Christian Aid Week Thank You – Thank you so much to everyone who contributed in any way to this year’s excellent total of £1,509.01 which was raised for Christian Aid. The Church collection including the cake sale raised £501.29, the house-to-house collection £407.68 and the plant stall the amazing total of £600.04. In addition a further £92.69 of tax will be reclaimable through Gift Aid. This year’s total exceeds the amount raised in 2023 by almost £250.00. Elspeth Cooke.
Zoom recording of the Memorial Service held in St Peter’s on Friday 17th May for Rev’d Alice’s mother Sheila Thurau – I was touched and thrilled at the numbers from our congregation who joined me and my family for my mother’s Memorial Service. THANK YOU so very much for your love and support – you have no idea how much it meant to us! If anyone missed the service and would like to access it, the recording is now available on our website for a week or so. Please click on the following link: https://stpeterinthanet.org.uk/sheilathurau Thank you and all blessings, Rev’d Alice.
Biblical Hebrew and the Bible for Beginners – Have you always wanted to learn to read the Bible in the original language? Then this 8-week (once a week) FREE course is for you, even if you are not good at languages. Learning Hebrew can be easy and fun. Starting right from scratch with the Hebrew alphabet, we will learn to read a few verses of the Book of Genesis and along the way, you will begin to understand the Bible better. The course will take place every Monday evening starting on Monday 10th June from 7.30pm-9.00pm in the Community Studio, Cathedral Lodge in the Cathedral Visitor Centre in Canterbury. Professor Dan Cohn-Sherbok is a rabbi of Reform Judaism and a Jewish Theologian. If you would like to join, please email cohnsherbok@gmail.com
The Election and the Environment – Now the general election has been called, our Eco Champions are planning a diocesan-wide online meeting on environmental issues and the election. The sessions would focus on the Church of England’s environmental policy and the best ways to engage with the candidates in your area. There will also be time for questions. Sessions will be on Tuesday 11th June and Tuesday 18th June from 7.30pm to 9.00pm. If this is of interest, please contact Rev’d David Tate. Email revdavidtate@talktalk.net
Tea Club+ For Over 60s – You are warmly invited to join us on Tuesday 18th June for an afternoon of celebration and activities followed by Afternoon Tea from 3.00pm-4.30pm in the Main Hall. If you would like to attend, please let Dilys know on 07706648362.
In response to the positive feedback we had from the Lent Course this year, we hope to start a daytime Bible Study Group on a Wednesday after the 10.00am service. More information to follow soon!
Our Community – It is lovely to see that so many new faces have joined our Church family over the last few months. If you’ve been a regular at St Peter’s for a while and notice someone new, do go and say “Hello!”. If you are new to St Peter’s please know that you are so very welcome here and we’d love to get to know you more, so do please stay for refreshments after the service. Perhaps though, there are some members of our community that we haven’t seen for a bit. If there is someone who you usually see at Church or a community group but haven’t seen in a while, do get in touch with them, or alternatively mention it to either Rev’d Matt or Rev’d Alice.
Volunteering Opportunities – We have produced a handout with some volunteering opportunities currently available at St Peter’s. If you, or someone you know would be interested in helping with any of the listed roles (Welcomers at our 9.30am Sunday Services; Church Refreshments; Intercessions Leaders for Sunday Services; Church Cleaner; Gardeners for the Garden of Rest; Helpers for Toddler Group), please do get in touch with Rev’d Matt. Thank you.
Thank you to those who make it possible to run St Peter’s Toddler Group but more volunteers are desperately needed. If you can spare a couple of hours once or twice a month during term time and would be happy to chat to families and enjoy a cuppa, please let Laura know in the Parish Office. The sessions run from 9.30am-11.00am on Thursday mornings in the Main Hall. Thank you.
Church Watch – Throughout the summer months the Church will be open from 10.30am-12 noon every Monday and Tuesday morning. Many thanks to the volunteers who are helping to make this happen.
Charities for 2024 – Our charity partners for 2024 are Pathway and Smile Train. More information about each charity can be found at the back of the Church. We will be holding a coffee morning in aid of the charities in the near future, so watch out for more information soon.
https://www.pathway.org.uk/ https://www.smiletrain.org.uk/
Thanet Food Link – Thank you so much for all those who give so generously to this food bank. In January, Thanet Food Link gave out over 400 bags for children and is now running short of items specifically for those bags. Specific needs are hot dogs, fruit squash, jam and small boxes of cereal. Items can be left in Church on a Sunday 9.30am-11.00am or Wednesday morning 10.00am-12 noon. Please would you bring donations of food into Church and not leave them in the South Porch. The baskets are in Church on the pews behind the information shelf, on the South side. Thank you. Sylvia Mills.
St Peter’s Old Boys and Community Association – Don’t know what to do with your postage stamps? Why not bring them in to us? We are collecting for the RNIB. (These can be brought into the Parish Office, left in post box outside or brought to the coffee morning held on Thursdays in St Peter’s Memorial Hall, 31 High Street, St Peter-in-Thanet, CT10 2TH.) Many thanks for your support. St Peter’s Old Boys.
To check your eligibility and apply for a Canterbury Cathedral Pass, see https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/visit/the-cathedral-pass/
If you are Chair of one of our Church Committees and have a meeting coming up, please remember to forward details to vicarpa@stpeterinthanet.org.uk so that the details can be included in the Pew Sheet or News Sheet.
If you would like to receive by email our weekly Pew Sheet and News Sheet with details of services and events, please register your email address with the Parish Office (parishoffice@stpeterinthanet.org.uk). You can also check out and follow us on Facebook. Thank you.
Fundraising
The Quiz Night held on Friday 31st May was a great success and raised £501.00 for Church funds. Just as importantly all the participants had a good time and many of them asked afterwards when the next quiz would be. The answer to their question was ‘towards the end of the year’, but no date has yet been arranged so, watch this space!
Summer Fête – Saturday 29th June – The Summer Fête is now only 3 weeks away and we do hope that you will all participate in some way. Apart from the normal stalls there will be a Dog Show on the Village Green and also the Wellesley Haddon Dene School Choir will be singing.
The Grand Raffle will be drawn at the end of the Summer Fête and there are some great prizes to be won so if you don’t already have any tickets please consider buying some. If you already have some tickets please return the stubs and the money to the Parish Office. More raffle tickets are available in the Parish Office and Gill will be selling tickets after the 9.30am service for the next three weeks.
Donations – So that the Parish Office doesn’t get swamped with donations, we are asking if, this week, if you are able, you could please bring in to the Parish Office any of the following items:
- Bottles for the Bottle Tombola or Raffle
- Items suitable for the Grand Raffle
- Items suitable for Tombola
- One item for the Luxury Food Hamper
As from Monday 17th June we will ask for any donations that you may have for the following stalls:
- Bric-a-Brac (good condition), Clothes (Nearly New only), Books (NOT hardbacks please), Craft Items, Jewellery, Scarves and Handbags, Children’s Items (Toys, Books, Clothes (good quality), Plants, Fresh Produce, Cakes, Jams and Chutneys (all with a list of ingredients).
In addition, please consider baking something for the popular Cake Stall and these can be brought in on the Friday morning or before 9.30am on the day of the Summer Fête Day – Saturday 29th June. Please include a full list of the ingredients. Nearer the day we would also welcome any Plants or Fresh Produce that you may wish to donate.
We do hope that everyone will support this community event. It is one of the best opportunities of the year that the Church has to reach out into the wider community and, in the past, our fêtes have been very popular and raised a good deal of money towards the running of St Peter’s Church so let’s make sure that the Summer Fête goes as well as it possibly can.
All enquiries, donations and raffle tickets via the Parish Office, Hopeville Avenue, between 9.30am-12.30pm weekdays. You can also either call to book on (01843) 866061 or email parishoffice@stpeterinthanet.org.uk
Sunday Club takes place on the 3rd and 4th Sundays featuring stories, crafts, games and songs. It takes place during the main Sunday service, for all children aged 2+ (any under 2’s are very welcome too but need to be accompanied by an adult). The group will go out during the first hymn and return for Holy Communion.
Morning Prayer is held via Zoom on Monday mornings at 9.15am. For the Zoom link, please contact Rev’d Alice at revalice@stpeterinthanet.org.uk and she will email you the link.
At the moment, we have three Home Groups which are meeting regularly. If you are interested in joining a group please have a chat with Rev’d Matt or one of the contacts listed below:
- Monday: This group meets weekly on a Monday afternoon at 2.30pm.
Michael and Elspeth Cooke (01843) 863293.
- Tuesday: This group meets weekly on a Tuesday evening at 7.30pm.
Ian and Rita Dunn (01843) 865340.
- Wednesday: This group meets on the first Wednesday afternoon of the month at 2.30pm.
June Binfield (01843) 861286 or 07711 072233.
Our new Julian Prayer Meetings are being held on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 2.00pm in St John’s Chapel in Church. The next meeting will be on Wednesday 26th June at 2.00pm. This is largely a time of silent prayer and reflection, beginning with a reading from Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love and ending with tea and biscuits. It is led by Rev’d Alice and everyone is very welcome. Further details from Rev’d Alice on 07790 903316.
Confirmation – We would love to explore preparing people for Confirmation in 2024. Confirmation in the Church of England is held during a special Church service in which a person confirms the promises that were made when they were Baptised. They are prayed for by a Bishop, who will pray for them and ask God’s Holy Spirit to give them the strength and commitment to live God’s way for the rest of their life. If anyone would like to explore becoming Confirmed, please speak to Rev’d Matt.