Newsletter - 09-13
To our benefice friends,
Lisa is on holiday, so a short newsletter this week, but please note a few changes to the upcoming service plan below.
The service in Penshurst on Sunday 22nd September will be led by licensed lay-minister, Mandy Baker, and will be a morning prayer service.
The pet service at Poundsbridge on Sunday 29th is postponed, however you are very welcome to attend the confirmation service at St Stephens, Tonbridge, to support Ruth and Julia.
Please see below for an update on the fundraiser for Penshurst bells.
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Fantastic News-Bells Appeal 100% successful
I am absolutely delighted to be able to tell you that our Appeal to fund the restoration of our church bells has now been completed. We have raised our target £78,400, of which £10,000 has come from Kent County Association of Change Ringers, £23,000 has come from local donations and £45,400 from the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
Our successful Lottery application was headed up by Charles Fuller-Rowell, Zaria Maltz, and Janice Byrne. Without their invaluable work we would have been all at sea as I know, through earlier fundraising efforts, just how difficult it is to “win over” the Heritage Fund team. Thank you and huge congratulations.
The generosity of so many Penshurst residents and organisations has been stunning and I really cannot thank you enough for stepping up in our hour of need. That hour will of course now be transformed into a hundred years of bell ringing to come. But before that we invite everyone to come and see the bells on the first part of their restoration journey once they have been lowered to ground level. Details will be circulated once we know the schedule of works and there will, of course, be excellent drinks and nibbles to mark the occasion!
I want to end by saying a very special thank you to Charles Fuller-Rowell. Without his boundless enthusiasm and laser-like dedication the Bells Appeal would never have succeeded.
Stephen Hazell-Smith
Chair, The Friends of the High Weald Churches.
In this edition
Ø Services
Services:
Sunday 15 September
1000 Holy Communion at St John the Baptist, Penshurst
Sunday 22 September
1000 Morning Prayer at St John the Baptist, Penshurst
1000 Holy Communion at St Mary the Virgin, Chiddingstone
1700 All Age Service at Fordcombe Village Hall
Sunday 29 September
1000 Holy Communion at St John the Baptist, Penshurst
To download a full copy of the September service plan, hymns and lections click here.
Life Events:
In our prayers we hold those coming through our doors this month to mark their life events:
Weddings: We hold Tiffany and Ralph in our prayers, following their wedding in Chiddingstone on Thursday.
Christenings: We pray for Olivia and her family as they approach her upcoming baptism, and wish them well on this pilgrimage of faith.
Funerals: We continue to hold the late Martin Beaumont in our prayers ahead of his funeral.
And we remember those whose anniversary falls at this time of year, they shall be prayed for in church on Sunday.
Learning and growing:
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
