September 2021 The Church of St Simon & St Jude Milton on Stour The Church of St Mary the Virgin Gillingham The Church of St Nicholas, Silton The Magazine of the Parishes of St Mary’s, Gillingham, St Simon & St Jude, Milton on Stour, and St Nicholas, Silton The Parish Churches of Gillingham, Milton on Stour & Silton www.gillinghamanglican.co.uk Committed to the safeguarding and protection of all children, young people and vulnerable adults. This is in line with our adoption, in full, of the Safeguarding Policy of the Anglican Church. The Clergy Rector: The Revd Canon Peter Greenwood 01747 822435 Pioneer Minister: The Revd Eve Pegler 01747 825289 Hon. Assistant Priests: The Revd David Botterill The Revd Canon Dr Jean Coates The Revd Jeffrey Hall The Revd Anne Heywood The Revd Bernard Joy Hon. Deacon The Revd Canon Allen Walker Parish Office (situated off Queen Street, next to Vicarage School Room) Open: Tuesday to Friday 9am to 1pm Tel: 01747 821598 Email: [email protected] Administrator: Mrs Carole Blackmore Postal Address: The Rectory, High Street, Gillingham, SP8 4AJ The Magazine EDITOR David Grundy ADVERTISING ADMINISTRATOR Jeff Nash DISTRIBUTION (Gillingham) Carol Foster (Milton on Stour) Sam Woodcock (Silton) Anne Bridge All members of the Committee may be contacted through the Parish Office. The Editor has the final decision on the content, style, structure and presentation of ‘Impact’. Contributions for publication should be e-mailed to the Parish Office at [email protected], with a copy to the Editor at [email protected], by the copy date. Hand-written articles can be handed in to the Parish Office. COPY DATE for October 2021 issue: Monday 13 September PUBLICATION DATE: Wednesday 22 September Published by the parishes of Gillingham, Milton on Stour & Silton 2 September September is the beginning of the new school year (almost the beginning of the new football year!) and a place to start again or anew for lots of other areas of life. Especially with COVID as we learn week by week what and how we can begin again. I think you will probably have memories of school in September. Perhaps you can remember your very first day at school. I can. Standing small in a crowd of grown-ups and children outside Waterton Road Infant School. The beginning of the new school year brings memories of shiny black new school shoes, and new school uniforms that were slightly too big for you. Bought for you to grow into. I always had butterflies in my stomach at the start of a new school year, before settling again into the swing of things. Remembering all these things we pray for, all those students at school, college and university, starting or starting again this September. We pray too for families, staff and governors and all associated with the lives of our town's schools, and all who live here who work further afield in the field of education. In the life of the church this new month brings returning and new activities. Climate Sunday is on September the 5th, this year ahead of COP26 to be held in Glasgow in November; Ride and Stride, the fund-raising initiative for historic churches across the country takes place on Saturday September 11; and on September the 12th Salisbury Diocese's Generous Giving campaign begins. You will find a leaflet about this enclosed with this edition. In case it has dropped out here are some of the headlines. Bishop Karen writes to us all to remind us of God's good gifts to us, to encourage thankfulness amongst us, and to ask us to continue or begin to be generous givers. If we are unable to be generous with our money, there are other ways for us to be generous - with our time, prayers and attitude. There will be a Sunday focus for four weeks and things to think about at home during the weeks. Across our benefice our parishes have different financial situations so that can be reflected more locally Sunday by Sunday. The larger call to be generous givers is a foundational part of our Christian discipleship whatever the financial situation of our parish church. The call to be generous for our own benefit, happiness and well-being is part of the shared wisdom of humanity. The call for each parish to give a share to the diocese means that ministry can truly be shared from the village to the city, the smallest congregation to the largest, and the least well off to the most wealthy. Let’s pray for one another and think of one another as we begin or begin again this September, God bless, love Peter 3 Resources from the Church of England There are a range of new and existing Christian resources available for people to engage with at this difficult and challenging time in the life of the nation and the world: Weekly service broadcasts - these are made available each Sunday through the Church's Facebook page. Time to Pray app - everything you need for Prayer During the Day, with variations according to the day of the week and the season of the Church’s year. Download for free https://www.chpublishing.co.uk/apps/time-to-pray Daily hope – offers music, prayers and reflections as well as full worship services from the Church of England at the end of a telephone, 24 hours a day – 0800 8048044 Daytime prayer and Night prayer service audio - building on the existing daily prayer feed, this includes daytime prayer and night prayer for each day, in audio and text. Texts available in both contemporary and traditional forms for Prayer during the Day, Evening Prayer, Night Prayer and Morning Prayer, taken from Common Worship: Daily Prayer. Available on the Church of England website and as a downloadable app. Sunday Worship – Radio 4 at 8.10am. Songs of Praise – every Sunday on BBC1 at 1.15pm. Choral Evensong – every Sunday on Radio 3 at 3.00pm, and every Wednesday at 3.30pm. The BBC's Daily Service – on BBC Radio 4 LW, at 9.45am and at bbc.co.uk. Mental health reflections – 13 daily reflections (https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/mental-health- resources/supporting-good-mental-health) that seek to provide hope, reassurance and comfort. We have also published five tips (https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/mental-health- resources/dealing-loneliness-and-isolation-five-top-tips) to help tackle loneliness and isolation. Smart speaker apps – the Church of England’s smart speaker apps enables millions of users to ask the Church of England for prayers, explanations of the Christian faith, location-based information about local church events and services, and more. It can be used with Amazon Alexa and Google Home. 4 Memories of Bishop Nicholas ‘A man of the people and a champion of "the lost, the last and the least”, a Bishop that our Diocese has come to know and love.’ That is how Bishop Nicholas, the 78th Bishop of Salisbury, will be remembered. Original photo by Ash Mills And from Bishop Nicholas himself, during the Evensong on 3rd July, to mark his retirement, this prayer: "Lord God, Thou hast appointed me in the church as bishop and pastor. Thou seest how unfit I am to attend to such a great and difficult office, and if it had not been for Thy help, I would long since have ruined everything. Therefore, I call upon Thee. "Amen to that. I might have ruined everything. If I haven’t, thanks be to God." 5 Bishop Nicholas said his final goodbyes to the Diocese at the livestreamed service from the Cathedral, and in return representatives from across the Diocese said a resounding "Thank You". From in-person presentations to an avalanche of social media posts, the Bishop could be left in no doubt that he will be missed by clergy and laity alike. Describing our Diocese as "God’s small miracle", the now former Bishop of Salisbury thanked the churches of the Diocese for being "so supportive me as Bishop, particularly in responding so strongly to my role as the C of E’s lead Bishop on the environment." He reminded everyone of his legacy vision saying "The Diocese of Salisbury renews hope as we pray, serve, grow." At the end of the service, which included some of Bishop Nicholas’ favourite music and hymns and a final homily (here), Bishop Karen told her colleague: "Salisbury has come to know you and love you. You have continued to champion the rights of the deaf and disabled, same sex couples, and being married to a Quaker has given you and Helen a shared awareness of the needs of our partners in the Sudans, and a care for the environment and a determination to support and speak out." She said how the description of the Bishop as man of the people "has characterised your ministry. Not a fleeting interest, but a deep concern for the lost, the last and the least." 6 Presentations were made in person by the Diocesan Mothers Union, the Diocesan Guild of Bell Ringers, the Diocesan Board of Education and two choristers from the Cathedral, all of whom thanked the Bishop for his service. And, on behalf of the Diocese, Diocesan Secretary David Pain presented Bishop Nicholas with a photobook, a card hand-painted by Nigel Done, our Diocesan Director of Ordinands, containing all the messages collated by the Sherborne Office, and a cheque. Bishop Nicholas had also generously asked people to give to our Aldhelm Mission Fund in thanksgiving for his ministry and so far over £3000 has been donated to the fund in the Bishop's name.