October Xtra update

Dear all

I do hope you had a great summer and are adjusting well to autumn with its cooler temperatures and seasonal weather.

I have just returned from leading a pilgrimage to Holy Island, Northumbria, and Iona, Scotland. I will be speaking about the pilgrimage at All Saints church hall on Sunday 12th November at 3.30pm. If you would be interested to find out more about that please put the date in your diary. It is of course free of charge and refreshments will be provided.

There are some major events coming up in the life of All Saints this month and I do hope to see you at some of them.

HARVEST SUPPER AND BARN DANCE

Firstly, I am afraid we have now reached our maximum allocation of 85 adults and children for tonight's Harvest Supper and Barn Dance. Sorry about that if you were planning to try and get a ticket at the last moment.

However, please do come to our Harvest Family Service on Sunday 8th October. Please remember to bring tins or packets of food for the homeless to both the 8am and 10am services that day. For the 8am, please bring them up before the service and leave by the high altar. For the 10am, please keep the products on you and be prepared to bring them up at a certain point in the service. The food will be going to the Canterbury charity "Catching Lives" which works with the homeless. Here is a poster for the event.

CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL BOYS' CHOIR CONCERT - Saturday 7th October at 7pm at All Saints Whitstable

Postal ticket orders are now ended on this concert. If you would like to buy a ticket the best option is to buy via the Eventbrite website or come along to the church office on Monday, Thursday or Friday from 10am to 11.30am. There should be some tickets available on the day too though advance purchase is much appreciated.

I would like to encourage people to buy online. We have not sold tickets online for church concerts before but it is proving a very easy way to buy tickets.

To buy online please click HERE - remember to bring your email ticket from Eventbrite with you to the concert.

STEWARDS - it would still be good to have two or three more stewards to assist with this concert. Thank you to those who have volunteered so far. We will be in touch with you about what is involved.

ALL SAINTS APPLICATION FOR GRANT FOR TOILET FOR THOSE WITH DISABILITIES AND CHURCHYARD PATHS AND SHIRLEY HALL CARPARK RESURFACING

Thank you to all those who responded to my request for letters and emails for this appeal. Your letters, and those still to come before Monday 2nd October evening, (the deadline), are much appreciated.

HOLYBALLOO

Holyballoo is going from strength to strength. 17 children and 10 adults attended the session on Thursday. This poster gives the dates for the period from now till Christmas

BONFIRE AND FIREWORK NIGHT

Saturday 4th November
Gates open 6.15pm

All Saints Vicarage Garden

Tickets on sale on Sundays (from 8th October) in the hall and other Sundays too (this is usually from about 11.15am). They are also available every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10am to 11.30am from the Church office.

The Church office entrance is round the back of the Church hall

Ticket price

Adults £5.   Child £1 (3-15 years)

NO TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE GATE so please buy your tickets in advance.

Hot Dogs and drinks will be on sale.

It has been great to see how this event has grown over the years. There is a strong team of helpers but I am sure they would always appreciate an extra pair of hands so if you would like to help please contact me, Simon, and I will pass on your details. My email is tillotsons@gmail.com

DEANERY MEETING

This comes on the same evening as Sacred Space, but I am encouraging folk to attend the Deanery Meeting if they can. Full details below

OUR NEW ARCHDEACON VISITS US

And our new Archdeacon, The Ven Jo Kelly-Moore, will also be our preacher the following Sunday, 15th October at 10am at our All Saints service. It would be great if you could come to that service to hear Jo speak to us. I consider us to have an Archdeacon with great gifts and I am sure you will enjoy the service and meeting her in the hall afterwards. (photo below)

CHURCHES TOGETHER IN WHITSTABLE CELEBRATION

Please come to this special annual service on Sunday 15th October at 6.30pm and join with other Christians from across Whitstable. The service takes place at St John's Methodist church, Argyll Road.

MY FAVOURITE BIBLE PASSAGE

This interesting series continues. This coming Sunday, 1st October, Chris Lovelock will be preaching on his favourite passage. On 22nd October, Dr Martin Garsed will be preaching about his favourite passage. On both occasions, the preachers will be discussing the content of the sermons and any issues that come out of them with the congregation in the Thorpe Room after the service.

ALL SAINTS PATRONAL FESTIVAL

Please note that the All Saints Patronal Festival will take place at 10am at All Saints on Sunday 29th October, followed by a soft drink or glass of wine in the church hall afterwards.

ALL SOULS SERVICE

Our Annual Service for the Dearly Departed takes place at All Saints on Sunday 5th November at 6.30pm. This is the time we remember those who have passed away, either in the last year or in previous years. There is an opportunity to light a candle in memory of your loved one or loved ones as well. The service lasts about 45 minutes usually.

 We will be placing a list at the back of church nearer the time but if it is more convenient please can you email me the name of the people you want remembered now to tillotsons@gmail.com. Thank you

The Pilgrim Course - Autumn 2017

This will run at the Vicarage, Church Street, Whitstable,  at the below times on Tuesday evening. Full dates are below on the programme.

This is the Sixth of the Pilgrim course -looking at the Eucharist, or Holy Communion .

The Pilgrim course is a national initiative set up by the Church of England. 

Who should attend this course? Anyone. You can be a very mature Christian. It still does a lot of good going over the basics. You can be a searcher. It will still be very relevant. You can be a "young Christian", new to faith. It will be still very helpful. You can be considering confirmation. This is a perfect basis for preparing for that.

You do not need to have attended previous modules of the Pilgrim course to attend either module.

Just email me at tillotsons@gmail.com or phone me on 01227 272308  if you would like to attend so I know how many will be at the Vicarage. There is no charge apart from £6 for the course manual which can be shared with a friend you are attending the course with if you wish. 

Every good wish

Rev Simon Tillotson

Here is the website

http://www.pilgrimcourse.org/

ALL SESSIONS AT THE VICARAGE FROM 7.45pm to 9.15pm on TUESDAYS

17th October - Session One: Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness

With a Reflection by Stephen Cottrell

Explores worship as communion with God.

24th October - Session Two: This is my body broken for you

With a Reflection by Simon Jones

Considers the Eucharist as the pattern of all Christian worship.

31st October -  Session Three: He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread

With a Reflection by Angela Tilby

Looks at the intimacy we have with God in Holy Communion and how we are transformed by the encounter.

7th November - Session Four: If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come and eat with you

With a Reflection by John Inge

How can worship be seen as a sign and foretaste of heaven?

28th November - Session Five: Do this to remember me

With a Reflection by Stephen Cottrell

Explores how worship shapes our entire lives.

5th December - Session Six: I am the bread of life

With a Reflection by John Pritchard

Considers the notion that the whole of life is sacramental.

NOTICES FROM INTER-CHURCH ORGANISATIONS, OTHER CHURCHES, AND SECULAR ORGANISATIONS

3rd Whitstable (All Saints) Scout Group will be holding a Jumble Sale in All Saints Church Hall, Church Street, Whitstable , CT5 1PG on Saturday 21^st October. Doors open at 2pm and the admission fee is 20p each. Jumble may be brought to the hall between 9am and 11am on the morning of the sale.

FROM REV KEITH MCNICOL ON BEHALF OF CHRISTIAN AID IN WHITSTABLE

Jane Williams has sent £5,700 to Christian Aid.  This is the result of your fund-raising efforts over the past year and I am very grateful to you all for encouraging your people to work so hard and give generously.  We are up slightly on last year (£5560).

Please publicise our forthcoming Christian Aid Quiz evening at Seasalter Christian Centre on Saturday 21st October , 7 for 7.30 pm.  I will send a poster for this in the coming few days.  The Rev'd Donald Lugg has agreed again to be our quizmaster.

Christian Aid Week begins on Sunday 13th May 2018, so please put that date in your diary.  Meanwhile, if you can run a coffee morning, hold an event or otherwise publicise Christian Aid, or need publicity or sermon material, please let me know. 

With best wishes

Keith McNicol

Huge thank you to Keith from us all for all his work and to the committee too. And also huge thanks to those who do door to door work which is not easy in today's society. Simon.

The above concert takes place at Riverside church. The choir came to sing at All Saints last year and were very well received.

LETTER FROM WHITSTABLE SCEPTICS

Dear all,

Just a reminder, the next Whitstable Sceptics meeting is on Tuesday 3rd October, 7.30pm at the Whitstable Umbrella Centre (lower entrance)

Mike Barrett, the Chief Executive Officer of the charity Porchlight will be our guest speaker on the subject: Homelessness - Who’s to blame?

Working across Kent and the South East, Porchlight, supports homeless people and helps the vulnerable and isolated get support with their mental health, housing, education and employment. They also provide children, young people and adults with the advice, guidance and skills to live independently, play an active role in their local community and fulfil their potential. For further information see: www.porchlight.org.uk. 

Mike will talk about homelessness in the area and how housing policy needs to change.

Nathan Tough from Porchlight will also be there to answer your questions about how you can support the charity.

Homelessness is a very real crisis in Britain and is becoming evident even in the smaller towns of Kent including Whitstable. Hope to see you all on the 3rd.

 As usual please feel free to bring refreshments and nibbles.

 

All the best   Graham    @grahambsi

FROM THE DIOCESAN SECRETARY

Many of you will be aware of the upcoming Diocesan Day of Prayer, which is planned for 17/18 November. The Day of Prayer is an exceptional chance for all of us as a diocesan family, both in East Kent and the Channel Islands, to join together in prayer for the renewal of our communities. You are a key partner in this initiative and I would be grateful if you could encourage your community to engage as fully as possible in this special 24 hours of prayer. Everything you need to know is online here - and more resources will become available over the coming weeks (look out for details in the weekly Briefing email).

There are many ways to engage in the Day of Prayer, including a central event in Faversham on Saturday 18th November. If you’d like to come to that event please book Here.  Please note: The next scheduled Synod meeting will take place on Saturday 10 March 2018.

I hope that is helpful and please don't hesitate to contact Holly Adams (hadams@diocant.org) - or another member of the team at Diocesan House - if you have any questions about the Day of Prayer. 

Kind regards

Julian

Julian HillsDiocesan Secretary Diocesan House, Lady Wootton’s Green, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 1NQ 01227 459401 / jhills@diocant.org www.canterburydiocese.org /  *New Online Database* - Register for an account by clicking here

          WORKING WITH DIFFERENCE

A series of three workshops looking at "Working with Difference", to be held at St Peter's Church Whitstable on the afternoons of Saturday 7th, 14th and 21st October 2017 from 3.30pm to 5pm

The picture above is of two adults
after a disagreement sitting with their backs to each other.  Yet, as can be seen, the inner child within each of them simply wants to
connect.

This is a course designed to help participants to become more aware of their own diversity along with their attitudes towards differences more generally. This, in turn, will help participants to become stronger and more confident in their ability to acknowledge and engage with people and issues who/ that are different. This will lead participants on to become more able to tolerate, embrace and celebrate differences that develop in their pastoral and caring work.

Trainer and facilitator: R-A "Kitty" Morgan-Jones, PhD: mother, vicar's wife, counsellor and social worker working with individuals, couples and families.

Please consider coming on this course and through that help us to learn more about the psychology of celebrating differences.

Kitty writes:

"In this course, I would like us to look at what it is specifically about ‘differences’ that makes many people find them difficult.  And also what helps us move on to overcome these difficulties so that we can build more constructive relationships. One way is by making use of a special acronym called,’ the graces.’ (eg.,gender, race, ability, culture, ethnicity, spirituality).

Even then, however, inner fears may make us fall short of doing what we have been trained to do or that which we believe to be appropriate.  In this course, we will investigate this mysterious feature of ‘difference.’ 

We will also explore "differences" by drawing from a fresh look at the work of C G Jung. He created a typology of human personality and suggested that different aspects of persons are more or less to the fore. Some of these concepts are very familiar and others less so, but all of us live out or engage with these differences every day of our lives within our relationships. In this workshop, I wish to explore in deeper detail how these personality differences impact on us within our families and in our pastoral work with families."

Working with Difference will take place at St Peter's Church, Sydenham Street, Whitstable, CT5 1HN on

Saturday the 7th, 14th and 21st October 2017 from 3.30pm to 5pm.

It is free of charge though a donation to St Peter's church would be welcome at the end of the course.

Please contact Kitty to find out more or to let her know that you would like a booking form at ruthmorganjones@gmail.com or by telephone on (01227) 271172     Thank you so much.