February Xtra newsletter 2020

Dear all


February is soon to be upon us. Despite it being the coldest month according to the Met Office statistics it is at least a month where Spring starts  gradually to emerge with the hope of longer, lighter evenings and better weather not far away. 

I do hope you are keeping well and here is some news about forthcoming events at All Saints Whitstable in February.

First of all I would like to mention the Alpha course which is now beginning in the first week of February not the last week of January.

There will be a choice of either Thursday evenings or Friday mornings. The venue will be the Vicarage.

There will be no meal.
However, the DVDs are excellent and the group last year really enjoyed coming on the course.

Alpha comes from a particular theological and spiritual tradition but you can come from any particular theological understanding or even from an agnostic or atheist viewpoint and still find the course worthwhile.

The format is to watch the DVD which lasts about 25 minutes and then there is a conversation about the video.

The Thursday evening session will begin on 6^th February  at 7.30pm and will finish at 9.15pm. The Friday morning session will start  on 7^th February and the timings will be from 10.30am till 12 noon.
There may be times when sessions have to be changed due to funerals I may have to take etc.

It is a particularly good way of preparing for confirmation which this year is in May at All Saints Whitstable with our new Bishop, Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin taking it! Now that is going to be brilliant! So if you are considering confirmation this would be an excellent course to attend.

Or if you consider yourself to be an atheist or an agnostic but you are still interested in speaking about spiritual matters it would still be very suitable. It is actually a course originally designed for those without faith as well as those with faith.

Also, if  you are simply just wanting to come and search and ask difficult questions such as "Why is there so much suffering in the world?" (A good question to ask in view of the recent news from Australia, China and the Middle East) then this is the perfect format. I certainly don't have all the answers but we can at least discuss the questions.

The course is free of charge though if you want to contribute to the cost of the manual I think it is £1.

Please email me at tillotsons@gmail.com if you are planning on attending the course. Please let me know which course you are planning to attend. 


Here is a video I made yesterday about the course if you wish further information:

THE ZONE!

STARTING MONDAY - please contact Elena Markova for more information on

07719 983363

SACRED SPACE
Sacred Space resumes for the year 2020 on Monday 27th January at 8pm at All Saints church. It concludes at 9pm

Sacred Space is an hour of reflection with occasional music and sometimes the use of incense. You can arrive late or leave early.

Here is a video from this time last year to give you an understanding of what it is like.

We do encourage people to bring a torch for their own health and safety.

Earlier the same day on Monday there is a very important event at Canterbury Cathedral

“Standing Together”

Holocaust Memorial Day

Monday 27 January

Canterbury Cathedral

To mark the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz

2 pm     “Standing Together”:

A Message for Today by Simon Langton Sixth Formers about their work for HMD 2020
3 pm     Walking tour of Jewish Canterbury
4.15pm Talk on the Jewish History of Canterbury and Records relating to Jewish History  followed by an opportunity to browse the documents with experts on hand
5.30pm Choral Evensong
Led by members of the Cathedral Community, together with representatives of Jewish and Islamic faiths
6.15pm Refreshments

Please feel free to come to as many or as few of the events as you would like.

For the 2 pm, 3 pm, and 4.15 pm session please meet in the Visitor Centre ten minutes before the start of the session you are interested in next to the main gate of the Cathedral.  For the Service, please just enter the Cathedral grounds and the staff on the gate will direct you to Evensong.

Although I cannot attend this event because I am  taking Pam Anderson's funeral, he needs to let the Cathedral know how many are going so please let me know if you are planning to attend so I can let the Cathedral know.
Email me please at 
tillotsons@gmail.com

COMING UP SOON!

All Saints Supper and Quiz

Saturday 15 February 

6.30 pm for 7.00pm start

All Welcome

BYO drinks and glasses

Tickets £8

Tables of 8 (or just come along and we’ll make up tables)

See John Johnson for tickets or ring him (262581)

Lent begins towards the end of February. There are services held in all the Team churches. Do come along!

OUR SERMONS - INCLUDING THE SERMON PREACHED BY THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY WHEN HE VISITED US ON 22nd DECEMBER
PLEASE VISIT THIS YOUTUBE LINK


https://www.youtube.com/user/simontillotson/videos



PLEASE NOTE
All our regular weekly groups are advertised on out website
Please do look at these to find out more about our church
www.allsaintswhitstable.com

Thank you for reading this month's newsletter
Rev Simon Tillotson

January Xtra Newsletter

Dear all

A very Happy New Year to you!

We live in a worrying world with a dangerous situation in the Middle East possibly on the verge of becoming even more dangerous and terrible fires in Australia - amongst many other calamities elsewhere in the world. Nonetheless, however many worries we may have in life, God has still given us the gift of life which was all given to us freely and it is our duty to make the most of it as it is a precious gift. 

With this in mind let me express the hope that you are not overcome with gloom as can often be the case at this murky dark time of the year (though the weather today happens to have been beautiful). 

Indeed, may I wish you personally a blessed new year and also express the hope that you had a wonderful Christmas. It was good to see so many people at All Saints over the Christmas period. 

We have our Lord with us and He will guide and lead us through the Year. As we trust in Him, our faith grows stronger and the fruit of the Holy Spirit grows within us more and more. 

Now to news of January!

After a very busy run of weeks it looks like January will be a relatively quieter month but there are still new things to tell you about.

The first thing to tell you about is the Labyrinth that Dr Martin Garsed will be running on Saturday 11th January:

Open Labyrinth at All Saints Whitstable on 11th January 2pm to  4 pm.

Martin writes "This is an opportunity to take time out, drop in and prepare to set off anew on the road of 2020 as the Magi did all those years ago. An experience of letting go the past year and striding into the New one with love, faith and hope for oneself, our loved ones and all peoples."  

You don't have to come for the whole two hours. You can just stay for a short while or stay longer and arrive and leave at any point.

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

The next thing to let you know about is our Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Here are the details:

If you want to read the material in advance or as you go through the week then please click on this link:
PLEASE NOTE THE MATERIAL TAKES A MINUTE OR SO TO DOWNLOAD EVEN WITH A FAST BROADBAND CONNECTION

CLICK HERE FOR WEEK OF CHRISTIAN PRAYER MATERIAL

Something to remember is that Day 1 is Saturday 18th, Day 2 Sunday 19th, Day 3 Monday 20th and so on.


ALPHA COURSE

I am running another Alpha course from the end of January right up to the end of March.There will be a choice of either Thursday evenings or Friday mornings. The venue will be the Vicarage. There will be no meal.

However, the DVDs are excellent and the group last year really enjoyed coming on the course.

Some are coming back to attend a second time which is absolutely fine.

Alpha comes from a particular theological and spiritual tradition but you can come from any particular theological understanding or even from an agnostic or atheist viewpoint and still find the course worthwhile.

The format is to watch the DVD which lasts about 25 minutes and then there is a conversation about the video.

The Thursday evening session will begin on 30th January at 7.30pm and will finish at 9.15pm. The Friday morning session will start at 10.30am and run till 12 noon, beginning on 31st January. There may be times when sessions have to be changed due to funerals I may have to take etc.

It is a particularly good way of preparing for confirmation which this year is in May at All Saints Whitstable with our new Bishop, Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin taking it! Now that is going to be brilliant!

So if you are considering confirmation this would be an excellent course to attend.

But if you are simply just wanting to come and search and ask difficult questions such as "Why is there so much suffering in the world?" (A good question to ask in view of the recent news from Australia and the Middle East) then this is the perfect format. I certainly don't have all the answers but we can at least discuss the questions.

The course is free of charge though if you want to contribute to the cost of the manual I think it is £1.

Let me know if you are interested please. And do watch this video too! You can email me at tillotsons@gmail.com.






Please note that the suggested videos that come up after a Youtube video has finished are based on the user's own computer's interaction with Youtube or its parent company Google and are not in any way suggestions from All Saints Whitstable.


The Archbishop of Canterbury visits All Saints

We were really delighted and honoured when a surprise visit by Archbishop Justin Welby took place on Sunday 22nd December.
Archbishop Justin does visit parishes in his Diocese quite often but even so it did come as a surprise.

You can hear the Archbishop's sermon here:

If you are interested in listening to my Christmas morning sermon you can find it here. I was talking about the two questions that people often ask:
1) If there is a God why does he not reveal himself more obviously?
2) If there is a God why does he allow suffering?

I hope you find it helpful.

THE ZONE

THE NEW YOUTH CLUB FOR 11 to 14 year olds. 

Starting on the last Monday evening in January

Contact Elena at allsaints.cfm@gmail.com for more information

UNITY UPDATE for the WHITSTABLE TEAM MINISTRY

Thank you for reading right to the end of the newsletter. I haven't this month included all our regular groups but please visit our website for more information on these.

www.allsaintswhitstable.com

Thank you

Rev Simon Tillotson

tillotsons@gmail.com