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10.30am SUNG EUCHARIST
President: Rev. Kevin Maddy, Rector
Preacher: Rev. Dr David Vannerley
Isaiah 55: 1–9
1 Corinthians 10: 1–13
Luke 13: 1–9
Hymns: 468, 73, 376, 276ii, 368
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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 CHORAL EVENSONG
Responses: Sarum
Psalms 12 & 13
Genesis 28: 10–19a
John 1: 35–end
Canticles: Plainsong
Anthem: The Lent Prose – Plainsong
Hymns: 374, 62, 74
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Join us in church for Choral Evensong at 6.00pm or online at any time
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The Collect for The Third Sunday of Lent
Almighty God,
whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain,
and entered not into glory before he was crucified:
mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross,
may find it none other than the way of life and peace;
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
Monday 21st March
7.00pm Bell Ringing practice
Tuesday 22nd March
9.30am Holy Dusters
Wednesday 23rd March
10.15am HOLY COMMUNION (in church only)
10.30am Acorn Community Café (in the Church Hall)
Friday 25th March
THE ANNUNCIATION
2.30pm Mothers' Union Lady Day Service
Sunday 27th March
THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT
8.00am HOLY COMMUNION
10.30am SUNG EUCHARIST (in church and online)
6.00pm CHORAL EVENSONG (in church and online)
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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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St Stephen’s Mothers’ Union is hosting a Lady Day Service on Friday 25th March at 2.30 pm in St Stephen’s Church. The Members extend a welcome to anyone who would like to come along and join them. There will be refreshments in the church hall afterwards.
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Ukraine Collection
Kevin is making a virtual pilgrimage to Walsingham during Lent to raise money for the Ukrainian Disaster Appeal. If you would like to sponsor him, there will be a sign-up sheet at the back of church, or you can email him at revkmaddy@gmail.com.
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Churchyard Working Party
Many thanks to everyone who helped in the churchyard on Monday. It is looking much clearer and it is lovely to see all the bulbs coming through – the hope of rebirth as we look forward to Easter.
We’ll meet again on Monday 4th April and I look forward to seeing you then.
Angela
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Christian Aid Week 15–22 May 2022
St Stephens’ has always raised a lot during Christian Aid week, and although at present we are all understandably concerned about Ukranian refugees, we should not forgot the longer term need and poverty which Christian Aid addresses. Lent is a good the time for each of us to consider what we can do this year:
- Cake sales, plant sales, quizzes, breakfasts or coffee morning, and sponsored events raise a lot of money. Would you like to do something like that for Christian Aid this year? If you haven’t done anything like that before there are lots of ideas on the Christian Aid website https://www.christianaid.org.uk/get-involved/fundraising
At one time most of the money we raised came from house to house envelope delivery and collections, but the pandemic and decreasing use of cash means this no longer works, so this year we are trying a new approach:
- visiting each house only once, and only in our own and neighbouring streets where we are known (which always did better than collecting from strangers.)
- When we visit EITHER delivering a letter about Christian Aid and how to donate in cash, by cheque or online OR take a collection tin and collect what people can give on the spot.
If you think you could do this sort of street collection please sign up on the sheet at the back of the church, or email christianaid@ststephenscanterbury.net with the streets you can cover and the type of collection you want to do and we will arrange for you to receive briefing notes and necessary materials
These days many of us are in touch with more people online than in our streets. If you want to collect using your online network then you may prefer to set up an e-envelope https://envelope.christianaid.org.uk/your-e-envelope/add and ask people to contribute to that. Again we can provide necessary materials on request.
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St Stephen's Eco Group
St Stephen's is currently represented on the deanery Eco Group by James Taylor, and we are grateful for his service. It would be good if James could be supported in his role of Eco Champion for St Stephen's by others, so if you would be interested in joining him in furthering the commitment of our church to become more ecologically and environmentally aware and active, please see James or Kevin.
Caring for Creation Pledge Tree
As part of our Lenten observance, this year we will have an “Eco-pledge” tree in church. Members of the congregation and church visitors are encouraged to write one thing they pledge to do to reduce their carbon footprint, and hence their contribution to global warming, on one of the paper leaves by the Tree, and hang it on the Tree.
This project is one of the Deanery Eco-group activities, and several Canterbury churches have already done this. Here are some recent pledges:
- lower my heating
- use car less
- plant 5 trees with National Trust
- Plant 3 hawthorn bushes
If you worship online and would like to add your eco-pledge for Lent you can email it to ecochurch@ststephenscanterbury.net and we will put it on the tree for you.
A couple of pledges made so far:
'Lower my heating'
'Vegetarian for Lent'
'Plant five trees with the National Trust'
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Meatless meals for Lent
One thing we can all do to help combat global warming and help the environment is to eat less meat, because plant-based food produce only half the green-house gases than meat does. Lent is traditionally a time when Christians give up meat, so it is a good time to experiment with meatless meals. The Eco-group has been collecting ideas on good ways to eat well without eating meat from members of churches in Canterbury as. Our target was the collect 40 recipes, one for each fasting day of Lent, but in fact we got far more ideas. These have been put together in a recipe book which can be downloaded from the parish website in the “Living Lent” area of the information on Lent, Holy Week and Easter - https://www.ststephenscanterbury.net/wp-content/uploads/meatless-meals-for-Lent.pdf
If you can give any feedback on recipes and/or want to add your own ideas for the second edition, please email ecochurch@ststephenscanterbury.net
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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.
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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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News from our Bell Tower
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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Moving forward from COVID restrictions - The PCC agreed to leave these measures in place for the time being at their meeting on 8th March.
Government guidance is that it is no longer a legal requirement to wear a face covering during worship. However, in order to protect each other as much as possible, we would encourage members of the congregation to continue to wear masks if they feel that they are able. For the time being, we will continue to provide more space for social distancing at the back half of the nave. Please respect people's desire for a bit of space. This guidance will be continually reviewed over the coming days and weeks. If you have any questions, please speak to Kevin or the Churchwardens.
| Masks |
Congregation encouraged to wear masks when possible.
Choir remove masks when singing. |
| Hand sanitiser |
Congregation encourage to continue to sanitise their hands as they enter and leave church. |
| Congregation seating |
50/50 full capacity and socially distanced.
The front half of the nave available for those who are comfortable sitting closer together, the rear half of the nave will continue to be socially distanced with alternate rows roped off and only one household per pew. |
| Choir seating |
The choir will sit more closely together to aid singing as an ensemble, but will take a lateral flow test before each rehearsal and service to help protect each other. |
| Processions |
Only clergy process. If during a hymn, then clergy do not sing whilst walking through the congregation. |
| Congregational singing |
Congregational singing reintroduced at services (but encourage mask wearing). Those not comfortable singing or being around those singing should sit in the rear half of the nave in the socially distanced area. |
| 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 one kind only (no chalice)
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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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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