What's On

CHILDREN’S SOCIETY

My most sincere thanks to all boxholders on behalf of the Children’s Society for this last wonderful collection of £624-24. The children who benefit from this will be given hope, security and a feeling of people caring.   Thank you    Jill Clifford.

ANNOUNCEMENT

The Rev'd Mark Pavey is to become Team Vicar in North Downs Team with responsibility for Leeds, Broomfield, Kingswood, Otham and Langley.  He hopes to join us in early March.

MULLED WINE AND MINCE PIES

There will be mulled (alcoholic and non alcoholic) wine and mince pies after the New Way service at approximately 11.30am on Sunday 16th December. All welcome!

FAMILY TRUST

A massive thank you to everyone who voted in the Aviva Community Fund competition. Thanks to you we’ve made it to the final AGAIN! We will now submit our final proposal for Youth CAP Money courses and hopefully will gain valuable support for this initiative.    Andy Haines

NEW WAY Advent Blog

In the run up to Christmas we have a mini series of blogs on www.newwaybearsted.co.uk published every Sunday throughout Advent. Please have a look and share with friends and family on social media (or on paper!)

CHRISTMAS COLLECTIONS AT HOLY CROSS

This year the collections from Holy Cross’s Christmas services will go to support three organisations which each work to help people find peace. They are:
Christian Aid – their Christmas appeal is supporting partners who work on peace and reconciliation, helping those who have lived through conflict and abuse come to terms with their experience and rebuild their lives. This includes projects in South Sudan, Brazil and Myanmar.
Crossline Counselling – a Christian Counselling service in Maidstone which provides a range of counselling services to individuals and couples who are struggling with life’s challenges. It supports them as they seek to address their problems and find peace.
Dandelion Time – a local charity which works to support children who experienced trauma of some kind. It aims to give them and their families the time and support needed to heal and find peace

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM: ’ONE BY ONE'


Wednesday 12th December meet 12 Noon at Weavering Street 

Percy Baxter -  East Surrey Regiment

We meet for a short act of remembrance to mark the centenaries of those who died in the First World War, We meet at or near where they lived. We read some biographical details, observe silence, have a prayer and sing a verse of the National Anthem. All are invited to join with this event. The wreaths are provided by the parish councils. 

PRAYER GROUP

It has been suggested that across the benefice, and as an ecumenical group we should try to form a Study-cum-Prayer group which would look at and learn about various troubled areas in the world and then pray about them. It would involve people reading a very little about one or two such places in their own homes and then coming together at a suitably agreed time to pray about these areas. It is not to involve any great effort but there is so much going on in the world that is working against God’s Kingdom so that we need to stand against it all and where two or three are gathered together there is Jesus in the midst of them. So there is great power in prayer. For further information please speak to Margaret Doak or call her on MD. 738508 

NEW WAY WEBSITE

Further to our review of New Way we have launched a new dedicated web-site www.newwaybearsted.co.uk including Facebook and Twitter.

HOME GROUP IN THE AFTERNOON

For anyone thinking of joining a Home Group, could we draw your attention to the one we have on Thursday afternoons. We meet most weeks but sometimes fortnightly and there are currently 7 to 8 of us. Home Groups are a great way to get to know a small group of people really well and to learn more about our faith and how it works out in our daily lives. Contact Les Smith or Peter and Meryl Ashford.

ADVANCE NOTICE

The next Parish Weekend will be held at Ashburnham Place, East Sussex, from Friday 15th – Sunday 17th November 2019. Our speaker will be Canon Jean Kerr, retired canon for Mission in the Rochester Diocese. Jean led the two-hour meditation at Holy Cross on Good Friday 2017. More details will be available in the Autumn. 

HOLY LAND TRIP

Rhian and John Huggins are organising a 10-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2019, probably starting at the end of April using professional Christian guides. For all who are interested, contact  Rhian on rhianbanham@gmail.com  or Md. 844010

SAMARA AID APPEAL

Latest update can be found here

TALKS/SERMONS

These can be found on Sermons and Talks page of the web-site including last Sunday's at Holy Cross. Click here or select "Sermons and Talks" from the "What's On" menu bar above.                                  

HOMEGROUPS

Homegroups at Holy Cross continue to meet regularly providing an opportunity to enquire about
and discuss our faith and also to meet socially in an informal setting. 

These are the groups running at the moment:- 

  • Every or every other Thursday afternoon - Les Smith (8 members)
  • Every other Monday evening - Julie Osborn (7 members)
  • Every other Monday evening - Ian Clark (5 members)
  • Every 1st & 3rd Tuesday evening - Peter Richardson (12 members)
  • Every Tuesday evening - Jim Gibson (10 members)
  • Every other Wednesday evening - Emma Clark (7 members)
  • Every Wednesday morning (ladies group) - Diana Sandford  (10 members) 
  • Every other Thursday evening  - Juliet Mee (9 members)

All these groups welcome new members. If you are interested in joining a group please contact 

Liz Richardson - 738463