Newsletter -09 - 20
Weekly Mailing 19th September
I hope this mailing reaches you happy and well. We seem to have had several seasons of weather this week, and I have found it difficult to plan anything outdoors.
This week we laid to rest Carole Allen and Sarah Noss. The funerals were very well attended, and I believe offered both of these remarkable women fitting tributes for lives well lived.
On Saturday 20th we celebrate with Michael and Christina as they marry in Penshurst Church. It has been a busy wedding season with each celebration unique to the couple. We pray for good weather and offer them our good wishes as they begin married life together. This is the eighteenth of twenty-one weddings this year. A busy season.
On Sunday 21st, there are two services in the Benefice. We celebrate Holy Communion in Penshurst at 1000. At 1600 Forest Church will take place in my Rectory Garden. An unusual cluster of birthdays means that several of my normal team of adult helpers have diary clashes this weekend. I am a little short of volunteers this time, so any adults who attend would be most welcome to assist me.
For those of you with children in Year Six, you may need me to countersign your applications for local church schools. I am of course willing to do so. I can be difficult to find mutually convenient diary slots to meet, but please note I am available at the end of any church service and there are two this Sunday!
Next Saturday (27th September) there is a working party at All Soul’s Chapel Poundsbridge between 10am and Noon. Anyone able to join us would be welcome to attend to help us settle the churchyard into Autumn. Please come and give what time and energy you can. Anyone with chain saws, hedge trimmers, brush cutters/ strimmers could be especially helpful as we clear back the edges of the site. Also, we have a lot of branches cut in the last few months that need to go through a chipper. Anyone with such a piece of kit would find themselves extremely popular! We are hoping also to clear the central path of moss and vegetation so that the tarmac beneath offers us a firmer footing for winter. During this year’s working parties, participants have ranged in age from 6 to 91, Everybody has a part to play. See you there!
With every blessing for the week ahead
Lisa
In this edition:
Ø Services
Services:
Sunday September 21st,
1000 Holy Communion St John the Baptist, Penshurst.
Sunday September 28th,
1000 Holy Communion St John the Baptist, Penshurst. To include the harvest festival.
1000 Holy Communion St Mary’s, Chiddingstone.
Sunday October 6th, The 16th Sunday after Trinity
1000 St John the Baptist, Penshurst: Holy Communion
1000 St Mary’s, Chiddingstone: Harvest Celebration with Baptism
Sunday October 12th, The 17th Sunday after Trinity
0800 St John the Baptist, Penshurst Holy Communion
1000 St Peter’s,Fordcombe: Holy Communion and Harvest Celebration
1000 St Luke’s, Chiddingstone Causeway: Holy Communion
Life Events:
Ø We remember those whose anniversary falls at this time of year, they shall be prayed for in church on Sunday.
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)
