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8.00am HOLY COMMUNION
President: Rev. Kevin Maddy, Rector
10.30am SUNG EUCHARIST
President and Preacher: Rev. Kevin Maddy, Rector
Setting: The Johannesburg Service – Bertalot
Acts 16: 9–15
Revelation 21: 10, 22–22: 5
Anthem: If ye love me – Tallis
Hymns: 106, 118, 271, 277, 420
Voluntary: At Eastertide – Stanford
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Join us in church for our Sung Eucharist at 10.30am or online at any time
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6.00pm A SERVICE FOR CHRISTIAN AID WEEK
Anthem: Look at the world – Rutter
Hymns: 264 (t. ‘All things bright and beautiful’), 285i, ‘The kingdom of God is justice and joy’ (t. 427), ‘Great is thy faithfulness’
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Join us for a special service to mark Christian Aid Week this Sunday at 6.00pm
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The Collect for the Sixth Sunday of Easter
God our redeemer,
you have delivered us from the power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your Son:
grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life,
so by his continual presence in us he may raise us
to eternal joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
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This week at St Stephen's
THIS WEEK IS CHRISTIAN AID WEEK
Monday 23rd May
7.00pm Bell Ringing practice
Wednesday 25th May
10.15am HOLY COMMUNION (in church)
10.30am Acorn Community Café (in the Church Hall)
5.15pm Trebles' rehearsal (in church)
Thursday 26th May
ASCENSION DAY
7.30pm FESTAL SUNG EUCHARIST
Setting: The Johannesburg Service – Bertalot
Anthem: God is gone up – Croft
Hymns: 130i (omit *), 128ii, 296i, 134
Voluntary: Heut triumpheiret Gottes Sohn – J. S. Bach (BWV630)
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Join us in church or online for our Festal Eucharist for Ascension Day, Thursday at 7.30pm
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The Collect for Ascension Day
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that as we believe your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ
to have ascended into the heavens,
so we in heart and mind may also ascend
and with him continually dwell;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
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Friday 27th May
7.30pm Full Choir rehearsal
Saturday 28th May
1.00pm Canterbury Cantata Choir rehearsal (in church)
Sunday 29th May
The Seventh Sunday of Easter (Sunday after Ascension)
10.30am SUNG EUCHARIST
6.00pm CHORAL EVENSONG
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<<First Name>>, do share this online version of Pews News with anyone you think might be interested, and encourage them to sign up to receive it by email each week.
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Moving forward from COVID restrictions - UPDATE May 2022
At their last meeting, the PCC decided that it was time to repeal some of our covid measures and return to some of our practices that had to be stopped, whilst acknowledging that covid hasn't gone away, and that there will still be some people who are still feeling concerned and may not be comfortable with doing everything that they previously may have done.
From Sunday 22nd May, Communion will be shared in both kinds for those who wish to receive the cup. For the time being, distribution of Communion will still be standing, and from a central point. Please do not dip the bread into the wine as this presents ore health risks to others than sipping.
The choir will return to processing, but will not sing until they are in their places. We will also be returning to having an Offertory procession, including a collection.
There will still be a couple of rows roped off on the south side of the nave for those who wish to have a little more space around them, but all other pews are now available, as recently we have needed the space!
This guidance will be continually reviewed over the coming weeks; If you have any questions, please speak to Kevin or the Churchwardens.
| Masks |
Masks are no longer required, but congregation are welcome to use them if it makes them feel more comfortable. |
| Hand sanitiser |
Hand sanitiser is available in the porch, please use it as you enter church. |
| Congregation seating |
There are a couple of rows on the south side of the nave roped off to provide seating with more space from others. All other pews are available to everyone. |
| Choir seating |
The choir will sit in the crossing area for most services. |
| Processions |
Choir, clergy and servers will process, but the choir will not sing while processing past the congregation. |
| Congregational singing |
Congregational singing now takes place in all services. |
| Service Sheets |
Continue to use orders of service and quarantine after each use for at least 48 hours. |
| Hymn books |
Reintroduce the use of hymn books, using those on the top two shelves for the Eucharist and those on the bottom two shevles for Evensong. |
| Communion |
Communion in both kind, both bread and wine. No intiction (dipping bread into wine) Distribution from standing station at the chancel step for choir and from the east end of the nave for congregation. |
| Sharing the Peace |
We will continue to share the Peace in a non-contact way as we have done throughout the pandemic. |
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Christian Aid Week 15–22 May 2022
Thank you to all those who helped with delivering envelopes for Christian Aid Week. We will be counting the money raised next weekend.
We will be holding a special service for Christian Aid Week at St Stephen's this Sunday evening at 6.00pm - do join us if you can.
Another way to help Christian Aid is through the sale of cakes and plants to be held next Saturday Morning, 28th May, at St Peter’s Anglican Church in the city centre between 11 am and 1 pm. St Peter's Church will be open through the day on Friday 27th for those who wish to donate goods for sale – and if you are not a baker you can help by buying things on Saturday morning. For further information contact Rosie Budd email rosie.budd@sky.com,
The Cocktail Concert for Christian Aid Week put together by several musicians from Kent is still available on You tube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4jxLhBXQFI
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Christian Aid Coffee Morning
A BIG thank you to all who came and supported us last Wednesday. We raised £217.40 for the work of Christian Aid. It was lovely to see so many extra faces there and to hear the chatter and laughter. Do remember we are open every Wednesday and you are always welcome.
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200 Club
Tickets are available now for our summer 200 Club: £10 per ticket which covers 10 weekly draws during June, July and early August (equivalent to £1 a week). Half of the ticket sales goes into the prize pot, with the other half supporting St Stephen's Church. Tickets are available from members of the PCC at church on Sunday. For those of you unable to get to church, you can now buy your ticket by clicking on the button below!
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News from our Bell Tower
St Stephen’s Bellringers win the Canterbury District Striking Competition!
The Canterbury District Striking Competition which took place at Monkton Church on Saturday 14th May 2022 (The first one since 2019 due to ravages of the pandemic). 7 teams entered and the St Stephen’s Sunday Quarter Peal Band won, just pipping our friendly neighbours (St Dunstan’s Church) by 2.50 points.
Whilst called the Canterbury District, it is not just the immediate Canterbury area. This Bellringing District stretches as far as Lynsted and Teynham, Lyminge, Dover, Whitstable and the whole Thanet area.
One of the rules of the competition is that entrants must be regular Sunday service ringers. St Stephen’s Band consisted of ringers from other towers who help Jane ring for a Sunday service each Sunday by ringing a quarter peal either Sunday morning one week and Sunday evening another week. Without their help the faithful would not be called to service, there would be no public announcement that the church is there and open for worship, the bells would be silent. The observant may recognise the Presenter of the cup as Elizabeth, Don and Ruth Nibletts daughter who learnt to ring at St Stephen’s many years ago. Elizabeth and her husband were the judges – but they do not know the teams until the end of the competition as the judges are hidden away and out of sight.
Congratulations to them all!
Our Tower is open for ringing practice every Monday evening 7.00–9.00pm. There is no need to book a place in advance, just turn up! If you are interested in learning, contact Jane or Adam - their details are on the church website.
At the moment, there aren't always enough people to ring before every service - if you're missing the bells, have you thought about joining the team so that we can keep this tradition going at St Stephen's?
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Churchyard Working Party
As the Residents’ Association is organising a picnic party on Sunday 5th June, we thought it would be sensible for our next meeting to be on the Monday before (30th May) to make sure everything is pretty beforehand. This will replace the session on 6th June, and I shall send out a reminder email nearer the time.
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St Stephen's Eco Group
ECO CHURCH UPDATE
The Big Plastic Count – a Greenpeace initiative
Did you know the UK is one of the world’s biggest producers of plastic packaging, second only to the USA? Or that if things stay as they are, the quantity of plastic waste produced around the world will double by 2040? Clearly, this is a deeply alarming and wholly unsustainable trend.
To provide concrete evidence of just how much plastic we go through – and thus illustrate the scale of the problem – Greenpeace has invited everyone to take part in the Big Plastic Count, which involves recording how much plastic leaves our households in the week from May 16th to 22nd.
If you would like to get involved, you can find all the relevant details and links here:
https://greenwire.greenpeace.org.uk/s/blog-article/a2h4H000000KRgPQAW/the-big-plastic-count-and-how-you-can-help?language=en_US
Eco Church website
St Stephen’s is currently the proud holder of an Eco Church Bronze Award! To find out what this means in practice, and how we might improve to achieve Silver or even Gold, you can join the Eco Church project at:
https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/
Join the St Stephen’s Eco Group!
Are you passionate about protecting and preserving God’s Creation? Would you like to share your ideas about how we as a parish could operate in an eco-friendlier and more sustainable way? If the answer to both questions is yes, I’d be delighted if you joined the St Stephen’s Eco Group. Just contact me at ecochurch@ststephenscanterbury.net. Alternatively, do feel free to speak to me before or after services. For those of you unsure who I am, I’m the tall, rotund, bespectacled guy who sings bass in the choir and does readings and intercessions. I look forward to hearing from/meeting you!
James Taylor, St Stephen’s Eco Church Rep
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After the recent loss of our representative to Christians Together in Canterbury, we are now in desperate need of someone to represent our parish at CTC meetings. If you would be interested in volunteering to help with this, please see Kevin or one of the church wardens.
Praying for Ukraine, Friends Meeting House garden every Friday 7.00–7:30pm
Canterbury Quaker Meeting will be holding a candlelit vigil for peace in Ukraine in the Meeting House garden, every Friday 19:00–19:30 until further notice. All are welcome to join us and bring appropriate banners and placards.
More information is available by emailing canterburyclerk@kentquakers.org.uk or by telephoning the Meeting House warden on 01227 7645612.
Connecting Canterbury
David Hartwell shares the following update:
There has been a huge increase in people and families in fuel poverty, and Connecting Canterbury continues to try and help people by the payment of small, discreet, emergency grants at our Thursday hub at Lily's Cafe, Canterbury Baptist Church, and on Friday mornings at All Saint's Church. In 8 weeks we helped 97 people paying nearly £1900, compared to a total of 190 small grants for the whole of 2021. If you are able to help us continue our vital work please have a word with me, or for details of bank transfer arrangements see below.
Also, having secured support from The Canterbury Christian Council and external trusts, we have appointed Tim Cook as our new part time Network Coordinator. Tim is a member of Canterbury Baptist Church, and will be asked to develop our work ecumenically, and our links to other agencies and charities etc.
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Would like to contribute to the services week by week by becoming an intercessor?
We are very short of intercessors at the present time and consequently people are being asked to do them rather often; it would be good to have some new blood. It is not difficult, you are given the scriptures for the week and the names of those sick to pray for and those whose deaths fall on the particular Sunday. You can make up your own prayers or you can use prayers from the large variety of books available. We can take you through the procedure and give you an opportunity to have a practice to get the feel of doing them. There is always someone available to help you whenever you feel you need support. If you are interested please speak to either Margaret Horwood or the Rector. Thank you.
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The Canterbury Society is a civic association registered with the Charities Commission. All its work is done by unpaid volunteers. This includes managing open green spaces in the community, litter picks, assessing planning applications and building designs through to protecting the City’s heritage. There are many members from St Stephens and everyone is invited to join at www.canterburysociety.org.uk.
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Canterbury Food Bank
In these difficult times, Canterbury Food Bank are finding themselves supporting more people in our community than ever. If you are currently unable to afford food, please go to CanterburyFoodbank.org or ring 07718 108875. If you can afford food but can’t get to the shops because you are self isolating you should contact Canterbury City Council, who have set up hubs to provide assistance. Go to http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/help or ring 01227 868598.
Whilst our church and church hall are closed and our Foodbank drop-off points aren't accessible, if you can, do make a contribution at the local supermarkets when you are doing your own shopping. If you're in a position where you could donate some money to help the Foodbank, please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-canterbury-food-bank-during-coronavirus or https://canterburyfoodbank.org
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If you have an item for Pews News, please send it to pewsnews@ststephenscanterbury.net by midday on Friday. You can also add your news or event to our website by clicking on ‘ News and Events’ and choosing ‘ Submit a News Story’ from the menu. Anything submitted to the website will automatically be sent to Pews News.
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