Congratulations to Rev. Sally Pickersgill, who was ordained Deacon in Canterbury Cathedral on Saturday morning. Sally is, of course, known to all of us at St Stephen’s as she has been our Lay Reader for several years, but now she begins her new ministry as our Curate.
The Annual Parochial Church Meeting is being held in church on Sunday 28th April 2024 at 12 noon in the Church Hall, following the Sung Eucharist. You can download the Agenda and Reports document below.
As the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine passes, join us for a special service of Choral Evensong Music, Readings and Prayers for Peace in Ukraine and other war-torn places around the world. Music sung by our choir will include ‘A Prayer for Ukraine’ by Mykola Lysenko.
Join us at 6pm in church and online.
Our Lent Course, led by Fr David will be at 7.15pm for 7.30pm on Thursday evenings during Lent, beginning on Thursday 22nd February. The sessions will finish at 8.45pm.
Our focus will be on key moments in the St John’s reflective account of Our Lord’s ministry. There is no charge but a donation, from those able to make one, towards heating and lighting, tea and cake would be welcome. Please bring a Bible; Fr David will be using the NRSV.
Following discussions between the PCC, Archdeacon and Fr David, the Churchwardens are very pleased to announce that Rev. Dr David Vannerley will be licensed as interim Priest-in-Charge of St Stephen’s during Choral Evensong on Sunday 21st January. This very generous offer from Fr David means that we will have continuity and priestly leadership over the next year or so as we look at what the next role of Rector of St Stephen’s will look like and subsequently an appointment can be made. David is, of course, already known to all of us at St Stephen’s and we hope that many of you will be able to join us at this special service at 6pm next Sunday.
David’s appointment is a part-time role which will mostly cover our services on a Sunday and Wednesday alongside occasional meetings and pastoral activities. Please note that this is not how the Archdeacon envisages a future appointment to St Stephen’s, but simply the time that Fr David is very kindly offering in what is his own retirement. Thank you, David!
On Sunday 8th October, five members of St Stephen’s community were Confirmed in a special service by The Right Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover.
Please continue to remember them all in your prayers.
The Annual Parochial Church Meeting is being held in church on Sunday 16th April 2023 at 11.45am, immediately following the Sung Eucharist. You can download the Agenda and Reports document below.
To join the meeting on Zoom, click here.
The Church of England has recently developed a tool to enable us in developing our Church community and I would like to invite as many people as possible to take part in the survey questionnaire that has been designed for this purpose. The link to the online survey (which is St Stephen’s specific) is: https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/2831/surveys/church-development-tool/survey/
Alternatively, there will be some paper versions of the survey available at Church and a poster with a QR code for those who are tech savvy. Please do help us with this survey as it will help us to plan our future activities and programmes.
Many thanks, Kevin.
On Tuesday 5th July, our Rector Kevin Maddy graduated from Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, with his PhD thesis ‘Approaches to Monasticism in the Context of Christian Responses to Modern Culture’. Congratulations!
There will be a special service for Christian Aid week for the whole of the Canterbury community, held at St Stephen’s Church on Sunday 22nd May at 6.00pm.
Everyone is welcome and we look forward to seeing you there.