Forward Move
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FORWARD MOVE November 2019 Parish magazine for the Church of St Mary, Kippington. There is no charge for this Magazine. Please take a copy. Our mission … To be a bridge between God and our community sharing the love of Jesus and growing in worship, welcome and witness Home groups and prayer opportunities for you to join us Home Groups: If you are interested in joining either of the groups listed below, do please phone the designated leader. You are always assured a warm welcome. Please remember that our groups meet on a fortnightly basis, unless otherwise indicated. Tuesdays at 8.00pm November 12th and 26th fortnightly. Any new members are very welcome. Wednesdays at 10.00am November 13th and 27th Anyone who would like to join us is very welcome. Prayer for the new Team Ministry – Please join us! We are now having weekly half-hours of prayer on a Tuesday evening. The location of these meetings will be announced each week but they start promptly at 7.15 and end at 7.45. This is shared between the three parishes of Kippington, Riverhead and St Luke’s as we pray for the setting up of the West Sevenoaks Team Ministry, for one another, and for the appointment in due course of clergy. God our Father, You have welcomed each one of us in Jesus and called us to be his body in this place; Send us your Holy Spirit, at this time of uncertainty and change, to fill us with vision, energy and faithfulness in prayer, that we may be true to our calling to bring new life to our community; and guide with your heavenly wisdom those who are to choose a new incumbent for this parish, that the one whom we receive may be a wise and gentle shepherd of your people; ready to serve us with joy, to build us up in faith, and to lead by example. In loving obedience to your son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, Amen. The Vicar Writes: In a wonderful ceremony at Westminster Abbey in 1998, attended by the Queen, ten statue of Twentieth Century martyrs were unveiled. Each of them died for their beliefs in violent circumstances. And each one has a life-story enough to inspire us for every one of the rest of our days... In this month of Remembrance Sunday, I think of Maximilian Kolbe. I quote from Wikipedia. ‘Franciszek Gajowniczek (15 November 1901 – 13 March 1995) was a Polish army sergeant whose life was saved at Auschwitz by priest Maximilian Kolbe, who volunteered to die in his place. Gajowniczek had been sent to Auschwitz concentration camp from a Gestapo prison in Tarnów. Gajowniczek and Kolbe met as inmates of Auschwitz in May 1941. When a camp prisoner appeared to have escaped, deputy commandant Karl Fritzsch ordered that ten other prisoners die by starvation in reprisal. Gajowniczek was one of those selected at roll-call. When the Franciscan priest, Kolbe, heard Gajowniczek cry out in agony over the fate of his family, he offered himself instead Kolbe's exact words have been forgotten, but one eye-witness account records his words as: "I am a Catholic priest from Poland; I would like to take his place, because he has a wife and children." The switch was permitted and the punishment meted out. After all his cellmates died, Kolbe was put to death with an injection of carbolic acid. Gajowniczek was sent from Auschwitz to Sachsenhausen concentration camp on 25 October 1944. He was liberated there by the Allies, after spending five years, five months, and nine days in concentration camps in total. He reunited with his wife, Helena, half-a-year later in Rawa Mazowiecka. Though she survived the war, his sons were killed in a Soviet bombardment of Nazi-occupied Poland in 1945 before his release. On 17 October 1971, Gajowniczek was a guest of Pope Paul VI in the Vatican when Maximilian Kolbe was beatified for his martyrdom. In 1972, Time magazine reported that over 150,000 people made a pilgrimage to Auschwitz to honour the anniversary of Maximilian's beatification. One of the first to speak was Gajowniczek, who declared "I want to express my thanks for the gift of life." His wife, Helena, died in 1977. Gajowniczek was in the Vatican once again, this time as a guest of Pope John Paul II, when Kolbe was canonized on 10 October 1982. In 1994, Gajowniczek visited the St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church of Houston, Texas, where he told his translator Chaplain Thaddeus Horbowy that "so long as he ... has breath in his lungs, he would consider it his duty to tell people about the heroic act of love by Maximilian Kolbe." Gajowniczek died in the city of Brzeg on 13 March 1995 at the age of 93.[He was buried at a convent cemetery in Niepokalanów, 53 years after having his life saved by Kolbe. He was survived by his second wife, Janina.’ Maximilian Kolbe followed Christ his master and Lord, giving his life so that someone else could live. May we be willing to lay down our lives for other people, in whatever way Christ calls us... With love in Christ, News from the Swifts! Nearly 3 years ago, Stephen and Clare Swift moved with work to Hong Kong. Bearing in mind what is happening on the streets there at present, I emailed to check that they were alright. Stephen replied: ‘Hello David. So nice to hear from you. HONG KONG has been a little strange especially since the summer. While day to day life stays more or less the same, weekends are sometimes a little complicated. Where we live is fine. The violence and arguments are never really concentrated on people like us. It is quite heart breaking to see the way in which violence has spread and people have failed to keep talking. While the issues are complex, there is always a way to talk. I really think there is a need for an honest broker but it is really difficult to see who that could be. If only we had a Justin Welby!’ ‘We are likely to be here for at least another year and perhaps even two. Nothing is really certain at this stage but I think it’s clear that we won’t go back at the end of this year as was originally planned.’ They were also unlucky with a recent typhoon: ‘We are in Japan right now with Ben and Will and Ben’s fiancée. We had tickets for England France rugby but that has been cancelled because of the typhoon. Still hoping to go to the other game for which we have tickets (Japan Scotland). Fingers crossed that the damage is not too bad overnight. We are locked down in the hotel but on a high floor so no safety issues. ‘ They send greetings to you all! David Kitley ******************** ‘SAFEGUARDING IS EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBIITY’ (Bishop James Langstaff, Bishop of Rochester) We, at St Mary’s (Kippington), take safeguarding very seriously and the PCC have adopted the Rochester Diocese Safeguarding Handbook, promoting a safer Church, Safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults is the responsibility of us all whether they are in the communities in which we live or part of our Christian family. If you have a concern regarding a child, young person or adult who may be at risk of harm, please speak to our Child Protection and Disclosure Officer, Wendy Pritchard, or our Vicar, David Kitley. For further information, you may also contact Rochester Diocesan Safeguarding Team or Bishop’s Advisor for Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults: Janice Keen – Tel (01634) 560000 or 077 87 445 032, or via email [email protected] Annual Meeting Thursday 14th November 2019 at 8.00pm (refreshments from 7.30pm) St John’s United Reformed Church, St John’s Hill, Sevenoaks TN13 3LW. This is a good opportunity to hear about what is happening in the churches, including new ideas and initiatives. Come along and bring others. Loaves and Fishes Foodbank Thank you to everyone who gave food at Harvest in support of the local food bank, based at St John’s CofE Church in Sevenoaks. Please continue to support this, some ideas of non-perishable goods that are useful: Tinned vegetables. ...preferably peas, carrots, green beans, sweetcorn; Tinned meat for hot meals....eg minced beef and onion, stew/casserole, chicken in white sauce; Tinned fruit; UHT milk; Fruit juice in cartons (long life); Rice; Sauces for rice dishes. ...curry/sweet and sour; Tomato ketchup /Brown sauce /mayonnaise; Fray Bentos pies; Tinned ravioli, macaroni cheese; Tinned hot dogs; Spaghetti /baked beans with sausages; Tinned meat for cold meals. ...ham, luncheon meat, corned beef; Custard. ...tins or cartons not custard powder; Rice pudding; Coffee /hot chocolate; Sugar; Honey/jam/marmalade Caroline and Patrick Howe and occasionally myself deliver these on a regular basis to St John’s, you are welcome to leave them in the ‘Quiet corner’ at the back of Church. Sharon Fishwick The Beatitudes: ‘Blessed are the persecuted’ ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ (Matthew 5:10). Somebody once described a Christian as one who is ‘completely fearless, continually cheerful and constantly in trouble.’ Living the life that Jesus presents in the Beatitudes will not necessarily make us universally popular. We must be prepared for opposition, insults and ridicule or even worse. Of course, persecution is the daily experience for Christians in many parts of our world today. Jesus didn’t tell us to seek persecution, but He did say that when it comes, we should regard it as a blessing: Firstly, because we are identifying with Jesus: If we identify as fully as we can with Jesus, then we will experience suffering like Him.