupus and she hadn't quite finished her curacy when she was first taken ill. Bishop Anderson has taken the decision to move her to a church nearer to where she lives in order to make finishing her curacy easier during this period of ill health.

Her time with us has been joyous and she leaves an incredible legacy for us to continue. It was Mthr Patricia who initiated our "Warm church, warm welcome" project, keeping the church open three days a week and welcoming everyone who dropped in, young and old, with a cheery hello and the offer of a hot drink. The foodbank was also her idea and she built it up from nothing with her contacts locally, sourcing donations of food and training our volunteers to make the foodbank the success it is.

I will miss her enormously as she moves on - I will miss her by my side as we led worship together and miss her support as we planned things for the church. I miss her at Evening Prayer in the chapel - praying with Mthr Patricia as the night drew in was a time I cherished, a time of connection with God where we shared prayers for the church and the parish. Above all I will miss her enthusiasm, her joy and her capacity to create fun and happiness.

I know you too will have many things you will miss about her - especially her work with the children and young people, the home visits and phone calls she took responsibility for and her care and prayers for us all.

It was good to send her off to Holy Innocents with thankfulness and joy, not to mention a lovely lunch and gifts and thank yous as she went. We will continue to pray for her, as I know she will pray for us.

But as Mthr Patricia leaves we are delighted to welcome a new priest to St Aldhelm's, Fr Gideon Nnanemere. He joins us from the Church of Nigeria where he served as priest and Archdeacon and we will benefit enormously from his wisdom and experience. Like Mthr Patricia, Fr Gideon is a Self Supporting Minister (SSM), which means he serves as a volunteer and his ministry is unpaid. He works elsewhere and so he will be with us for two days a week, including Sundays. The ministry of self supporting clergy is incredibly generous, fitting in ministry around work and family commitments, so we are particularly thankful to Fr Gideon for offering his time and service in this way.

I know you will welcome Fr Gideon with open hearts and the hospitality for which St Aldhelm's is rightly known!

Notices

Thanksgiving and Giving Service Sunday 26 October is our annual service for giving thanks to God for the blessings of our lives and showing our thankfulness by giving back to the church. Please come prepared to give generously out of the abundance with which we have all been blessed.

Fr Gideon’s licensing Fr Gideon will be serving his curacy with us and will be formally licensed into St Aldhelm’s on Monday 27 October at a service at 10am. All welcome.

All Souls At this service on 2 November we will read out names of people dear to us who have died. Please email Tom our administrator with names to be read out admin@aldhelms.org.uk

Christmas Bazaar Plans are already underway for our annual Christmas Bazaar. This year we will be combining it with an event celebrating the completion of our spire and roof repairs. Put the date in your diary – it’s going to be a great day.

Dates for the diary

Sunday 26 Oct             Thanksgiving and Giving

Saturday 1 Nov          5pm Choral Mass for All Saints

Sunday 2 Nov            10am Mass for All Souls (with incense)

Sunday 9 Nov            Remembrance  Sunday

Sunday 16 Nov           Safeguarding Sunday

Sunday 23 Nov          Christ the King (with incense)

Saturday 6 Dec          Christmas Bazaar and spire celebration, followed by

5pm Vigil Mass

Sunday 21 Dec           10am service followed by lunch,

3pm Carol Service

Christmas Eve           11pm Midnight Mass (with incense)

Christmas Day            10 am All-age Eucharist

For your prayers

From the electoral roll this week we ask you to pray Rosemond KEYEDE; Althea KING-CHALLENGER; Betty KIRBY; Fatima KOROMA; Chris LITTLER; and all their families and loved ones. For our parish, please pray for all who live or work on Kenmare Gardens, Keston Close, Lister Gardens, Lopen Road and Mitchell Road. This week we ask for your prayers for: The North Middlesex Hospital, Chase Farm hospital,

all health services in Enfield and all NHS workers