- Emmanuel United Reformed Church
LSM has had a link with Emmanuel, the United Reformed Church on the other
side of Little St Mary's Lane, for over 40 years. For many years, there were
just two ways in which the link was expressed: a joint Palm Sunday
Procession, and the welcoming of LSM 'under fives' at the Emmanuel Nursery
Church on Sunday mornings.
In recent years, we have had joint study courses
and services together for Harvest and on the Sunday before Lent. For some
time we have had a 'Forum', which involves three or four people from each
church meeting together three or four times a year to reflect on our link
and to plan future events.
- Our Lady of Grace Parish, Chant d'Oiseau, Brussels
This link with a French-speaking suburban RC parish in Brussels has been
established for about 20 years, initially through the support and interest
of Cardinal Daneels, Archbishop of Malines. Until 2002, contact was sustained
nd developed through visits in one direction or the other every two years.
In the course of the visits, participants would worship together and enjoy
the hospitality of the host parish's homes. There would be time for
socialising and sightseeing, as well as for discussion of ecumenical
questions and concerns.
In 2002, 2004 and 2006 we have met additionally on
'neutral' ground, once at the Abbaye du Bec in Normandy, and twice at a
Diocesan Retreat House at Condette, near Boulogne. These encounters have
given more opportunity for serious discussion as well as for fellowship.
Recently (January 2007) LSM members were invited to offer their
reflections on the purpose and future of the link, before the visit to
Brussels planned for April 2007.
As well as these ecumenical links, LSM has recently begun to forge links
with two other Anglo-Catholic churches: St Mary Magdalen in Oxford, and All Saints, Margaret Street in London. Members of
LSM travelled to St Mary Magdalen in July 2006 for a Mass (in which LSM's
Parish Choir sang Byrd's four-part Mass), the day before their actual Patronal
Festival.
