Easter News

Priest-in-Charge Fr John Ainslie (revjohnainslie@gmail.com; 01628 629827)

A very Happy and Blessed Easter to you all

from Fr John, Eleanor and our Churchwardens

Fr John, Eleanor, Jonathan, Paul.

A very warm welcome to any new readers, and to visitors and newcomers to St Michael's. 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.

Bishop Norman writes: “Dear All at St Michael's, Thank you so much for the generous and most beautiful gift of an Icon of the Archangel which I will treasure. And for your kind words and retirement frieze in the hall. It has been a privilege and a joy to share in the life of Saint Michael's and I'm delighted with the appointment of Father John. With blessings for your future flourishing, +Norman.“

A party from St Michael's was in the crowded crypt of the Cathedral for Bishop Norman's last Chrism Mass – an emotional and magnificent occasion – and heard warm words from the Archbishop of Canterbury, commending Bishop Norman as an example of what a bishop should be, and affirming the place of the Richborough family, and other Resolution parishes, as an essential element in the Church of England. “This will be a large mitre to fill,” he said. It will indeed – and Bishop Norman takes with him our prayers for a happy and fulfilling retirement.

Warmest thanks to everyone who has made our worship and parish life so special during this Holy Week and Easter – servers, readers, musicians, cleaners-and-polishers, washers-and-ironers, caterers, litterpickers, sound engineer, ringers, sidespersons, sacristan, flower-arrangers …. the list goes on, and has to include Archbishop Justin, whom we were most privileged to have with us for the Easter Vigil, and Fr John, for the unfailing calm and cheerfulness with which, having been in office for only a few days, he has presided over Holy Week and Easter in a new parish.

Easter doesn't stop here! The Easter season continues until the Ascension, giving us time to reflect more deeply on the wonder of the Resurrection and what it means to us now. Why not make next Sunday, 7th April, a special part of the process? At 5pm that day there will be a Service of Music and Readings for Eastertide (format along the lines of a carol service), with a gathered choir led and accompanied by Gareth James. There will be opportunities for congregational singing too – Hallelujah! Do come, and invite some friends!

The Parish Electoral Roll is now being updated. If you have become a regular St Michael's worshipper (or even if you are not-so-regular but live in the parish) you are eligible to be on the Roll. This gives you voting rights at the Annual Meeting, and entitles you to stand for office if you so wish. Please see Martyn and collect a form from the back of church. Closing date: April 7th.

Copies of the FREE 3-monthly publicationTogether are in the narthex awaiting readers. Do take one, and find out what's happening in some parishes like our own elsewhere in the country.

Readers' List for April: Many thanks, as always, to all our readers. If unable to read on the day listed, please try to arrange a swap with another reader.

Sunday 7th April: Acts and psalm Alison Heywood, NT William Danes-Volkov
Sunday 14th April: Acts and psalm Mike Trout, NT Margaret Gatehouse
Sunday 21st April: Acts and psalm Team Kwalombota, NT Catherine Garland
Sunday 28th April Acts and psalm Ralph Baldock, NT Eleanor Relle.

From our Tower: Kent County Association Maidstone, Kent, St Michael and All Angels

Friday, 22 March 2024 in 41m (6–1–24 in C): 1296 Spliced Surprise Minor (2m)

720 London; 576 Cambridge; 18 com; atw.

  1. Janice Byrne
  2. Jacqueline Barlow
  3. Philip Jarvis
  4. Mark Elvers
  5. Stephen Coaker
  6. Neil Jones (C)

An 89th birthday compliment to May Newlands. Also to welcome Father John and Rosa to St Michael's.

(There is much more to report from theTower – please watch this space next week!)

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, HM The King and Catherine, Princess of Wales.

And among the departed: Clementina Brown, Joy Littlewood, Peter Milton, Janet Hilda Carden.

Could you pass this sheet on to someone else who might like to see it?

Updated: