One of the highlights of the Easter season for me was processing to the top of Primrose Hill on a sunlit Ascension Day morning with the pupils of St Paul’s School, singing “Father, we adore you” as a round. When we got to the viewpoint, the children spread out to look over the city and were excited to identify the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. We thought about Jesus standing on the Mount of Olives, looking over at Jerusalem with his friends, as he commissioned them to carry on his work of loving and serving the world before the cloud of glory took him from their sight.

One of the best things about St Mary’s Primrose Hill (says the still-new vicar!) is the diversity of the people who are part of it. Countless churches would envy our “reach” into the community, thanks to the church school and St Mary’s youth service. None of that would happen without the solid foundations of a faithful and long-serving congregation, who have seen vicars and new ideas come and go over the years but remain steadfastly and joyfully committed to the life of St Mary’s and our mission “to make Jesus Christ known”.

By the time you read this the PCC (the church’s governing body) will have had an awayday to update our Mission Action Plan. Our priorities must be supporting our ever-growing congregation of young families and integrating our youth service with the life of the church. The staff and PCC are bursting with ideas of how to take these projects forward and you will be hearing more about them in the months ahead.

Among the new initiatives are child-friendly services at 9.15, a classic film club for teenage parishioners and a twinning arrangement with a parish in Greenwich Village in New York. We are also hoping to make links with the Taizé Community in France. Groups for adults and young people considering confirmation will be starting in the autumn, and there will be further opportunities for study together in Advent.

All of our activities are dependent on our ability to find the necessary financial resources. The PCC is firmly committed to facing the challenge of raising money, via the next phase of the Blueprint Appeal, to restore the organ so that the next fifty years of St Mary’s musical tradition can be secured. The proceeds of the summer lecture series “Vanities and Values” will help us towards this goal.

But the day-to-day running of the church needs to be founded on a thriving stewardship programme. This is nothing new to long-time parishioners, but newer members of the congregation may not be aware that the church receives no financial help from taxation or from the diocese. Grants are available from external sources for some particular building projects and for much of our youthwork. But to keep the church open and in good repair, to pay the day-to-day costs of ministry and mission, and to help poorer parishes and other charitable goals, we need every member of St Mary’s to be a regular, committed, proportional and cheerful giver.

In the summer there will be a short sermon series on some of the basics – how the parish is governed and financed, how the Church of England and the Anglican Communion operate, and anything else you would like to raise. If you are new to the parish or to the Christian faith, you are bound to have a lot of questions, and I hope you will not hesitate to raise them. You may also have some very useful suggestions – don’t hold them back!

The excitement and joy of Eastertide and Pentecost now flow into the green season of “ordinary time”, when our life of discipleship is the theme. Our thankfulness to God for the blessings we have received will naturally express itself in a longing to do the work of the kingdom. Like the schoolchildren on Ascension Day, we can stand on Primrose Hill and see this vast and diverse city, loved by God, that we are called to serve. The challenge, always, is to cherish the “hilltop” experiences of God while doing the day to day work that falls to us. May God bless and refresh us in our life together as we seek to grow in faith, love and service.

Marjorie