2021 APRIL ONLINE Parish Magazine Parishes of Rolvenden and Newenden Associate Team Priest The Revd Chris Hodgkins 01580 389587 [email protected] mob: 07843220684 Please note Chris' day off is Friday Reader Judy Vinson 01580 241504 [email protected] St Mary the Virgin, Rolvenden Churchwardens Elizabeth Marshall 01580 241529 ea.marshall@btinternet .com Hon. Secretary Ann Paddick 01797 252334 Hon. Treasurer William Barham 01580 240852 Sacristan Elizabeth Marshall 01580 241529 Organist Geoffrey Davison 01580 241685 Bellringers’ Assoc. Captain Linda Smith 01580 241783 St Peter, Newenden Churchwardens Frances Jones 01797 252563 [email protected] Hugh Edmonds 01797 252196 [email protected] Hon Secretary Ellen Hannavy-Cousen 07861705638 [email protected] Hon. Treasurer Sue Bourne 07879 403424 Sacristan Rhoda Smith 01580 292041 Magazine Administration Judy Vinson 01580 241504 [email protected] Magazine Subscriptions Sue Bourne 078794 03424 Published by Rolvenden P.C.C. This month's cover: A walk in the woods. Photographer: TML The Minister’s Letter The Minister’s letter this month comes from Rev Lindsay Hammond of St Mildred’s Tenterden He is also the incumbent of the 9 parish benefice of which we are a part. Welcome Lindsay. Hello Everyone. As I write this, Easter is just over two weeks away. Plans to decorate our churches for the festival are well in hand and occupying a central place will be the Easter garden. The Easter garden is full of symbolism. It represents the beauty of springtime, the yearly marvel of nature’s renewal. But it’s much more than that. The garden takes us back to creation when, said the ancient story, God planted a garden in Eden and placed Adam there to look after it. In the Easter garden there is a new paradise, a new world, a new creation. And Jesus is the gardener, just as Adam was, who comes into his garden on the first day of the week to begin his great work of re-making the world as God wants it to be. The day after Jesus has finished what he came to do, and has kept the Sabbath, and rested in the tomb, the week begins all over again with a sunrise of wonder that heralds a new dawn for the world. It brings a new hope to raise up broken spirits. And with it the promise that the risen Christ will one day make all things new. At Easter there will be tears, especially after a year of living under the virus. They may be tears of personal grief and loss like Mary’s, like the bereaved who have lost cherished loved ones. If we have any feeling for humanity, and look upon the suffering people of Syria and Yemen, our hearts break for the pain of the world. Just as God’s heart must break too as he weeps over us. Yet Easter says to you, to me, to all of us, to the entire human family, if only it would listen: do not lose heart; do not be afraid; reawaken the hope you once had. Or if you never had it, if hope has eluded you for a lifetime, go to the garden. Go to the empty tomb, go to the very place where it seems Christ is absent, and find that he is alive and present and among us. Find that as then, so now, he calls us by our name and invites us to step out of the shadows of the tomb into the marvellous light of resurrection. What is hope when the world is so dark and we protest ‘O God, why?’, when events baffle us and make us afraid, when our burdens and our planet’s feel just too heavy to bear? Hope is everything. Hope gives us back our disintegrated lives, reassembled by the crucified and risen Lord. We glimpse how life can begin again. The good news of Easter is that even at the grave, even when everything seems hopeless and we feel at our most helpless, we sing: ‘Alleluia. He is risen!’ May God bless you with faith, hope and love this Easter! Lindsay 3 E From the Registers E Funeral March 2nd Percy Barnes at Charing March 15th Betty Hardes at St Peter followed by cremation at Hastings Flower Rotas for April 2021 Sunday St Mary St Peter April 04 Easter Arrange on Easter Sat.3rd Arrange on Easter Sat.3rd April 11 Sylvia K TBA April 18 Sylvia K TBA April 25 Sylvia K TBA Contact: Sylvia Kellett Rosie Edmonds 01580 240463 01797 252196 [email protected] [email protected] Brass Cleaning at St Mary: Sylvia Kellett How lovely to arrange flowers in Church for Easter! Flower arrangers are most welcome on Easter Saturday. Sylvia You can help fight COVID -19 by aiding research Join 4,633,105 members of the public supporting the NHS and scientists in the UK. Together we can get out of lockdown safely and beat the disease. The COVID Symptom Study app is a not-for-profit initiative launched at the end of March 2020 to support vital COVID-19 research by health science company ZOE with scientific analysis provided by King’s College London. With over 4 million contributors globally, the Study is the world’s largest ongoing study of COVID-19 and is led by ZOE Co-Founder, Tim Spector. By using this app you're helping and contributing to advance vital research on COVID-19. By combining your reports with software algorithms, we are able to predict who has the virus and so track COVID infections across the UK and now other countries. Your daily reporting is also being used to generate new scientific understanding of the very different symptoms the virus causes in different people. We are also studying the way that risks vary between individuals because of their own personal characteristics. Studies are now tracking the side effects and effectiveness of the vaccines. The work very definitely goes on. The app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play 4 Dogs - Lost & Stolen Dog thefts in our area and all over the country are on the increase. If you are unfortunate enough to have your dog stolen report it immediately to Dog Lost on 0844 800 3220 or Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111. The local village Facebook pages are also a very good site to report either lost or stolen dogs. If you do use Facebook or other social sites do remember to post the good news that your dog has returned. Remember: n Never leave your dog unattended outside a shop n Never leave your dog unattended in your car n When out walking your dog be aware of strangers watching you, or maybe stopping you to discuss your dog. n It is against the law not to have your dog microchipped whatever its age. If your dog is stolen it can easily be traced with a scanner. Pam Murphy And Police Community Support Officer Kate has a further warning: Be aware of a new ploy by dog thieves: having a white van with RSPCA stickers and removing dogs from dog walking owners claiming the dog matches a description of a stolen dog. Never let your dog be taken by anyone. Insist they follow you to the vets to have the dog scanned to prove ownership by the chip. If they are not for real they won’t go with you. Phone the police at the first opportunity with as much detail as possible. If you can take photos of the offenders and the car registration. There are also reports of thieves door knocking in residential areas. 5 Church Service Calendar for April Thursday 1st April, Maundy Thursday 7:00pm St Mary Rolvenden Eucharist for Maundy Thursday Friday 2nd April, Good Friday 2:00pm St Peter Newenden 2:00pm St Mary Newenden The Last Hour of the Cross The Last Hour of the Cross Saturday 3rd April, Easter Saturday 7:00pm St Mary Rolvenden The Easter Liturgy Sunday 4th April, Easter Sunday 9:15am St Peter Newenden 11:00am St Mary Rolvenden Family Eucharist (CW) Family Eucharist (CW) Sunday 11th April, Second Sunday of Easter 9:15am St Peter Newenden 11:00am St Mary Rolvenden Eucharist (CW) Eucharist (CW) Tuesday 13th April, 8:30am St Mary Rolvenden Eucharist (CW) Sunday 18th April, Third Sunday of Easter 8:00am St Mary Rolvenden Holy Communion (BCP) 9:15am St Peter Newenden 11:00am St Mary Rolvenden Morning Praise (CW) Matins (BCP) Tuesday 20th April, 8:30am St Mary Rolvenden Eucharist (CW) Sunday 25th April, Fourth Sunday of Easter 9:15 St Peter Newenden 11:00am St Mary Rolvenden Eucharist (CW) Eucharist (CW) Tuesday 27th April, 9:00am St Mary Rolvenden Eucharist (CW) Advanced notice for May Sunday 2nd May, Fifth Sunday of Easter 9:15am St Peter Newenden 11:00am St Mary Rolvenden Eucharist (CW) Eucharist (CW) 3:00pm St Mary Churchyard Rolvenden Camp Fire Covid Secure – For the time being we will continue to wear masks in church, we will sit safely distanced, singing will be restricted to solos and there will be no coffee and chat following the service. Online Night Prayer will be available on the two church Facebook pages on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings from 7:00pm onwards. Please note the time will change to 9:00pm on Tuesday 30th April and Saturday 3rd to avoid a clash with church services. 6 Back to School Esme Thomas is a local mum and she asked her youngest daughter Betty (aged 5) how she felt about going back to school. “I just can’t wait *lots of squealing* I’m looking forward to lunchtimes with my friends and painting and phonics and yoga and seeing Mr.