Newsletter 03/02/2024
Greetings from Revs Lindsay and Lisa.
There are two church services this Sunday and we hope that you can join us. There is an 0800 Morning Prayer service at St John the Baptist, Penshurst, and at 1000 Sung Holy Communion Service at St Luke’s Chiddingstone Causeway.
The Church Christmas season officially ended with Candlemas on Friday February 2nd. We will now share two weeks of ordinary time where altar frontals and vestments will be green, before we begin the forty-six days of Lent on Ash Wednesday with a purple array.
We have both been busy this week with many administrative and planning tasks across the Benefice.
Rev’d Lindsay has been working on our new website with guidance from Church-connect.org.
https://www.highwealdchurches.org.uk/
Thank you to those of you who have helped us with proofreading to date. Further constructive feedback and suggestions are welcome. Please use the e-mail links below.
The website has two key purposes: Firstly, it will act as a shop window for our family of churches and for those visiting and planning life events. The existing Penshurst website will eventually redirect people to the wider benefice site; but will be retained by the Friends of High Weald Churches for their use in stewarding the historic buildings in our care. For the time being, the sites may well duplicate some information. Please bear with us in this time of transition. Secondly: this site will become our go to resource for service information, rotas, and the like. This aspect will evolve organically as we migrate our systems into one place.
Rev’d Lisa has led Lent-themed Collective Worship in both Fordcombe and Penshurst schools. She has spent several hours in both schools as part of her brief as governor. She will visit Chiddingstone School next week for a morning doing much the same. Our Forest Church draws children from all three local schools, and it is exciting to see how our children and their families are growing in faith and relationship.
We have been busy preparing for our Lent Course. The supporting book is available here: https://www.brfonline.org.uk/collections/devotional/products/loving-my-neighbour
There will be an opportunity for you to attend a group to discuss the text or for you to follow a daily diet of readings, reflections, and prayer without joining a group. A flyer for this course is attached to this mailing.
A wedding preparation afternoon is planned in Fordcombe Village Hall on 9th March for our 2024 and early 2025 wedding couples. If any of you would like to help us with providing refreshments or other support for this event, we would be glad to hear from you. If you have recently been married in the parish, we would love to welcome you back to share some of your wisdom! Please contact the priest who led your wedding service.
Prayer
There are many situations and people for us to hold in prayer:
From our Memorial Book
03-Feb
Rupert Edward Vicary
04-Feb
05-Feb
John Willliam Pocock
Sydney Thomas Austin
Marjorie Irene Chandler, Wendy Hubble
06-Feb
07-Feb
Dorothy Gribble
Percy Alfred Taylor
08-Feb
09-Feb
Charles Henry Martin
10-Feb
John M Leigh
11-Feb
Susan Elizabeth Hearle Twallin
Kitty Frances Emma Grayland
Phyllis Daisy Taylor
We also pray for all of our wedding couples and all those preparing for baptisms and confirmations in the weeks ahead. We have one candidate that we will be preparing for confirmation later in the year. If any of you would like to explore baptism or confirmation for you or a member of your family, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Study
There are many courses and study days to support you in your faith journey. The Diocesan website has several to choose from: https://rochester.anglican.org/events-and-training/spirituality-events/
With every blessing for the week ahead
Revs Lisa and Lindsay