Dear Reader,

The sun shone brightly on our annual Remembrance Sunday services this year. Rev Caroline led the traditional Act of Remembrance in front of the Memorial on the High St. A wonderful turnout of veterans, uniformed services, local politicians and members of the Eltham community gathered to pay respects and lay wreaths at the memorial. The pipe band and bugler added to the poignancy of the day.

Clock

The clock of Eltham Parish Church has been silent for 22 months, due to an electrical fault within the Church building. Now that the electrical issue has been fixed, the clock has restarted! Revd Caroline says, “We are delighted to hear the Church clock chime once more! The chimes are part of the Eltham town centre soundscape and we are especially glad to have them back in time for our Act of Remembrance in November.”

Advent

The season of advent is almost upon us. We start with a choral service at 6pm on Sunday 30 November. Please keep an eye on the calendar for our full list of services, highlights of which include Nine Lessons and Carols on 21 December, Christingle on the afternoon of 24 December, and Midnight Mass at 23:00 on 24 December.

Light

Light Luo has been a server at St Johns for a number of years and recently completed the Bishop's Certificate in Discipleship. Light was awarded his certification at a service in Southwark Cathedral by the Bishop of Woolwich, the Right Reverend Alastair Cutting.
27.9.25 +A & Light

150 Years

2025 sees the 150th anniversary of the consecration of our current church building! While there are records of a church on our site going back to 1115 the current building was constructed between 1872 and 1880 with the service of consecration taking place in 1875. A detailed history is available here

As part of our celebrations we had a Recorder and Piano concert on Sunday 8 June; a Community Fayre on Saturday 14 June; and a Choral Evensong service on Sunday 22 June.
On 3 August we welcomed Archdeacon Chigor Chike to celebrate the anniversary of the consecration.
Baptism-116
Churchwardens Andy and Alberta with Rev Caroline and Archdeacon Chigor
(© Ashley Bloom (www.ashleybloom.net)

Blackbirds Children's Choir

We are please to announce that two of our experienced musicians Beverly Howard and Liz McGechie have launched a new children's choir with the aim of introducing children aged 8 to 16 to the wonders of choral music, singing in harmony and taking part in services. Please see here for more information or speak to Beverly or Liz in church.
The Blackbirds made their singing debut during our Sung Holy Communion service on Sunday 13 July and we look forward to hearing what they do next!

Keeping up-to-date

Keep an eye out here and in our calendar for all upcoming events.

Many blessings

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning. People of all ages and backgrounds are welcome to join us. We are an eclectic inclusive church. There is space for buggies and it is a safe place for breastfeeding.

Where and When

We meet in the Church for our Sunday Service starting at 10am. When you arrive, you will be greeted by one of our welcomers.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. We don't currently have a disabled toilet.

Our Service

The main service begins at 10am with a warm welcome from the priest. You will then be invited to stand and we sing a hymn while the choir, servers and priest process in. The service can be followed in the service booklet handed out by the welcomers. Our style of worship follows the Church of England Common Worship. It is easy to follow, with a mixture of prayers and hymns (both traditional and modern), and includes Holy Communion each week. We all begin together in church, and on the weeks when there is Children's Church, the children move into the hall before the readings begin. They then rejoin us for Communion. After the service free refreshments are available in the hall.

What about my kids?

Children are welcome in the church service. There are books available and a colouring table. We encourage parents to help the children engage in the service by following the service sheet together, joining in with the talk in All Age services, and joining in with prayers where they can.

On the second, third (and sometimes fourth) Sunday of the month we have Children's Church which uses the Diddy Disciples resources. It involves bible stories, songs, prayers and craft. Parents are encouraged to stay with their children if they are below school age to help them get as much out of the session as possible.

We want parents to be able to feel they can worship as much as possible as well as the children, so that church can be a place of refreshment, friendship and spiritually uplifting for everyone.

As children get older, there are more opportunities for them to participate in the life of the church. For more information please see our Children's Church page.

Children

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

Leadership


Rev Caroline Risdon		Rev Jo McCrone
Vicar		Assistant Curate

We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.

Best Wishes

Caroline