Lent at St Michael's 2009
At St Michael & All Angels, we mark Lent in a variety of ways - in services and outside (scroll down for more details):
- Delighting in God: During Lent we focus on the theme of prayer and creativity, including visits to artistic events.
- Lent Charity: this year our Lent project was The Upper Room, supporting the needy in west London.
- Lent Lunches (right): Lunch in homes or the Parish Hall to raise money for our Lent project.
- On My Desert Island: at Evensong, 6.30pm Sundays, members of the congregation give personal reflections on faith and the arts.
- Meditations on the Stations of the Cross: 6.45pm Fridays throughout Lent
You can find more details and dates below.
Delighting In God
During Lent we focused on the theme of prayer and creativity and made use of all that is on offer to us in London through the Arts to inspire and guide us on our Lenten journey.
ART: Monday 2nd March
Tate Britain: English Art in the 19th and 20th century
Free. Followed by lunch.
THEATRE: Saturday 14th March
Redemption Song – a moving combination of powerful theatre, meditation, prayer and corporate worship, the play starts and ends at the cross and takes us under the skin of the Passion story. 7.30pm at St Nicholas Church, Chiswick
Cost: £10 (£8 concessions)
ARCHITECTURE: Monday 16th March
Guided Tour of Westminster Abbey followed by Evensong at 5pm
Cost: £5.
FILM: Monday 23rd March
Screening of DOUBT, starring Philip-Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep. Set in a Catholic school in the Bronx, in the early Sixties, the film explores the ideas of religious truth and certainty in a time of growing liberalism and social freedoms.
Venue: The Creative Partnership screening theatre, 13 Bateman Street, Soho W1. Free.
LITERATURE: Monday 30th March
Shakespeare's & Dickens' London – A guided walk through the Old City, followed by lunch. Cost £6
The walk started from St Paul’s tube with a professional guide from London Walks.
Lent Charity
St Michael's supported The Upper Room, 
which has been helping people in need for over 18 years. The charity provides a broad range of services for the homeless, vulnerable, and socially disadvantaged of West London, including serving over 30,000 meals a year (right). We raised £3,141, through Lent lunches and contributions placed in the Lent Jar.
Lent Lunches
During Lent, we traditionally hold a series of Sunday lunches in the homes of parishioners or in the Parish Hall to raise money for our Lent charity. The lunches are simple, but highly enjoyable, and people of all ages are welcome, from 12.45pm.
Those attending make a donation to the project.
In 2009 Lunches were hosted by the following:
Sunday 1st March – Mary & Andrew Pears
Sunday 8th March – Angela Berkeley Owen
Sunday 15th March – Carol & Torin Douglas
Sunday 22nd March – Mothering Sunday - No Lent lunch
Sunday 29th March – Children's Church team, in the Michael Room
Sunday 5th April - Sarah Bradley, Susanna Russell, Sheleen Smith-Petersen-Church
On My Desert Island
During Evensong on Sundays, at 6.30pm, members of the congregation give a personal reflection on faith and the arts. In conversation with Father Kevin Morris, they chose their favourite pieces of music, art, poetry and literature.
Sunday 1st March – Lis West
Sunday 8th March – Deborah James
Sunday 15th March – Michael Pownall
Sunday 22nd March – Andrew Jordan
Sunday 29th March – Matthew Hickley
COURSES, REFLECTION AND PRAYER
Christian Living in a Changing World
Led by Fr Neil Evans
This five-session Lent course offered an opportunity to explore some of the issues of our 21st Century Western Society in the light of the Gospel. .
Thursdays 26 February, 5, 19, 26 March, 2 April (no session on 12th March)
8pm in the Gabriel Room
St Paul – Saint or villain?
Led by Sarah Lenton
This four-session Lent course explored the reputation of St Paul, which has been in dispute over the last few decades. It was a discovery of the real man, greatly loved and tireless in his proclamation of the Gospel.
Thursday 5, 12, 19 and 26 March
8pm in the Raphael Room