Lent 2 News
A very warm welcome to any new readers, and to visitors and newcomers to St Michael's. A special welcome and thanks to Fr Paul Matthias, our celebrant this morning, who will also kindly be saying Mass for us on Thursday at 10.30 am. If you are new to St Michael's, do join us in the Vestry Hall after the service, so that we can welcome you properly.
Today in the Vestry Hall we are having a Frugal Lent Lunch, in which everyone is invited to join. Enjoy a simple lunch of soup, bread, cheese and fruit, and give what you would normally have spent on Sunday lunch to the Knightrider Street Foodbank – a bowl for donations will be found in the hall.
Thank you to Sara and to everyone else who helped with the preparations!
Thank you, too, to Fr Paul Kish for inviting folk from St Michael's to join the Yalding Benefice Quiet Afternoon at historic Capel Church on Saturday, 12 noon-4 pm. It's good to have a solid group coming from St Michael's; anyone else who would like to join us, please do! Eleanor has some space in her car.
In Lent it makes sense to give some extra time and attention to our prayers. Please, then, continue to pray earnestly for Fr John, as he prepares to join us, and for our parish, as we prepare to go onward under his leadership. Fr John's Licensing, on 21st March at 7 pm, will be an inspiring occasion at which we shall welcome many visitors, not least Bishop Norman (his last visit to St Michael's before he retires) – and it's also an occasion on which we are all invited to commit ourselves afresh to working for the coming of the Kingdom in this part of Maidstone. Please make sure it's in your diary, and think what help you could offer to Alison P and Sue, who are in charge of the refreshments.
We at St Michael's are among several hundred parishes in England affiliated to Forward in Faith. Some of us are also individual members of FiF. FiF isn't, as is sometimes suggested, an organisation that was created by dinosaurs and is against women. What matters is what it is for – which includes the seal of the confessional and the traditional Christian doctrine of marriage. To continue its work and witness, FiF needs to go on recruiting new members. If you would like to know more, visit forwardinfaith.com. The modest annual subscription includes the excellent monthly magazine New Directions and the quarterly newspaperTogether. New Directions is circulated, and appreciated, among members of our congregation who haven't yet joined up; if you are among them, how about joining up now and getting a copy of your own to pass on?
Readers' List for March
Thanks, as always, to all our readers - and new readers are always welcome, particularly anyone who would like to join in the Vigil readings on Holy Saturday. If unable to read on the day listed, please try to arrange a swap….
Sunday 3rd March OT Mike Trout, NT Catherine Garland
Sunday 10th March OT Ralph Baldock NT Margaret Gatehouse
Sunday 17th March OT Alison Heywood NT Eleanor Relle
Palm Sunday OT Team Kwalombota NT William Danes-Volkov
Maundy Thursday OT Ralph Baldock NT Mike Trout
Good Friday OT and Ps Alison Heywood NT William Danes-Volkov St John Passion tba
Holy Saturday Vigil readings tba NT Margaret Gatehouse
Easter Day: Acts and Ps Team Kwalombota NT Catherine Garland
World Day of Prayer – no longer Women's World Day of Prayer (though there is still a strong feminine input). Everyone is invited to the special service, which takes place at St Nicholas', Poplar Grove, on 1st March at 2 pm, and will be followed by refreshments.
Lay ministry comes in all shapes and sizes, as do lay ministers! Our diocese offers all sorts of opportunities to explore possibilities and undertake training for, e.g., pastoral ministry, Anna Chaplaincy, Reader ministry and ministry to the bereaved. Could God be calling you to think about this? A newly-updated section of the diocesan website offers many possible leads: visit https://www.canterburydiocese.org/ministry/recognising-lay-ministry/ to find out more.
We pray for sick people everywhere, including: Paul, Margaret, Ellie, Pauline, Rue, Fr Leon, Antony, Fran, Ellie, Tom, Joseph, Peter, Joan, Margaret, Lindsay, Glynis, Ethan, Sarah, Yvonne, and HM The King. We give thanks for Neeraj's continued progress.
And among the Departed we remember: Jean Hemings, recently departed, and those whose anniversaries occur at this time, including: Doris Mason, Alice Roberts, Ken Gibbons, Barbara Sage, Gwen Vanstone, Brian Pope, and Molly Johnson.