Last Sunday, 6th September, marked the Feast of Christ in Creation, when many Christians might well remember the hymn, "All creatures of our God and King", from the Canticle of the Sun by St Francis of Assisi. This part of the liturgical calendar is indeed a truly ecumentical form of worship to God our Creator when we pray for the care of all creation. We are stewards for the safeguarding of all the Almighty's splendeur of what we can see and don't see and we must not take all this grandeur for granted. We celebrate this season. We have seen and felt the effects of our hottest Summer on record and hence, we must face up to Climate Change in this First Festival of Creation, asking ourselves more than ever about how we should be using to best effect this awe inspiring creation of which we are a part. We have hope in Christ. We must respond to the parched and thirsty landscape which is still evident around us. The readings for that day were: Romans 13. 8-14 and Matthew 18. 15-20. Two morning services took place, namely, our 8am more traditional Said Communion and the 10am All Together Eucharist, followed later on at 12:45pm, by Sunday Lunch in the Chapter House by those who had signed up previously. This act of outreach remains ever popular and deservably so.
On Saturday, 12th September, between 10am and 12 noon, there is Coffee Shop in the Chapter House while between 9am and 5pm, there is the annual Bike and Hike about which details have been provided on the relevant poster in the foyer. On Sunday, 13st September, there is our usual 10am Parish Eucharist. On Saturday, 19th September, between 10am and 3pm, there is our Country Fayre which will include all sorts of stalls and entertainments going on around the church grounds. Refreshments are also available. Inside the church, there will be an exhibition, Calmness in Crisis, which will inform us about the ways we can all cope with challenging times. This will link up with our chosen charities for this year, namely, Cruse Bereavement and Homestart Bedfordshire.
Also, on that same day, at 2pm, there will take place the Installation of Andrew, Bishop of St Albans at the St Albans Cathedral, still known to many as the Abbey Church, the centre of our diocese.
On Sunday, 20th September, after the 10am Parish Eucharist, there will be at 11:45pm, Mafambisa Feedback, in the Chapter House, when members of this year's team who went to South Africa, will talk about their experiences and who will doubtless answer questions about it all. On the same day, at 5:30pm, there will be a Taize Service at the delightful country parish church at Cockayne Hatley. Then, on 3rd October, at 9:30am, there will be St Luke's Tide Holy Communion.
Lot's going on! For yet more detail about our activities and what we can offer at St Andrew's, please go to our website. Finally, please remember that the church is normally open for private prayer from Mondays to Saturdays, between 9am to 4pm. You are welcome.