Welcome

Welcome to the website of the parish church of St. Stephen, South Dulwich in South East London, England. St. Stephen’s is a parish church of the Church of England, and aims to be a broad and inclusive church valuing formal liturgy, challenging preaching, and fine music but aiming also to serve its community and parish.  We are striving to make Christ’s presence real in our community.

Our postal address and telephone number is:

St Stephen’s Church
College Road
SE21 7HN

telephone +44 20 (or from the UK 020) 8693 3797
email: ParishOffice@ststephensdulwich.org

The last Sunday in October, when the clocks go back and the shorter days and longer nights settle in, is sometimes also called ‘Bible Sunday’ to remind us of the central importance of Holy Scripture in our lives.  Clearly it is not enough to hear the Bible read in small portions on Sundays in church.  The Bible needs to be a witness to the living word of God.  We need to find time to read in it and live with it in such a way that God’s word becomes the fountain from which our lives are refreshed.
Reading and studying the Bible is a form of communion with God through which we are fed.  St Paul makes the distinction between treating the Bible as a written code, full of wooden and dead words and – on the other hand – letting the words come alive through the Holy Spirit in our lives (2 Corinthians 3,6).  Whether we read the Bible in groups or alone, we must not remain at the dry surface meaning of individual words and sentence but we must enter ourselves into the story and meet God as we do so.  Chiara Lubich, the founder of the ‘Focolari Movement’ and winner of the Templeton prize for fresh approaches to religion, said once that if all Bibles were lost or burnt one day, people ought to be able to re-write it simply by observing the lives of Christians!  This is the ancient prayer for this Sunday as written for the Book of Common Prayer:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning: help us so to hear them, to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word, we may embrace and for ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and for ever.
And after the communion we are encouraged to pray:
God of all grace, your Son Jesus Christ fed the hungry with the bread of his life and the word of his kingdom: renew your people with your heavenly grace, and in all our weakness sustain us by your true and living bread; who lives and reigns, now and for ever.
Bernhard Schünemann

Thought for the week.

I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’   God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:   I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

This promise, sometimes also known as the rainbow covenant, features in our Bibles right at the beginning in the early chapters of Genesis, just after the account of Noah’s flood.  It must ring terribly, terribly hollow to the people of Pakistan and the people of Niger at this time, suffering from flooding, hunger and long term structural poverty.  What this promise represents is not a god who changed from someone who sends floods as a punishment to someone who desists from ever doing this again.  But this promise is a recognition and deeper discovery of the truth that is in God:  we live in a finely balanced creation, a creation in which wonderful and good things happen but, on the flip-side of this, terrible and bad things can also happen.  Our response must not be to shake our heads and blame God but to reflect on our own human impact on such climatic events and disasters and even more urgently to respond with compassion and generosity, precious gifts that God has bestowed upon us.

Bernhard Schünemann

Parish Photos website.

picasaweb.google.com/St.Stephens.SouthDulwich

Services during the week:

Tuesday to Friday: 8.30am Silent Prayer followed by 8.45am Morning Prayer
Wednesday: 9.45 Holy Eucharist
Saturday 3.30pm Wedding

Services Sunday 5th September

8am: Holy Cmmunion (1662)
10am: Parish Mass with Special Music and with Footsteps for children.
Preacher: Revd Dr Teresa Morgan (Oriel College, Oxford)
Rachel Thorn will sing two arias by Handel and ‘Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring’ by Bach, with Oboist Dan Elson and Nicholas Ansdell-Evans will be our organist
12noon: Holy Baptism

Notices

Our curate and families from the youth club are attending the Greenbelt Festival this weekend.

Children in Church during August - During the Month of August there will be no formal Sunday School/Footsteps for children.   Children are welcome to take part in all our services and there are tables at the back of the church, for informal self-help children’s entertainment.

Athol House Fair - Is taking place on 12th September.  Paul Acers and Jane Wenlock would be very grateful for any offers of help with the stalls.

Footsteps – Sunday School. Paul Acers is drawing up the plan and rota for next term’s Footsteps lessons.  We would like to recruit some new helpers and Sunday school teachers. Please let the Vicar or Paul Acers know if you would like to join this group.

Saturday 11th September 7.30 –  9.30pm – Barn Dance in Church Hall, organised by social committee. Tickets are available from members of our Social Committee.

Sunday 19th September 10am –  Welcome to our new Director of Music Mr Kit Perona-Wright.

‘To be a pilgrim’ - Confirmation and Adult Christian Enquiry course
This autumn St Stephen’s is organising a series of classes for those wishing to be confirmed.  There will be a young people’s group (aged 10-15) and an adult group.  The adult group is also open to those who wish to explore their faith more deeply but may not wish to be confirmed.  Course dates:  7th October, 14th October, 4th November, 11th November, 18th November.  Please see the flier on the table at the back of Church for more details or speak to Nick, Bernhard or Trot.

Pakistan Appeal – Members of the congregation will have seen the news reports about the terrible floods in Pakistan .  Christian Aid’s local partners are providing food, shelter and medical assistance to around 230,000 people in Balochistan, Khyber Paktunkwa, Punjab and Sindh provinces. Should you wish to support their work visit:  www.christianaid.org.uk or call  0370 60 60 900.


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