Newsletter - 21/08
Rector’s Newsletter: 21st August 2026
Being August, parish life is quiet, although Penshurst is certainly busy with visitors and tourists. So many people comment in the church visitors’ book about the beauty of the village and the church environs. The golden colour of the surrounding fields is beautiful, but after such a long, hot and exceptionally dry spell, I suspect many of us have welcomed the sound of rain with something approaching joy.
I do wonder, though, whether it will be enough to stop the autumnal leaf drop that has already begun in earnest. There is something slightly surreal about watching leaves being swept up in August, when we are still supposed to be enjoying the height of summer. I don’t think I have ever known such an early use of a leaf blower!
This Sunday there are two services: Holy Communion at 10.00am in Penshurst and Evening Prayer at 6.00pm at Poundsbridge. Do come along to one or both.
At the morning service, we continue our journey through Paul’s letter to the Romans and Matthew’s Gospel. We will be thinking about the different gifts and abilities we each have to offer one another, and how these can enrich the life of our community.
At the evening service, I will be focusing on the changing seasons, using Psalm 126 and Ecclesiastes 3 as our focus. Both passages speak in different ways about the rhythms of life: sowing and reaping, weeping and laughing, planting and harvesting, and the changing seasons that are part of God’s good creation.
I hope to see you at one or both of these services.
With every blessing for the week ahead.
Lisa
Rev’d Lisa Cornell.
Rector of Penshurst and Fordcombe
Upcoming Services
Sunday 23 August
10:00 - Holy Communion at St John the Baptist, Penshurst
18:00 - Evening Prayer Service, All Souls, Poundsbridge
Sunday 30 August
10:00 - Holy Communion at St John the Baptist, Penshurst
Life Events:
We remember those whose anniversary falls at this time of year, they shall be prayed for in church on Sunday.
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
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)
