Newsletter - All Saints

2/11/25

(Year C)

Your weekly update from the Benwell & Scotswood Team.

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Giusto de' menabuoi, Detail of Paradise, c.1375

Padua Baptistry, Italy

Dates for your diary

Today

4pm - All Souls' commemoration of the departed at St John's

9 November

Remembrance Sunday - Act of Remembrance to begin at 11am at St James (other service times as normal).

11 November

10.55am - Armistice day Act of remembrance at Ven Bede

13 November

7pm - Standing committee online

20 November

7pm - PCC at St John's

23 November

6pm - Confirmation service at St James (with Bishop Mark)

Services this week

Sunday

10am - St John's Holy Communion

10am - St Margaret's Holy Communion

11.15am - St James Parish Eucharist

4pm - All Souls' commemoration at St John's

Tuesday

4.30pm - Farsi Bible Study at St James

Thursday

12pm - Ven Bede Holy Communion

Sunday 9 Nov

10am - St John's Holy Communion followed by Act of Remembrance

10am - St Margaret's Holy Communion followed by Act of Remembrance

11am - Act of Remembrance followed by St James Parish Eucharist

News

All Souls' commemoration of the departed

4pm, 2nd November at St John's Benwell Village, NE15 6NW

Every year we hold a special service on All Souls' Day (or on the nearest Sunday).

During this service we gather to remember those we have lost, to pray for them, and light a candle in honour of them.

During the service a list of names of those we have lost will be read out, including those whose funerals have happened in the last 3 years. If you would like to add a name to the list please send an email to church@benwellscotswood.com (alternatively a paper list will be available in our churches).

If you have any questions or would like someone to talk to, please do let us know.

Remembrance 2025

We will be holding an Act of Remembrance in each of our churches this November. This is when we remember those who gave their lives in the First World War and all other wars, and we pray for an end to all conflicts.

Remembrance Sunday 9th November

St Margaret's Scotswood, 10am
Holy Communion followed by an Act of Remembrance.
St John's Benwell Village, 10am Holy Communion followed by an Act of Remembrance.
St James Benwell, 11am Act of Remembrance at 11am, followed by Holy Communion at 11.15am

Armistice Day - Tuesday 11th November

Venerable Bede, West Road, 10.55am Act of Remembrance at the war memorial inside the church.

Confirmation service

6pm, Sunday 23rd November at St James

Bishop Mark Wroe will be with us to lead this very special service for us.

Confirmation is a big step when we declare that we want to follow Jesus Christ, to receive the Holy Spirit, and to be part of his church, always finding ways to love God and one another.

If you are interested in being confirmed (or baptised!), or you aren't sure and want to find out more, then just let us know. Fr Chris will be in touch to chat and begin preparations once he returns from holiday.

Embrace - Gaza appeal

Conflict across the Middle East is unfolding with relentless intensity, devastating the lives of millions. Even as they live through these dark times, Embrace’s partners in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon are working tirelessly to bring the light of Christ amidst the suffering.

You can click below to donate online. If you would rather donate by phone, please call 01494 897950.

Click here to donate

Liturgical colour:

Intercessions

Prayers for others:

Betty George
Ali Zarei
Sonja and Stan
John Nicholson
Maria Hawthorn
Herbert Agbeko
Pauline Nelson
Irene Foskett
Pat Law
Christina Wilson
Diane Humphrey
Christine Williams

Rest in Peace

Alan Robson
Ron Taylor

Other

All who are bereaved.

If you would like to add someone to the prayer list please email church@benwellscotswood.com

The name will stay on the list for 1 month unless requested to be long-term.

Readings

Ephesians 1.11-end

¹¹In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, ¹²so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. ¹³In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; ¹⁴this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason ¹⁶I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. ¹⁷I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, ¹⁸so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. ²⁰God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. ²²And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Luke 6.20-31

20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.‘Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

22 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. ²³Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. ²⁴ ‘But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. ²⁵ ‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

26 ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

27 ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.

(from the New Revised Standard Version of the bible)

Sermon

Fr Allan

May these words as I speak them and as you receive them in your minds and in your hearts, be in the Name of the one true living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amongst all the days and all the feasts and festivals we celebrate in the church, today is the day when we begin to realise something of the potential that God has placed into each one of us from the day of our birth.

For today All Saints Day is the one day when we can stand back and look in amazement at what God can do with an ordinary human being like you or like me.

For this revelation that we can be Saints, people who can become more perfect than the frail human and sinful nature that is within us, was given to us by Jesus. Jesus, who like Moses went up a mountain and sat down to give his clearest and most profound teaching of all his ministry, to those who followed him. The teaching we call the Beatitudes.

For it is in this teaching we discover not only what are the characteristics that make the saint, but we also discover who it is that is called to be a saint as well.

For Jesus tells us in Luke’s Gospel today.

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. ‘Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

But if we were to look at the version in Saint Matthew’s Gospel, we will find even more, as Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, Blessed are those who mourn, Blessed are the meek, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, Blessed are the merciful, Blessed are the pure in heart, Blessed are the peacemakers”.

All of these are the marks of a saint.

But all these qualities which go towards the making of a saint do not come easily or cheaply. The price of holiness, which is what to be blessed really means, is very costly and dear, and the process of beatification which moves us from where we are to where we might one day be with God, is always difficult and involves a struggle which is usually a long and hard one.

Some of the saints we know and celebrate through the Christian year were martyred, they were killed because of their faith and belief in God, and for following Jesus His Son. These include Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Saint Stephen who was stoned, and many others who in the early church were even thrown to be eaten by lions.

But there were other saints who lived long and fruitful lives such as Saint Benedict or Saint Hilda of Whitby, saints who gave themselves to a life of prayer and service lived in community with others.

And there were those who challenged the church in their generation, such as Saint Francis and Saint Therese, whose challenge was to return to a more faithful and simple proclamation of the gospel of Christ, reaching outwards to a world which needed to hear it.

But all of these we call saints had one thing in common, and that was their love for their Lord Jesus, and their faith in God who had created them, and who had enabled them to be the people they were called to be.

And the days of making saints are not yet over.

In the last 40 years or so.

Pope John Paul II canonized 482 saints,

Pope Benedict XVI canonized 45,

Pope Francis canonized just over 950.

And most recently Pope Leo XIV just added another 13 to the list of those deemed by the Church to counted as Holy and Blessed.

But there are still many in our world who have that same love for Jesus and that same commitment to faith in God. And there are many many people throughout the world who are listening each day to the call which God is giving to those who would hear and respond. And whether they are canonized officially by the church here on earth or not, they too are being called to be amongst All the Saints we celebrate here today.

But this calling is not just for them, it’s a calling which is for you and me too. For we too are called to be amongst the saints, as we struggle in our journey through this life, and as we also pay our price for being a Christian here at Saint John’s in Benwell, Saint James’ in Benwell, Saint Margaret’s in Scotswood, or at the Venerable Bede, and in all the places where we are called to bear witness to our faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus knows that this is not an easy way, as we try to bring good news into a world which seems more and more to filled with the bad, and as we seek to love those who the world wants to hate. And so, for our encouragement Jesus says to us as he said to disciples on the mountain all those years ago.

‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven;’

So, as we come here this morning to share in this Eucharist through which Jesus is made real to us in this present moment, we remember and sing together the words of the hymn ‘for all the saints’, which says.

‘O blest communion, fellowship divine, we humbly struggle, they in glory shine, yet all are one in thee, for all are thine. Alleluia!’

Together we join with All the Saints, of yesterday, today and tomorrow and sing our praise with theirs, as we sing Alleluia to God, through Christ, in the Spirit, who calls us, and them both, to the glory which is to come for us all.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.