Today/Crèche at St Martin’s. For the 0-4 age group, with trained childcare leaders, takes place in the Austen Williams Room every Sunday. Please ask a steward to show you where to go.

Today/Children’s C-Club Programme/11.30am, DSC. At C-Club this Sunday we will close our eyes and discover what faith is!

Today/Encountering our International Neighbours. This week we pray for the Sisters of Melanesia, for wise leadership and strong fellowship. Give them good health and strength, and encourage them as they support their local communities. For more information, please visit www.mmuk.net and see the Encountering our International Neighbours booklet in church.

Today is the Baptism of Celine Davie, the daughter of Charles and Natalie, who were married at St Martin’s and the adult baptism of Kopano Mholo, a regular member of the Bread for the World congregation. Please pray for them on this special day.

This Week Autumn Lecture Series: 29 October, 7.00-8.30pm: Encountering Jesus of Nazareth: Mark Oakley, Br Sam SSF, Rose Hudson-Wilkin. Followed by Encountering the Sacred: Neil MacGregor with Richard Coles, Ben Okri and Nicola Green (5 Nov); Woven Gold in Concert (18 Nov); and Encountering God: Justin Welby in conversation with Sam Wells (19 Nov). The cafe will stay open until 10pm for refreshments afterwards and a chance to meet the speaker. This year for the first time all lectures are being filmed so you can catch up with the lecture on line.

This week/Bread for the World/Wednesday 31 October, 6.30pm. Everyone is welcome at this informal Eucharist, with prayer, music, word and reflection, followed by food and fellowship.

Next Week/All Saints & All Souls, Sunday 4 November; All Saints at 10am and All Souls Requiem at 5.00pm. At these services we will be remembering all those who have died in the last year who have been members of St Martin’s or connected with our church.

Next Week/Extraordinary Parochial Church Meeting/Sunday 4 November, 11.30am, St Martin’s Hall. The PCC Planning Group has, on a six-yearly cycle, and after competitive tendering, selected a new set of auditors: www.haysmacintyre.com. Since the approval of auditors is an APCM matter, we need to call an Extraordinary Parochial Church Meeting to affirm this decision (expected to last around 30 seconds.) All members of our electoral roll are entitled to vote. If you have any concerns about this appointment please speak to the vicar or churchwardens in advance of the meeting.

Next Week/Book Sale/Sunday 4 November, 11.30am. After the 10am service.

Next Week/Inspired to Follow Advent Course/Beginning Sunday 4 November, 12-1pm, Austen Williams Room. This course explores life’s big questions: Death, Judgement, Heaven & Hell. Further dates are 18 November, 2 and 16 December. Like earlier Inspired to Follow sessions, these use fine art paintings from the National Gallery, along with Biblical story, theological reflection and conversation, to explore big questions that we all wrestle with. All are welcome.

Coming Up/Club Wednesday/Wednesday 7 November. Choral Eucharist at 1.00pm followed by lunch at 6, St Martin’s Place. Revd Jonathan Evens and Georgie Illingworth will be talking about the exciting development of HeartEdge network of churches and the Sheppard Scholarship Programme.

Coming Up/Junior Theology/Sunday 11 November, 11.30am, Benenson Room. A monthly group for older C-Club members where they can bring their questions and explore the Christian faith in an informal way. The next session will be on 9 December.

Coming Up/Save the date: Patronal Festival/Sunday 11 November. The Patronal Festival is St Martin’s Birthday Party. Last year we celebrated 30 years of our enterprise. This year the occasion falls on 11 November, the centenary of the armistice that ended WW1. The theme of the service is, Martin: Soldier for Peace. There will be a service at 5pm followed by food and a ceilidh. Tickets for the Patronal Party are available from Bronwyn Sanders or the Vergers for a suggested donation of £5 towards the food and drink. All are welcome.

Coming Up/Reading Theology/Wednesday 14 November, 6.30pm. Reading Theology is a new group for those wanting to go deeper, with others, into different works of theology. In advance of each session, we will read a different book, which we will then discuss on the evening. The group will take place 3-4 times a year, led by Sam Wells. Meetings will be on Wednesday evenings, after Bread for the World at 6.30pm, and the simple supper. The group will run from 8-9.30pm. We will discuss Christianity Rediscovered, by Vincent J. Donovan. The book may be purchased from the Shop at St Martin’s. Future dates are Wednesday 13 February and Wednesday 22 May. For any questions, please contact georgina.illingworth@smitf.org

Coming Up/Visit the Bell-ringers/Sunday 18 November, 9.10-9.40am. The bell-ringers would be delighted to welcome members of the congregation. We’ll be explaining a bit of history of the bells and demonstrating how we ring. If you would like to join us please contact helena.tarrant@smitf.org. You’ll need to meet at the tower door at 9.10am. Please note the tower is up a relatively tight staircase, and children should be aged 8 and over.

Coming Up/Celebration Eucharist for Licensed Lay Ministers (Readers)/Tuesday 27 November, 7pm, St Paul’s Cathedral. Come and support Jeff Claxton, Eugene Ling and Ruly Tsang and all who are LLMs as we give thanks for this valuable ministry in the London Diocese. Preacher and President: The Rt Revd Sarah Mulallay, Bishop of London. All are welcome. No tickets needed.

Remembering Dorothy Cone and Sybil Allen. We have recently lost two dear members of our community and we are exploring ways to remember them. We are considering the replacement of our hymnbooks and making a new stand for the St John’s Bible when it is read in worship. Before we make specific plans we would be grateful to hear from those who would like to make a contribution. Please pass donations to the vergers or email pledges to one of the clergy. The likely overall cost would be £4000 for the hymnbooks and £3500 for the bible stand. For more information, please speak to katherine.hedderly@smitf.org / 020 7766 1102.