Lesley held her annual garden party in the gardens behind the church on Saturday 14 June. Though competing with the World Cup third-place play-off between England and Belgium, a good crowd came out and enjoyed prosecco and cake, in the summer sunshine with music from Waltham Forest Brass.

© 2018 St Edmund, Chingford

How to surprise the Vicar on her 10th Anniversary in the parish was the challenge of this morning. Lesley announced the final hymn, and as the organist finished the intro all then went quiet. In this orchestrated pause, the Churchwardens spoke of all Lesley has achieved and presented her with presents from the whole congregation. After the service, the celebration continued with cake and drinks.

© 2018 St Edmund, Chingford

Together with our fellow E4 partners (St Anne’s and Highams Park), St Edmund’s joined in The Alban Pilgrimage on Saturday 23 June. Recalling the story of the persecution of early Christians in Britain, we turned back time in returning to Chingford’s Cathedral before the creation of Chelmsford Diocese. Parading with coloured banners and giant puppets, we joined in worship as well as exploring the area and enjoying sharing together the fun and joys of the day.

© 2018 St Edmund, Chingford

Most churches in Chingford took advantage of the Coronation Day weekend to run special events for the local community. St Edmund’s Spring Fair provided a bright and colourful open-air event with lunches, candyfloss and popcorn, tombola, as well as traidcraft goods on sale, plants and children’s craft activities.

© 2018 St Edmund, Chingford

Charity volunteer and activitist, Joey Knock visited on our Christian Aid Sunday, and gave an insight of what it is like to be an internally-displaced person in Haiti, using the true stories of Macelin and Vilia. Following the service, cakes and plants were sold to raise money for Christian Aid, and Joey continued sharing stories and insights with individual members over tea and coffee.

© 2018 St Edmund, Chingford