The Parish Church of Riverhead with Dunton Green, Kent; now part of the West Sevenoaks Team Ministry

Easter Cross

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Attending Church - What to expect?

How do I 'do' Church?
New to this? Perhaps you are not sure how to go about 'coming to Church' - do not worry, it is perfectly fine just to visit, as often or infrequently as you like, and here are some hints...

What is the best service to come to?
If you are coming with children, come to the Sunday, 9:30am service, which is our 'main' service. It lasts for 60-75 minutes, and, during term time, we have the Sunday Club for children.
If you want something a bit quieter, you could also try the Sunday, 8:00am service.
On the 1st Sunday in the month, the 9:30am service is an "All-Age or Family Worship" so that we all stay together. It lasts typically about 45 minutes.

What should I wear?
Whatever you are comfortable in. People wear anything from jeans and t-shirts to jacket and tie.

Can I park?
Yes - there is a Church car park with lots of space. It can be accessed from the east of the Church, via Shoreham Lane and Church Field, and if it is full, you can park in the roads just outside the car park. The 'Find Us' page contains a map, and can provide detailed directions to the Church.

What time should I arrive?
Why not try to get here at least 5 to 10 minutes before the start time. Then you can get settled.

How do I make sure I am not in someone's seat?
There is no such thing, really, even though people tend to sit in approximately the same place every week! If a seat is empty, with no 'reserved' sign on it - you can sit there. We are always very happy to welcome visitors, and it does us good to get a different view from time to time.

How do I get into the Church?
There are two main entrances: at the West end main door, at the top of the steps overlooking the mini roundabout of the A25, and through the porch on the South side. The West door entrance has steps. The South door entrance has fewer steps, and if necessary a ramp can be deployed there. The Church Hall can be accessed with no steps.

What books do I need, and where do I get them?
All the words you need for the service are in printed service sheets and hymn books, available from both entrances to the Church. There are large print and braille versions available - just ask if you would like one.  There are friendly people who take it in turn to act as stewards; to welcome and help visitors, and to distribute the books. 

Can I bring my children?
Yes! Children are very welcome - at any age, bring them along with you.

What if my child makes a noise?
Your child probably will make a noise, and that is fine - we would rather have the noise and your lovely child and you. We are happy for you to get up and move around if it helps you to comfort your child - there is a carpeted area at the back, and some books and toys, if it helps. We have Sunday School in the adjacent Church Hall for 3 to 11 year olds.

When do the children go to the Sunday Club?
The service leader will announce that it is time for the children to go to the Sunday Club. Your children can either go on their own with all the others, or you are welcome to take them round, and stay while they settle in.
The children return to the main service towards the end.

How do I know when to stand or sit?
The person leading the service will make that clear. We usually stand for hymns and songs (it is easier to sing that way), and at a few other times. Just look around and see what other people are doing if you are not sure.

What if it is a Communion service?
There is nothing to worry about. At the appropriate point in the service, everyone will be invited to approach the altar rail, to either receive Communion, ie. the bread and the wine, or to receive a Blessing. If you are receiving a Blessing only, then please take up with you a service sheet which indicates to the person giving Communion that you are receiving only a Blessing. If you prefer, you can remain in your seat during Communion.

Who can receive Communion?
The altar is the 'Lord's table' not ours so all are welcome to receive the sacrament. However you may wish to receive a Blessing. Either way all are welcome.

Do you have toilets?
Yes - in the Church Hall, including facilities for people who are disabled.

What happens after the service?
At the end of the service the leader says a brief closing prayer, and then walks down the aisle to the back of the Church. The organist or music group will play for a short while, but you are welcome to get up during this. People will tend to chat for a few minutes in the Church building, and refreshments are served at the back of the Church - so please do join in.

Any other questions? Please just ask...

Picture

Vicar's Message for Easter

Easter Greetings!

"He is not here."

What a surprising thing to say. Two thousand years or so ago, some people went to a graveyard in Jerusalem.  They were going to one of the tombs, just one among countless other similar tombs there: carved out of rock like little caves. According to their culture and tradition, they were going to anoint the body of their friend who had died and had been buried there a couple of days previously. But as they approached the place, they saw that the huge stone that had been put across the mouth of the tomb had been moved, by persons unknown. And, even more surprising, they were met by someone who said this odd thing: "Why are you looking for your friend? He is not here."

He is not here? But he must be here. We saw him laid here with our own eyes two days ago, surely?

And so the most baffling, extraordinary and sensational story of all time began in earnest.

As you pass St Mary's, your parish church, this Easter time, look up at the the little hill upon which it stands. You will notice on its shining green slopes the splashes of colour from spring flowers - a sign of new life, new growth, new hope. And among the flowers you will see the three empty crosses. Immediately beneath them will be a garden - lovingly and painstakingly created by the church families.  Set in that garden will be our version of the tomb in Jerusalem. The empty tomb. A tomb that looks like someone's mouth is open in a great capital O of surprise.

It is surprising, the Easter story, the arrest, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Christian Church was born out of a surprise and continues, to some surprisingly, to this very day. It will continue surprising everyone long after you and I have gone. If, after looking at the tomb, you look at the church itself, you will see the doors of the building are like another mouth open in surprise. Inside, on Easter day, however, you will not find it empty. You will find it full of joy and of colour and of hope and of love. That is perhaps the most surprising thing about Easter. From the empty tomb comes a full building. Join us, if you can. You will be pleasantly surprised. Not least because nowadays, we no longer say 'he is not here'. We are able to say with complete confidence:

"He is here; his spirit is with us. Alleluia!"

May God bless you and those you love this Easter and always.

Amen

Martin Booth

Vicar=

GAP Concert 1995 - Extract

Traidcraft / Fairtrade

OUR FINAL TRAIDCRAFT STALL WAS ON SUNDAY, 20 JANUARY 2019. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED THE INITIATIVE OVER MANY YEARS.

St. Mary's aims to be a Fair trade Church and to serve FAIRTRADE tea and coffee after services and other activities.

What is fair trade?

Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. 

Fair trade seeks to transform the lives of poor producers in the developing world by enabling them to use their skills and resources to build sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their communities. It seeks to challenge injustices in trading structures and practices that so often lead to the exploitation and marginalisation of poor people.

What's the difference between fair trade and FAIRTRADE?

"FAIRTRADE" is an accreditation, labelling system which certifies that products bearing the FAIRTRADE Mark meet a range of specific criteria. "Fair trade" expresses a rather wider vision of development, covering a much wider range of products than can be certified, and embracing campaigning and awareness raising activity, as well as trading in food products.

Traidcraft is a Christian based organisation, committed to working with people of all faiths and none in our common fight against poverty. 

Find out more about Traidcraft's work at:  www.traidcraft.org.uk

For more information on the fair trade movement go to:  www.fairtrade.org.uk

A collection of photographs, from various events, can be viewed in the Photo Gallery.

The 'Big Brew' coffee morning on 10 March 2017 raised £45 for Traidcraft's 'Let It Grow' appeal, aimed at helping smallholder farmers and their families to thrive. A letter of thanks has been received.

The Traidcraft Christmas Card sale on 28 October 2017 raised £14 for Traidcraft.  A letter of thanks has been received saying:  "Your gift will help smallholders like Asina to learn new skills, which will help them and their families to leave poverty behind forever. Thank you for your kind support".

The 'Big Brew' coffee morning on 10 March 2018 raised £35 towards Traidcraft's 'Hidden Entrepreneur', Lenten appeal. A letter of acknowledgement has been received and can be viewed here.

Vicar's Message for Christmas

What's your favourite part of Christmas?

Hope
The days leading up to it; hearing snatches of a much-loved carol or Christmas hit on the radio and being suddenly transported back to a happy time, or younger days full of innocence and laughter?

Perhaps buying the Christmas tree, and the smell of pine?

Perhaps the shops as you step into them with their great bursts of colour, like spring, of reds and gold and greens?

Perhaps it's Christmas Eve and the utterly delightful toddlers' Nativity plays, or the warmth and comfortable feeling of sharing a carol or two in a church service, with lit candles, maybe; and the sense that something special is literally just around the corner?

Maybe you come to the extraordinarily intimate and profound late-night Christmas services in church? You've had a nice meal, perhaps been out to friends or the pub, then shrug into your coats and wander round to that place with the big spire and the candles and the men and women in flowing robes. To listen to the Christmas story one more time - possibly it reveals something to you that you had never thought of before? And, of course, there's the Carols; the wonderful, traditional, meaningful hymns of hope and love and joy.

Love
Maybe for some, of course, Christmas does not hold such things. Perhaps it means another special day spent with no-one around, or spent with strangers. Christmas then is a time of feeling most alone. But, we need to remember, that no-one need be alone at Christmas, because, for others, Christmas means popping round and saying hello to family, friends and neighbours. For others it can mean taking time out to be with the elderly, the isolated, the infirm. One only has to ask. You see, for many, Christmas day is filled with a special kind of love. A love found in going to visit someone or even to help prepare and serve Christmas lunch for others.

Joy
Then, on The day, The Big Day, The Special Day, there are the church services and the Christmas films and shows on TV, or a sumptuous Christmas concert on the radio.

And, of course, there are the presents: the joy and the excitement of tearing off the wrapping paper. And there's the laughter when someone didn't get quite the right gift for someone else...

Not to mention the Christmas meal - seven times more than we would normally eat. And after? The fun and frivolity of that special day of people in paper hats hunched around those brightly-coloured board games.

So... what is your favourite part of Christmas?

Mine is knowing that all this was started, had its basis in a mystery. The mystery of God coming to share our lives in the form of a little child, and bringing with him all that Hope, and Love, and Joy.

If you get the chance to pop in to St Mary's for one of our services, it will be lovely to see you. You can be sure of a warm welcome. In the meantime, all of us at St Mary's wish you a peaceful and happy Christmas and a blessed New Year.

God bless

Martin

PCC Elections

The procedures for electing members are laid down in Measures adopted by the General Synod of the Church of England, and are summarised as follows:

Churchwardens
We have two Churchwardens. Churchwardens are elected for one year at a time, and they can serve for up to six consecutive years, although the custom and practice in this parish is for a maximum of five consecutive years.
To be eligible, a candidate must normally be: a lay person, at least 21 years of age, an actual communicant, on the electoral roll and not disqualified in any other way.
The electors are the parishioners gathered at a meeting announced and convened by the Minister. This meeting is called the Vestry Meeting and is usually scheduled to take place immediately prior to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM). Those eligible to attend are: the Minister, people on the Church electoral role, and people who are resident in the parish and whose names are entered on the local-government register of electors by virtue of being resident.
Candidates for election as Churchwardens must be nominated and seconded by people eligible to attend the meeting, and each candidate must have signed that he/she is willing to serve, and is not disqualified. Nomination papers must be received by the Minister before the start of the meeting. Where the number of candidates exceeds the vacancies, an election is held.

Parochial Church Council (PCC) Members
The PCC is a body corporate and acts in a way similar to a board of trustees. The Minister chairs the PCC, and the Churchwardens are automatically members. So too are any people on the electoral roll who are members of the Deanery, Diocesan or General Synods. Church law defines the number of PCC members, based on the size of the electoral roll, and in this Parish we have 10 positions for elected lay members. Elected PCC members serve for a maximum of 3 consecutive years. Nominally, a third of the members retire each year.
To be eligible, a candidate must be at least 16 years of age, and have been on the electoral role for at least 6 months (with the exception of people who are under 18 years of age).
The electors are the people on the electoral roll, gathered at the APCM.
Candidates for election as PCC members must be nominated and seconded by people on the electoral roll, and a candidate must have signed that he/she is willing to serve. Nominations can be made up to and during the APCM meeting. Again, where the number of candidates exceeds the vacancies, an election is held.
During the year, the PCC may also Co-opt additional members, up to one fifth of the number of elected members, or 2; whichever is the greater. The term of office of a co-opted person is until the conclusion of the next APCM.

Deanery Synod Representatives
As a parish we elect two (was three) people to be members of the Sevenoaks Deanery Synod. The eligibility and election arrangements are similar to those for PCC members described above, except that candidates must be at least 18 years of age.
As stated previously, Deanery Synod Representatives automatically also become members of the PCC.

Opportunities to Help

Apart from the Vicar, virtually every other role performed in our local Church is undertaken on a voluntary basis, by kind people prepared to offer their time and talents in the service of Christ.  Might you be able to offer to help us in some way, either on a regular or occasional basis?

There is an almost endless number of ways to help, but they can be broadly divided into three areas.  Examples are given below:

Help with our own Services of Worship and Spiritual Development

• Reading passages from the Bible
• Leading community Prayers
• Acting as a Sidesperson and Welcomer
• Acting as a robed Server
• Being involved in Church music (Choir and Music Groups)
• Acting as a Sunday School Teacher or Helper
• Leading or hosting House Groups

Help with the operation and upkeep of our own Church

• After-service coffee
• Church cleaning
• Flower arranging
• Bin emptying
• Candle filling
• Social committee
• Churchyard gardening
• Management (Parochial Church Council)
• Administrative work
• Building maintenance

Help with our Outreach where we try to help people in the wider Community

• Pastoral care
• Home visiting
• Helping at the Littlecourt Lunch Club with cooking or transport
• Transporting people to Church, and on Hospital visits
• Delivering 'Landmark'; our community-wide magazine

The above is not an exhaustive list.  Training, briefing and support will be provided, as appropriate.  Many of the roles are performed on the basis of rotas, so the demand on time is not necessarily onerous.  Our 'Safeguarding' policies require formal vetting for some roles which involve working with children and/or vulnerable adults.

If you feel you are being called to help with any of the above, in the first instance, please contact the Vicar or one of the Churchwardens for further details and without obligation - see the 'Parish Directory' page for their contact information.  They will be pleased to help you.  We always aim to apply a policy of 'Equality of Opportunities'.  And thank you in anticipation.