July 2018 the Parish Magazine of St
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Grapevine July 2018 The Parish Magazine of St. Nicholas, Allington stnicholasallington.org.uk Hoping you have a wonderful summer! Grapevine is back in September! Contents Page 1 St Nicholas Church General Information Page 3 Rev Chris Writes... Page 4 Bible Project Page 5 Thursday Afternoon Prayer Group Page 6 Save the Date—Christmas Tree Festival! Page 7 OASIS BBQ Page 8/9 Date for your Diary - September Concert Page 10 Alongside Africa News Page 12 Charity of the Month Page 13 Our Local Young Entrepreneur! Page 14 Looking at the Church in UK Page 15 Ancient Gift of Spiritual Fortitude Page 16 Services & Rotas for August Page 17/20 Youth & Organisation News Page 21 Messy Church - Journeys! Pages 22/23 Noticeboard Page 24 Rotas for July Parish General Information For enquiries about Baptisms, Funerals or Weddings, please contact Rev Chris on 01622 297307 Or [email protected] Also for Banns of Marriage (the form can be downloaded from the website). www.stnicholasallington.org.uk Jenny Stone - Parish Administrator Mondays & Wednesdays 10.00am - 12 noon Fridays 9.00am - 10.00am Church Office ~ 01622 299715 (answerphone) [email protected] St Nicholas Church Poplar Grove, Allington, ME16 0DE Priest in Charge Rev. Chris Lavender 01622 297307 E-mail: [email protected] Curate Rev. Barry Knott 07475 468622 E-mail: [email protected] Churchwardens Angela Redford Mike Evans 758641 07432 713277 [email protected] [email protected] Children & Families Minister Fiona Higgs Tel 07951 777854 Secretary Treasury Team Jenny Stone [email protected] Tel 299715 Gift Aid Secretary & Weekly Sacristan Offering Envelopes Nigel Smetham Geoff Garrett Tel 685007 Tel 753000 Magazine Adverts Halls Chairman Chris Cook Alan Foreman [email protected] Tel 764094 Tel 670240 Magazine Editor Organist & Choirmaster Chris Cook Roger Gentry [email protected] Tel 678312 Tel 670240 Magazine Distribution Health & Safety Officer Marianna Poliszczuk Alan Foreman Tel 751243 Tel 764094 Electoral Roll Officer Prayer Coordinator Caleb Howard Angela Redford Tel 07738 393279 [email protected] Tel 758641 [email protected] Parish Disclosure Officer and Safeguarding Officer for Vulnerable Adults & Children Sarah Lavender Tel 297307 [email protected] For Hall Bookings [email protected] Jenny Stone - Parish Administrator 01622 299715 1 Sunday Services 8.00 am Holy Communion – 1st & 3rd Sundays 9.30 am OASIS All-age worship – 2nd & 4th Sundays 10.00 am Morning Worship - 1st Sunday 10.00 am OASIS Joint Communion – 3rd Sunday 10.00 am Joint Service - 5th Sunday at St Nicholas or St Andrew’s 11.00 am Holy Communion - 2nd & 4th Sundays 5.00 pm OASIS in the Afternoon - 1st Sunday 6.00 pm JAHFA for senior school pupils - 1st Sunday Mondays 8.30 am Morning Prayer Wednesdays 8.30 am Morning Prayer 10.00 am Holy Communion 7.30 pm Evening Prayer Thursdays 9.00 am Prayer Space St. Nicholas Explorers After school club for 7-11s – term time only Allington Primary School – Wednesday 3.15 - 4.30 pm Palace Wood Primary School – Tuesday 3.20 - 4.30 pm Saturday Club / Messy Church Normally held on the 3rd Saturday morning of the month and advertised in Grapevine. Home Groups Group 1 - meets on alternate Monday mornings at 23 Buckland Lane. Contact tel: 752181 Rachel Norman Group 2 – meets on alternate Thursday evenings at various venues around the parish. Contact tel: 764913 Mary Garrett Group 3 - meets on Thursday afternoons 2.00pm - 3.00pm Contact Angela on 758641 Pastoral Group This is available to bring Home Communion, or just pay a visit to anyone who needs it. Please phone Mary Garrett on 01622 764913 2 Rev Chris Writes...... As Christians the central focus of our faith is the per- son of Jesus Christ as the means by which God physi- cally revealed himself to humanity - as the beginning of John's gospel says "The Word made flesh." Jesus says himself in chapter 14 of that gospel ""I am in the Father, and the Father is in me." We spend a lot of time, in church, focusing on Jesus, and rightly so. That often means we spend a lot of time focusing on the New Testament tells us about his life, death, resurrection and then the ongoing birth and development of the church. However Jesus made it clear he was steeped in the ancient scriptures that form what we know as the Old Testament. In his own words he did not come to replace any of that but to 'fulfil' it, because ultimately those ancient words were a signpost to Him and what He would bring. So the Old Testament is a foundational collection of books which we of- ten overlook because we find them hard to understand, or we don't par- ticularly like what they have to say. I cannot deny there are particular parts that seem to have little or no significance to life today, and some of the situations portrayed appear to present an angry vengeful God rather than the God of love that we encounter in the New Testament. However I think that the fine detail can often prevent us from seeing the 'bigger picture' of how God was working (and is working because this has universal significance in all times and all places) through those scrip- tures, albeit with imperfect and fallible people, to ultimately bring about the 'new creation' that the last book of the bible, Revelation, speaks of. With such thoughts in mind I felt it would be good to have the opportuni- ty to get a sense of the 'bigger picture' of the Old Testament with a se- ries of study groups during the summer holidays. Don't be put off by the idea of 'study groups' because I will be using a resource called the Bible Project. This free resource provides short and accessible films which give a wonderful overview of the subject in question. The 'groups' will take place over a four week period starting on the 30th July, at St Nicholas' Church. There will be a different topic each week, with two opportunities in any particular week to take part - you can choose to come along on a Monday evening at 7.30pm or a Wednesday morning at 11am, and if you miss a week and want to catch up I can let you have the online link to the next film. You don't have to 'book in' just turn up. The subjects we will be covering are detailed on the advertisement following on from this article. I look forward to learning more about the background to the Old Testa- ment with those of you who are able to join me during the summer. Blessings, Rev Chris 3 DISCOVER THE OLD TESTAMENT (the easy way!!) @ St Nicholas' Church - Summer 2018 WEEK 1 - THE TORAH Monday 30th July @ 7.30pm Wednesday 1st August @ 11am WEEK 2 - THE HISTORIES Monday 6th August @ 7.30pm Wednesday 8th August @ 11am WEEK 3 - WISDOM & POETRY Monday 13th August @ 7.30pm Wednesday 15th August @ 11am WEEK 4 - THE PROPHETS Monday 20th August @ 7.30pm Wednesday 22nd August @ 11am 4 CEILIDH POSTPONED! Regretfully the Ceilidh has been postponed because a number of events are also happening at this time including the Kent County Show! It is hoped that it will be held early next year! Thursday Afternoon Prayer Group The group is now meeting at 26 Howard Drive, Allington. ME16 0QD, the home of Liz Walker (Tel. 01622 759609). The group lead- er is Angela Redford (Tel.01622 758641). The dates we meet are the second and fourth Thursdays of the month at 2pm. We tend to explore a topic, have a discussion and arrive at how that might be a focus for prayer. New members are always welcome. For the next month until we take a summer break, the dates are: July 12th and 26th Champagne and strawberries are not just for Wimbledon! They can be enjoyed at a charity afternoon in West Malling next month. On Sunday the 8th July, there will be a Champagne and Strawberry Tea at Went House in Swan Street, West Malling from 2.30 to 4.30. This special event is in aid of The Children’s Society and tickets in advance at £12.50 will be available from Heather Rooke or telephone 01622 204569 5 St Nicholas Church Christmas Tree Festival SAVE THE DATE 14th—16th December 2018 You are invited to join us in contributing a tree of your own design. Further details to follow later in the year. Contact Karen Hunter or Ruth Brind via the office on [email protected] 6 7 A Date for Your Diary! Saturday 29th September For all those who love live music there is a special evening in store! Jon Cunningham and Steve Shorey have agreed to come and provide their services free of charge to help with our fundrais- ing efforts. They are a very talented duo and Jon writes most of his own material. Please come and support the evening which will not fail to entertain you! JON CUNNINGHAM - John discovered Folk Clubs in the mid 70's and immediately found a group of kindred spirits who loved a great song. His songwriting blossomed quickly and he started performing with a number of leading Kent folk musicians. During the 90's he formed a partner- ship with Gary Briley and as a duo they wrote gospel songs and performed in venues across the South East (including a showcase at Ronnie Scotts). Jon is a bronze medal winner at the pres- tigious Tipperary ‘International Song of Peace‘Competition and has been a shortlisted finalist on 3 occasions.