ash and ridley church news september ......sensitive piano playing during the more reflective...

The Rectory, 11 Lambardes, New Ash Green, Longfield, Kent DA3 8HX

ASH AND RIDLEY

CHURCH NEWS

SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER 2020

Opening of Church Buildings

It is great to have our church buildings open once again for

private prayer.

My thanks to those who helped in the preparation and for those

who are greeting and guiding all who attend.

There are measures in place to provide you with a safe as well

as prayerful environment, so I hope you can once again spend

some time in the peace of these sacred spaces.

The opening times are

Monday: 10am – 12noon at Ash

Tuesday: 10am – 12noon at Ridley

Wednesday: 6pm – 8pm

Friday: 2pm – 4pm

Saturday: 10am – 12noon at Ridley

God Bless … Rev. Helen

.

Return to Sunday Worship at Ash

Since Sunday 19th July, we have finally been able, after many months’ absence due to

Covid19, to gather once again for worship in church. The services are somewhat different

from what we are used to, shorter and, of course, with no singing, and every possible

measure has been taken to ensure the health and safety of those attending. The church itself

looks somewhat different from usual, and here are some images taken after the service on

23rd August, including Helen with fully liturgical face covering!

Services begin at 10 a.m. and seem to have settled into a rough pattern of alternating services

of Holy Communion and Morning Worship. Because of limited capacity due to social

distancing measures, booking is essential and this can be done via an easy to use booking

form on the church website (www.ash-church.org.uk). Please book between Monday and

Friday for the following Sunday’s service.

It has been a real joy to meet up with familiar faces once again (albeit from a social distance)

and we are grateful, in the absence of any singing, to Valerie and Kathy Dyke for their

sensitive piano playing during the more reflective moments of the service.

http://www.ash-church.org.uk/

Donations can also be made into the box at

the front of the rectory.

Thank you to all who are continuing to

support our food bank.

Annual Parochial Church Meeting Following guidance from the Diocese, the Annual Parish Meeting for the election of churchwardens and the Annual Parochial Church Meeting, at which the 2019 financial report is approved and members of the PCC are elected, were postponed from April because of COVID-19 restrictions. We have now been advised by Bishop James that the meetings must legally be held in some form before the end of October. The Rector has therefore decided, after consulting the PCC, that as a physical meeting would still be likely to be in breach of the Government’s restrictions on public meetings, the 2020 meetings will be held as an online meeting on Tuesday 20 October at 7:00pm using Zoom. This is, exceptionally, permissible this year as a result of a dispensation granted by the Bishop. Full details of how to join the meeting will be sent out nearer the date. Nominations for people to become Churchwardens or to join the PCC and to represent the Parish at Deanery Synod will therefore be invited and anyone interested in seeking nomination should contact the PCC Secretary, Cameron Clark ([email protected], 01474 874526) for further details. Although the electoral roll was revised in preparation for the meetings in April, we are advised that a further opportunity to apply for admission to the roll must be given to people who may want to participate in the meetings in October. Accordingly, anyone who lives in the Parish or who worships at Ash Church (or who would worship there if not prevented from doing so by the current circumstances or other valid reasons) is invited to apply to be added to the electoral roll. Application forms are available from the Electoral Roll Officer, Carol Clark ([email protected], 01474 874526) and should be returned to her no later than Tuesday 22 September.

A message from Barbara Roberts

As I am sure you all know, as a result of Covid19, the spinner of remade greetings cards has gone into isolation for the duration, and it may be that it will not be able to emerge this side of Christmas. However, as every penny from the card sales goes to church funds it would be a pity if this horrible virus were to deprive us of even a small source of income. I have a large supply of Christmas cards ready for this year’s festive season, and if anyone would like to support this form of fundraising by buying them, please contact me ([email protected] or 01474 705193) to let me know your requirements and I am sure we can arrange something. As I have said before, I am now concentrating mainly on religious cards, which seems appropriate, but I also have secular ones – robins, holly, village scenes etc. I can deliver, or alternatively I am usually to be found behind the till in the Oxfam shop on Thursday afternoons. As well as Christmas cards, I do have a plentiful supply of the usual greetings cards – general, birthday, sympathy etc. – and the same thing applies if you would like to buy any. Just let me know. Barbara Roberts

mailto:[email protected]

Friends of Kent Churches

Ride and Stride – Saturday 12 September This year’s sponsored Ride and Stride will be taking place on the usual day but it will inevitably be a little different. Fewer churches will be open to receive visitors inside but that should not stop people taking part in the event because it is always possible to self-certify a call at any of the participating churches. For the more energetic people who want to help raise some money for our church, and others across Kent, sponsorship forms and lists of the churches that are taking part are also available from Cameron Clark – [email protected] or John Harding – john.a.harding@btinternet,com Every little helps – your sponsorship money is split equally between the church you represent and the charity itself, Friends of Kent Churches, helping to save churches in Kent. If you pay tax you can Gift Aid the money as well.

CAN YOU HELP? We need volunteers to put out posters on the church doors and at the Ash Chapel before 10.00 am on the Saturday and then to put up posters and set up an outside welcoming area at Ash, ready to receive visitors from 10.00 am. We also need volunteers to provide that welcome and offer refreshments, which will be in individual packets. If you can spare an hour or two between 10 am and 6pm, please contact Cameron or John. We would like to be able to offer the use of toilets to participants as well, if volunteers are happy to check and clean them on the day. If you can assist in any way, please contact Cameron or John. Thank you in advance for your help!


mailto:john.a.harding@btinternet,com

“RIDE LOCAL” CHALLENGE FOR THE ELLENOR HOSPICE

As I am sure you are aware, a lot of charities are struggling this year as fundraising events have had to be cancelled due to the outbreak of Covid19. Our local hospice, the Ellenor in Gravesend, is one of those charities under financial pressure. The Ellenor is a charity funded by the generosity of the local community, offering the best care and support to families facing terminal illness in Kent. They are the only charity in the county that provides hospice care for people of all ages – babies, children and adults – and their families. To help raise funds, the Ellenor set up a “Ride Local” Cycling Challenge, in which participants were invited to ride 25, 50 or 100 miles in the local area. The chosen number of miles could be achieved over a period of up to two months from the beginning of August until the end of September. I elected to ride 100 miles and I am pleased to report that I managed to achieve the target in August. I asked for sponsorship and I have been very humbled and totally overwhelmed by your kindness and generosity. As I write this article, the total raised stands at £2,855, which is truly amazing! Can we hit the £3,000………?? It’s not too late to donate: please see my ‘Just Giving’ link below, or I can happily accept cash/cheque donations through the door (cheques payable to me, please). Every penny raised will go to the Ellenor and will help them continue with the fantastic work they do for the local community. Thank you again for your support. It is much appreciated!

Ian Nurdin Mobile phone : 07767 024388 Email : [email protected]

RIDE LOCAL CHALLENGE FOR THE ELLENOR HOSPICE – IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO DONATE!

https:/www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Ian_Nurdin


Eco Church comes to Ash

Now that Ash Church is registered as an Eco Church and we are well on the way to achieving our first, bronze, award, we need your help to push us over the final step. Along with the other churches in the Rural North West Kent Group we will be issuing a regular ‘Eco Challenge’. Improving the environmental footprint of the church is not just a matter of cutting out waste in the building or using cleaning products that are not harmful. The church is the people and if we are to make a real difference, and prove our commitment to preserving God’s creation as He intended it to be, everyone needs to look at their own lifestyle. The ‘Eco Challenge’ will suggest ways to do that. In August we were asked to think about our use of water – very appropriately after a dry spring and summer which meant that South East Water struggled at times to keep up with the demand. In September (see above) the focus shifts to the food we eat – and especially that which we waste. There are other ways in which you can help – the Keep Britain Tidy: Great British September Clean 2020 takes place from 11-27 September. In New Ash Green, the focus will be on the woodlands, Nine Horse Wood in particular, so why not make that a part of your walk in the woods around the village? Look at the NAG Litter Pickers Facebook site for more information and details of how to borrow a litter picking tool. Cameron Clark

Shakespeare quiz solution

In the July/August edition I asked : In what way did the following reappear in the years specified?

1) Act 2, Scene 3 of Twelfth Night in 1930 2) Act 5, Scene 1 of The Tempest in 1932 3) Line 3 of Sonnet 18 in 1958 Can you find the link? The answer is that a quotation from each of these became the title of a well-known novel in the year specified. So : 1) In Twelfth Night, Sir Toby Belch says to Malvolio ‘Dost thou think, because thou art

virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale’. Cakes and Ale is a novel by Somerset Maugham, first published in 1930.

2) In The Tempest, Miranda exclaims ‘O Brave new World that has such people in’t’. Brave New World is a novel by Aldous Huxley, first published in 1932 (this was the throwback to the previous book quiz).

3) The third line of Sonnet 18 (the one that begins ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’) is ‘Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May’. The Darling Buds of May is a novel by H.E. Bates first published in 1958 (it later became a popular TV series starring David Jason and Catherine Zeta-Jones in her pre-Michael Douglas days).

How did you do? Well done to Lyn Lacey, who came back with the correct answers on the very day of publication!

ASH CHURCH PRIVACY POLICY

Ash Church PCC have agreed a Privacy Policy in light of the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and these can be found on the church website:

http://www.ash-church.org.uk

If you no longer wish to be contacted by Ash Church by email or other means please contact Ian Nurdin ([email protected]) and request that your contact details are deleted and removed.

One for the ‘Wrinklies’!

This month’s little test is aimed at the more senior amongst us and is all about imperial measurements and ‘old money’. 1) 36 inches = 1 ? 2) 112 pounds(lb) = 1 ? 3) 960 farthings = 1? 4) 6 feet = 1 ? 5) 2 pints = 1 ? 6) 640 acres = 1 ? 7) How many fluid ounces = 1 pint? 8) How many pennies = 1 florin? 9) How many shillings = 1 guinea? 10) (A metric conversion one this) To the nearest millimetre, how many millimetres = 1

inch? See how many of these you can remember. Answers will be published in the next edition.


Thanks to Helen for the below, which illustrates what some could have experienced on the return to church (I am thankful to say that I don’t think any of these happened at Ash!).

A final word from the editor

Autumn is upon us already – it hardly seems possible, does it? I hope you all passed an enjoyable summer, if a somewhat different one to those you have been used to in previous years. We do slowly but surely seem to be returning to at least a ‘new normal’, with a few more events on the horizon. Meanwhile, once again, I hope you have found plenty both to inform and entertain you here.

The next issue of Ash Church News will cover the months of November and December. Please send any items for inclusion to [email protected] by Sunday 25th October latest. Meanwhile, keep safe and well!


Who to contact at Ash & Ridley

Positions

Rector Rev Helen Reeves

872209 [email protected]

SSM Associate Priest Rev Elizabeth Robertson


Churchwardens - Ash

John Harding 874770 [email protected]

Ian Nurdin 873414 [email protected]

Churchwardens – Ridley

Andrew Wishart 872247 [email protected]

Alistair Davidson 871932 [email protected]

Licensed Lay Ministers

Alison Harding 874770 [email protected]

Susan Heads 873777 [email protected]

Carol Bridge 07970 146332 [email protected]

Sacristan Bryan Parlett 873655 [email protected]

Parish Safeguarding Officer - Ash

Rhian Rutland 831216 [email protected]

Parish Safeguarding Officer - Ridley Belinda Ballard 873897 [email protected]

Choir Masters John Harding 874770 [email protected]

Nick Noakes 874122 [email protected]

Committees

PCC - Ash

Rev Helen Reeves - Chair


Cameron Clark (Secretary)


John Harding (Treasurer)


PCC - Ridley

Rev Helen Reeves - Chair


Ian Paddy (Secretary)


John Airey (Treasurer)

01732 822418

[email protected]

Premises Committee

TBA (Chairman)

TBA (Vice-Chairman)

Ministry Team

Rev Helen Reeves


Rev Elizabeth Robertson



Deanery Synod Cameron Clark 874526 [email protected]


Social Committee - Ash Marion Simmons 872363 [email protected]

Fete Management Committee - Ash

TBA























Website: http://www.ash-church.org.uk

Groups - Ash Junior Church Dionne Munn 873379 [email protected]

Anna Chaplain Rev Elizabeth Robertson


Bell ringing Sue Fever 874611 [email protected]

Flowers

Healing Ministry

Julia Kilfoyle (Leader)


Jane Davison (Secretary)


Friends of Ash Church Mike Rose 873445 [email protected]

Bryan Parlett 873655 [email protected]

Rotas - Ash Master Rotas

Nick Dunsdon 872660 [email protected]


Servers Bryan Parlett 873655 [email protected]

Sidesmen and Welcomers



Bible readings and Intercessions



Transport and Refreshments



Brass cleaning George Mills 872455

Church cleaning Joan Mills 872455

Keeping in Touch - who to contact Church News

Nick Noakes 874122 [email protected]

Publicity and PR

Jean Bentley 872333 [email protected]

Baptisms

Rev Helen Reeves 872209 [email protected]

Website - Ash Colin Irving 879500 [email protected]

Weddings Jan Kennedy 873675 [email protected]

Pew sheets Claire Pelham 872317 [email protected]











ash and ridley church news september ......sensitive piano playing during the more reflective...

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