Uncategorised

Lent Course 2026

A course about real life and real faith, inspired by the BBC TV series Broken with Sean Bean. Devised and written by Bryony Taylor, Rebecca Tobin and David Twomey.
Each session will last around 90 minutes, and will include reflective prayer activities, bible reading and an opportunity for discussion and questions.

The aim of the course is to help us engage with the realities of life, and how they can be framed by faith in Jesus Christ. As Leonard Cohen said: ´there’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in’.

The themes for the 6 weeks are:

• Beauty in the ordinary
• Loving the unlovable
• Guilt and shame
• Impossible situations
• The power of Holy Communion
• Is the Church still relevant and needed today?

Dates: 19th 26th Feb, 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th March.
Each session is stand-alone, so you don’t have to come to every one.
For more information contact Mtr. Fiona +34 623 39 24 99

Mtr Fiona’s December 2025 Newsletter

The First Sunday after Trinity – Matthew 9.9-13, 18-26

There’s a lot going on in today’s gospel reading. We have the call of Matthew to be a disciple, and then two healing stories, featuring two people from very different backgrounds. As I was reflecting on why these stories have been placed together, it occurred to me that perhaps a unifying thread could be those words of Jesus to Matthew: ‘Follow me’. In each of the 3 episodes we just heard, someone has to step out of their normal place and entrust themselves to Jesus.

Matthew is a tax collector and relatively wealthy. However, he is socially despised, regarded as an outsider, morally compromised and ritually suspect. Tax collectors were seen to be in cahoots with the Roman oppressors, often dishonest and prone to corruption.

The synagogue leader on the other hand, would have been respected, influential and powerful. He’d have been responsible for maintaining the synagogue building, managing the arrangements of worship services and inviting qualified men to read or speak.

Jesus says to Matthew, ‘Follow me’, and he drops everything and follows Jesus. The synagogue leader effectively does the same thing. While some synagogue leaders were threatened by Jesus’ growing following and his interpretation of the sabbath, this man comes and kneels before Jesus and asks for his help because his daughter is seriously ill. He leaves behind both status and dignity to trust Jesus. The kingdom gathers both these men, one from the edge, and one from the centre. It may be difficult to identify with Matthew because we tend to imagine ourselves as respectable people trying to do the right thing. Yet we are reminded that God’s call is not based on respectability. Jesus doesn’t wait for Matthew to change and get his life in order before calling him. The call comes first. ‘Follow me.’ Once again, we see that Jesus doesn’t recruit the qualified. He calls people and then transforms them as they walk with him.

We see a similar pattern of contrast in the woman with haemorrhages and the synagogue ruler’s daughter. The ruler’s daughter belongs to an important household and it matters to people that this girl is ill. The woman with haemorrhages on the other hand has spent 12 years living on the margins. According to Jewish purity laws she would have been ritually unclean and hence excluded from much of ordinary religious and social life. One is at the centre of society, whilst the other is pushed to the edge. Yet Jesus gives them the same attention. Notice that Jesus stops for the socially ostracised woman while he is en route to the crisis at the ruler’s house. In human terms, she is an interruption, but in the kingdom of God, she absolutely isn’t. Jesus never treats people as interruptions. For us, this is where discipleship becomes difficult. We’re happy to follow Jesus until someone inconvenient appears in our path and makes it difficult for us.

‘Follow me ‘– means crossing boundaries. The common feature throughout these stories is movement. Matthew gets up from his tax booth. The ruler leaves his house and position. The woman reaches out in faith. Jesus himself crosses social, religious and cultural boundaries throughout, as we often see him do. Again, it would have been ritually unclean for him to touch a woman with haemorrhages and also a dead girl. Both of these were scandalous acts.

But everyone is being invited to move, and that suggests perhaps that discipleship is less about agreeing with doctrines and more about being willing to leave the place where we are comfortable. For Matthew, that meant leaving behind a well-paid and secure job. For the synagogue ruler, it meant risking public embarrassment. For the woman, it meant risking rejection one more time. Following Jesus always involves some kind of crossing over, going against what we’ve always known, going against the grain.

Perhaps the question we should address today is not whether we welcome the marginalised in theory, because we’d probably say yes of course, we do. The harder question is: who would make us uncomfortable if they walked through the door today? Who might we think are the modern equivalents of Matthew? Who are the people whom respectable society quietly writes off? It’s interesting isn’t it, that these are the people to whom Jesus seems remarkably drawn. And at the same time, Jesus is equally willing to engage with the ruler, the successful, the influential and the secure. And so we realise that the kingdom isn’t a club for the excluded against the included, or vice versa. It is a new family in which both discover their need of grace.

Jesus invites us to follow him beyond all our boundaries. Matthew crosses the boundary from outsider to disciple. The ruler crosses the boundary of status and pride. The woman crosses the boundary of fear and exclusion. And Jesus crosses every boundary society erects. The good news is that Jesus’ invitation remains the same to all of them. He’s not saying `Sort yourself out’ or ‘Prove yourself worthy’ but just simply ‘Follow me’. The first reading from Romans underlines this point. Abraham discovered that God’s promises aren’t reserved for the successful, the powerful or the insiders. They are given through faith. This provides a strong theological underpinning of the pattern we’ve observed in Matthew. God’s promises have always spilled out over the boundaries people create. Faith rather than status is what brings people into God’s family.

Whether we come from the centre or the margins, from success or failure, from confidence or desperation, the call is identical. And in following him, we discover that God’s kingdom is far larger and more welcoming than the boundaries we usually draw.

Mtr Fiona Jack
Chaplain

---

Please click this link to read previous sermons: https://allsaintstenerife.org/all-saints-midweek-letters/

IMPORTANT NOTICE/ AVISO IMPORTANTE/ WICHTIGER HINWIES

All enquiries regarding the Boot Sale should be made either by WhatsApp on 615 222 311 or by email on bootsale@allsaintstenerife.org
Thank you

Todas las consultas sobre la Boot Sale deben hacerse por WhatsApp al 615 222 311 o por correo electronico a bootsale@allsaintstenerife.org
Gracias

Alle Anfragen dezuglich der Boot Sale entweder per WhatsApp unter 615 222 311 oder per E-Mail an bootsale@allsaintstenerife.org gestelt werden
Danke

Dear Friends,

With the awful news of the volcanic eruption on La Palma, please can I ask for your prayers for all on the island and everyone who is being affected by this disaster. Many will know that our Chaplaincy has strong links with La Palma and that I take a service there once a month. Please remember Alan and the congregation, praying for their safety and for everyone on the Island.

With Blessings
Fr Ron Corne.

This year’s Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal raised €491.17. Due to the pandemic only 10 poppy tins were distributed which included 2 used by All Saints.

Many thanks to both campuses of the British School of Tenerife, Los Realejos and La Luz, who between them raised over 50% of the total. Breakdown as follows:
British School of Tenerife – Los Realejos campus €57.68
British School of Tenerife – La Luz campus. €198.49
All Saints Church raised €138.12

On top of the above monies will be added the proceeds of the collection from Remembrance Sunday, totaling €233.70, making a grand total of €724.87. Thanks to ALL who contributed!

Wendy Sanderson
Churchwarden

On 6th August, the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, Fr Ron Corne was licensed as Chaplain of All Saints, North Tenerife.  The Celebrant and Preacher was the Venerable David Waller, Archdeacon of Gibraltar.

Click here to see a photo album of the occasion

Thanks to our Assistant Priest, the Revd Rachel Ganney, and Paul Ganney for their work in recording the service.  Also, thanks to all those who made the occasion so special with arrangements in the church, and for the lunch afterwards.

---

THIS COMING SUNDAY, we will remember the 138 passengers and 8 crew members who lost their lives in the Dan Air 1008 accident from Manchester to Los Rodeos (TFN) on the afternoon of April 25, 1980. The plane fell about 20 kilometers from the Los Rodeos airport, crashed against the El Diablillo mountain in the municipality of El Rosario. At All Saints’ we have a rose garden to commemorate each victim. We will never forget the families of the victims and the 146 men, women and children who lost their lives on that tragic day.

The anniversary of the disaster is marked each year at the Sunday service nearest to the date as the congregation gather in the garden to remember those who died that day.  This would have been this coming Sunday, however our Chaplain will remember the victims in his reflections.  Fr Ron has written a reflection about the Rose Garden which you can read here.

As well as our memorial garden here at All Saints’, there is a memorial in the Southern Cemetery, Manchester commemorating the victims of the disaster, whose names are inscribed on a series of slate tablets within a small grassed enclosure.

ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH holds a number of social activities throughout the year. To keep up to date with all that’s going on at the church please bookmark this page and pay us a regular visit.

Each month between October and May, the church hosts a quiz for teams of six from the various British groups active in and around Puerto de la Cruz.

Among those taking part on a regular basis are: The Church, The English Library, the British Games Club, ESTA (the amateur dramatics group). and the Friends of Tenerife. Each of the competing teams takes a turns at compiling the questions.

The quizzes are open to everyone but only the regular teams are able to compete for the monthly trophy.

They start at 6pm, with the aim of finishing around 8.30pm.

Admission is €2 per head and a full bar service is available. Monies raised go to a charity chosen by the group who organised the quiz. Players generally take along their own food for the evening, to consume during the interval.

Quiz Dates for 2024/2025, with the organising group in brackets: