Services at St Margaret’s Underriver St Lawrence, Seal Chart Parish Magazine during May 2011 St Lawrence, Seal Chart Parish Magazine

May 2011 Sunday 1 May 11:15 Family Service Sunday 8 May 08:00 Holy Communion (said) BCP 18:00 Evensong (with hymns) BCP Sunday 15 May 10:30 Sunday Club meets in the Village Hall 11:15 A Special Family Service Sunday 22 May 11:15 Parish Communion (with hymns) CW Sunday 29 May 11:15 Matins (with hymns) BCP Thursday 2 June 10:00 Ascension Day Holy Communion (said) CW

CHURCH/SCHOOL COFFEE MORNING AFTER DROP OFF AT SCHOOL Tuesday 17 th May is the date for our next Coffee Morning. Do drop in for coffee/tea, cake and a chat with friends. We look forward to seeing you. Carol, Sam and Louise

ST LAWRENCE CHURCH AND VILLAGE CONTACTS in Charge - Revd Carol Kitchener [w e f 12 May 2011] Reader - St Lawrence Church - Mrs Gretel Wakeham - 761534 Churchwardens Celeste Davis-Watling 820190 S’oaks District Councillor Cnclr Peter Coates vacancy Seal Parish Council PCC Hon Secretary Richard Glencross 761202 Chairman Robin Watson 833930 PCC Hon Treasurer Tony Webb xd Vice-Chairman Edward Oatley 465905 Electoral Roll Clive McLintock 452964 Clerk Lorna Talbot 763488 Covenant & Envelopes John Morris 810227 Ward Councillors Peter Granville 763832 Organist Lizzie Veglio 01634 244700 Chris Sutton-Mattocks 762013 Choir Director John Morris 810227 St Lawrence Village Association Bellringers Hon Secretary Peter Wharton 810388 Chairman Graham Moynes 760640 Sevenoaks Deanery Synod Hilary Denby-Jones 763883 Secretary Carol Smith 763561 Peter Wharton 810388 St Lawrence Village Hall Management Committee Priest in Charge [wef 12 May 2011] Reader Sunday School Hilary Darque 453929 Chairman Peter Wharton 763832 Lyn Holness 764210 Secretary Peter Wharton 810388 The Revd Carol Kitchener Mrs Gretel Wakeham Child Protection Rep Carol McLintock 452964 Treasurer Andy Smaggasgale 760552 The White House deputy Gretel Wakeham 761534 Bookings Secretary Janice Brooker 760843 St Lawrence Vicarage Church Flowers Sheila Jackson 811422 Cricket Club Secretary Robin Webster 01892 862017 Stone Street Bitchet Green St Lawrence CE Primary School Badm’ton Club Contact Ian Lister 762416 Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0LQ Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0NA Headteacher Alison Saunders 761393 Bowls Club Peter Granville 763832 Chairman of Governors Sarah Hudson 810050 Tennis Club Contact Gretel Wakeham 761534 01732 761766 01732 761534 Clerk to the Governors Sarah Brew xd Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators St Lawrence Pre-School Becky Stammers 763289 Stone Street Contact Janice Brooker 760843 st Church Wardens 1 St Lawrence Brownies Janet Boswell 01959 523953 Seal Chart Contact Nicola Mitchell 764202 Copy for the next issue should be sent to the editor (or e-mail to [email protected]). Celeste Davis-Watling to arrive by 08:00 on Wednesday 18 May 2011 C/o St Lawrence Church The next issue of the Parish Magazine will be in Church on Sunday 29 May 2011 Church Road, Stone Street Edited and Typeset by Brian Sutton, 50 The Crescent, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 3QY (01732 450873) Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0LN Printed by Highland Printers, The Barn, Church Farm, Seal, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN15 0AN (01732 762131) 01732 820190 12 1 Services and Events at From an English Missionary in Honduras The Church of St Lawrence Seal Chart during May 2011 To the lost sheep, He is the seeking Shepherd; To the needy sheep, He is the providing Shepherd;

To the hurting sheep, He is the comforting Shepherd;

Sunday 1 May Second Sunday of Easter To the bruised sheep, He is the healing Shepherd; 08:00 Holy Communion (said) BCP To the anxious sheep, He is the peaceful Shepherd; Acts 2: 1-14a, 22-32 John 20: 19-31 09:45 All Age Family Service (children in church) To the wandering sheep, He is the guiding Shepherd John 20: 19-31 To the fearful sheep, He is the protecting Shepherd

Wednesday 4 May Prayer Time (Lasts about 60 minutes: All are welcome) To all His sheep, He is the Good Shepherd. 14:00 At The White House, Bitchet Green ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Sunday 8 May Third Sunday of Easter 09:45 Holy Communion (with hymns) CW Acts 2: 14a, 36-41 Luke 24: 13-35 St Lawrence Sunday School Thursday 12 May Installation of Rev Carol Kitchener by 19:30 Rt Rev James Langstaff, of Rochester meets in St Lawrence School at 09:45 on the dates shown Sunday 15 May Fourth Sunday of Easter 08:00 Holy Communion (said) CW Acts 2: 42-47 John 10: 1-10 09:45 All Age Family Service (Sunday School) All children aged 3 upwards are welcome John 10: 1-10

Thursday 19 May Prayer Time (Lasts about 60 minutes: All are welcome) 15 May Jesus the Teacher Lesley & Lyn 10:00 At Shepherd’s Cottage, Heaverham 19 June Trinity Sunday Lyn & Hilary Sunday 22 May Fifth Sunday of Easter 09:45 Matins BCP July/August - No Meetings Zechariah 4: 1-10 John 14: 1-14 18 Sept Theme to be arranged Wendy & Celeste

Sunday 29 May Sixth Sunday of Easter 09:45 Holy Communion (with hymns) CW Acts 17: 22-31 John 14: 15-21 For further information contact Hilary Darque (453929) or Lyn Holness (764210)

Thursday 02 June Ascension Day Joint Service at St Margaret’s see pew sheet for details Flower Rota for Church Flowers Sunday 05 June Seventh Sunday of Easter 08:00 Holy Communion (said) BCP Sunday 1 May Zara Webb 1 Peter 4: 12-14, 5: 6-11 John 17: 1-11 09:45 All Age Family Service (children in church) Sunday 8 May Sheila Jackson John 17: 1-11 Sunday 15 May Annette MacKellar Sunday 22 May Annette MacKellar Sunday 29 May Wedding BCP = Book of Common Prayer - a service using traditional (17th C) language and form CW = Common Worship - a service using contemporary (21st C) language and form

2 11 FOR THE CHILDREN . . . . The Reader’s Page Red Letter Days Red letter days originated in the medieval period, where the monks would illuminate their manuscripts and calendars with a red letter to indicate a special feast or saints day. Now it has come to mean any special occasion.

Please do mark the red letter days for our parish this month! On May 12 th we are delighted that our new priest in charge will be officially licensed to our parish and to St. Margaret’s Underriver. We welcome Revd. Carol Kitchener and her husband Chris to our parish. The occasion will be marked with a special service at St. Lawrence’s led by the new , the Right Reverend James Langstaff.

We have had eight months without a priest in charge which has been a challenge, but people have come forward with hidden talents to contribute to the smooth (usually!) running of the parish: we have a acquired a heating monitor, a web page manager, a new tenor, extra Sunday school and magazine help, to name but a few. Above all has been the tremendous team spirit and generosity that has enabled the ongoing work of the parish and beyond; people have gone the extra mile with good humour and grace. We are indeed blessed!

May 16 th is another special day as our new Church Warden, Ron Drury will be inducted; this is an annual service for all church wardens, where they are admitted to office by the Archdeacon. Once admitted they are officers of the Bishop and have the legal responsibility for the church and its possessions – and that is just one of their responsibilities! Please pray for both Ron and Celeste, our current warden, as they take up their post for the year ahead.

And let’s hear it for the garden party! Our annual event hosted by both parishes. This year it takes place on Saturday 21 st May in the lovely grounds of Fishponds. Please see the advertisement in this magazine for more details. A good occasion for our two communities to enjoy an afternoon together.

My best wishes to you all

10 3 Our new Priest in Charge There is something of a sadness about it, both in words and tune, as there is about The Licensing and Installation of Carol Kitchener by the Right all purely sensuous joy. For May Day is not Easter, and the joys it represents Reverend James Langstaff, Bishop of Rochester, will take place at a service to be have always been earth-bound and fleeting. held in St Lawrence Church on Thursday 12th May at 7.30pm, followed by a ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ reception in Stone Street Village Hall. There will be sign posted car parking at Foxbury Farm, Stone Street Road, and a Hard choice at sea (or an unusual way of telling the Easter story) shuttle service will be in operation to transfer people from Foxbury back up to After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the vicar welcomed a guest the Church. It is advisable for all those who are able to park at Foxbury to do so, preacher, an old childhood friend. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the and take advantage of the shuttle service. Please arrive by 6.45 at Foxbury Farm. pulpit to speak: "Some years ago a father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the There will be limited disabled parking close to the Church and the Village Hall. British coast,” he began, "when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to Cloakroom facilities will be available at the school, and also (after the service) in get back to shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an the Village Hall. experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright, and the three were swept Due to the nature of such an event in our small Church, numbers are sadly into the ocean." limited. However, we will do all that we can to accommodate everyone. The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers near the back. For the first time since the service began, they looked vaguely Please note if you are unable to attend the Installation service, Carol's first interested. He continued, "Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the service as our new Priest in Charge will be on 15th May, so please do come most excruciating decision of his life.... to which boy he would throw the other along and welcome her then. Thank you, John C end of the line. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ his son was a Christian, and he also knew that his son's friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. As the father yelled INSTALLATION SERVICE - ST LAWRENCE CHURCH out, 'I love you, son!' he threw the line to his son's friend. By the time he pulled THURSDAY, 12 MAY 2011 the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beyond the raging swells into the black of night. His body was never recovered." The Bishop of Rochester will Licence the Revd Evarina Carol Kitchener as By this time, the two teenagers were sitting straighter in the pew, aghast at what Priest-in-Charge of St Lawrence's, Seal Chart and St Margaret's, Underriver, on they’d just heard. Thursday, 12 May 2011 at 7.30 p.m. "The father," he continued, "knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus, and As seating in church will be limited and there are refreshments available in the he could not bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into an eternity without Village Hall after the service, would you please indicate on one of the pink sheets Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son. How great is the love of God that he of paper at the back of the church, if possible by 8 May, whether you will be should do the same for us." With that, the old man turned and sat back down in attending. Thank you, Celeste his chair as silence filled the room. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man's side. "That was a weird story," ventured one of the boys, “No really loving father Happy 400th Birthday, King James Bible! would ever do that, though, give up his son's life just on the hope that the other On 2 May it will be exactly 400 years since the King James Version of the Bible boy would become a Christian." was first published. The Authorised Version, as it is also known, has sold more "Well," the old man replied, glancing down at his worn Bible. A smile broadened than one billion copies since it was first published in 1611. It is arguable that his narrow face, and he admitted, “It sure isn't very usual, is it? But I told you there has been no more important single publication, as its impact on culture and that story tonight because it not only shows what it must have been like for God language over the last 400 years has been huge around the world. Not only has it to give up his Son to die for us, but because the story is true you see, I was the inspired great art, music and literature, but it has changed lives and shaped whole son’s friend.” societies. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

4 9 May Day Why your children need Snow White and Sleeping Beauty May is the month when the ancient pagans used to get up to all sorts! The When it comes to Snow White, Cinderella, The Ugly Duckling, and Sleeping Romans held their festival to honour the mother-goddess Maia, goddess of nature Beauty, don’t worry about whether they are politically correct or not. Reading and growth. (May is named after her.) The early Celts celebrated the feast of them will do your children far more good than harm. Beltane, in honour of the sun god, Beli. So says a child development expert, Sally Goddard Blythe, who argues that fairy For centuries in ‘Olde England’ the people went mad in May. After the hardship tales can play a crucial role in a child’s moral development. She says they of winter, and hunger of early Spring, May was a time of indulgence and nurture moral behaviour and show youngsters the strengths and weaknesses unbridled merriment. One Philip Stubbes, writing in 1583, was scandalised: “for inherent in human nature. A fairy tale contrasts good and evil, rich and poor, what kissing and bussing, what smooching and slabbering one of another, is not vanity and valour. She argues that fairy tales tackle difficult issues, such as life practised?” after the death of parents (Cinderella), and also enlist ‘children’s innate wish for Henry VIII went ‘maying’ on many occasions. Then folk would stay out all night good to triumph.’ in the dark rain-warm thickets, and return in the morning for dancing on the A recent poll by the TheBabyWebsite.com found that a quarter of mothers reject green around the May pole, archery, vaulting, wrestling, and that evening, some fairy tales because they deem them too frightening and not politically bonfires. correct. But Mrs Goddard Blyth, director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological The Protestant reformers took a strong stand against May Day - and in 1644 May Psychology in Chester, urges: “When you don’t give children these stereotypes, Day was abolished together. Many May poles came down - only to go up again you don’t give them a moral code on which to develop their own lives.” at the Restoration, when the first May Day of King Charles’s reign was “the So – what do fairy tales teach? happiest Mayday that hath been many a year in England”, according to Pepys. Cinderella: humility, generosity, love, kindness and obedience are good; but May Day to most people today brings vague folk memories of a young Queen of greed, envy, deceit, cruelty and neglect are bad. the May decorated with garlands and streamers and flowers, a May Pole to The Ugly Duckling: endurance, hope, maturity and being true to oneself are weave, Morris dancing, and the intricacies of well dressing at Tissington in good; but fear, enforced conformity and discrimination are bad. Derbyshire. Snow White: celebrates diversity and teaches that generosity, kindness and hope May Day is a medley of natural themes such as sunrise, the advent of summer, are good; while vanity and jealousy are bad. growth in nature, and - since 1833 - Robert Owen’s vision of a millennium in the future, beginning on May Day, when there would be no more poverty, injustice Sleeping Beauty: love and bravery are good; but envy and pride are bad. or cruelty, but in harmony and friendship. This is why, in modern times, May Of course, Christian parents also have a deep wealth of stories with which to Day has become Labour Day, which honours the dignity of workers. And until introduce their children to a moral and social view of the world: the stories of the recently, in communist countries May Day processions were in honour of the Bible. There are a number of excellent Bible story books for children. achievement of Marxism. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ There has never been a Christian content to May Day, but nevertheless there is the well known 6 am service on the top of Magdalen Tower at Oxford where a We are no longer rubbish with rubbish.... choir sings in the dawn of May Day. For the first time, more than 40 per cent of all the rubbish that English An old May carol includes the lines: households create is being recycled. Only ten years ago, 14 per cent of rubbish The life of man is but a span, was recycled. It flourishes like a flower While less junk is ending up in landfill, still the average person is producing more than half a ton of rubbish every year. English households create 23 million We are here today, and gone tomorrow tons annually. The statistics come from the Environmental Department. Last We are dead within an hour. year the amount of waste being sent to landfill by local authorities fell by 2.3 per cent.

8 5 From the Registers ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~CHURCHES ~ GARDEN PARTY April 6th Funeral service followed by burial in the churchyard of the late Mr Edward on SATURDAY 21 MAY 2011 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm Thomson aged 90 years. At Fishponds, Seal Chart We remember the Thomson family in our prayers. (by kind permission of Jim & Annette Mackellar) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Please start clearing out your lofts, planting your seeds, preparing your ingredients to donate to the joint garden party! Coffee gives Women the advantage over Men Women should save their herbal tea bags until they get home. If they want to get Stall holders would be grateful for donations as follows ahead of their male colleagues at work, they should hit the strong coffee, instead. Bric-à-Brac - Books - Tombola - Flowers Drinking caffeinated coffee boosts a woman’s performance in stressful Cakes - Plants - Produce - Home Grown Veg situations. But tests have shown that it can have the opposite effect on men, who become less confident and take longer to complete tasks when they have drunk Jams - Savouries several coffees. Contact details for stall holders will be listed at the back of church after The research, published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, found that Easter. caffeine, taken in a high stress situation, helps a woman’s performance, but can We would love to hear from anyone who would be able to donate some time hinder a man’s. One conclusion is that unlimited coffee supplies for men at meetings might not be a great idea. One added: “Because caffeine is the most to help out with a stall, or with teas, childrens' games or setting up and widely consumed drug in the world, the global implications are potentially taking down the tables etc. staggering.” If you would like to help, please give John Carlisle a call on 01732 761097 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ or email him on [email protected] Short-staffed Two men were working for the town council. One would dig a hole and the other CHURCHES GARDEN PARTY would follow behind him and fill the hole in. They worked up one side of the street, then down the other, then moved on to the next street, working furiously QUALITY CLASSICS all day without rest, one man digging a hole, the other filling it in again. An onlooker was amazed at their hard work, but couldn't understand what they Elegant Used Clothing and Accessories. were doing. So he finally approached the hole digger, "I'm impressed by the effort you two are putting in to your work, but I don't get it - why do you dig a If you think your classics are just too good for the charity shop here is your answer. hole, only to have your partner follow behind and fill it up again?" The hole digger wiped his brow and sighed, "Well, I suppose it probably looks odd Please donate any items of good quality clean apparel, because we're normally a three-person team. But today the guy who plants the including hats, scarves, blouses, skirts, dresses, jackets & shoes trees called in sick." which no longer fit in your wardrobe ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ but may be just the thing for someone else. Golf One person’s used clothing is another person’s vintage find.

Golfer to caddy: “Why didn’t you watch where my ball went?” Caddy to golfer: “I’m so sorry. Your ball doesn’t usually go anywhere, and this took me Please call Roz Morris 01732 810227 if you would like completely by surprise.” to discuss the suitability of any items.

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