We do love our Christmas at COTC, from our beautiful Carol service with choir and candles to our 9 course Christmas Meal, or our new tradition of Beer & Carols. We’re still finalising some of the details of our other Christmas programme for this year, but I thought I would get the main events up. Can’t wait.

Our sermons this Autumn will be on the book of 1 Samuel. It is the story of the rise of the greatest King of Israel, and is full of familiar tales. But there is much more going on than the slightly Sunday school feel that many of them have. It is God’s perspective on the nature of leadership, the responsibilities of those in office, and the corrupting effect of power. And as such may just have something to say to our world today.

Our sermons this term have been on the lovely theme of the Fruit of the Spirit. We’ve really enjoyed exploring this theme, I’m struck that we spend so much time saying that Christianity isn’t about being good (and it isn’t) that we forget that God really does transform us little by little into something wonderful.

Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness.
Anne Frank

And if you would like one, we have made a little commemorative postcard for you to remind you something of what we have learned.

As well as our usual services we will hold our lovely service of Shadows at sunset (7.45pm) on Good Friday. This very simple moving recounting of the final hours of Jesus life in stillness and growing darkness is one of our most memorable events of the year. Be on time.

And for the first time this year we’re joining together with others in the Parish for a Maundy Thursday Seder meal. More information below.

A Prayer for Lent

Father you call us to learn
to trust you in famine as in feast,
and to seek your kingdom before all things.
As we begin this season of Lent
give us joy in the simple things
gratitude for what we have
rather than disquiet over what we don’t.
And may we discover in your presence
a peace that the world cannot give.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

Lent is a season in the year of the Church which follows Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days. It is a time of stripping things back and choosing a simpler quieter life, so better to encounter God.

One of the things we will be doing together is reading a book as a Church family. The book for this year is by ++Justin Welby called Dethroning Mammon. It is an examination of the place that money plays in our society, and what it looks like to genuinely trust in God rather than finance. There are 6 chapters, and we plan to read one a week, you can reflect on it in the comments below, or after church each Sunday.

To get hold of a copy obviously you can buy it from Amazon. But given the subject matter it might be a thought to buy it from somewhere that treats its staff better.

If you are near Westminster my favourite bookshop is here.

This is lovely. And of course we will be joining in with this call to prayer alongside brothers and sisters across the world.

New years resolutions come and go. But there are some resolutions that endure. These are God’s resolutions for you. No matter who you are. These three resolutions, simple yet profound are what God requires.

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8

Over the next 3 weeks we are marking the beginning of a new year by reflecting on what it means to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.

Were putting the Barn dance into Barnsbury. Our annual Parish Cèilidh is a fundraiser for our Children and Youth Work, and it is a fabulous event with food and drink, dancing and laughter. Whether you are a seasoned Do-si-do-er or a squaredance-o-phobe, we promise you will have a great time. Bring your friends.Tickets are £10 on the door. It is one of the highlights of the year.

One of our commitments this year has been to pray more as a community, and as we approach Advent, and all the joys and wonder and opportunities that the Christmas season brings, we are planning to spend another day in prayer on the 30th October.

We would encourage the whole community to set aside time that day for prayer. But specifically we will have a continuous cycle of prayer in the chapel. And you can sign up to take an hour during the day.

As before the chapel will be set up to be a place that helps you to pray, with creative ideas and lots of inspiration. Praying for an hour might sound intimidating. But once you get there, the time really does fly by. And time in the presence of God is never dull.

Update.

Thank you all for your contributions to this lovely day. The chapel is a blaze of creative prayer, and we had people joining in our hour by hour prayers from all over the world.

If you want to keep the prayer, or use them again another time you can download them here: COTC Book of hours.

Images from the day.

On Saturday 29th October Church on the Corner are proud to be hosting the 25th Anniversary celebration of Operation Restoration Bolivia.
This amazing charity has been working with kids who live full time on the streets of Bolivia, supporting them, providing an education and helping them build the resilience that they need to live well.  Our own Susie Procter volunteered with them in 1993/94 and it had a massive impact on her life including defining her choice of career working with the homeless and disenfranchised.

The London celebration and thanksgiving for 25 years of the work will be taking place at COTC starting at 4pm.

Church on the Corner, 64 Barnsbury Road, London, N1 0ES

How to get here.

What’s on this term…

Sunday 25th September – Folk on the Corner. The first session of this monthly Folk music gathering hosted by Tadz & Ruth starts tonight. More information on their Facebook page

Monday 17th October – N.T. Wright at St Mellitus College
You have probably heard of Tom Wright and even if not you have almost certainly been influenced by his work (whether you realise it or not). He is a brilliant New Testament Scholar, and someone who has done more to deepen our understanding of the NT than (I think) anyone in the last century. Tickets are free, but need to be booked in advance

Friday 28th October – Pumpkin Carving & Pizza
at Church on the Corner.

Sunday 30th October – Day of Prayer

Saturday 5th November – Bonfire Night

Saturday 12th November – Parish Ceilidh. After the triumphant success of last year’s Ceilidh, which raised £5000 towards our youth and children’s work, we are going again. It will be even bigger and better than last year. So dust off your Barn Dancing skill and your cowboy boots* and come along. (*Cowboy boots optional)

Sunday 27th November – Advent project begins

Saturday 17th December – 4pm Bemerton Carols. Community Carol concert at the Padget Centre on the Bemerton estate.

(Note the change of date) Saturday 17th December 7pm- Christmas Dinner. Will it be a Christmas roast with all the trimmings or a 9 course italian tasting menu? We don’t know yet, but this is not a lovely annual tradition, and a great event to bring your friends along to.

Sunday 18th December – Carol Service. Our biggest service of the year, and always a treat, with traditional carols and mulled wine. Invite your friends.

This weekend we will be praying for 24 hours in response to the Archbishop’s call to prayer for Pentecost. Members of church will sign up to pray in the chapel for an hour through the day and night.

Our chapel room has been transformed into a creative prayer space, and will gradually be filled with creative expressions of prayer.

Holy week is the most solemn week in the Christian year, marking the days leading up to Good Friday and the crucifixion. It begins with Palm Sunday and then enters into the last days of Jesus earthly ministry and ending with the great celebration of Easter – traditionally the time for Baptism & Confirmation.

Fittingly we celebrate these events alongside the other Christians in our community and so there is a different pattern of services at church.

March
20th – Palm Sunday – 7pm at COTC
24th- Maundy Thursday – “The Last Supper” 7.45pm at the Padget Centre
25th – Good Friday
Walk of Witness – 12pm in the Angel Centre
The Service of Shadows – 6.30pm at COTC
26th – Easter Sunday
10.30am Family Service at St Andrews
2.30pm Baptism Service at St Andrews
No evening Service at COTC.

Our Church Weekend Away from 4th-6th March will be a lovely mix of teaching, worship, country walks, good food and relaxation. We will be staying at Latimer place in Hertfordshire, and we have the Canon Pastor of St Pauls Cathedral, Tricia Hillas speaking on the theme of ‘All Saints, All Sinners’.

The Bishop of London writes:

Whatever our church tradition, we know that authentic prayer – listening deeply and responding obediently – takes time. Our busy city life will eat up all available hours and it is a good discipline to remind each other of the importance of prayer by having deliberate seasons of waiting upon God.

With this in mind, I am very happy to be a part of ‘Prayers on the Move’, a campaign during Lent by SPCK to encourage prayer as part of London’s daily life.

There will be many ways for us to be involved in this endeavour. The adverts on the Tube will provide an opportunity for Christians to talk to their friends about prayer. Parishes may wish to organise a related outreach event, hold a prayer vigil, walk or flashmob near their local Tube stations or distribute prayer leaflets.

Prayers on the Move will launch on 9 February and the adverts will be in trains for the last two weeks of February. Resources to support churches in engaging with the campaign will be available from www.prayersonthemove.com

Church on the Corner is back for the New Year. Join us for worship, fellowship and thought provoking Bible teaching every Sunday at 7pm

Our Carol service is on Sunday 20th December from 7pm. It is always such a beautiful event. Feel free to invite friends and neighbours to celebrate Christmas with great music, traditional Carols and a heartwarming message.