Parish of Alexandra Park

24/07/2026

It has been a busy term for our Children’s Church at St Andrew’s which has majored on our Moses series which the children have enjoyed, learning so many different stories in the Old Testament - Moses as a Baby, The Burning Bush, The Exodus, The Journey through the Wilderness, Receiving the Ten Commandments and Moses and Aaron.

Thank you to all our brilliant leaders who work so hard preparing and delivering sessions never knowing if we’ll have under 5 or 15+ children in church each Sunday!

Our Children’s Ministry Team met this week to plan activities from September through to Christmas later this year, including Sunday mornings, Children’s Church Specials and, excitingly, something new for children year 6 and above - watch this space!

24/07/2026

Coming soon

20/07/2026

17/07/2026

‘St Andrew’s Church: 125 years at the ❤️ of Alexandra Park’

This Saturday at 3pm, our Vicar Fr Andy will present a history of St Andrew’s Church at Alexandra Park Library. All are welcome to attend hosted by SAPL.

17/07/2026

Tomorrow!

1pm.

With .and.jerome and V&J Ensemble.

45 minute performance with refreshments served.

🙏🍰🥂

Admission by donation.

10/07/2026

‘You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last’. (John 15:16).

Dear friends,

Last week our churchwarden Martin Linsey attended his Stage Two Panel as part of the Church of England’s discernment process for ordained ministry.

I am thrilled to tell you that the panel has recommended him for ordination. Subject to the successful completion of his final year of training and study at St Mellitus College, Martin will be ordained deacon next summer (3rd July, 3pm at St Paul’s Cathedral – a date for your diaries!) and serve as curate here at St Andrew’s.

This is a moment of real celebration for Martin and Jacky, for their family and for all of us at St Andrew’s. The discernment panel spoke very warmly of Martin and produced an exceptionally encouraging report, affirming the gifts, character and vocation that I know many of you have long recognised in him.

Martin’s journey to this point has been a long one. He first sensed a call towards ordained ministry around twenty-five years ago. Life, family responsibilities and other circumstances meant that this calling was not pursued then but the wider Church has now carefully tested and affirmed what God has been nurturing over many years.

I think there is great encouragement for us as a parish in this too. Churches pass through different seasons. There are times when the fruits of ministry seem immediately visible and times when they are less so. But every time we gather at the Eucharist we are reminded that ‘The One who calls you is faithful’ (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Martin’s vocation has developed patiently over many years. It’s a reminder that God continues to call, prepare and shape people in every season of the Church’s life, often long before we recognise the fruit of that work.

Martin’s recommendation is an affirmation that St Andrew’s is a place where vocations to ministry – lay and ordained - are recognised and nurtured.

I know you will all want to continue praying for Martin and for Jacky during his final year of training as he prepares, God willing, for his ordination next summer. We will celebrate him having taken this step on Sunday (for which papers are attached). Let us also pray that God will continue to raise up others from within our parish to serve Him in whatever ministry God might be calling them towards.

Martin writes:

This past year, my discernment journey, alongside my training at St Mellitus College with other potential ordinands, has been a blessing. It has been an honour to worship alongside everyone at St Andrew's during this time, and I look forward to continuing this journey with you all. Thank you for all your support.

With the assurance of my prayers,

Fr Andy

Vicar

04/07/2026

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”�Matthew 11.28

In a world that rarely stops, rest can feel elusive. The demands of work, family, illness, uncertainty, the pace of modern life can all leave us weary in body, mind and spirit.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus offers an invitation that is as gentle and profound. He does not call only those who are certain in faith, or those who have life neatly ordered and seemingly under control. He simply says, “Come to me.”

In prayer and worship, we discover that rest is more than the absence of activity. It is the gift of Christ’s presence. As we gather around Word and Sacrament, we are reminded that we need not carry our burdens alone. The One who is gentle and humble in heart walks beside us, bearing our burdens with us and offering the peace that the world cannot give.

If you’re longing for peace, hope or simply a place to be still, we’d love to welcome you this Sunday. We also have Children’s Church at 10am alongside our Sung Parish Mass 🙏

03/07/2026

Almighty and eternal God,
who, for the firmer foundation of our faith,
allowed your holy apostle Thomas to doubt the resurrection of your Son
till word and sight convinced him:
grant to us, who have not seen, that we also may believe
and so confess Christ as our Lord and our God;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

30/06/2026

‘We have done with dogma and divinity,
Easter and Whitsun past,
The long, long Sundays after Trinity
Are with us at last’.

John Meade Falkner - ‘After Trinity’.

We are in the season of what the Church calls ‘Ordinary Time’ after the great seasons of Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter and other high days and holy days in the church’s calendar. Liturgically speaking, things seem a little quieter and Sunday attendance fluctuates significantly, but this period also gives us space to reflect on some of the ‘basics’ of Christian living rooted in our Sunday gospel readings.

On Sundays in Children’s Church, our Children’s Ministry Team have been leading a new series on Moses which has been excellent.

Last Sunday afternoon, we hosted a superb piano recital performed by Andrew Zolinsky in loving memory of Ruth and Hugh Garnsworthy, much loved members of St Andrew’s for many years. It was a great turnout and our thanks to everyone who supported this event.

Our Baby and Toddler group still attracts 25-30
families each week and continues up until the end of the school term.

The summer months also give us time to get done some of the essential works required. LED lighting has now been installed throughout the Church and the Centre and the quinquennial inspection of the Church took place last week completed by the Church’s architect.

Plans our being progressed on our Compton organ restoration and new heating solutions. More news will follow on each of these projects.

Our mid-week worship continues on Thursdays at 11am. Our Sung Parish Mass on Sundays is at 10am with children’s activities planned. All welcome 🙏

28/06/2026

Andrew Zolinsky back at St Andrew’s this afternoon…🎹