What's On
SERVICES
8am at Holy Cross.
9.30am at Holy Cross.
11.15am at Holy Cross - Currently Suspended
The pattern of services and covid precautions will be kept under review and any change in information will be reported in the weekly pewsheet. At the present time the main morning service will be kept at 9.30am. This is so that it fits in with the rota if we have to reinstate the 11.15 and to enable the clergy to help out in other churches in the North Down Team Ministry.
10.30 New Way at Memorial Hall - Every Sunday
DURING SCHOOL HOLIDAYS HOLY CROSS AND NEW WAY WORSHIP: SUMMER 2022
August 7th 10am Classic Service
6pm New Way Service
August 14th 10am Classic based service
August 21st 10am New Way based service
August 28th 10am Classic Service and Baptism
6pm New Way Service
LATEST SERVICE SHEET
Out latest Notice Sheet including Services for the week is here
SEASONS OF LOVE
A summer concert by Mixed Blessings in aid of Ukraine on Saturday 20th August at Holy Cross Church, Bearsted, 7pm. Tickets £10 to include a glass of wine/soft drink, available on the door or in advance from Tom Lee 01622 738580; 07545 413330; email
NEW CHAIRS
The public notice regarding installation of new free standing chairs is now on display inside and outside church.
UKRAINE REFUGEE FUNDRAISER UPDATE
Yes we did it, musicians and singers from Holy Cross, Kingswood, Langley and Otham churches provided 6 hours of continuous modern worship on the hottest day of the year.
Thank you to all those that participated and supported this event.
£505 was raised which will be sent to the Christian Aid Ukraine appeal.
You can still donate by cheque or bank transfer, details as follows:
Cheque - Holy Cross Bearsted PCC. Add ‘UKRAINE’ to the back of the cheque.
Bank transfer- Holy Cross Bearsted PCC.
40–52–40. Account number 00020328
Your reference ‘UKRAINE’
UPDATE FROM CATHRINE FROM LAMBETH CONFERENCE
Thank you all for your prayers. Lambeth conference has been going well. (Just a brief update in Italics)
It is been so much joy to meet many Christian brothers and sisters from across the world. My highlights so far are;
The opening service at Canterbury Cathedral was a joyful occasion with music drawn from different traditions. The readings and prayers were said in various languages. You can catch up on this link
Chairing a seminar discussing the importance of young people's ministerial formation in the life of the church. You can read some of the conversations here.
It was preaching to myself and a challenge to rethink about my engagement with young people around me.
I have had the privilege of chairing a plenary session on Reconciliation, an important theme in my personal ministry. The plenary contributors were the internal Archbishop of Mozambique, Maori Bishop from Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, Bishop of Amristar North India, and World Wide Mother's Union President. You can watch it here.
HOLY CROSS PILGRIMAGE 2023
As alternative act of fellowship and worship it is proposed that we travel between the cathedrals of Winchester and Salisbury, a distance of 26 miles.
The aim would be to make the experience accessible to as many members of our church family as possible and therefore anticipate at least three types of participation:
1. Walkers – walk an averaging 8.3 miles a day
2. Support Group - would transport walkers to and from overnight accommodation and helping to arrange midday picnic.
3. Drivers and Passengers – touring the area and joining the rest of the group for meals and overnight accommodation.
It is envisaged that the pilgrimage would take five days:
Day 1 - travel from Bearsted to Winchester, walkers have the option to travel by train via London Waterloo. Includes visiting cathedral.
Day 2 to 4 -. Support Group driving walkers between overnight accommodation at start and end of each leg of the days walk, plus meeting for midday picnic. Drivers exploring area with suggested itinerary to visit places of worship and interest.
Day 5 – arrive at Salisbury Cathedral, possibility for some form of special service or joint celebration and return journey home by car or train.
Overnight accommodation would be at a Premier Inn, or a similar chain, at Winchester and Salisbury with the Support Group transporting walker’s luggage at hotel changeover. It is suggested that we plan for May or early June 2023 spread over a long weekend so that those in work are more able to be included. Further details will be provided at Sundays service.
NEW WAY EVENING SERVICES
For those attending either or both of the New Way evening services, starting at 6pm on 7th and 28th August, are invited to join the bring and share finger supper following each service.
You are kindly asked to bring either a savoury or sweet finger buffet dish (to serve approx. 6). Please also bring own liquid refreshments. Plate and napkin will be provided.
CREAM TEA
Following the success of our cream tea last year, the Ladies Group are hosting another event in central Bearsted on Saturday 3 September from 2-4 pm. It will be in aid of the Bana Besu feeding project in Zambia. Tickets cost £7 and will include scones, cake and a free glass of Prosecco (takeaway if wet). Tickets are available by email here or call 07702 954832.
As food prices increase not only here but abroad, it makes it even harder for Mutinta and her team in Zambia to make ends meet and decide which orphan can have a meal and which one can't. We would, therefore, be so grateful for your support to raise much needed funds to support this project in Zambia.
HOLY CROSS AND NEW WAY WORSHIP: SUMMER 2022
During the six weeks of the school holidays the Memorial Hall is not available to users because of major building works. The Church Council and the leadership teams for Classic (church based worship) and New Way (hall based worship) have been considering what to do for this period. The pattern of worship that has been agreed for these weeks takes into consideration the desires expressed over some time for Classic and New Way congregations to get to know each other and each other’s’ style of worship better and for New Way to be able to meet in our historic church building.
In addition to the 8am service continuing for this period the pattern will be for a service to be held in church at 10am from July 24th to August 28th inclusive. On two Sundays there will be a Classic based service and on two Sundays a New Way based service. On these Sundays the services will take into consideration the presence of worshippers from the other form of service. On two Sundays there will be a Classic service at 10am and a New Way service at 6pm.
It is hoped that members of both service styles will make an effort to be at all the services during the period in order to get to know members of the other congregation and to experience something of the style of worship of the other service.
The pattern for this period is shown below:
July 24th 10am Classic based service
July 31st 10am New Way based service
August 7th 10am Classic Service
6pm New Way Service
August 14th 10am Classic based service
August 21st 10am New Way based service
August 28th 10am Classic Service and Baptism
6pm New Way Service
In September the current pattern of service will be resumed. The Church Council and Leadership Teams will seek to learn the lessons of these weeks.
CHRISTIAN AID APPEAL
Christian Aid has launched an appeal in response to the crisis in Ukraine. Working through the ACT (Action by Churches Together) Alliance, we are supporting partner organisations in Hungry and Poland who are working on the Ukrainian border, helping those seeking refuge from the conflict in Ukraine. If you are able to make a donation, the link is here
MORNING PRAYER ZOOM
"Zoom Morning Prayer" 9.00am Monday to Thursday each week, continues. A simple 20 minute service with music, Scripture reading, reflection and prayer. See "Links" Section below for log in details.
Join us this Sunday using the links:
To Join the Zoom "Zoom Morning Prayer" 9.00am Monday to Thursday each week:
Click here and enter Meeting ID & Passcode (624122) between 8.45-9.00am.
Services each Sunday until further notice:
8.00am Eucharist Holy Cross
9.30am Eucharist Holy Cross
10.30am New Way Service at the Memorial Hall.
Daily Prayers will continue to be offered by the Rector in Holy Cross at the usual weekday time of 9.15am.
The Church is open for private prayer while socially distancing, please follow the instructions displayed.
We will regularly update our Pew Sheet / Notice Sheet on this page so please revisit each week for an update.
Sunday Mornings
Other available services to consider if you feel unable to attend our Sunday services are.
1. Radio. BBC Radio 4, Sunday Worship at 8.10am, Radio 3, Choral Evensong, Sunday 3pm,, Weds 3.30pm. The BBC can be accessed at anytime for recordings of these services.
2. TV. BBC 1 Songs of Praise Sunday 1.15pm.
3. Internet, search All Souls, Langham Place,London and St James,Muswell Hill, London for recordings of services and talks. Take care esp of content, you can always check something out with vicar. Please email office if you come across good internet resources.
4. Do more of personal devotions – pray and read the bible. Also read other Christian books.
NOTICES
WAR MEMORIAL BIOGRAPHIES
The original computer files for the WW2 Biographies for the War Memorials at Holy Cross and St Mary’s have been lost. One or more volunteers are needed to retype from printed hard copies so that they are readily available. If you can undertake this task it does not have to be done immediately.
Please email the office if you are interested.
SAMARA'S AID APPEAL - MEDICAL CENTRE SYRIA
Help save lives in Syria by donating towards life saving equipment
March 21
Samara’s team is in the process of opening a new medical centre in Syria in the middle of the Covid crisis. Dependable medical services are urgently needed in this poor area, and especially those which can be accessed free of charge by the poorest and most vulnerable.
Samara is raising funds to support this essential and life saving medical service now the building work is almost complete. Samara has recently got quotes for the following items which she would like to buy to equip and run the new medical centre emergency room and high dependency unit:
2 ventilators - £5,500 each,
6 – 8 patient monitors - £3,500 each
10 -12 syringe pumps - £540 each
This medical centre will be the first step towards enabling a larger Grace Hospital to be built through allowing a smaller, more manageable service first. It will run on a not for profit basis.
Please donate to help buy this life saving medical equipment by visiting MEDICAL AID: SYRIA — SAMARA'S AID APPEAL
Please continue to pray for Samara’s team in Syria led by Dr A who are making and continue to make such a difference to lives in Syria.
For more information on Samaras other current projects include an building long term Grace Hospital , running an outreach centre for orphans and widows with a food bank and children’s safespace, educational support programme, running livelihood courses for widows & farming local land to grow wheat visit here
FUND RAISING COMMITTEE
The Fund Raising Committee for the Holy Cross Church Bearsted, under the logo ‘Raise the Roof’, would like to bring you up to date with news of our fund raising activities.Since October 2017 we have held numerous events, including: quiz evenings, a murder mystery evening, a weekend flower festival, an ecumenical music hall evening with churches from Bearsted and the wider community, and 3 Christmas Fayres. We have received generous gift donations from various local concerts, and from the Bearsted and Thurnham Summer Fayre Committee.
Our fund raising efforts are as a direct result of the recent Quinquennial Report which highlighted the need to have our roof repaired. The repairs are extensive and costs will reflect this. Therefore in addition to our efforts, we are approaching Charitable Trusts to seek financial support. At the time of going to press, we have been successful in being voted a Grant donation from The Cobtree
Trust. Their Grant of £10,000 plus an offer of £10,000 as an interest free loan is a tremendous start.
We have so far raised £21,396.00 and this is due to the wonderful support given to all the above events by the People of Bearsted and the surrounding communities. This is also due to the commitment and sheer hard work of all those involved in organising and volunteering their time and energies to making the above events happen. Thank you.
CHURCH OFFICE – WEDNESDAY EVENINGS
Please note that for an experimental time the Parish Office will be discontinued on a Wednesday
Evening. The office is open as usual Monday mornings and Thursday all day.
SAMARA AID APPEAL
Latest update can be found here
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, some are temporarily suspended at the moment:-
- Every Thursday afternoon - Les Smith (8 members)
- Every Monday evening - Julie Osborn (7 members)
- Every Tuesday evening - Andy Haines (10 members)
- Every Tuesday evening - Richard Sutch (6 members)
- Every other Thursday evening - Sandra Brabyn (9 members)
- Every Wednesday morning (ladies group) - Diana Sandford (11 members)
- Every other Thursday evening - Juliet Mee (9 members)
All these groups welcome new members. If you are interested in joining a group post Covid-19 please contact
Sandra Brabyn 01622 630500