Lent Lunch

Many thanks to the Home Group for our Lent Lunch today. It was very successful and we hope it will have raised a good total for Christian Aid. 

Mothering Sunday

Sermons from St Peter & St Paul, Seal, Kent: Lent 1: The Spirit in the wilderness

Sermons from St Peter & St Paul, Seal, Kent: Lent 1: The Spirit in the wilderness: Deuteronomy 26.1-11.Psalm91. 1-2, 9-16, Romans 10. 8b-13, Luke 4.1-13 I was in Seal School earlier this week, leading a school assembly...

Lent has started!

It's Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. We had a good turn out for our Ash Wednesday service, when I put Ash crosses on the foreheads of the congregation, a reminder of our mortality, and of God's forgiveness and love. It's always a moving service, and a real privilege. Thank you to the choir for their musical input.

I've started my Lent colouring, and enjoyed meditating on the story of Jesus going out into the wilderness "driven by the Spirit."

  

 Have you ever wondered how we make the ashes we use on Ash Wednesday? Probably not, but  I took some photos of the process this morning anyway. Every priest has their own way of doing this, but here is mine.
The process starts with some of last year's palm crosses.

 

Put them under the grill, on some foil, having opened all the doors and windows and put the extractor fan on...

 

And grill until the palm crosses burst into flames (it is a bit of an alarming process, but I haven't burned the house down...yet)

 

Then add a few drops of olive oil, to help the ashes stick to people's foreheads.

And there you have it.  (Just in case you ever need to know!)

Ash Wesdnesday

Loaves and Fishes Foodbank update

A message from the Loaves and Fishes Foodbank

TO THE LOAVES AND FISHES FOODBANK DONORS – FEBRUARY 2016

Firstly and most importantly thank you for the amazing support you give to our small independent foodbank (Loaves and Fishes) here in Sevenoaks. Our families’ everyday lives are changed for the better because of your generosity.

Your donations, be they regular or occasional, the continuing endeavours of our volunteers who manage the foodbank week by week and the construction of a purpose built foodstore in St John’s church hall means that we are now supporting up to 40 families in the district on a regular basis.

It is now almost five years since the Loaves and Fishes foodbank was set up with the following aims:

- to provide basic food to families with children who have been recommended to us by a ‘bona fide’ source, until they no longer require assistance, and to be prepared to help other people on a one off emergency basis if resources allow;

- to operate the foodbank in as simple and uncomplicated way as possible - FOOD IN (from donors) and FOOD OUT (to families).

- to offer cups of tea and a listening ear to anyone who might appreciate this service but on the understanding that our volunteers are not professional counsellors or social workers;

- to be non-judgemental of recipient families or of any government or other agencies involved in supporting them;

Today the foodbank finds itself the recipient of much goodwill and support from people in our community of Sevenoaks and surrounding villages. In the light of this experience and looking to the future:

- the foodbank continues to need and to welcome donations of non perishable food;

- the foodbank does not require further financial contributions for the time being. Thanks to the generosity of some of our donors we have a very healthy bank balance which, for the foreseeable future, is sufficient to buy food when stocks are low. This means that our families can always be provided for;

- the foodbank currently supports up to 40 families – some long term and others only for a short time. This is the maximum we can manage given the limited storage space and our wish to maintain its ethos.

Thank you very much again for your continuing support for the Loaves and Fishes families.

Carole and Francein d-bonner@sky.com and francein@sky.com

Church clean up

Many thanks to all who helped with our church clean up after church today. The bell tower is now looking much clearer and better organised, cobwebs have been swept from windows, and the altar frontals changed for Lent. 

Messy Church

Here are som photos from our Messy Church session in January. We thought about Jesus, and made things which helped us think about his life and the things he did. We made models of Zaccheus, the tax collector he made friends with, made crosses by winding wool around paper plates, and made get well cards to remember how he healed people.

Thank you to everyone who came, and everyone who helped.