This Easter – 2nd to 12th April

“Go quickly and tell his disciples: “He has risen from the dead…”

(Matthew 28:7)

This week, the sections of the email are:

Please note this email covers two weeks, there will not be an email next week.

  • Opening Reflection: The Easter Story
  • The Easter Services
  • Key notices: Electoral roll, Can you help with a tour
  • Coming Up: Romp through the Old Testament, St. George’s Day Service and Parade, Life in Tudor Ramsgate
  • Interesting Blogs: Peace in times of war, Christians in the age of Hitler
  • Weekly Calendar
  • Online Forms: Event application, Submit a notice, maintenance report, access Safeguarding training

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

The Easter Story is an emotional rollercoaster. It takes us from the depths of human cruelty and agony to the highs of the most incredible and hope-giving miracle.       At the political level, there is injustice perpetrated by those meant to promote God’s laws and enforce the Roman legal system. At the personal level there are statements promising great courage, followed by moments of utter cowardice.

At the centre of it all is Jesus. On show is both his humanity and his divinity. He is clear about his divine mission, preparing his followers for the traumas to come and interpreting the events beforehand through the means of a simple meal. As he approaches the climactic moment, he struggles in prayer between his human desire to flee all pain and suffering and the divine command to sacrifice himself for the human race. In the end he submits with the simple, but powerful words, “your will be done.”

After his arrest, he faces the unjust trial with great courage, not defending himself, but making his clearest claim to be the Messiah, just at the moment it would cause him the most harm. Beaten, ridiculed and crucified, he remains true to his calling and compassion, asking forgiveness for his executors, offering hope to one of those being executed with him and arranging support for his family. Then he dies, with a great cry of triumph: “It is finished!”

His great work of sacrifice, was complete, but Jesus was not finished. Incredibly, on the third day, God raised him from the dead. Jesus did what no-one had done before or since: He conquered death. In so doing he gives us hope that death need not be the end.

For many, this story is the most important moment in history. Why not join us this Easter and discover afresh what it means and why it matters so much?

                                                Paul Worledge

The Easter Services:

Maundy Thursday – 2nd April (Tonight!)

  • Holy Communion (St. George’s 6:30pm) – remembering the very first meal in remembrance of Jesus’s death for us.

Good Friday – 3rd April (Tomorrow!)

  • The Easter Story (St. Luke’s, 10:30am) – an interactive telling of the events of Easter for families and small children. Like a ‘Crib Service’ but for Easter.
  • Churches Together Service (Ramsgate Salvation Army, 10:30am)
  • Churches Together – Good Friday witness (Town Centre, 12 noon)
  • Good Friday Meditation (St. George’s, 1:00-3:00pm) – reflecting on the Song of the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53). Come for one or more 30 minute slots starting at 1pm, 1:30pm, 2pm, 2:30pm.

Easter Sunday – 5th April

  • All Age Holy Communion and Celebration (St. George’s, 9:30am) – Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus and the hope of life it brings. Matthew 28:1-10.

Key Notices:

Electoral Roll: Please fill in a form if you aren’t yet on it!

The electoral roll is a list of church members who have the right to vote at our annual meeting. Last year we had to create a new roll, and many people would have joined the electoral roll then. If you did not join last year or have started coming more recently, then you can now join the new roll, if you are 16 or over, have been baptised and have either been attending for six months or live in the parish. Please pick up a form at the back of church and return to Mark or fill in the online form. Forms must be completed by 3rd May. The Annual meeting is on Sunday 31st May after church.

 

Can you help run a tour?

We are hoping to offer tours of St. George’s tower and crypt on Saturdays through the tower. This not only allows locals and tourists to experience the wonders of the building but also raises money for the church. If you are interested in being part of a team to run these tours, then please contact Jemima (07971782477 or regenerationofficer@stgeorgechurchramsgate.uk).

Coming Up:

Romp through the Old Testament

An interactive day of exploration, new insights and fun with Rev. Dr. Sue Woan. Free! (donations welcome) Bring your own lunch – drinks provided. Saturday 18th April, 9.30am – 3.00pm. Newington Free Church, St. John’s Avenue, Ramsgate. To book a place contact Robin Plant: robin.plant@protonmail.com.

St. George’s Day Service and Parade

On Sunday 19th April we will have a joint service at St. George’s church to celebrate St. George’s day at 11am. This will be for All Ages and will be followed by a Parade through town, which will this year include both a giant St. George and a giant dragon. After the parade, there will be lunch in St. George’s church, where the Pride in Place board will be launching the next phase of their engagement in working out how to spend the £20 million assigned to Ramsgate by the government. We hope as many as possible can join with some or all element on this day.

Life in Tudor Ramsgate

On Saturday 16th May, 3pm, Margaret Bolton will be giving a talk about Tudor Ramsgate. It will include insights into school life, the work of a housewife, the jobs people did, visits by important people and the experiences of family life. Tickets will be £5 with all proceeds going to the St. George’s Restoration fund.

Interesting Blogs to Share:

Peace in Times of War

In this reflection, Stuart Ford from the Bible Society s the hope of peace that comes through the resurrection of Jesus. Read more (5mins)...

Christians in the Age of Hitler

In this article, the writer reviews a book that argues that our culture has been formed in the anti-Nazi rhetoric of the post war world. Important as that is, it is not enough to sustain a lasting positive culture. Read more...

Two-Weekly Calendar

Sunday 5th April – Easter Sunday

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) Matthew 28:1-10 – 9:30am

Confirmation Follow Up (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 5:00-6:30pm

Tuesday 7th              

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm

Wednesday 8th        

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Thursday 9th  

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Saturday 11th               

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Sunday 12th – Second Sunday of Easter

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) John 20:19-31 – 9:30am

Monday 13th              

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Tuesday 14th              

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm

Wednesday 15th        

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Thursday 16th 

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Saturday 18th               

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Sunday 19th – Third Sunday of Easter

Joint Service (St. George’s Church) Acts 7:54-60 – 11:00am

Confirmation Follow Up (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 5:00-6:30pm

Life Groups

Will you dare to share the Christian life with others? Life groups are a great way to meet together regularly with a small group of other Christians, for mutual support, to share in reading God’s word and to pray for one another.

Please see Paul if you are interested in joining one. There are groups at the following times:

  • Monday evenings
    • Tuesday afternoons
    • Wednesday mornings
    • Wednesday evenings

Online Forms:

Under the ‘Contact’ tab on the website, there are now three forms that you can use to help us in managing the church:

  • Events Application Form. Use this if you are organising a church event that needs a church room booked, advertising or ticketing.
  • Submit a Notice. Use this if you want to ask us to include a prayer request or other notice in the church notice sheet or email.
  • Maintenance Reporting Form.Use this to report any non-urgent issues with our buildings or grounds.

Safeguarding Training

If you volunteer in anyway at church the national authorities are strongly encouraging you to take at least the Basic Module in safeguarding training once every three years.

If you have not completed the training in the last three years, then the module can be completed online and takes about ninety minutes. You can access the training by following this link. You will need to first register, to access the training. Once the training is completed, you will be sent a certificate. Please forward that certificate to James (office@churchramsgate.org), so that we can keep records of who has done the training.

Finally, let’s keep on celebrating the amazing resurrection of Jesus.

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)

Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:1-11)

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)

This Sunday is Palm Sunday. We remember Jesus on a journey into Jerusalem. He, like many Jews, was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from his home region of Galilee. Yet, he chose to arrive in Jerusalem deliberately announcing to the crowds that he was coming to be made king. He rode on a donkey in fuflilment of the prophecy in Zechariah.

The crowds, many of whom had witnessed his amazing preaching and astonishing miracles, responded by praising him and laying down branches along the path, symbolically welcoming him as their king. Yet, remarkable as this was, difficult questions remained. How could Jesus be enthroned when he was not welcomed by the temple authorities? (They were jealous of his popularity and angry at his criticism of them). And how could Jesus overthrow the military power of the Romans who occupied the city?

Yet, within a week, Jesus was crowned and declared to be king. At his crucifixion, a crown of thorns was placed on his head and a placard placed above him declaring him to be, “King of the Jews.” To most this looked like the authorities mocking his claims, but the deeper reality was that his claims were becoming true in ways people could not comprehend. On the cross Jesus became king of God’s eternal Kingdom, as his subsquent resurrection proved.

As recorded at St. Luke’s
Listen on Castbox

Operation Kenosis

Matthew 21:1-11

In his famous ‘we shall fight them on the beaches’ speech of June 1940, Winston Churchill described the safe evacuation of 338,000 Allied troops from France under enemy bombardment as a ‘miracle of deliverance, achieved by valour, by perseverance, by perfect discipline, by faultless service, by resource, by skill, by unconquerable fidelity’.1 The assembly of a flotilla of little ships at Ramsgate, and their setting out for the other side of the English Channel to ferry soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk to the larger naval vessels which were unable to come closer than a mile from shore – this was part and parcel of this valour and discipline, and the beginning of that miracle. It was remembered last year in the return of many of those same little ships to Ramsgate Harbour, and the little ships are returning again in a couple of months’ time. The British Government’s code name for this undertaking was ‘Operation Dynamo’. You don’t need to be a language scholar to guess that the Greek word ‘dunamis’, from which we get the word ‘dynamo’, translates as ‘power, might, strength, or force’.

In Matthew chapter 21, we hear about the beginning of another, much greater miracle of deliverance, which I am going to call ‘Operation Kenosis’. The Greek word ‘kenosis’, as it is used in the New Testament, could be regarded as the opposite of ‘dunamis’, because it means ‘emptying oneself out’. This is what we see in the so-called triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, as described in Matthew chapter 21. This was not a display of power, might, strength, or force. Instead, Operation Kenosis was a threefold miracle: a miracle of planning, a miracle of humility, and a miracle of love.

  1. A Miracle of Planning

As they approached Jerusalem, and came into Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away’ … The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. (Matt. 21:1-3,6).

Some people have understood this to be a miracle of foreknowledge, or possibly even a miracle of mind control, as if Jesus exercised an impersonal force from a distance over the responses of the donkey’s owner, in the same weird way that Obi-Wan Kenobi took over the minds of inquisitive Imperial Stormtroopers in the first Star Wars film. But I think that this is far more likely to have been a miracle of planning on the part of Jesus.

Imagine my sister had made arrangements to fly from Australia to visit me, but for whatever reason I wasn’t able to meet her at the airport. Now imagine I said something like this to her: ‘Once you get through passport control and into arrivals, turn left and out through the doors towards the carpark. To your right you will see a little unit with distinctive car hire branding, and a Nissan Micra will be parked close by. If the unit is closed, open the postbox to the right hand side, and you will find a set of keys for the Micra. If the unit is staffed, or if anyone asks you what you are doing, give them my name and the booking reference 561-561. Then use the satellite navigation app on your phone to drive to my house’.

In circumstances like those, my sister would be unlikely to say to me, ‘What mysterious power do you have to know and to control the outcome of all these things?’ She would be more likely to think that I had arranged car hire for her, and had chosen the least expensive car I could find. It would be a miracle of planning on my part, rather than a miracle of foreknowledge or mind control.

I think this is the most likely way of understanding what is going on in the first few verses of Matthew chapter 21: as a miracle of planning, rather than as a display of power, strength, might, or force. To be clear, it’s not that I think that Jesus could not have exercised such power if he wanted to. However, I don’t think that there are any clear examples in the Gospels of him performing miracles purely for self-serving reasons. The miracles of Jesus that are recorded in the Gospels tend to be displays of mercy at least as much as they are displays of power.

‘Your sins are forgiven, take up your mat and walk’ – these are supreme acts of mercy as well as authority. ‘I need a free ride on a donkey, and I’m prepared to hypnotise its owner to get it’ – that would speak of self-interest above all. Self-interest does not describe how Jesus operated. Rather, he emptied himself out, to take on the form of a slave to others (cf. Philippians 2:7). This was the first step in Operation Kenosis: not a flashy sci-fi miracle of mind control, I don’t think, but more likely a humble servant-like miracle of planning.

Please note that understanding things in this way doesn’t make what happened any less of a miracle. Verse 4 of our Bible reading hints at how far the planning stretched back: hundreds of years, at least to the days of the prophet Zechariah:

This took place, Matthew tells us, to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet, ‘Say to the daughter of Zion: See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey’.

Some scholars trace the planning even further back, to the first book of the Bible, Genesis, chapter 49, verses 10 and 11:

The sceptre will not depart from Judah … until he comes to whom it belongs, and the obedience of the nations is his. He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robe in the blood of grapes.

Matthew mentions Zechariah, not Genesis, but that is enough for us to know that the choice Jesus made for his transport, for the 900 metres or so from Bethphage to Jerusalem, was not accidental. There is a clear link here between the plans he laid down and the hope expressed by the prophets of the Old Testament for a new ruler who would ‘proclaim peace to the nations’, in the words of Zechariah, one who is ‘righteous, and has salvation’ (Zechariah 9:9,10).

2. A Miracle of Humility

The entry Jesus made into Jerusalem has been compared and contrasted with the Roman ritual of the military triumph, in which conquering Roman generals were paraded through Rome past cheering crowds, with slaves standing in the chariots behind them whispering, ‘Remember that you are mortal’, in case they forgot. The journey Jesus made from Bethphage to Jerusalem, would not have looked like this. There was a crowd, certainly, but they would have appeared to others to be a motley crew of fishermen, tax collectors, women of dubious reputation, and street people. As props for the procession, they had to make do with whatever lay to hand: branches off trees, their own clothing. There was someone at the centre of it all, but that person was riding an absurd animal as if he was at the seaside. This was not a Rolls Royce affair, it was the Nissan Micra of processions. It was a display of poverty and weakness, not of wealth and strength.2 It must have looked unimpressive, if not ridiculous – possibly even suspect. If the city of Jerusalem was in uproar about it, it could have been simply because they didn’t want that kind of riff-raff on the streets.

I call this a miracle of humility, because true humility is one of those things that cannot easily be faked, and it is vanishingly rare. The person at the centre of it all was genuinely gentle and humble in heart, who did nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but instead put the needs of others before his own (cf. Matthew 11:29, Philippians 2:3). Humility was not an act for Jesus. It was his very nature. He really did come not to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28). And yet, remember that he is immortal, with power to lay down his life, and power to take it up again (cf. John 10:18).

Remember how his actions at the Last Supper are described in the Gospel of John? He knew that the Father had put all things under his power, that he had come from God and was returning to God (John 13:3). So what did he do? He got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist, poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet (John 13:4-5). That is divinity and humility going hand in hand.

Likewise, at his triumphal entry, he accepted the praise of the crowd at face value: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! (Matthew 21:9). Yet he did not let their praise go to his head. He did not entrust himself to them, because he knew what was in the human heart (cf. John 2:24-25), and what was coming.

  1. A Miracle of Love

In thinking about what was coming, we must realise that what I am calling Operation Kenosis was, above all, an outright miracle of love. A bride-to-be, setting off on her walk up the aisle, has a pretty clear idea what to expect at the other end of the aisle, and her walk is motivated by love. For Jesus, the path to Jerusalem represented something rather different. He went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory but first he was crucified. But his journey was likewise motivated by love, even more so because he knew what it was to entail. No doubt those who set out from Ramsgate to sail their little ships to Nazi-occupied France as part of Operation Dynamo knew the risks they would be running. How much more did Jesus know what would be involved in turning his face towards Jerusalem!

Every one of the Gospels records how Jesus spent years deliberately avoiding Jerusalem, and he did so for good reason. The city was full of his enemies. Each Gospel also records the time that came, when he told his disciples of his intention to go up to the city, where he would be betrayed and crucified before being raised from the dead. At the very moment of him saying this, he was tempted to avoid the cross and act in his own self-interest by the words of Simon Peter: Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you! (Matthew 16:22). That temptation to self-interest returned in the mockery of the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders on Good Friday, as Jesus hung on the cross: ‘He saved others’, they said, ‘but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him’ (Matthew 27:42).

Jesus could have exercised his power in this way if that is what he had wanted. But, as we know, he did not perform miracles for self-serving reasons. He came not to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28). His refusal to come down from the cross was a miracle of love, because it enabled the greatest miracle, the miracle of deliverance. His was the valour, the perseverance, the discipline, the service, the resource, the skill, and the unconquerable fidelity. He came to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28), and he achieved what he set out to do. He made himself nothing … and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! (Philippians 3:7-8).

Operation Dynamo gave the Allies an opportunity to regroup and continue to resist the spread of National Socialism across Europe. Operation Kenosis gave Jesus the authority to say ‘Your sins are forgiven’ to a broken, needy, and repentant humanity; and not just to say these words, but to actually bring into effect the state of affairs they describe.

Operation Dynamo was a display of power and might, strength and force. Operation Kenosis was an emptying out on the part of Jesus, a demonstration of apparent weakness that has become the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (cf. Romans 1:16).

Bethphage was the starting point for what I have been calling Operation Kenosis. There was no turning back once the fateful journey Jesus made that day had started. It led directly to the cross, the grave, and from there through to life eternal.

1 http://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches/

2 Cf. Fleming Rutledge, The Undoing of Death (Eerdmans, 2002), p. 30, and p. 339, n. 26.

This Sunday – 29th March 2026

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

(Zechariah 9:9)

This week, the sections of the email are:

  • Opening Reflection: Palm Sunday
  • Key notices: Clocks going forward, Easter Services, Can you help run a tour?
  • Coming Up: Romp through the Old Testament, St. George’s Day Service and Parade, Life in Tudor Ramsgate
  • Interesting Blogs: The Quiet Revival: One Year on, Sarah Mullally’s Politics of Dignity
  • Prayer Requests
  • Weekly Calendar
  • Online Forms: Event application, Submit a notice, maintenance report, access Safeguarding training

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

On Wednesday, Sarah Mullally was enthroned in Canterbury Cathedral as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury. This was the official launch for her into her new role as leader of the Anglican church in England, a big moment for her, for the church she will lead and for women’s rights. As part of her preparation, she also chose to walk a 72 mile pilgrimage from St. Paul’s, Cathedral in her previous Diocese of London, to the Cathedral church of her new Diocese in Canterbury. One thing she didn’t do was ride a donkey!

This Sunday is Palm Sunday. We remember Jesus on a journey into Jerusalem. He, like many Jews, was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from his home region of Galilee (about twice as far as the Archbishop walked). Yet, he chose to arrive in Jerusalem deliberately announcing to the crowds that he was coming to be made king. He rode on a donkey in fuflilment of the prophecy in Zechariah.

The crowds, many of whom had witnessed his amazing preaching and astonishing miracles, responded by praising him and laying down branches along the path, symbolically welcoming him as their king. Yet, remarkable as this was, difficult questions remained. How could Jesus be enthroned when he was not welcomed by the temple authorities? (They were jealous of his popularity and angry at his criticism of them). And how could Jesus overthrow the military power of the Romans who occupied the city?

Yet, within a week, Jesus was crowned and declared to be king. At his crucifixion, a crown of thorns was placed on his head and a placard placed above him declaring him to be, “King of the Jews.” To most this looked like the authorities mocking his claims, but the deeper reality was that his claims were becoming true in ways people could not comprehend. On the cross Jesus became king of God’s eternal Kingdom, as his subsquent resurrection proved.

                                                                Paul Worledge

Key Notices:

Clocks going forward

Don’t forget that this Sunday morning, the clocks go forward by an hour. Don’t be late for church!

Can you help run a tour?

We are hoping to offer tours of St. George’s tower and crypt on Saturdays through the tower. This not only allows locals and tourists to experience the wonders of the building but also raises money for the church. If you are interested in being part of a team to run these tours, then please contact Jemima (07971782477 or regenerationofficer@stgeorgechurchramsgate.uk).

Easter Services

Grab a flier from the back of church and encourage others to come. There are also specific fliers for the Easter Story on Good Friday morning aimed especially at children and young families. You can also share the publicity from the websiteon your social media.

Coming Up:

Romp through the Old Testament

An interactive day of exploration, new insights and fun with Rev. Dr. Sue Woan. Free! (donations welcome) Bring your own lunch – drinks provided. Saturday 18th April, 9.30am – 3.00pm. Newington Free Church, St. John’s Avenue, Ramsgate. To book a place contact Robin Plant: robin.plant@protonmail.com.

St. George’s Day Service and Parade

On Sunday 19th April we will have a joint service at St. George’s church to celebrate St. George’s day at 11am. This will be for All Ages and will be followed by a Parade through town, which will this year include both a giant St. George and a giant dragon. After the parade, there will be lunch in St. George’s church, where the Pride in Place board will be launching the next phase of their engagement in working out how to spend the £20 million assigned to Ramsgate by the government. We hope as many as possible can join with some or all element on this day.

Life in Tudor Ramsgate

On Saturday 16th May, 3pm, Margaret Bolton will be giving a talk about Tudor Ramsgate. It will include insights into school life, the work of a housewife, the jobs people did, visits by important people and the experiences of family life. Tickets will be £5 with all proceeds going to the St. George’s Restoration fund.

Interesting Blogs to Share:

The Quiet Revival: One year on…

It now turns out, that YouGov have admitted that the research carried out behind the original Quiet Revival report a year ago was flawed and probably exaggerated the extent to which young people were turning to faith. Yet, that does not mean there are not important signs of a greater openness to faith today. Find out more…

Sarah Mullally’s Politics of Diginity

Andrew Atherstone, who has written a biography of the new Archbishop outlines what motivates her political engagement in this 5 minute read. Read more…

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 29th March – Palm Sunday (Clocks go forward)

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) Matthew 21:1-11 – 9:30am

Confirmation Follow Up (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 5:00-6:30pm

Monday 30th     

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Confirmation Follow Up (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 7:30-9:00pm

Tuesday 31st             

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm

Wednesday 1st April       

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Maundy Thursday 2nd

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Holy Communion (St George’s Church) – 6:30pm

Good Friday 3rd

The Easter Story for families (St Luke’s Church) – 10:30-11:15am

Churches Together Service (United Church, Hardres Street) – 10:30am

Open Air Witness (Town Centre) – 12noon

Meditation (St George’s Church) – 1:00-3:00pm

Saturday 4th               

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Sunday 5th – Easter Sunday

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) Matthew 28:1-10 – 9:30am

Life Groups

Will you dare to share the Christian life with others? Life groups are a great way to meet together regularly with a small group of other Christians, for mutual support, to share in reading God’s word and to pray for one another.

Please see Paul if you are interested in joining one. There are groups at the following times:

  • Monday evenings
    • Tuesday afternoons
    • Wednesday mornings
    • Wednesday evenings

Online Forms:

Under the ‘Contact’ tab on the website, there are now three forms that you can use to help us in managing the church:

  • Events Application Form. Use this if you are organising a church event that needs a church room booked, advertising or ticketing.
  • Submit a Notice. Use this if you want to ask us to include a prayer request or other notice in the church notice sheet or email.
  • Maintenance Reporting Form.Use this to report any non-urgent issues with our buildings or grounds.

Safeguarding Training

If you volunteer in anyway at church the national authorities are strongly encouraging you to take at least the Basic Module in safeguarding training once every three years.

If you have not completed the training in the last three years, then the module can be completed online and takes about ninety minutes. You can access the training by following this link. You will need to first register, to access the training. Once the training is completed, you will be sent a certificate. Please forward that certificate to James (office@churchramsgate.org), so that we can keep records of who has done the training.

Finally, let’s look to Jesus as our amazing king.

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)

Easter 2026

At the heart of the Christian faith is the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus died for our sins on the cross, bringing us peace with God. He rose from the dead giving us hope of eternal life. Join us to celebrate all that Jesus did for us and achieved and find peace and hope for today.

Maundy Thursday – 2nd April

  • Holy Communion (St. George’s 6:30pm) – remembering the very first meal in remembrance of Jesus’s death for us.

Good Friday – 3rd April

  • The Easter Story (St. Luke’s, 10:30am) – an interactive telling of the events of Easter for families and small children. Like a ‘Crib Service’ but for Easter.
  • Churches Together Service (Hardres Street United Church, 10:30am)
  • Churches Together – Good Friday witness (Town Centre, 12 noon)
  • Good Friday Meditation (St. George’s, 1:00-3:00pm) – reflecting on the Song of the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53). Come for one or more 30 minute slots starting at 1pm, 1:30pm, 2pm, 2:30pm.

Easter Sunday – 5th April                

Holy Communion (St. George’s, 9:30am) – Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus and the hope of life it brings.

Peace (Philippians 4:2-9)

“Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

When Paul writes about ‘the peace of God’, he does so in the context of urging Christians in the Philippian church to stop arguing (Philippians 4:2-3). In other words, Paul recognises that it is easier to find peace with each other, when we have first grasped the peace of God in our lives. Indeed, relationship breakdowns and even wars often arise out of contexts of deep anxiety.

To be a peacemaker, is to follow Christ’s example. He came to die for us, so that we could have peace with God. But also to be a peacemaker requires us to be free from anxiety, to not just have peace with God, but also the peace of God in our lives. Out of that God given peace we are equipped to work for peace.

As recorded at St. Luke’s
Listen on Castbox

Peace (Fruit of the Spirit, Philippians 4:2-9)

The loss of Peace

It’s now just over three weeks since the beginning of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Suddenly the world was plunged into a new conflict, even when war continues to rage in Ukraine, Sudan and many other parts of the world.

We are also seeing that war has a devastating impact beyond the actual fighting. War with Iran means major disruption to the world’s supply of oil, which means the cost of fuel goes up and ultimately the cost of everything goes up. Everyone becomes worse off. Lack of peace leads to lack of prosperity.

In turn this leads to increased levels of anxiety. The fear of our country being sucked into the war and the fear of the economic consequences, take away our inner peace.

What is peace?

We are going through the different characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit. The attitudes and behaviours that the Holy Spirit forms in us, so that our character is increasingly aligned with that of God’s. So that we look more and more like the children of God should look.

We’ve already considered, the first two characteristics, love and joy, and now we come to the third one: ‘peace’.

But what is meant by ‘peace’ in the Bible? Is it a state of mind, an absence of war or conflict or something more than that?

The Old Testament word for ‘peace’ is ‘Shalom.’ It meant more than an absence of war, it referred more to a state of blessing or wellbeing, to life as God has designed it to be.

We see that in the famous blessing, that the High Priest was to give:

“The LORD bless you and keep you;

the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;

the LORD turn his face towards you and give you peace.”

(Numbers 6:24-26)

‘Peace’ is the word, that sums up the whole blessing. It indicates a close relationship with God, himself, with his face shining on us and towards us. It talks of a kind of wellbeing, rooted in the graciousness of God, a wellbeing that includes a good state of mind, prosperity and harmony in all our relationships. It is not just an absence of war, but an absence of all the problems that war causes!!

So, how can we find this peace as Christians in a world that is becoming increasingly unpeaceful? How can we develop it as a characteristic of the Fruit of the Spirit?

I have three headings:

Peace is the work of Christ

Peace is the way of Christ

Peace is the word of Christ

Peace is the work of Christ

The message of the whole Bible, is that because we have rejected God as God in our lives, the world is fundamentally messed up. There is no peace, because ultimately we have ruined our relationship with God, by turning away from him.

In Colossians Paul sums up the situation like this:

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour.” (Colossians 1:21)

There was no peace between us and God. When our most important relationship, our relationship with God is broken, then everything else is broken.

But, God was not happy with the situation. He sent Jesus to mend this fundamental relationship, to make it possible for us to receive the gift of peace with God. Talking about Jesus, Paul says,

“For God was pleased to have all his fulness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20)

Jesus’ death on the cross, was the ultimate act of peace-making, the  greatest work of reconciliation. Peace is the work of Christ.

As Christians we can be confident that we have peace with God and from that truth much else follows. Just as war destroys prosperity and inner peace, reconciliation enables prosperity and inner peace to flourish.

During World War II, the European nations tore themselves apart and left the continent in ruins and poverty. However, from then on the nations of Western Europe worked hard to create a new order of peace and co-operation, that led to the flourishing of prosperity across the Western continent.

In the same way, because of Christ’s work in winning us peace with God, we can reap the benefits of a peaceful relationship with him. We can rejoice in Christ, no matter what the circumstances of life and when anxieties arise, we now have someone to turn to for help:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

Personally, I have always found this verse a deep encouragement. How do we find inner peace in a world of turbulence and change, a world where so much can seem wrong and unfair?

We focus on that most important relationship – our relationship with God. We bring all that is wrong to him, whilst also acknowledging that there is much to give thanks for. In doing so, we know that he is there for us, he cares for us, he knows and understands what we are going through. In that way, we find peace, a deep mystical peace that provides us with an inner security, because It guards our hearts and minds.

Because we have peace with God, we can seek an inner peace through prayer.

That is not always easy. If your state of mind means you find it difficult to pray – and to be honest, I sometimes find my mind is distracted in all kinds of ways, that make it hard to focus on prayer, then there are ways to pray that can help.

One idea is to write the prayers down. That can help you to focus your thoughts more clearly. Another idea is to ask others to pray with or for you. A third idea is to use the Psalms as words for prayer. They powerfully express a whole range of different emotions and difficulties that people face. Even if you can’t find the Psalm which expresses the things you are struggling with, just reading the attempts of others to come to God in prayer can be helpful.

In short, Peace comes from the work of Christ. He wins us peace with God, so that we can find peace in a fuller sense through prayer.

Peace is the way of Christ

But, peace is not just the work of Christ, it is the way of Christ. By that I mean, it is the way of life, the attitude that Christ calls us to in our relationships with one another and the world.

Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, talks of the work of Christ, as not just creating peace with God, but peace with one another. Paul had grown up as a Jew and despised all non-Jews or Gentiles. It was very much “them” and “us.” Yet, when he became a Christian, he campaigned strongly for the church to accept non-Jews as equal members of the church. Why? Because he believed that Christ had come not just to bring us peace with God, but peace with one another in the world. He writes in Ephesians about the hostility between Jew and Gentile:

“His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” (Ephesians 2:15a-16)

When it comes to ‘peace’ being a characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit, it may be talking about the inner peace we have through being reconciled to God, but it is more likely to do with living a life of peace with others in the world. I say that, because the fruit of the Spirit is contrasted with the works of the flesh, and many of the things Paul lists as the works of the flesh are to do with things that destroy peaceful relationships:

“The works of the flesh are…

hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions…” (Galatians 5:20)

And the New Testament is clear in many places, that as Christians we are called to seek peace in our relationships with others, in imitation of Christ’s work of bringing about peace.

So, Jesus himself says:

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

Paul writes:

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace.” (Romans 14:19a)

And in Hebrews it says:

“Make every effort to live in peace with all…” (Hebrews 12:14a)

We are called to follow the way of Christ, and the way of Christ is peace, so we must seek to bring about peace in our relationships.

This is deeply challenging. Churches can very easily slip into factions or groups, with one group judging or looking down on another. Are we working for peace within our church communities and perhaps especially between St. Luke’s and St. George’s as we dare to share more deeply with one another? Or do we slip back too easily into the kind of factional thinking that is the work of the flesh, rather than the fruit of the Spirit?

Are we working for peace with our work colleagues? Or indeed, are we someone who seeks to be a peacemaker in the work place when colleagues fall out?

Are we working for peace in our families as best we can? It is sad that so many families have breakdowns in relationship, that mean they don’t even speak to each other or see each other. Are there things you can do to help create peace within your family?

None of this is easy and the Bible recognises that peace is a two-way thing. Paul recognises, that it cannot always be achieved if the other person won’t co-operate. He writes:

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18)

As Christians, though, if we are truly those who have the fruit of the Spirit, then we will want to follow the way of peace.

Peace is the word of Christ

So, peace is the work of Christ and the way of Christ, but it is also the word of Christ.

When we bring people the good news of Jesus, we are offering them peace. Peace with God and through that the opportunity to find inner peace and peace with others.

In Isaiah it associates the proclamation of good news, with the proclamation of peace:

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”” (Isaiah 52:7)

In Ephesians, Paul also talks about the gospel as a message of peace. He says that Jesus:

“…came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” (Ephesians 2:17)

And later on when talking of the armour of God he says:

“and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” (Ephesians 6:15)

I wonder if seeing evangelism or sharing the gospel as a work of peace-making, changes your attitude to evangelism and the way you go about it?

As Christians, we are not trying to persuade someone to our way of thinking, we are seeking to show them that there is a way back to God, a way back to that core relationship with our maker. It is more like setting a friend up with their perfect partner than recruiting them to a cause.

And if the message is one of peace, then it needs to be shared in a way that promotes peace. We are not out to win an argument or prove that we are right and they are wrong, we are out to draw someone to share with us in the family of Christ. So, the way we share the message is just as important as the message we share. It will involve treating them with gentleness and respect, listening as much as speaking and showing them the love that we are called to show all people in practical support in life.

People of Peace?

Jesus lived during the age of the Roman Empire. At the time they often spoke of Pax Romana, because in conquering such a vast area, the Romans had created a kind of peace, which was at least a cessation of war. Yet, their “peace” was brought about through much bloodshed and at times bloody oppression of those who dared to rise up against Rome’s power.

Christ came to bring a deeper and fuller peace. Not won through the power of the sword, but the sacrifice of the cross. Not enforced by the armies of an empire, but the transformation of relationships. Not imposed on the unwilling, but welcoming all who will come.

Our call today, in a world, where war and division seems to be increasing, it to be a true people of peace, trusting that Christ has done the work of peace, following in his way of peace and holding out his word of peace.

This Sunday – 22nd March 2026

“Blessed are the peacemakers,

because they will be called children of God.”

(Matthew 5:9)

This week, the sections of the email are:

  • Opening Reflection: Peace
  • Key notices: Easter Services, Dare to Prayem, Annual Meeting new date, Gift from Councillors, St. Luke’s 150th Newsletter
  • Coming Up: Kent’s ‘Speak their Name” Memorial Quilt, Easter Cracked, Welcome Service for new Archbishop of Canterbury, Romp through the Old Testament
  • Wider Church: ACTS newsletter, Christian Aid Middle East Appeal
  • Interesting Blogs: What is the Bible?, Raising Kids who can handle the digital winds
  • Weekly Calendar
  • Online Forms: Event application, Submit a notice, maintenance report, access Safeguarding training

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

It is often said these days that if you want to improve your mental health, then stop looking at the news. Certainly, there is a lot in the news at the moment to promote anxiety. The war in Iran and the recent meningitis outbreak are just the two most recent examples to get us worried. How can we find inner peace in a world of war and sickness?

In Philippians, Paul tells us that rather than being anxious, we should pray. When we do that, we will find, ‘the peace of God, which passes all understanding.’ (Philippians 4:7). Why does this work? Peter tells us: “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) At the heart of the Christian faith is the belief in a God, who is both all powerful and eternal, but who also cares for us on a personal level. A God who, as Paul writes elsewhere, “in all things works for the good of those who love him.” (Romans 8:28). When we know that God is there for us, then we can be confident that whatever problems or crisis we face, God will bring us through in the end. So, we can have the peace of God.

Interestingly, though, when Paul writes about ‘the peace of God’, he does so in the context of urging Christians in the Philippian church to stop arguing (4:2-3). In other words, Paul recognises that it is easier to find peace with each other, when we have first grasped the peace of God in our lives. Indeed, relationship breakdowns and even wars often arise out of contexts of deep anxiety.

To be a peacemaker, is to follow Christ’s example. He came to die for us, so that we could have peace with God. But also to be a peacemaker requires us to be free from anxiety, to not just have peace with God, but also the peace of God in our lives. Out of that God given peace we are equipped to work for peace.

Paul Worledge

Key Notices:

Easter Services

Here is a list of the upcoming Easter Services at St. Luke’s and St. George’s:

  • Maundy Thursday (2nd April) Holy Communion, 6:30pm at St. George’s
  • Good Friday (3rd April)
    • The Easter Story (for families), 10:30am, St. Luke’s
    • Churches Together Service, 10:30am, Hardres Street United Ch.
    • Open Air Witness, 12noon, Town Centre (outside Timpsons)
    • Meditation, 1:00-3:00pm, four half-hour meditations on Isaiah 53
  • Easter Sunday (5th April), Holy Communion, 9:30am St. George’s

 

Dare to Pray

Join us this Saturday 9:30-10:30am for our monthly Dare to Pray meeting. For members of St. Luke’s and St. George’s as we pray for the development of our vision 2030. This month, we will also pray for our upcoming Easter Services.

Annual Meeting

At our PCC meeting on 16th March, we decided to change the date of our Annual Meeting to Sunday 31st May. We will have a shorter than normal Sunday Service, then hold our annual meeting immediately afterwards.

Gift from the Eastcliffe Ward councillors

We are grateful to the Eastcliffe Ward councillors for gifting £500 each to St. Luke’s and St. George’s for our work in supporting the community and £200 to the work of Community Pastors.

St. Luke’s 150th Newsletter

The second version of this newsletter is now available at the back of church. Do take a copy!

Coming Up:

Kent’s “Speak their name” Memorial Quilt

This quilt composes of 66 squares, remembering 66 lives lost to suicide. It is presently touring Kent and will be on display in St. George’s church from 18th March to 1st April, with a Connection Event on Saturday 21st March from 2 to 4pm, where you can learn more about the quilt. Find out more…

Easter Cracked

St. Luke’s will be hosting 80 Year 6 pupils from St. Lawrence College and Newlands School on the morning of Tuesday 24th March for this interactive workshop run by ACTS.If you can volunteer to help host and run the workshop (setting up from 9am and tidying up until about mid-day), then please let Paul know.

Welcome Service for new Archbishop of Canterbury

The service, led by the Bishop of Dover, will bring together individuals and church groups from across our county highlighting the rich and varied communities which we serve. This will be the main opportunity for the whole Diocese to formally welcome and show our support for our new Diocesan Bishop. Saturday 28th March, 5:30-6:30pm. Canterbury Cathedral. Click here to book a free ticket.

Romp through the Old Testament

An interactive day of exploration, new insights and fun with Rev. Dr. Sue Woan. Free! (donations welcome) Bring your own lunch – drinks provided. Saturday 18th April, 9.30am – 3.00pm. Newington Free Church, St. John’s Avenue, Ramsgate. To book a place contact Robin Plant: robin.plant@protonmail.com.

Wider Church

ACTS – March Update

The latest copy of the Active Christianity in Thanet Schools newsletter is now available at the back of church or can be read here.

Christian Aid Emergency Middle East Appeal

The conflict in the Middle East is taking a devastating toll on innocent lives. While the death, destruction and displacement in the region are overwhelming, there’s still hope.

With your support, our partners can provide lifesaving supplies to civilians caught up in this conflict. Find out more…

Interesting Blogs to Share:

What is the Bible?

This is the first in the latest series of videos from the Bible Project on how to read the Bible. In 5 minutes, it gives a great summary of what the Bible is? Watch…

Raising kids who can handle the digital winds

In this 4 minute read, Anna Hawken shares some thoughts about how best to help our children prepare for a digital world. Read more…

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 22nd March – The Fifth Sunday of Lent

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) Phil. 4:2-9 – 9:30am

Confirmation Follow Up (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 5:00-6:30pm

Monday 23rd    

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Confirmation Follow Up (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 7:30-9:00pm

Tuesday 24th            

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm

Wednesday 25th       

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Thursday 26th

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Confirmation Follow Up (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 11:30am-1:00pm

Saturday 28th               

Dare to Pray (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:30am

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Sunday 29th – Palm Sunday (Clocks go forward)

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) Matthew 21:1-11 – 9:30am

Confirmation Follow Up (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 5:00-6:30pm

Life Groups

Will you dare to share the Christian life with others? Life groups are a great way to meet together regularly with a small group of other Christians, for mutual support, to share in reading God’s word and to pray for one another.

Please see Paul if you are interested in joining one. There are groups at the following times:

  • Monday evenings
    • Tuesday afternoons
    • Wednesday mornings
    • Wednesday evenings

Online Forms:

Under the ‘Contact’ tab on the website, there are now three forms that you can use to help us in managing the church:

  • Events Application Form. Use this if you are organising a church event that needs a church room booked, advertising or ticketing.
  • Submit a Notice. Use this if you want to ask us to include a prayer request or other notice in the church notice sheet or email.
  • Maintenance Reporting Form.Use this to report any non-urgent issues with our buildings or grounds.

Safeguarding Training

If you volunteer in anyway at church the national authorities are strongly encouraging you to take at least the Basic Module in safeguarding training once every three years.

If you have not completed the training in the last three years, then the module can be completed online and takes about ninety minutes. You can access the training by following this link. You will need to first register, to access the training. Once the training is completed, you will be sent a certificate. Please forward that certificate to James (office@churchramsgate.org), so that we can keep records of who has done the training.

Finally, let’s trust in God’s peace and be peacemakers ourselves,

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)

Love (1 John 4:7-12)

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

This weekend is Mothering Sunday, when we celebrate and give thanks for the love of our mothers. The relationship between a mother and her child is perhaps the strongest of all human bonds, forged as it is in nine months of pregnancy, the pain of childbirth itself and the intimate care of a newborn child. It is a relationship marked by a sacrificial gracious love.

Much of this mirrors God’s love for us. Out of love, he sent His Son to die for our sins and out of love he offers us the gift of forgiveness and eternal life.

So, let’s give thanks for our mothers and their love, whilst also remembering God’s love for us. As we do so, let’s learn to love others in the same way.

As recorded at St. Luke’s
Listen on Castbox

This Mothering Sunday – 15th March 2026

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us

and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

(1 John 4:10)

This week, the sections of the email are:

  • Opening reflection: Mothering Sunday and Love
  • Key notices: Mothering Sunday Services, The Great Ramsgate Spring Clean, Annual Parochial Church Meeting
  • Coming Up: Kent’s ‘Speak theire Name” Memorial Quilt, Easter Cracked, Welcome Service for new Archbishop of Canterbury, Romp through the Old Testament
  • Interesting Blogs: Story of a Church Plant, Participation and Church Planting
  • Weekly Calendar
  • Online Forms: Event application, Submit a notice, maintenance report, access Safeguarding training

Scroll on…

Opening Reflection

This weekend is Mothering Sunday, when we celebrate and give thanks for the love of our mothers. The relationship between a mother and her child is perhaps the strongest of all human bonds, forged as it is in nine months of pregnancy, the pain of childbirth itself and the intimate care of a newborn child. It is a relationship marked by a sacrificial gracious love.

A mother’s love is sacrificial, because the care of the child costs her personally. Not only is there a financial burden in bringing up a child, but it also requires a deep investment of emotion and time.

It is also gracious, because the love is given freely, without any expectation of payment in return. Parents give everything for their children, whilst, in their younger years at least, children offer no support or help to the running of the household. A child cannot earn its mother’s love, they receive it freely. That is grace.

Much of this mirrors God’s love for us. Out of love, he sent His Son to die for our sins and out of love he offers us the gift of forgiveness and eternal life freely. Although God is usually referred to as ‘Father’ and fathers do share in the love given to children by their mothers, there are times when God’s love is compared specifically to that of a mother. In Isaiah 49:15 and 66:13, God’s compassion and comfort for Israel is compared to that of a mother’s for her child, whilst in Matthew 23:37, Jesus compares himself with a mother hen, longing to gather her chicks under her wings.

So, let’s give thanks for our mothers and their love, whilst also remembering God’s love for us. As we do so, let’s learn to love others in the same way.

Paul Worledge

Key Notices:

Mothering Sunday, 15th March

This Sunday is Mothering Sunday. There will be a short, said communion service in the chancel area from 9:30am followed by an all-age service to celebrate Mothering Sunday from 10am, during which daffodils will be distributed to the women in the church.

The Great Ramsgate Spring Clean

Check out the poster at the back of church or this link and join in with one of the 18 picks around Ramsgate to help clean up our town.

Annual Parochial Church Meeting

This is now set for Monday 11th May at 7pm. At this meeting there will be chances to ask questions about our annual report and plans for the future as well as the election of members to the PCC, Deanery Synod and Church Warden roles. We really need to expand our team of people taking part in these roles as we develop our plans and ensure the smooth running of the church. So, please pray about whether you could serve the church in this way and play a part in shaping our future.

Coming Up:

Kent’s “Speak their name” Memorial Quilt

This quilt composes of 66 squares, remembering 66 lives lost to suicide. It is presently touring Kent and will be on display in St. George’s church from 18th March to 1st April, with a Connection Event on Saturday 21st March from 2 to 4pm, where you can learn more about the quilt. Find out more…

Easter Cracked

St. Luke’s will be hosting 80 Year 6 pupils from St. Lawrence College and Newlands School on the morning of Tuesday 24th March for this interactive workshop run by ACTS.If you can volunteer to help host and run the workshop (setting up from 9am and tidying up until about mid-day), then please let Paul know.

Welcome Service for new Archbishop of Canterbury

The service, led by the Bishop of Dover, will bring together individuals and church groups from across our county highlighting the rich and varied communities which we serve. This will be the main opportunity for the whole Diocese to formally welcome and show our support for our new Diocesan Bishop. Saturday 28th March, 5:30-6:30pm. Canterbury Cathedral. Click here to book a free ticket.

Romp through the Old Testament

An interactive day of exploration, new insights and fun with Rev. Dr. Sue Woan. Free! (donations welcome) Bring your own lunch – drinks provided. Saturday 18th April, 9.30am – 3.00pm. Newington Free Church, St. John’s Avenue, Ramsgate. To book a place contact Robin Plant:

Interesting Blogs to Share:

Story of a Church Plant

In this article, Lois Tackie-Obie describes her experience of starting a new worshipping community called Well City Church in the church building of St. Michael’s in Stockwell. Read more…

Participation and Church Planting

In this article is an extract from the introduction to a new book on the theology of church planting. Read more…

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 15th March – The Fourth Sunday of Lent

Mothering Sunday (St. George’s Church) 1 John 4:7-12

Said Communion Service, 9:30am

All Age Service, 10am

Confirmation Follow Up (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 5:00-6:30pm

Monday 16th   

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Confirmation Follow Up (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 7:30-9:00pm

Tuesday 17th            

Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Community Meal (St. George’s Hall) – 5:30-7:00pm

Wednesday 18th       

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Thursday 19th

Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am

Confirmation Follow Up (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 11:30am-1:00pm

Saturday 21st              

Dare to Pray (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:30am

Community Soup (St. George’s Church) – 12:00-2:00pm

Speak their Name Connection Event (St George’s Church) 2:00-4:00pm

Sunday 22nd – The Fifth Sunday of Lent

Eucharist (St. George’s Church) Phil. 4:2-9 – 9:30am

Confirmation Follow Up (St Luke’s Vicarage) – 5:00-6:30pm

Life Groups

Will you dare to share the Christian life with others? Life groups are a great way to meet together regularly with a small group of other Christians, for mutual support, to share in reading God’s word and to pray for one another.

Please see Paul if you are interested in joining one. There are groups at the following times:

  • Monday evenings
    • Tuesday afternoons
    • Wednesday mornings
    • Wednesday evenings

Online Forms:

Under the ‘Contact’ tab on the website, there are now three forms that you can use to help us in managing the church:

  • Events Application Form. Use this if you are organising a church event that needs a church room booked, advertising or ticketing.
  • Submit a Notice. Use this if you want to ask us to include a prayer request or other notice in the church notice sheet or email.
  • Maintenance Reporting Form.Use this to report any non-urgent issues with our buildings or grounds.

Safeguarding Training

If you volunteer in anyway at church the national authorities are strongly encouraging you to take at least the Basic Module in safeguarding training once every three years.

If you have not completed the training in the last three years, then the module can be completed online and takes about ninety minutes. You can access the training by following this link. You will need to first register, to access the training. Once the training is completed, you will be sent a certificate. Please forward that certificate to James (office@churchramsgate.org), so that we can keep records of who has done the training.

Finally, let’s keep giving thanks for the love of our mothers.

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

(Priest in Charge, St. George’s Ramsgate)

Mothering Sunday (15th March 2026)

Join us on 15th March for a special All Age service to celebrate Mothering Sunday, 10am at St. George’s Church.

There will be a short Holy Communion service beforehand in the chancel area of the church starting at 9:30am.

Fruit of the Spirit – Joy(Psalm 100)

“Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)

How can you tell someone is a Christian? Jesus says, “by their fruit you will recognise them” (Matthew 7:16) and a key characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit is joy. So shouldn’t joy be a key sign that someone might be a Christian? At last Saturday’s confirmation service, there was a palpable sense of joy, especially among the candidates as they publicly declared their faith in Jesus. Joy often is a mark of Christians.

How do we cultivate this joy? By focussing on our reason for joy. By gathering together to praise God and celebrate what he has done for us in Jesus.

As recorded at St. Luke’s
Listen on Castbox

Fruit of the Spirit, Joy (Psalm 100)

“A joyful church is a growing church!” (Bishop Philip North)

  • Confirmation Service

Last Saturday, we had a wonderfully joyful service as we celebrated 29 candidates from across Thanet making public declarations about their faith, and over 190 people in St. Luke’s for the occasion. The bishop led it in a rightfully joyful way, but the true joy was to see the evidence of God at work in individual lives and indeed to see the joy on the candidates faces. This is what we long to see more of in our church life.

  • Fruit of the Spirit

Last week, we saw, that as Christians filled with God’s Spirit, we are called to walk in step with the Spirit and so to see the growth of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, a character that reflects the character of God.

Over the coming months, we are going to look in turn at the nine characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit. The second one in the list is joy. In other words, if the Spirit is truly at work in our lives, then we should expect to see people full of joy in our churches. Indeed, for our churches to be joyful churches.

  • Bishop Philip North

Last summer, Andrew McMillan, Mark Ogden and I went to a conference in London about planting and growing churches. you might expect it to have been a very evangelical affair, but one of the keynote speakers was Bishop Philip North, a well-known Anglo-Catholic. His talk was all about the importance of joy in our churches. He saw joy as key to effective mission and growth. He even claimed, “A joyful church is a growing church!”

Surely, this is right isn’t it? There is something attractive and compelling about true joy, that draws people in. Just like sunshine after weeks of rain, a joyful community in the midst of miserable world, lifts your spirits and makes you want more.

How do we find joy?

So how do we find joy as Christians and as a church?

Moments of joy:

There are of course moments of joy that all people whether Christian or not share in.

Weddings

When I was on holiday, someone asked me, as a vicar what was the most enjoyable part of my job. I said, leading groups with people exploring the Christian faith. She said, that she wanted me to say, taking weddings! Certainly, taking weddings are a joyful part of my role, because it is a privilege to be enable such a joyful occasion. And many will say that their wedding day was the happiest day of their lives. It even says so in the Bible of Solomon:

“… the day of his wedding, the day his heart rejoiced.” (Song of Songs 3:11b)

Childbirth

Another candidate for the happiest day in people’s lives is the birth of their child or children. Bringing a new life into the world, is certainly an amazing moment. Describing the occasion, Jesus says:

“A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.” (John 16:21)

Success

Perhaps a third moment of joy, is when we experience some kind of success. I was pretty happy last Monday night, when the chess team that I captain managed to win their match 4-0!  A great success.

But of course, there are bigger more important moments of success. For much of history, harvest time is a time of joy, because the success of your crops, was not just a reward for the hard work you had put in, but food security for the coming year. Similarly, success in war, especially when an oppressor is defeated is a reason for great rejoicing. The celebrations at the end of World War II were remembered by many as a moment of great joy.

These ideas are encapsulated in a famous verse from Isaiah:

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.” (Isaiah 9:3)

All of these things bring great moments of joy that are common to all human experience and life. But life is more than these moments. It includes moments of great sadness and struggle.

The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is:

“a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,” (Ecclesiastes 3:4)

Permanent Joy:

Yet Paul commands in Philippians:

 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)

 For Christians, there will be times when we are rightly sad and mourning. The outbreak of war in the Middle East is a reason to be sad and mourn. For many of you, there will be personal circumstances and reasons, that give you reason to weep and mourn.

 How then can Paul tell us, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always!’?

I don’t think Paul is saying we should always smile and pretend to be happy no matter what is happening in our lives. Such joy is just a mask. It’s not the real thing. No, Paul is calling on us to hold on at a deep level to the joy that we have in and because of Christ. A joy that no matter how bad the circumstances of life become can never be taken away. It is a joy that comes through the deep connection with God that Jesus brings. This is not a joy rooted in the circumstances of life, but the permanent truths about Jesus and the eternal salvation he brings.

A key passage on joy comes from Jesus’ teaching to his disciples in John’s gospel. He is teaching in a moment of gloom, because he has told his disciples that he is leaving them. The next day he will be crucified.

Nonetheless, Jesus talks to them about how they can find joy:

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:9-12)

Notice, how Jesus roots joy in love. Knowing that we are loved by God and obeying his commands and especially his command to love others. When we are fully embedded in this network of love, then not only is our joy complete, but Jesus finds joy in us!

If this is the case, then the barriers to joy are obvious. We lose our joy when we become disconnected from God and others. When love fails, joy fails.

Barriers to Joy:

In some ways it is odd to be talking about joy in Lent. After all isn’t Lent a time or mournful self-reflection. Yes, it is, but the point of the mournful self-reflection is to reach a deeper joy with God.

In talking to his disciples about his coming death and resurrection he says to them:

“I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.” (John 16:20)

Without Good Friday, there would be no Easter Sunday. The cross deals with our sin, the resurrection guarantees our hope as forgiven people. In the same way, Lent is a time to deal more seriously with our sin in order to embrace more fully the joy of the resurrection life we have in Jesus.

 And sin is our greatest barrier to joy, because sin disconnects us from God and others. If our joy in Christ has been blocked, then we need with God’s help to deal with the blockage, so that joy may flow again.

Disconnected from God – Psalm 51

David knew this very clearly. Psalm 51 was his great confession, that he wrote following his sin of committing adultery with another man’s wife and then having him killed to cover it up. It is one of the key Psalms that has been focussed on in Lent.

In the Psalm, David begs for God’s forgiveness. In doing so he longs for what he has lost because of his sin – his joy in God.

“Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.” (Psalm 51:8)

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (Psalm 51:12)

 If you have lost the joy of your salvation, then maybe it is because you need to confess your sin once more to God. Why not use Psalm 51 as a model prayer to help you!

Disconnected from Others – Psalm 133

A second reason for loss of joy is to become disconnected from others. In Psalm 133, the joy of unity and good relationships is celebrated:

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1)

 If we have lost our joy, it may be because we have fallen out with others and particularly other fellow Christians. If so, we need to do something about it.

After all, Jesus says:

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24)

Lack of Corporate Thanksgiving – Psalm 100

The third blockage may be more to do with laziness, than with broken relationships. Have we stopped making meeting with others to praise and worship God a priority in our life? In other words are we failing to attend church as regularly as we could?

Psalm 100, is known as the Jubilate, because the first word in the Latin version, is translated, “Shout for joy!” It is also the only Psalm to have the title, “a Psalm for thanksgiving.”

But it, is not so much a Psalm for thanksgiving, as a Psalm that calls on us to come together to give thanks to God.

It includes 7 commands:

  • Shout for joy
  • Worship
  • Come before God
  • Know God
  • Enter the place of worship
  • Give thanks
  • Praise or bless his name.

The first three and last three are in effect all a call to join with others in praise to God. Whilst the middle one is an invitation to know why we should praise and give thanks to God, because he made us and he is our good shepherd. The last verse also underlines how God is good, loving and faithful.

There is every reason to thank God, so let’s come together and do so together! Let’s be a joyful church, not because the momentary circumstances of life are good, but because our God is always good and his love for us endures forever!

 When we do, then we are being truly radical in today’s secular, individualised and moaning society. We will be a truly joyful church and I believe we will see more people want to join us in God’s network of love, and perhaps we will have many more moments of celebration like last Saturday.

Be ready for a joyful church (depending on time)

But, if we want that, then we need to be proactive. One way to do that is to prepare for coming to church, rather than just turning up.

With my children going to university in recent years, I have learnt about the idea of pre-drinks. Students often have cheap shop drinks at home, before going out to clubs in order to help them be tipsy enough to have fun when they arrive at the club. Shouldn’t we, as Christians consider a similar idea for church. I don’t mean having a quick tipple of Sherry on a Sunday morning before church but preparing ourselves that we might enjoy ourselves (and encourage others) when we come to church.

How can we do that? Well, think about the barriers we mentioned.

  • Get right with God
    • Spend some time in prayer with God, reflecting if there is any sin that you need to repent of
  • Get right with others
    • Spend some time thinking about whether there are any people you have fallen out with and how you might offer reconciliation to them, as best as you are able.
  • Give thanks for God’s goodness
    • Remind yourself, what God has done for you in Jesus.

 Perhaps if we did this kind of preparation more fully, then our services would be truly joyful occasions, the highlights of our week and a draw for all who come and visit us.