Newsletter - 06-22
To our benefice friends,
Following on from the Bishop of Rochester’s announcement last week, we have had many kind messages of thanks for all of Lindsay’s hard work in previous years, and expressing how she’ll be sorely missed. While she’ll be setting off on the next chapter of her journey we shall of course remain in contact, and I hope to see many of you at the upcoming celebration of Lindsay’s 25th year since ordination at Penshurst rectory on 4 July at 3pm.
With Lindsay moving to pastures new we have adapted the service programme accordingly; working closely with the Archdeacon on a schedule, agreed by the Joint Council, we have ensured at least one, if not two, 10am services will be available to attend each week across the three parishes. More details can be found below, and will be added to the website in due course. In St Mary’s, the Revered Penny Stephens will be covering the next three months of Sunday services and we welcome and thank her for her assistance.
Elsewhere in the benefice it has been a very busy few weeks, with several training sessions taking place earlier in the month, from safeguarding to intercessions courses, which we were pleased to see some of you attending. We also had the Quiet Day on Tuesday, kindly hosted by Barbara Lloyd, which was a useful opportunity to pray and reflect together.
A working party will meet at Poundsbridge on Saturday, if you are available and willing we’d be very grateful for your support in maintaining the churchyard there. This will be just a two-hour session, 1000- noon, in order to keep the beautiful site looking its best. Evening Prayer services resume at Poundsbridge in late July. Dogs as well as humans are most welcome. Details to follow.
I’m also thrilled to see numerous fundraising efforts taking place across the benefice in the coming weeks with so many of you lending your time and talents to support the upkeep of the churches and our community initiatives. Following on from the enormously successful piano concerts at St John’s, we have the upcoming church and village fetes in the Chiddingstones; please do come along to what should be very enjoyable afternoons, which present an opportunity to meet as a community and support one another. The first taking place next Sunday 30 June 2-4:30pm.
Rev’d Lisa will be on leave between June 29th and 1st July. Please direct any urgent enquiries to Tabby our administrator who will be able to direct you to the most appropriate help.
In this edition:
Ø Services
Services:
Sunday 23rd June: Trinity 4
10am Holy Communion at St John the Baptist, Penshurst
5pm All Age Service, Fordcombe Village Hall
Sunday 30th June: Trinity 5
10am Holy Communion at St Peter’s, Fordcombe. Led by Rev’d Penny Stephens.
Sunday 7th July: Trinity 6
10am Holy Communion at St John the Baptist, Penshurst
10am Holy Communion at St Mary the Virgin, Chiddingstone
Life Events:
In our prayers we hold those coming through our doors in the to mark their Life Events:
Upcoming weddings: Tom and Izzy, Harry and Nicole; and Matt and Katie through our doors and wish them well for their upcoming weddings.
Christenings: We baptised Augustin in June, and wish him well on his pilgrimage of faith.
And among those whose anniversary falls at this time we remember with thanksgiving:
22-Jun
Delia Johnson
23-Jun
John Spencer Cutler
24-Jun
Peter Winter
Winifred Young
25-Jun
26-Jun
27-Jun
Albert Henry Gribble
28-Jun
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them.
Learning and growing:
Events:
Poundsbridge Working Group
We’re forming a working group to conduct basic maintenance on the church land at All Soul’s Chapel, Poundsbridge on Saturday 22 June. Please do come along and lend a hand if you can, we will be taking no longer than two hours.
A Service of Celebration and Thanksgiving - 30th anniversary of women ordained to the priesthood
30 June 2024, 3:15pmpm at Rochester Cathedral More info
On which note, there is an exhibition: Women And The Church Of England -A new exhibition at Lambeth Palace Library is marking 200 years of women’s ministry and agency. Open now until June 2024. Entry is free. For full details and opening times click here
Updates:
Ø 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
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
With every blessing,
Lisa
