Patronal Festival

The feast of St Peter and St Paul falls next Sunday - 29th June - and we'll be celebrating it over the weekend in a number of ways.
On Saturday evening we have a short concert (about 40 mins) by Nicola Corbishley (soprano) and Dan Eaton. The concert's free, and everyone is welcome. (There will be an opportunity to contribute to a retiring collection at the end.)
On Sunday at our main morning service we'll be celebrating our patron saints, but also some of our newest saints too as we baptise Emily and Jordan during the service!
In the afternoon there will be a strawberry tea in the vicarage garden (let's hope the sun shines - if not we'll be in the church hall). Tickets are £5 for adults and £2.50 for children - sign the list in church or let me know you're coming and I'll pass the message on to those who will be buying the strawberries.
In the evening we finish our celebrations with a special Evensong, with the choir in full voice and some special music. These Evensongs are always good - the traditional words of the book of Common Prayer and some beautiful music as we give thanks for our church, for its past, present and future. Why not come along and give it a try, even if Evensong isn't your usual thing, this should lift you out of the mundane and into the eternal !

"Christianity" - book review

BOOK REVIEW
“Christianity” by Peter Graystone (Collins 2008 £8.99).

I am always on the look-out for books about Christian faith that manage to be easy to understand without being simplistic. They are hard to find, so when I do find one I want to let others know about it. This book, by Peter Graystone, is I think a very valuable addition to that small collection.
It covers all sorts of issues basic to Christian faith; beliefs about God and Jesus, reading the Bible, Church history, Church architecture and contemporary ethical dilemmas as well. Graystone manages to give just enough detail to give a clear picture without swamping you with information you might not need and provides sensible suggestions for further reading. Best of all, he doesn’t tell the reader what to think, but gives a broad picture of the range of Christian opinions and practices, so that you can make your own mind up about where you stand. It hasn’t got any pictures, which is a shame, but I think it is very accessible nonetheless.
If you feel a bit rusty on the basics, or would like something to start you thinking about Christian faith from scratch I would highly recommend this book. Sevenoaks Bookshop would be able to order it, and it is available online from Amazon too.
I’ll leave an inspection copy at the back of church if you’d like a look. Please don’t take it away!

Churchyard working party

Many thanks to all who turned out for our churchyard/church hall working party last Saturday. We had helpers from 6 months old to past 60, and managed to get a great deal of work done. As well as lots of weeding and gutter cleaning around the church we cleared the beds in front of the church hall. I've just planted a lavender hedge (ok, the plants are tiny now, but they will grow!) around the beds, and am filling in with other low-growing plants that will like the hot dry conditions there. It feels great to be able to walk up the drive without having vast thickets of Golden Rod towering over me! The only problem is that all that clearing has made my own front garden seem even more untidy and full of weeds...