Newsletter - 03-28
Greetings Beloved Parishioners
This week in Penshurst we have said a temporary goodbye to our eight historic bells. They left the village on Thursday morning after many days labour to safely lower them to the tower floor and then onto a lorry. They will spend the next few months in the west country being cleaned and retuned. We look forward to blessing them on their return and celebrating the completion of this once in a lifetime project. We have a working timescale of eight weeks and we will keep you posted.
On Tuesday St John the Baptist church was packed as the family and friends of Linn Lee gathered to celebrate her life. We continue to pray for the Lee family and all those who grieve.
This Sunday the services of Holy Communion will mark Mothering Sunday. The service at St Luke’s will be led by Rev’d Canon David Kitley and I shall lead the service in Penshurst. Mothering Sunday can feel very celebratory for many but for some is a painful day in the calendar. Thank you to those who are making posies to distribute in church during the service.
We opened the Electoral Roll for revision for two months and the document should close this Monday. I would like to extend this deadline by a week to give people a final chance to fill in the forms. There are links in this letter and on the website for you to follow. You can then print a form and sign it and return in person. You can also sign and return online. For those of you unable or unwilling to print a form, you wardens should have paper forms available for you to fill in at church this Sunday. Please contact your warden or Tracy in the office if you need a form to be delivered to you. We will close the Electoral Roll on Monday 7th March. It will be available for inspection shortly afterwards.
I was hoping to bring forward our APCM series to this side of Easter. However, Archdeacon Nick is not available to attend our proposed earlier date. Given he is overseeing the pastoral reorganisation process, it is important that he is available to offer assistance. Therefore, our APCM meetings will be as follows:
Formal notices will be issued in due course.
Next week is the final week of the school Spring Term. I hope to see many of you at the school Easter church services. These are in Penshurst on Thursday 3rd April at 0915; Fordcombe on Friday 4th April at 0915 and 1300 at Chiddingstone.
With every blessing for the week ahead.
Lisa.
In this edition:
Ø Services
Ø Electoral Roll
Ø Bells project at St John the Baptist
Services:
Sunday March 30th Lent 4 / Mothering Sunday
10:00 St John the Baptist, Penshurst: Holy Communion
10:00 St Luke’s, Chiddingstone Causeway: Mothering Sunday, Family Holy Communion
Sunday April 6th Lent 5 start of Passiontide
10:00 St John the Baptist, Penshurst, Holy Communion
Sunday April 13th / Palm Sunday
08:00 St John the Baptist, Penshurst: Holy Communion
10:00 St Peters, Fordcombe: Holy Communion
10:00 St Luke’s, Chiddingstone Causeway, Holly Communion
Readings and lections for March and April can be found if you Click Here.
Life Events:
Ø In our prayers we hold those coming through our doors this month to mark their life events:
Funerals: We hold the family and loved ones of Linn Lee in our prayers ahead of her upcoming funeral.
And we remember those whose anniversary falls at this time of year, they shall be prayed for in church on Sunday.
Electoral Roll:
Ø The High Weald Churches electoral roll is still open for applications ahead of the 2025 Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) – Click Here to read the full notice from the Diocese. Please note that every six years the electoral roll must undergo complete revision, which is taking place this year, therefore everyone who would like to be included should fill out and return an application form - Click Here to download. Forms can be printed, or collected from church, and returned to a churchwarden, or filled in electronically and returned via email to the office. The deadline for applications is 31 March, and the roll will be finalised by 14 April ahead of the next APCM.
Ø Learning and growing:
Don’t forget the new National Safeguarding Standards. There is a link to the new leaflet on our website, and you’ll see posters going up in our churches soon. And following the appointment of our new benefice Safeguarding Officer, Wendy Ellis, we now have a contact email established – please direct any safeguarding queries or issues to safeguarding@highwealdchurches.org.uk
Ø Mailing:
If you know anyone who would like to be added to our weekly mailing, do let us know (and similarly let us know if you’d like to come off, though we’d be sad to see you go). If you’d like to contribute to the work of the benefice, you can go to our parish giving page via the www.parishgiving.org.uk website (we’d be very grateful). Alternatively, you can always find it on our benefice website: https://www.highwealdchurches.org.uk/news
