Another Lockdown! Perhaps not quite the same as before, but a Lockdown! 

The churches remain open for private prayer and what prayer was experienced in Elham church last Saturday for Eliot; “a darling’ as his Mum, Kim called him. So many people came to pray, light candles, to grieve and support this family who have lost their young son. What a community showing so much Love.

Where there is Love, there is God for God is Love and those who Love live in God and God lives in them.

God is in the midst of it all! God is in the pain, the shock, the devastation, the darkness, the blaming and the unknowing. Nothing can prepare us for this. 

May we continue to uphold the Gower Family in that Love now and in the hours, days and years to come.

Without doubt this year has been difficult for many, obviously nothing compared with this family, but as we move into winter where are your thoughts? Do you feel, you have brighter days ahead? Or do you feel weighed down by the challenges, you are facing?

Ezekiel had a vision:

‘On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds or trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.’ 

This vision in Ezekiel chapter 47 marks change, a change of focus. The people had been in exile for 25 years and few remember how it used to be? They are at their lowest point, holding onto only negative thoughts about their future.

This vision is not wishful thinking; ‘To look on the brighter side of life;’ that old adage coming from Monty Python. But a reminder to the people that what they need, they cannot create for themselves. They need a renewed vision of who God is and to accept that they have overlooked the grace that was theirs for the asking. The image of this ‘ living water” John revisits in his Gospel; the abundant outpouring of grace into the most neglected and hopeless places bringing life and healing to all.

As the water flows see where they make their way into you, into your heart and into your experiences.

‘Everything will live where the river goes.’

Will you allow yourself to go to this river and invite the grace of God to go where it is needed? And, allow yourself to experience that Love that knows no bounds and brings about such gentle healing.

A Step Along the Way (The Romero Prayer)

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No programme accomplishes the Church’s mission.

No set goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, and opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We are workers, not master builders: ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

 Zoom is a videotelephony software program. The free version provides a video chatting service that allows up to 100 devices, such as personal computers, laptops, tablets, smart phones and landlines etc to use it at once.

It is completely free to use and is secure.

It is possible to join meetings (in our case, services) and not interact at all with the other participants if you don’t wish to – just keep your camera (webcam) and microphone switched off, if you have them. 

It is also possible to access a meeting by landline telephone.

Whichever way you choose to join the meeting/service, you will need to ask the organiser for the link to the website and the meeting identification code and password, preferably a few days before.

Here is a handy guide (opens in a new tab/window) produced by the A Church Near You website :

https://media.acny.uk/media/venues/page/attachment/2020/03/How_to_join_a_Zoom_meeting.pdf

  It will come as no surprise that this year's Advent events will be held on Zoom rather than in person with our usual lovely refreshments at each venue. This may widen the scope of attendance as people can join in from the warmth and comfort of their own home, with their own personal choice of refreshments at hand. These events will take place at 6pm on Wednesdays from 25th November for four weeks. We will be looking at some narratives created around the people involved in the Advent story, some bible readings, and a few examples of the artwork these stories have inspired. The narratives, scripture readings and pictures will be sent by attachment/links the week before each session. An invitation to the Zoom sessions will be sent out nearer the time.

Nor do those people who are not online need to miss out altogether. It is possible for access to Zoom events to be gained via normal phone landlines. Although this means no actual participation, you can hear the discussions, and join in with the worship*. 

If you would like to participate please could you email both Mike Chinneck and Sharon Paine so that invitations can be issued. We will also aim to hold a short rehearsal a day or two before the first main session to familiarise those who are new to Zoom before the first proper session. This is a new departure for some of us, and we hope many of you will wish to join in. The email addresses are: mike.chinneck@gmail.com and sharonpaine10@aol.com.

(* contact Alison Dale (07985025381) who will pass the message on to Mike and Sharon)

  On All Saints Day the Archbishops wrote to all the clergy to

‘call upon the Church of England to make this month of lockdown a month of prayer’.

The Archbishops decided that this call would take the form of an invitation to every Christian, and person of good will to pray at 6pm every day, for the period of this present lock-down.

This call is going far and wide – and the hope is that many of our ecumenical partners will join us.

Here are links to resources to help us:

Call to Prayer   

Prayer for the Nation booklet

The project is nearing completion, with the end in sight within several weeks. Progress has been somewhat hampered due to Covid-related problems with availability and delivery of materials, but soon the Facilities will be ready for viewing and use, Government restrictions permitting.

Here is a description of progress to date:-

· The toilet extension is complete barring the installation of the floor covering and skirting board. This includes the flower arrangers corner with a Belfast sink and storage cupboard.

· The tea station and storage cupboard in the South aisle are complete (see photograph). The standard of design and workmanship has already been much admired.

· The fabrication of the external doors for the south porch is in progress off-site, with installation due very shortly.

· The accessible ramp to the South porch has been completed, including the asphalt topping.

· The brickwork, flintwork and oak framing to the exterior walls of the extension are complete.

· Fireproofing the interior of the oil tank housing at the Southwest corner of the churchyard has been completed and the new oil tank installed.  New oil supply pipelines have been installed across the churchyard from the tank housing to the South porch. Many thanks are due to the community for their patience during the time the churchyard had to be closed for safety reasons. Hope runs high that the church will be warm before the onset of winter!

· Restoration of the damaged stonework where the old flue chimney was removed has been completed.

· Final design is in progress for the wood and metal mesh boiler enclosure in the South porch.

Inevitably there had been a build-up of construction dust throughout the church. This was cleared away and the church made to sparkle by many willing hands, all in time for the first church service since lockdown held on October 4th. 

  Home-Made in Acrise mainly from Local produce, to support St Martin’s Church, Acrise

Anne Beecham 01303 862729

Little Shuttlesfield Farm, Acrise CT18 8LB

anne.beecham@btinternet.com

There are plenty of ways you can still enjoy worship and fellowship from your own home

On the Internet:

Click on The WORD on Sunday tab above for weekly reflections and prayers from members of our Ministry Team.

 Zoom  services - see above. Contact Alison Dale (alison-dale@outlook.com) a couple of days before for the link.

  Here are some links for videos of services and further resources from Canterbury Diocese and the Church of England

Canterbury Cathedral 

Canterbury Diocese Parish Support  For some excellent resources and Apps for prayer

Church of England Daily Prayers 

The Lords Prayer 

The cathedral will live stream a midday Eucharist and Evensong at 5.30 p.m. weekdays, and at 3.15 p.m. weekends. Please follow this link to access the live stream on YouTube

A Church Near You 

Follow the Church of England on Twitter

Daily Hope Free phone line: 0800 804 8044

Daily Hope offers music, prayers and reflections as well as full  

worship services from the Church of England at the end of a 

telephone line. Options available include materials such 

as Prayer During the Day and Night Prayer updated daily, 

 from Common Worship, and a recording of the Church of 

England weekly national online service. A section called 

Hymn Line offers callers a small selection of hymns, updated daily. An option entitled ‘Hymns We Love’, provides a hymn and reflection and is based on an initiative by the Connections group. The line – which is available 24 hours a day on 0800 804 8044 – has been set up particularly with those unable to join online church services during the period of restrictions in mind.

+++++++++++++++++++

Assistance during Isolation

Alison Dale and some of the churchwardens (see below, marked with *) have a list of contacts who can help or provide a service to everyone in the Group, from walking a dog to supplying take-away meals. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more, or wish to make an offer of assistance to others.

ELHAM VALLEY GROUP OF CHURCHES CONTACTS:

Priest-in-Charge Rev’d Jane Weeks: 01303 840219 (Monday to Thursday. Jane is not available on Thursday evenings and all-day Friday) revweeks@hotmail.com

Associate Priest Rev’d Stephen Dougal: 07764775507 stephendougal@btinternet.com

Pastoral Team Leader Paul Jarvis: teeboon19@btinternet.com

*Benefice Administrator: Alison Dale: 07985025381 (Thu-Fri 9-11am)

alison-dale@outlook.com

Churchwardens:

Elham *Peter Swain 01303 840408 - *Graham Ernest-Jones 01303 840645

Acrise*Simon Smith 01303 892162 - Martin Bradley 01303 864289

Denton & Wootton Sue Clough 01303 844324.

Lyminge *Phil Hawken 01303 862151

Stanford *Sara Myers 01303 814183 - *Paul Smallwood 01303 813198

Postling Peter Le Feuvre plefandsem@doctors.org.uk - Chris Reynolds chris.r@thepent.co.uk

Paddlesworth Celia Mosley 01303 893609 - *Lindsey Smith lsmith665@googlemail.com

At 8am every morning, the Ministry Team will be saying morning prayer - do join us in spirit!

Here are some links for further resources from Canterbury Diocese and the Church of England:

 https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org

 https://canterburydiocese.org/parishsupport/coronavirus/prayer-worship-during-coronavirus/- some excellent resources and Apps for prayer

CHANGING LIVES PRAYER NETWORK

https://www.canterburydiocese.org/strategy/prayer/

https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/join-us-service-daily-prayer

The Lord's Prayer... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgN0s2xmCuM

https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/news/archbishop-canterbury-lead-first-national-virtual-church-england-service

The cathedral will live stream a midday Eucharist and Evensong at 5.30 p.m. weekdays, and at 3.15 p.m. weekends. Please follow this link to access the live stream on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x1i7znmokE 

  Click here for a stunning presentation of this poem

God of creation

There at the start

Before the beginning of time

With no point of reference

You spoke to the dark

And fleshed out the wonder of light

And as You speak

A hundred billion galaxies are born

In the vapour of Your breath the planets form

If the stars were made to worship so will I

I can see Your heart in everything You've made

Every burning star

A signal fire of grace

If creation sings Your praises so will I

God of Your promise

You don't speak in vain

No syllable empty or void

For once You have spoken

All nature and science

Follow the sound of Your voice

And as You speak

A hundred billion creatures catch Your breath

Evolving in pursuit of what You said

If it all reveals Your nature so will I

I can see Your heart in everything You say

Every painted sky

A canvas of Your grace

If creation still obeys You so will I

If the stars were made to worship so will I

If the mountains bow in reverence so will I

If the oceans roar Your greatness so will I

For if everything exists to lift You high so will I

If the wind goes where You send it so will I

If the rocks cry out in silence so will I

If the sum of all our praises still falls shy

Then we'll sing again a hundred billion times

God of salvation

You chased down my heart

Through all of my failure and pride

On a hill You created

The light of the world

Abandoned in darkness to die

And as You speak

A hundred billion failures disappear

Where You lost Your life so I could find it here

If You left the grave behind You so will I

I can see Your heart in everything You've done

Every part designed in a work of art called love

If You gladly chose surrender so will I

I can see Your heart

Eight billion different ways

Every precious one

A child You died to save

If You gave Your life to love them so will I

Like You would again a hundred billion times

But what measure could amount to Your desire

You're the One who never leaves the one behind

© HillSongs - Capitol Christian Music Group

"Almighty God, please guide us into selfless humility that may encourage us all, to be mindful of the plight of others, in the nature and example of Jesus Christ.

To consume and take in accordance with needs, not wants, mindful of the plight and longevity of the planet which you have created, and our impermanent status as tenants.

Aware of the truth that God creates and provides, while we evolve through the discovery and development of that fact.

Loving Lord, you have made it clear to us, in many ways, that we must change and rebuild the way we lead our lives, please be with us, our strength and guide, as we attempt the difficulties of that change.

Lord... In your mercy, hear our prayer.”

Roger Davenport

 Dear brothers and sisters, 

Thy Kingdom Come - a global wave of prayer for our friends and family to come to know Jesus - begins this week. Here are five easy ways for you and your church to get involved:

1. Download this year's beautiful Novena  resources for free - use them for your own quiet time, with those in your household or in an online small group. View the resources and download them here. 
2. Sign up to receive daily emails with the Novena images and prompts to help you to reflect and go deeper with  God - sign up here. 
3. Tell us what you hear. Our theme this year is  'Listening on the way' and we want to know what you hear from God during  this time - write or draw your thoughts, take a photo and email the team on prayers@diocant.org to help us to share what God is  saying to us during this season. 

I do hope that you'll be able to participate in some or all of these ways, so that we can all keep well, keep connected and keep praying during this extraordinary time.  

One of the team has recorded a ten-minute talk based on the Road to Emmaus story, and we would love you to see this film to say thank you to your Church for all support. 

For those who don’t know about Open the Book (OtB), this is a project which has been helping local primary school children hear key Bible stories from teams of Christian volunteers from one or several local churches.

One OtB team still wanted to do something for the children while unable to visit their local school. They are helping to fund a project to help children isolated in high-rise flats, or with large families unable to afford resources while isolated, called Grow@Home. This involves giving the families brown paper carrier bags filled with coloured and regular pencils, paper, rubbers and pencil sharpeners and with ideas of things to do and links to websites.

The Patch of Blue

A small book 4 x 3 inches sits on my shelf. It was written by Father Andrew of the Society of Divine Compassion in 1942. He was a priest friar whose church in London was bombed twice and yet, busy as he was, took time to write this little book of poems. His desire was to lift the spirits of the British people, much as we need now, during this current crisis. Inside the cover is the name of the original owner, James H Trench, along with his service number and base address. The following poem may lift flagging spirits today, as it did then, and is Father Andrew’s gift of love.

The sky was grey and, so it seemed to me, 

The kind of grey that hovers threateningly

Above the world with all its fear and hate,

A lid to shut men down, not heaven’s gate.

Dear God, forgive me! That were never true, -

I looked again and saw a patch of blue.

One little patch of blue, but oh, so pure,

Where the grey parted, just to make me sure

The blue was there behind the shrouding grey.

That patch of blue gave courage to my day.

Friend of my heart, I pass the thought to you,

In your grey sky there’s still a patch of blue.

Grey days of duty and grey days of pain,

Grey days of weariness, again, again!

Yea, well I know it, but faith, hope, and love

Abide unconquered, and you yet shall prove

The sky holds still somewhere its patch of blue.

Here I have seen it: you shall see it too.

‘Tis grey to us maybe and wearily

We toil along; but we have had bright days;

While others wept we sang our songs of praise.

If now we only see a leaden hue,

Another’s eyes have spied a patch of blue.

Even when Christ our Lord for you and me

Breathed His last sigh of death on Calvary,

In all that darkness Love was still enthroned

And, though with bramble, royally was crowned.

Then came Ascension Day, when He passed through,

And skies for ever since have kept their blue!