What's happening at St Lukes?
Lunchtime Book
Group
The book group will be meeting on Friday November 7th at
1pm in the Parish Room when we will be discussing “Basil
Hume - The Monk Cardinal” by Anthony Howard. Howard,
well known for his political writings and biographies of
Rab Butler and Richard Crossman was a surprising choice to
write the authorised biography of the late Archbishop of
Westminster, the leading light of the Roman Catholic church
for over twenty years. Howard is an Anglican and so a man
with a different perspective from some of the potential Roman
Catholic authors who were queuing up to write this book.
Well written with an engaging style, why not take this opportunity
to read the book and come and discuss or listen to the thoughts
of others. Everyone welcome.
Evening Book Group
In the days of high summer a number of us met to discuss
our reading and to suggest some good reads.
So now as the nights draw in, the Evening Group is moving
to the earlier slot of 3pm on Tuesday 25th November to talk
about what we’ve been reading - biography or travel
book, fiction or non fiction, and to make a few recommendations.
So if you enjoy a good read and a chat about books – come
to St Luke’s House on the 25th. Everyone welcome.
Church Urban Fund
Over the years the Church Urban Fund, set up as part of the
Church of England’s commitment to the report Faith
in the City, has been an important part of the giving of
St Luke’s, and is now a core charity. As part of our
commitment to this important charity, Jonathan Cryer from
the Church Urban Fund will be our guest preacher on Sunday
23rd November at our 10.15 service, telling us about their
work and how we can support them in the future
Advent Sunday
This year the first Sunday of Advent falls on November 30th.
Our 10.15 service will be Parish Eucharist with an Advent
theme running through it, in scripture, music and sermon.
In the evening the churches of the North West Fellowship
will be joining together at 6.30pm at St Mary’s Kippington,
in a service of readings and advent music, both congregation
and choir items. Do come along to Kippington and join with
our friends from across Sevenoaks, singing our advent praise.
Competition Time
Once again Crossway is launching its annual story writing
competition. This year we are splitting the competition
into two for the over 18s and the under 18s, and in each
category the prize is a book token.
The task is as follows - imagine you are the Bethlehem
Correspondent of the Galilean Times and you have heard
of the events of that first Christmas night, your editor
wants the full story with eyewitness accounts and in-depth
coverage of the birth of Jesus for the paper. What will
you write?
Closing date for entries is November 21st to the Parish
Office. The winning entries will be published in our December
edition
Happy writing
Mary and Joseph on their travels again
Last Christmas the figure of Mary and Joseph, which was
made in the town of Bethlehem, travelled around the parish
spending one night each with members of the congregation
.
This tradition known as Posada, was adopted by the Church
Army, is a way of passing on the Christmas story and sharing
in the sense of welcome and preparation for the Christmas
celebrations, using Mary and Joseph on their travels.
So on Advent Sunday, Mary and Joseph will be leaving St
Luke’s to start their travels returning on Christmas
Eve at the Christingle service. So if you would like to
give room to Mary and Joseph, there will be a sign up sheet
at the back of church and as well as the figure there will
be some prayers and resources to use during Advent. Last
year a number of people took photographs and we used them
on the Open Day, it would be an excellent idea to put together
an album this year, showing Mary and Joseph on their travels
- so if you have the opportunity please take a photo.
So this Advent make room for Mary and Joseph.
Programme for 2008/2009
Friday 28th November 2pm. David Chamberlain—A talk
on the shipwrecks of the Goodwin Sands
(See below for more details)
December 19th—12.30pm. Christmas-Boxing Day comes early
Friday 30th January 2pm. A talk by In Touch—Home Improvement Agency
Friday 27th February 2pm. This is your life
Friday 27th March 2pm. The Reverend Dennis Mihill Talks about his visit to Oberammergau
Friday 24th April 2pm Easter/St George’s Day – tea and a
selection of readings
May. Trip to Emmetts
June. Garden Party
July. Cream Tea in Edenbridge
August. Pub Lunch and a visit to Tudeley Church
Everyone is welcome to come to any of our meetings, we will be publishing more
details of events in future magazines. Fellowship is our opportunity at St
Luke’s to meet together midweek, do come along to one of the talks or
trips.
COME AND JOIN AND ENJOY THE FELLOWSHIP
We are very pleased to welcome to our Fellowship, David Chamberlain,
boatman, writer and historian, who has been researching the
wrecks on the Goodwin Sands
and the Great Storm of 1703. Much of David’s talk comes from his new
book, recently published.
Below are some details of the book to whet your appetites.
LOST AND FOUND ISBN 978-0-9548439-3-9
by David Chamberlain
In the winter of 1703, England witnessed a storm that was to destroy property
and cause the death of more people than any before or since. This storm also created an urban myth and defamation of a town that was adjacent
to where the loss of over a thousand sailors occurred.
In this book, the author tells the true story of how one of Queen Anne’s
warships, the Stirling Castle, was lost and then found – almost intact
after nearly three-hundred years of being buried in the infamous Goodwin Sands.
It also destroys the libel that Daniel Defoe inflicted on the people and boatmen
in the town of Deal.
Along with this, the book also examines and explains, in story and photographs,
the successes and disappointments that the modern-day divers and archaeologists
have had with the shipwreck – and the hundreds of historical treasures
that have been found and conserved by the East Kent Maritime Trust.
In addition, it gives the details of how the rescue of the ‘Rupertnoe
32 pounder’ cannon was undertaken – which is now on display at
the Thanet Maritime Museum.
If you would like a copy they will be on sale priced £3.99 on the 28th
November.
Prayer of the month
Last month we printed the prayer written for the current financial difficulties
and widely quoted by the media. This month we print a prayer on the stewardship
of our resources, as perhaps one of the lessons of recent months has been the
need for wisdom and discernment in financial matters, and a sense of looking
for true values in God’s bounty to us. As the gospel writer puts it “where
your heart is, there will your treasure be”. Never forget too, it is
not money that is the root of all evil but the love of money - an important
difference!
A PRAYER FOR WISE FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP
Lord Jesus Christ, by taking human flesh you sanctified material things to be a means of your grace;
grant us wisdom in our attitude to money, and a generous heart in the
use of the resources entrusted to us,
that by faithful stewardship we may glorify you. Amen.
Adapted from a prayer from the Church of England Central Board of Finance
©
The Archbishops’ Council
Both this prayer, and that from last month, are included in a very useful
sheet of prayers and readings, produced by our good friend Anne Le Bas, Vicar
of
Seal, copies of which can be found at the back of St Luke’s.
Sevenoaks Churches Group for Social Concern
At a meeting at the end of September the work of the National Association of
Child Contact Centres (NACCC) was explained and the first steps taken to establish
a Centre in Sevenoaks. The idea of these Centres is to provide a safe, neutral
and informal environment where, after family breakdown, children can meet the
parent no longer sharing their home, and maintain contact through play and
chat rather than within the limitations of, say, a visit to McDonalds. The
Centres are suitable for families where no significant risk to the child or
those around the child has been identified.
Accommodation for the Centre in Sevenoaks will be provided at the Vine Evangelical
Church, and Sally Stiven from that church will coordinate the initiative. Training
sessions for volunteer helpers will take place this autumn, with the hope that
the Centre will be up and running early in the new year. Initially it will
be open once a month on a Sunday afternoon, for use by up to eight families
with a team of four volunteers on duty in the background. Families will only
be able to attend if they have been referred to the Centre, and after being
visited by the coordinator. Toys and refreshments will be provided.
The need for such a Centre here in Sevenoaks has been confirmed by the Police,
Social Services and District Council, and it is very much hoped that this initiative
will prove to be a successful venture.
Margaret Newman
YOUR HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED!
We urgently need occasional help at the Lunchtime Recitals on Wednesdays, serving
coffee and/or welcoming the recitalists and audience.
If you are able to help please contact Ruth Mancktelow on 742382.
We also need more volunteers to help with flower arranging, again, on an
occasional basis. It is very rewarding knowing that you are helping to make
our church
more colourful. It is not necessary to take on all the flower arrangements
in the same week—just one of them—now and again.
If you are able to help please contact Ruth Mancktelow on 742382 or Sylvia
Hardy on 453427
Sarah’s
Gardening Column
In previous years frosts have come later
and later, so this year’s early frost on 3rd October
caught us by surprise and sadly finished off most of our
courgette plants. The
better weather since then has meant that the runner and
French beans had a last crop, with the sun helping to germinate
a late planting of a green manure; Phaecelia. This can
help enrich the ground over winter, binding nutrients in
the soil (traditional bone meal etc can be washed straight
through sandy soils) Last year one raised bed the size
of our kitchen table on which we had used grazing rye (another
green manure) has had a bumper crop of 20 plus butternut
squash!
Harvest sometimes seems to be an extension of summer; an
Indian summer, with some crops carrying on in the heat. However
by the end of July our sweet peas were giving up, not used
to such heat extremes, but then the morning glories came
into their own, giving extra colour to our yard, twining
up the winter jasmine, hollyhock stalks and even the water
down pipe, and are still going strong .
Over the spring and summer we have noticed several pale-bodied
frogs in our pond, and some were docile enough for me to
pick one out to show my youngest niece, Bethan (7). Another
little friend, Billy visited at the end of July, and we found
it very hard to find just 1 frog for him to admire as he
said “ribbit”. Usually, in the heat there are
12-20 resting on the cool back pebbles, ready to jump in
at any time. (As Tom “walks” past!) Joy and I
both heard the same radio article about a deadly virus sweeping
England’s ponds, decimating the frog/toad and newt
population. The penny dropped. I have contacted the researchers,
and filled in a “frog mortality form”, if we
find a body, we can freeze it, and contact the researchers
who will collect the corpse for examination. This may explain
why the slugs and snails are worse this year, and explains
the reduction in live frogs, the number of pale bodied corpses
we have seen, and why our spawn failed and had no live tadpoles!
Our hens have settled in, and are on average now producing
3-4 eggs per day, which now taste considerably better than
shop eggs. My cousin in America says that cholesterol in
very fresh eggs is much lower than in shop ones! The hens
are delighted to see all our organic vegetable scraps, even
enjoying a slug attacked pumpkin.
Congratulations to Edward Gaut; the winner of the largest
pumpkin competition
His pumpkin weighed a whopping 1¼ stone, the circumference
of 39½ inches. Well done Edward. Following in 2nd
place was Andrew Levick, with Amelia and Eloise in 3rd place.
Congratulations to all that took part, it was no mean feat
to grow any pumpkin this year, the slugs had a bumper time!
We hope to repeat the competition next year. Thank you also
to those who donated theirs to Pilsdon.
Sarah Rogers
St Luke’s
Harvest Festival
Sunday 5th October dawned damp and dismal. However, inside
the church there was a warm, pleasant, pungent smell. An
abundance of food lay on the floor near the font. This
would be carried exuberantly up the aisle to the altar
where it
would be blessed. Later, on Monday, it would go to the
Pilsdon Community at West Malling. Last year their food
bill was
greatly reduced by our contribution.
St Luke’s was beautifully decorated and the service
was lovely too. We were reminded of God’s bountiful
gifts to us. Seven youngsters of the choir helped with the
address. Each one had a capital letter of the word ‘Harvest’.
They had to change places many times to form different
words like starve, save, tare, tear, the, earth etc.,
applicable
to harvest. Much fun and laughter was caused.
There was then a short break while we chatted and had
a drink. Twelve o’clock, midday and the hall doors
were flung wide. How inviting the scene looked with the
bright red and
white checked cloths and bowls of fresh flowers. The
menu was fish pie or spaghetti bolognese. How tasty and
tempting
the pie was! This was followed by an apple muffin, a
tallish cake, delicious and filling.
We could not linger long as the hall was booked. In no
time, all was cleared away and there was much activity
in the kitchen.
Harvest was over for another year, but we must remember
that God’s gifts are always there. These we must
share around the world. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for
all your kind
thoughts and love to us.
Marie Therese Zobel
Thank you from Pilsdon
No sooner had Tony and I returned from West Malling delivering
the Harvest gifts, than I found an e-mail from Peter Barnett
at Pilsdon.
“Many thanks for all your harvest gifts. Very much appreciated
by us all. Please convey our thanks to the congregation.”
Peter
