Sat 30 Jan@ 13.52
Please find the letter sent out by the Archbishops this week as the number of deaths arising from Covid-19 in the UK exceeded 100,000
HERE.
We are invited to pray through February and ongoing for those who are suffering from the illness at 6pm each day.
Gracious God,
as we remember before you the thousands who have died,
surround us and all who mourn with your strong compassion.
Be gentle with us in our grief,
protect us from despair,
and give us grace to persevere
and face the future with hope
in Jesus Christ our risen Lord.
Amen.
@ 13.30
KINGSTON VOLUNTARY AIDED CHURCH OF ENGLAND SECONDARY SCHOOL -
FINAL CONSULTATION 29 JANUARY TO 26 FEBRUARY 2021
There are plans for a new Voluntary Aided Church of England Secondary School for pupils aged 11 – 16 which is a very exciting local new development for Kingston. There
is an identified need for additional secondary school places in the Borough and currently no
Church of England secondary provision choice for parents and pupils in this area. The matter is now out for consultation which will inform a report which will go to Kingston Council in March for their final approval. Support for the proposal to date has been very strong but additional positive responses to this final consultation would be much appreciated.
The process so far has been:
- Bid submitted February 2019
- Bid approved by Department for Education February 2020
- Site identified adjacent to Kingsmeadow Stadium, Goodchild Way, Kingston Rd, KT1 3PB
- Feasibility studies, ground studies and initial design work took place during summer and
autumn 2020
- The school will cost approximately £26 million of which 90% will be met by grant and 10%
by the Royal Borough of Kingston
- The school will be built by the DfE
- Of the 180 places allocated each year120 will be Open places and up to 60 as Foundation
places (with those meeting a faith criteria getting priority)
- The school will have a link with an existing SDBE secondary school
- The school is planning to open in September 2024 with its initial intake of 180 pupils
- The school will have a Specialist Resource Provision for up to 20 pupils with social
communication needs (autism).
The Bishop of Kingston and other interested parties are encouraging us to respond to the consultation which you can find
HERE
Many thanks
Wed 27 Jan @ 12.20
Everyone welcome to join wherever and whenever you are - let Helen know - starts next week!
Email teamrector@stmatthewskt6.org or call Helen on 020 8390 3829.
Mon 25 Jan @ 14.23
Mon 25 Jan @ 11.50
An Invitation to this year's Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration service.
"On Sunday, January 31st, Kingston unites with the nation in honouring the victims and survivors of genocide, as embraced by the spirit of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
This year's theme: Be the light in the darkness.
Due to current circumstances the event will take place entirely online this year. We invite you all to join us at 2pm.
Please have a candle ready at home, if you wish to share in the contemplation of this year’s theme.
This joint event is organised by the Kingston Inter-Faith Forum, the Royal Borough of Kingston and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
Here is the YouTube link for the service -
https://youtu.be/how2Xtblo7I"
Sun 24 Jan @ 13.30
HERE is the link to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity service this evening starting at 6pm on Zoom or call details are:
Meeting ID: 856 7148 7313
Passcode: 206144
With participants from churches across Surbiton it promises to be a good way to worship God together showing the unity which we share in Christ. Don't forget the daily reflections for the week are all n our
YouTube Channel and there is also one made especially for children with activities and ideas about prayer.
Thurs 21 Jan @ 20.16
A different take on the Five Marks of Mission . . .
Mon 18 Jan @ 16.30
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - Mon 18 Jan until Mon 25 Jan.
To mark this week, Churches Together in Surbiton will be sharing Daily Reflections, from material prepared by the Monastic Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland. They re available on our YouTube channel
here.
There will also be a CTiS service on Sunday evening at 6pm, from St Andrew's. There will be no congregation in church but all a welcome to join via Zoom, details are available
here.
Mon 18 Jan @ 15.30
Here is our
Motto verse 2021 for you to print, if you would like.
HERE for A5 size printing on an A4 page,
HERE for 2xA5 on an A4 page.
Sun 17 Jan @ 15.00
A few reminders . .
Each morning this week to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (18-25 January ) there will be a reflection posted by a member of clergy from one of the Surbiton Churches on our YouTube Channel. Click
HERE to find them.
Here are the details for our Quiz Night - don't forget to earn a bonus point for your team by pre-registering. Send an email to Dave Farris (dave.farris@talk21.com). You will be put in a team on the night so don't worry about having to be part of a team before signing up!
Sat 16 Jan @ 12.23
The Bridge is a new initiative between Staywell and Kingston Churches. It is a service for anyone who feels alone or in need of support. It provides a one-to one relationship that is built over the phone making a bridge to more relationships in the wider community.
The basic process will work like this:
- Volunteers from churches within the borough have references checked and given training.
- Volunteers commit to a minimum of 6 weeks (1 call to client per week, max 1 hr)
- Staywell refers a client to The Bridge.
- A volunteer assigned to contact the client by phone.
- Volunteer phones the client for a chat once a week for six weeks. After 6 weeks there is a review to determine if the client wants to continue, if the chats are helping them, if there are other services or community activities they can be pointed towards and if the volunteer is happy to continue.
Full details of process, training, supervision and safeguarding will be explained to volunteers in training.
Staywell are aware that the volunteers running this service are members of churches and therefore their faith may play a part in the conversations. Equally these telephone conversations are not preaching opportunities for volunteers. They are a space for volunteers to help and demonstrate love for people who are struggling, to minister to Jesus by ministering to those he cares about and to talk about Jesus and pray with the client where they indicate they would like that.
If you would like to volunteer for this service, or to attend an introductory training meeting to find out more, please fill out the linked application form and include contacts for your church leader, for us to obtain a reference.
kingsgate.online/bridgeapplication
Sun 10 Jan @ 08.42
The Five Marks of Mission (which we are thinking about in our current sermon series) are an important statement on mission.
They express the Anglican Communion’s common commitment to, and understanding of, God’s holistic and integral mission. The mission of the Church is the mission of Christ.
The first Mark of Mission, identified with personal evangelism at the Anglican Consultative Council in 1984 (ACC-6) is a summary of what all mission is about, because it is based on Jesus’ own summary of his mission. This should be the key statement about everything we do in mission.
The Five Marks of Mission:
- The mission of the Church is the mission of Christ
- To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
- To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
- To respond to human need by loving service
- To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation
- To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth
Wed 6 Jan @ 17.41
To catch up on the Kingston Deanery's 'Twelve Days of Christmas' - a different offering from a local church each day - click
HERE
Tues 5 Jan @ 17.23
This coming Sunday, 10 January we are beginning a sermon series on the '5 Marks of Mission' which we are combining with our Covenant Sunday. There will be the opportunity to pray this prayer for yourself but it is not for the fainthearted!
So it is always better to have a look at it - to allow you to pray through it, to ask God to help you say it and mean it and keep it . .
Here it is:
I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing,
put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you,
or laid aside for you,
exalted for you,
or brought low for you;
let me be full,
let me be empty,
let me have all things,
let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
?
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen
Sat 2 Jan @ 17.20
HERE is the link to our Epiphany Activity Sheets for tomorrow's service.