This Week’s Notices17th November 2024

God reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness,

and light dwells with him.”

(Daniel 2:22)

This week, some reflections on the Archbishop’s resignation both at the start and in the shared links later on. Also, news about the upcoming service, Saturday’s Quiz evening and a number of key upcoming events. There is also a link to the livestream about our proposed vision, associated document and a link to share your feedback on that. Finally, don’t forget the prayers and calendar at the end of the email.

This week came the shocking and sad news that Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury has quit. He resigned after criticism of his handling of abuse allegations against John Smyth, a lay leader of the Iwerne camp movement. In short, he did not ensure the allegations were pressed home, so that John Smyth was brought to justice sooner and further abuse prevented.

John Smyth’s abuse was first revealed to the leaders of the Iwerne camps in the early 1980s. Although, they recognised that what he was doing was both abhorrent and criminal, they made the terrible decision not to report it to the police. They allowed concern for reputation to override concern for justice and the protection of future abusees.

There is of course a need to handle any allegations of abuse in appropriate ways. Just because someone is accused, does not mean they are guilty. False accusation is a serious crime in its own right and we do not want to be guilty of spreading false rumours about individuals. Nevertheless, every allegation needs to be taken seriously and reported to safeguarding officers, so that it can be investigated sensitively, abusers stopped, and justice done.

We need to recognise, that our instinct is to cover up our own sin and to protect the reputation of our institution or movement. It will never be easy to accept that a predator has been allowed to infiltrate and abuse in our midst. Yet, unless we are prepared to allow such truths to surface and acknowledge that accusations against those we respect may be true, our safeguarding will fail.

God’s forgiveness is not a cover up of sin. Jesus paid the price for our sins, so we would not have to, but he did so with a public display of the full horror of human sin. We too need to allow the sin in our midst to be made public.

Paul Worledge

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised, then please do check out these links: Safe Spaces and the National Association for People Abused in Childhood. If you are aware of a Safeguarding concern that needs reporting, then go to the church webpage or straight to the Diocesan webpage.

This Saturday: The Big Quiz Night, 7:30-9:30pm, St. Luke’s Hall

Tearfund’s The Big Quiz Night is back on Saturday 16th November, 7:30-9:30pm at St. Luke’s Hall. The money this quiz raises will support Tearfund’s Transforming Communities programme, helping local churches around the world lead their communities out of extreme poverty and into a sustainable future. Invite your friends, family and neighbours for some poverty-beating, community-building fun! Please come ready to make donations on the night. Snacks and drinks will be provided, but please feel free to bring your own too!

Vision 2030

If you weren’t able to come on Monday night and missed the livestream, you can still watch it here. You can find the Vision 2030 document here. We are asking people to give us feedback on the vision using this simple and short online form by the end of the year. Then we will review the Vision and agree how to move forward at our PCC meetings in January.

Christmas Tree Festival

If you would like to enter a tree into the Christmas Tree Festival, then please collect a form from Janet Reid or off the church website and return it to her by Tuesday 26th November.

Men’s Group – Chocolate Night

7:30pm Tuesday 19th November, Salvation Army, £5

Carl Whitewood will be welcoming us to the Salvation Army church in High Street to talk about chocolate. Before training as a Salvation Army officer, Carl spent nearly 30 years in the food industry; baking craft bread, processing fruits, making some of the UK’s best ice cream and assuring the quality of your favourite chocolate bars in 20 manufacturing plants across Europe. He continues to make his own ice cream and chocolate and to teach and talk about the art and science of these wonderful foods. During the chocolate demonstration you will learn about the history of chocolate, how chocolate came from its origins in South America into Europe and the many changes that led to the chocolate that we enjoy eating today. There will be lots of opportunities to taste and enjoy Theobroma cacao – The food of the gods. Please let Bruce know if you are going.

Basic Safeguarding Training, 23rd November

If you are involved as a volunteer at St. Luke’s, then you are encouraged to do the Basic Safeguarding training. This can be done online (and if you are working with children or vulnerable adults, you will need to do the online version, so that you can access the next level), but there is also an opportunity on Saturday 23rd November, 10:30-13:00 at St. Mark’s Ramsgate to attend a face-to-face training session led by Kevin Spain. You can access the online training by following this link.

Let There be Light, Sunday 24th November from 5pm

Next Sunday evening after the town light switch on, there will be a special event in St. George’s with light shows, refreshments and music (this year with more mainstream music). Please pick up a leaflet and come with friends. If anyone can lend us a ‘slow cooker’ or similar to heat mulled wine, then please let us know this weekend.

Christmas United Prayer Meeting, 1st December

Join together with Christians from all over Thanet as we come together for prayer in the lead up to Christmas. Sunday 1st December, 6:30pm-7:30pm, St. Philip’s Church, Northdown.

Christmas Unwrapped at St. Luke’s, 3rd December

In partnership with ACTS, we will be hosting Year 6 pupils from at least two schools on this date for a 90-minute session exploring the true meaning of Christmas. If you can help on the day with biscuit decorating, then please see Paul, asap.

Coastal Choir Concert, 6th December

Please come and support this evening of carols and Christmas music at St. Luke’s church 7:30pm on Friday 6th December. Tickets £7 all proceeds to Cheerful Sparrows Chairty. If anyone would be willing to help with refreshments and/or welcoming please see Brenda Clarke who will coordinate a team.

Links to Share:

Justin Welby Resignation – Diocesan Statement and Safeguarding links

This is the official Diocesan Statement about Justin Welby’s resignation. This includes links for those who made need support in the light of the Safeguarding comments being made. Read Statement.

Justin Welby Resignation – Reflections from an Evangelical

What should we learn from the Justin Welby resignation and the cover up of John Smyth’s abuse? In this video, Glen Scrivener speaking from a Conservative Evangelical perspective calls on us to focus on the actual reason Justin Welby resigned and to learn the lessons on safeguarding. His comments at the end of the video challenge particularly evangelicals on some of the attitudes that might lead to a cover up. Warning, this does include some graphic description of John Smyth’s abuse. Watch 30 mins.

Finally, let’s pray that we are willing to uncover sin and bring justice and safety.

Yours in Christ

Paul Worledge

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

 Weekly Calendar

Sunday 17th November – Second Sunday before Advent

Eucharist (St George’s, 9:30am) – Reading: Daniel 2:1-11,25-48

Monday 18th             

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

Craft Group (St. George’s Hall, Soup Kitchen) – 2:00-3:30pm

Study Group (South Eastern Road) – 7:15-9:30pm

Tuesday 19th           

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

Coffee Morning (St. George’s Hall) – 11:00am-12:00pm

Study Group (Lyndhurst Road) – 2:30-4:00pm

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

Men’s Group – Chocolate Night (Salvation Army) – 7:30-9:00pm

Wednesday 20th         

Study Group (Langdale Avenue) – 10:00-12:00 noon

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

Depression & Anxiety Self-Help Group (Perry Room) – 6:00-7:30pm

Study Group (South Eastern Road) – 7:30-9:30pm

Thursday 21st       

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

Youth Hang Out (St. Luke’s Church) – 3:00-6:00pm

Saturday 23rd         

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

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

Sunday 24th – Christ the King

Eucharist (St George’s, 9:30am) – Reading: Daniel 3:13-30

Let There Be Light! (St George’s Church) – from 5pm

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.

St. George’s Website

  • What’s On – a page which lets you know what is happening this week and gives information about upcoming events.
  • Notices – You can read the latest notices on this page.
  • Sermons – Read a transcript of a recent sermon or watch the YouTube version recorded at St. Luke’s. There are now videos for all the sermons over the summer.

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@stlukesramsgate.org), so that we can keep records of who has done the training.

Remembrance Sunday (Micah 4:1-4 Joel 3:9-17)

“[The LORD] will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” (Micah 4:3)

When you look at the reality of humanity and history, it is hard to see how people can ever achieve lasting peace. There is no hope. Yet Micah portrays a hope rooted in the God of the Bible. It is only by his actions that wars will one day cease, that peace will come.

As recorded at St. Luke’s

Listen on Castbox

Swords and Ploughshares

Colin Gale, 10 November 2024

War memorials come in many guises. At last year’s Remembrance Sunday service, I showed you a picture of the war memorial statue at Southend on Sea. This year I have a different war memorial to highlight, which was part of a post-war community-building project as well as being a war memorial.

It is an artwork titled ‘The Tree of Life’, which is part of the collections of the British Museum.1 It is sculpted entirely from decommissioned weapons which were given in return for bicycles, sewing machines and farm equipment following the end of the civil war in Mozambique in the 1990s. It was part of an art project titled ‘Swords into Ploughshares’. The Wikipedia entry for this phrase explains that the concept is of military weapons or technologies being converted for peaceful civilian applications. It’s not simply about the decommissioning of military technology, it’s about its re-purposing for peaceful ends. But who needs Wikipedia when we have this morning’s readings from the Old Testament?

I want to consider different aspects of these readings under three headings: firstly, ‘Swords into Ploughshares’; secondly, ‘Ploughshares into Swords’; and thirdly, ‘Swords into Ploughshares, forever’.

Swords into Ploughshares

Micah chapter 4 verses 2 and 3 read: “The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples, and shall settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more.”

So the vision is of people beating their spears into pruning hooks, as well as their swords into ploughshares – all the technology of human destruction being transformed into tools for agricultural labour and flourishing.

And tied up with agricultural flourishing, there will be human flourishing: “Everyone will sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one will make them afraid.” (Micah 4:4). This is a vision of the kind of peace, that existed prior to the division of the kingdom of Israel, returning to the land. In 1 Kings chapter 4 verse 25, it says that “during Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan [to the north, near the border with Lebanon] to Beersheba [to the south, not far from Gaza], Judah and Israel lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree”. It is a strange and uncomfortable thing to be speaking of this 3000 year old vision in 2024, at a time when peace seems so far from these and other places.

And the vision includes a phrase which inspired the lyrics of African-American spiritual hymn ‘Down By the Riverside’.

‘Gunna lay down my burden, down by the riverside,

‘I ain’t gunna study war no more,

‘gunna lay down my sword and shield,

‘gunna shake hands with every man’,

and so on.

These words in turn helped to inspire the civil rights movement, and the Vietnam War protests, in the United States of America. More broadly, this vision of Micah, many of the elements of which were shared by the prophet Isaiah, inspired the formation of the United Nations in the late 1940s, following the unprecedented loss of life associated with the Second World War. The words of the prophet, and a statue of a man beating a sword into a ploughshare, appear outside the UN headquarters in New York.2

This is a beautiful and an inspiring vision of the last days, when “the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains. “It will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it”, say the prophets Micah (4:1) and Isaiah (2:2). “Many nations will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths’.

But these particular words of the prophets were not written on the UN walls. With these words left out, all we are left with is a noble “human social program”.3 And a human social program, however noble it may be, leaves open the possibility, in fact the ever-present “demonic threat, of a return to war”4 following a period of peace. This is the reason for our second heading this morning …

Ploughshares into Swords

We know about this from history and from experience. Many conflicts are raging today, and they seem to be getting worse, not better. A few months ago, there were news reports of a three-day ceasefire in one of the war zones, to enable children to receive their vaccinations, their inoculation rounds, in safety. After that, the bombing started up again, threatening the lives of those very same children. Even on the radio news this morning, the first item was about which members of the Royal Family were going to attend the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph, and the second item was about how many people had died overnight in war zones.

As well as knowing about this senseless, deadly cycle from history and experience, we know about it from the Scriptures, because alongside the reading from the prophet Micah this morning, I suppose you will remember the reading we heard from the prophet Joel, and his sobering vision of a return to war.

In Micah everyone lived under their own vine and fig tree in safety, but in Joel the sickle is swung, and the grapes are trampled, and these are the grapes of the wrath of God against the nations, “so great is their wickedness”, declares the LORD in Joel chapter 3, verse 13.

And prior to that, the tools of peaceful and productive agriculture are converted into weapons of war. “Proclaim this among the nations”, says the prophet in verse 9. “Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack. Beat your ploughshares, into swords, and your pruning hooks, into spears. Bring down you warriors, O LORD!” Here the “working ingredients” of the visions of Micah and Isaiah – “judgement, nations, sword against nation, vine and fig tree” are taken up by Joel in a “dramatic”, and intentional, “reversal”. Here the “nations gather for war”, “undo the hoped-for disarmament”, and “bring on themselves the judgement that” in other circumstances might “have led to [a] just settlement”.5

When we consider Micah and Joel side by side, we see that the Bible teaches what history and experience teach: that we are trapped in a depressing cycle of war giving way to peace, giving way to war once again. War, like wrongdoing, is not yet banished from the earth. The Protestant Reformer, John Calvin, once commented that “we might indeed do without the sword, [if we] were angels in this world” – but as we are not, “the use of the sword will therefore continue, to the end of the world”.6 The First World War, after which Remembrance Sunday was first instituted, was supposed to be ‘the war to end all wars’. How hollow that aspiration rings today! The United Nations was formed after the horrors of the Second World War, and it made ‘Swords into Ploughshares’ its watchword. Yet in the eighty years since, we have witnessed the continuation of ploughshares being beaten into swords. With one eye on the news, do any of us really know what the future will hold?

Although this cycle of war, and peace, and war again, is inevitable in Scripture, in history, and in experience, we must never rest content with it. Remembrance Sunday is not simply an annual opportunity to reassure ourselves that the country we live in has only ever fought in just wars, and on the right side. There is something about war which should always shock and horrify us.

The concept of a just war is an interesting one. Today it is widely assumed that any war which has a just cause can be considered to be just. But that is not the case. There are many criteria that have been developed over the centuries to determine what a just war is and looks like. A just cause is certainly one of them, but a war that meets this one criterion and no others does not meet the threshold for being called a just war.

A just war:

  • has a just cause,
  • is waged by a legitimate authority,
  • is waged as a last resort,
  • with the intention of obtaining peace,
  • without being motivated by hatred or revenge,
  • with a probable chance of success,
  • uses only means that are required for success; that do not do more harm than the harm they prevent; that do not harm the innocent; and that respect the provisions of international law.7

Fighting a just war, as distinct from a war simply in which the cause is just, is not an easy thing to do. That is why a former Archbishop of Canterbury, when asked at the start of a radio interview a couple of decades ago whether a certain war this country was fighting at the time was just or unjust, hesitated for thirty seconds – which seemed like an eternity on the radio – before attempting to give any sort of answer. While wrongdoing remains in the world, so too the threat of war will remain. “If we were angels in this world”, we might well do without the sword, but we are not, and “the use of the sword will therefore continue to the end of the world”. We human beings have a talent for turning over a new leaf, then tearing right through it. We have an aptitude for receiving the moral compass handed down by our forebears, and then breaking it. Our noble human “swords into ploughshares” projects co-exist with, or after a while they lead us back to, the nasty human reality of “ploughshares into swords”.

As I have said, we must never rest content with this state of affairs. We must long to see swords beaten into ploughshares again. We might wonder whether there is any basis for hoping, that the cycle will one day end, and the ploughshares will never turned into weapons again. Well, the Scriptures do give us a basis for hope, under a final heading

Swords into Ploughshares, forever

Joel’s vision of ‘Ploughshares into Swords’ looks ahead to a time when ‘the day of the LORD is near’, according to chapter 3, verse 14. It is a penultimate picture of the second-last reality. By contrast, Micah’s vision of ‘Swords into Ploughshares’ is of the last days themselves. It is a picture of the final reality, when mercy triumphs over judgment (cf. James 2:13). With one eye on the Bible, we really do know what the future will ultimately hold, whatever may take place in the meantime.

Without this firmly-based hope for the future, Remembrance Sunday might be a dark and mournful day. Hot on the heels of Remembrance Sunday needs to follow a glorious ‘Anticipation Sunday’ so that our hope in God may be sustained. And every year, that is exactly what happens, because the first Sunday in Advent, just a couple of weeks away now, always draws our attention to the return of Christ to establish his eternal kingdom and make all things new on the earth.

Of course, “we do not yet see everything subject to him” (Hebrews 2:8), and in the meantime it can be easy to lose anticipation, and fall into doubt and despair. “We do not yet see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus”, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews encourages us, “now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (2:9).

Buried in this phrase there is a clue, which neither Joel nor Micah possessed, a clue to the reality of the transformation of swords into ploughshares forever. We do not yet see that permanent transformation. But there is one thing that the world has already seen. The cruellest and most degrading instrument of violence and death, that has ever been devised in the history of the world, has been forever transformed into a universally recognised symbol of faith and hope and love.

Crucifixion wasn’t just designed to punish and kill, it was designed to shame, humiliate, break, and destroy. It took the atoning work of Christ and the resurrection power of God to permanently convert the cross from a damnable weapon into a tree of life, beneath which we can stand secure and hopeful.

“In what way shall I praise you?’ asked Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury in a meditation he wrote over 900 years ago, which was actually addressed to the Holy Cross, “how shall I exalt you? … By you, sinful humanity is justified, the condemned are saved, the servants of sin and hell are set free, the dead are raised to life. By you the blessed city in heaven is restored and made perfect.”8

“On each side of the river” in the city of God stands “the tree of life”, as we read in the book of Revelation, “and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2). The cross of Christ, once a torture rack, has become for us the tree of life. This is how we know that the sword will be permanently transformed into the ploughshare. Clinging to this tree, we will live forever, our sins forgiven, and our lives restored to a state of original blessing, thanks be to God.

Without ever forgetting Remembrance Sunday, when we look back in sombre quiet and seriousness at all that has taken place, and in grateful memory of those who have lost their lives in war – without forgetting these things, today we will also glory in the cross, which was once an object of terror, but is now a sign of hope forever. And we will lean into Anticipation Sunday, and look forward to what is to come, when war will be no more, and God will be all in all. Amen.

1 See https://gerryco23.wordpress.com/2005/02/27/158/

2 https://dam.media.un.org/archive/Sculpture–Let-Us-Beat-Swords-into-Plowshares–2AM9LO5PNQZK.html

3 Brevard Childs, Isaiah: A Commentary, p. 31.

4 ibid.

5 Christopher Seitz, Joel, p. 209.

6 John Calvin, Jonah, Micah and Nahum, p. 266

7 John Howard Yoder, When War is Unjust, p. 18.

8 The Prayers and Meditations of Saint Anselm, p. 104.

This Week’s Notices – Remembrance Sunday – 10th November 2024

“[The LORD] will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”

(Micah 4:3)

It’s Remembrance Sunday this week, so please remember there is no service at 9:30am, but a special civic service at 11am after the Parade through town (setting off at 10:40am), last post and laying of wreaths at the memorial in front of the church.

John Lennon wrote the famous song, Imagine.It is a beautiful song, which invokes a sense of hope for a better future.

Indeed, one of the lines echo the verse above: “Imagine all the people, living life in peace.” That is certainly the vision of Micah when he says that one day the nations will “beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” If Rachel Reeves could scrap Defence spending, then she would have £57.1 billion to spend on the NHS and Education without having to raise taxes!

How might this happen? This is where Lennon’s vision breaks down. He imagines a world without any nations or possessions, nothing to die for and no need for greed or hunger. But how would such a world work? How can we create one, ‘brotherhood of man’ without oppression and bloodshed? Certainly, no-one has come any closer to achieving that since John Lennon wrote the lyrics and wars and conflicts continue along with hunger and greed.

When you look at the reality of humanity and history, it is hard to see how people can ever achieve lasting peace. There is no hope.  Yet, in contradiction to Lennon’s vision of a world without religion, Micah portrays a hope rooted in the God of the Bible. It is only by his actions that wars will one day cease, that peace will come.

As Christians, we have that great hope, but we are also called to live it now. After all, it was Jesus, the Prince of Peace who said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

Paul Worledge

What have we discerned? – This Monday

As we come to the end of the Year of Discernment we want to share, Vision 2030, the plan we think God has for our churches over the coming five years. We will be making a presentation on Monday 11th November at 7:30pm at St. Luke’s church, members from both churches are encouraged to come and hear the plans. There will be opportunities for feedback in the meeting and in the weeks afterwards. If you cannot make it on the night you can watch via this livestream.

Next Saturday: The Big Quiz Night

Tearfund’s The Big Quiz Night is back on Saturday 16th November, 7:30-9:30pm at St. Luke’s Hall. The money this quiz raises will support Tearfund’s Transforming Communities programme, helping local churches around the world lead their communities out of extreme poverty and into a sustainable future. Invite your friends, family and neighbours for some poverty-beating, community-building fun! Please come ready to make donations on the night. Snacks and drinks will be provided.

Men’s Group – Chocolate Night

7:30pm Tuesday 19th November, Salvation Army, £5

Carl Whitewood will be welcoming us to the Salvation Army church in High Street to talk about chocolate. Before training as a Salvation Army officer, Carl spent nearly 30 years in the food industry; baking craft bread, processing fruits, making some of the UK’s best ice cream and assuring the quality of your favourite chocolate bars in 20 manufacturing plants across Europe. He continues to make his own ice cream and chocolate and to teach and talk about the art and science of these wonderful foods. During the chocolate demonstration you will learn about the history of chocolate, how chocolate came from its origins in South America into Europe and the many changes that led to the chocolate that we enjoy eating today. There will be lots of opportunities to taste and enjoy Theobroma cacao – The food of the gods. Please let Bruce know if you are going.

Christmas United Prayer Meeting

Join together with Christians from all over Thanet as we come together for prayer in the lead up to Christmas. Sunday 1st December, 6:30pm-7:30pm, St. Philip’s Church, Northdown.

Basic Safeguarding Training

If you are involved as a volunteer at St. Luke’s, then you are encouraged to do the Basic Safeguarding training. This can be done online (and if you are working with children or vulnerable adults, you will need to do the online version, so that you can access the next level), but there is also an opportunity on Saturday 23rd November, 10:30-13:00 at St. Mark’s Ramsgate to attend a face-to-face training session led by Kevin Spain. You can access the online training by following this link.

Let there be Light!

On Sunday 24th November, there will be the ‘Let there be light!’ event at St. George’s after the town’s Christmas Light switch on, starting at about 5pm.

Thanet Prayer Diary – November and December

You can download the Thanet Prayer Diary for November and December here.Alternatively pick one up from the back of church.

ACTS Prayer and Thanksgiving Event – 18th November

Join us for an evening of prayer, thanksgiving and updates about the work of ACTS (Active Christianity in Thanet Schools). As well as a time to meet our new workers, Abi and Charlotte, over a cuppa and a slice of cake!

Monday 18th November, St Philips Church, Palm Bay, CT9 3JJ, 7:00pm

Links to Share:

Looking out for exploitation at the local car wash

Sadly, modern slavery exists in most local communities. Read this article to see how you might help to tackle it. Read more…

 

Now Halloween is over, a question: Should Christians watch horror?

This video is a discussion about whether it is appropriate for Christians to watch horror programmes or films. Do they “keep God on the agenda” or do they just leave us disturbed?  Watch the video (40 mins.)

Finally, let’s pray that we can be peacemakers.

Yours in Christ

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

Weekly Calendar

Sunday 10th – Remembrance Sunday

Eucharist (St George’s, 9:30am) – Reading: Micah 4:1-4; Joel 3:9-17

Sunday School (St George’s, 10:30am)

Monday 11th             

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

Craft Group (St. George’s Hall, Soup Kitchen) – 2:00-3:30pm

What have we discerned? (St. Luke’s Church) – 7:30-9:00pm

Tuesday 12th           

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

Coffee Morning (St. George’s Hall) – 11:00am-12:00pm

Study Group (Lyndhurst Road) – 2:30-4:00pm

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

Wednesday 13th         

Study Group (Langdale Avenue) – 10:00-12:00 noon

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

Study Group (South Eastern Road) – 7:30-9:30pm

Thursday 14th       

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

Youth Hang Out (St. Luke’s Church) – 3:00-6:00pm

Saturday 16th         

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

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

The Big Quiz! (St. Luke’s Church Hall) – 7:30-9:30pm

Sunday 17th – Second Sunday before Advent

Eucharist (St George’s, 9:30am) – Reading: Daniel 2:1-11,25-48

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.

St. George’s Website

  • What’s On – a page which lets you know what is happening this week and gives information about upcoming events.
  • Notices – You can read the latest notices on this page.
  • Sermons – Read a transcript of a recent sermon or watch the YouTube version recorded at St. Luke’s. There are now videos for all the sermons over the summer.

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@stlukesramsgate.org), so that we can keep records of who has done the training.

Let There Be Light

The inaugural Ramsgate Lumiere opens with the Ramsgate Town Christmas Light switch on, Sunday 24th November. After the switch on, follow Samba Ya Wantsum, Ramsgate’s very own Samba Band and their magical lantern procession up the High Street to St George’s. Let There Be Light is a free event, open to all, with music, lightshows and refreshments.

Gadzukes Ukulele band, Thanet Festival Choir and Soul Choir will all be performing on the night and the church will be illuminated by Lumen Studios video projections and lighting by James Brown AV.

Refreshments including soup, hot drinks and mince pies will be provided for a festive celebration which marks both the beginning of the Christmas period and the end of the 2nd year of Project 200.

Christmas Tree Festival – applications now open for 2024

We invite friends, families, schools and organisations, Church Hall users, businesses in the town and those who are in sympathy with the restoration of this beautiful church to exhibit a small decorated tree in the SIXTEENTH CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL and make it the best ever.

photo by Frank Leepard 2021

We feel that a real tree of 3 to 4 feet in height would be suitable. We are able to supply stands and if you would like us to order a tree for us, please indicate on the enclosed form and include a cheque for £25. In previous years, visitors have commented on the lovely sent as well as the magical sight which greeted them as they entered the church.

Suggestions for decoration include Christmas Carol or song, a colour theme or something specifically connected with the exhibitor. We have an electrical supply to plug lights into. For businesses this is an inexpensive way to advertise and also to support the church.

Setting up will take place on Wednesday 11th December and Thursday 12th December between 2-5pm and the Festival will be open to visitors from 13th to 22ndDecember.

Trees remain the property of the exhibitor but most people are happy to leave them in the church throughout the Christmas period. If you want to remove a tree would you tell us so that we can arrange a time.

There will be a small prize for the favourite tree chosen by visitors.
Rules for exhibiting in the festival:

  • Print and return the form below with payment for a tree by Tuesday 26th November to Janet Reid – address details on form.
  • Ensure you are able to decorate your tree between 2-5pm on either Wednesday 11th or Thursday 12th December.
  • Decorations will need to be removed by the end of 5th January. The church will be open on that day from 2-5pm to enable that. Please note that any decorations not collected by 5pm on 5th January will be disposed of.
  • Participants may either take their tree home (by the end of 5th January) or leave it in situ to be disposed of by the church in an environmental way.
  • Any damage or loss to the trees or decorations during the event is at the participant’s own risk with no liability to the church.
Christmas Tree Festival FormDownload

Further enquiries can be made to:

                Mrs. Janet Reid, 07854 132677 (Chair)

                Mrs. Lowis at bimlowis@gmail.com (Treasurer)

If anyone would like to offer to help sit in the church as a welcomer during the festival please contact Janet Reid and she would be delighted to add you to the rota!

The Friends of St. George’s Ramsgate

Restoration Appeal

Dare to Stand Out (Daniel 1:1-21)

”Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

This week we begin a series on the book of Daniel. The book includes some well know Bible stories, such as Daniel in the lions’ den, but also weird dreams and visions similar to those in Revelation.

As recorded at St. Luke’s

Listen on Castbox

This Week’s Notices – 3rd November 2024

”Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

(Romans 12:2)

Please check out everything in this email, lots of information about tomorrow’s service, important upcoming events, news about our mission partners and a link to a video about a comedian, who is performing in Ramsgate tonight! Sorry it’s all slightly later this week.

This week we begin a series on the book of Daniel. The book includes some well know Bible stories, such as Daniel in the lions’ den, but also weird dreams and visions similar to those in Revelation.

Daniel, himself, was born in Judea, and probably grew up in a wealthy and important family in the small Jewish kingdom. Everything changed when the Babylonians came and conquered Jerusalem. He was exiled to the capital and selected to work for the Babylonian civil service, presumably because he was an intelligent young man.

He had grown up and been taught to serve the one true God of Israel. That would have been straightforward living in and around Jerusalem but was it possible to do so working in the courts of the pagan Babylonians? How could Daniel do his job well and stay true to his faith? Could he really dare to stand out as a follower of the Jewish God and reject the idolatry of his co-workers?

The stories in the book of Daniel relate how this question worked itself out in Daniel and his friend’s lives. When they stood for God, God proved himself faithful, even when it felt that the might of great kingdoms was against them. At the same time, the book relates dreams and visions, that ultimately show how the seemingly great kingdoms of the world come and go, but God’s kingdom stands forever.

In the end, Daniel and we can dare to stand out as different and remain firm in our faith, because God’s kingdom is the only one that will be left standing in the end.

Paul Worledge

P.S. If you want to watch an overview of the book of Daniel in preparation for the sermon series, then check out this video. It’s from the Bible Project and less than 10 minutes long.

The Light Party, Thank You!

A big Thank You to all those who made this such a great event on Thursday. We had 27 children and a similar number of adults join us. It was a good mixture of regular church members and families from the local community. Lots of fun and lovely food!

Study Group Notes

This term our small groups are going to be discussing what we have learnt through our sermon series on Daniel. We have groups meeting in the daytime and evening. If you want to join a group for this term, then please see Paul. Printed sheets with discussion questions are available at the back of church for leaders or members to collect.

Remembrance Sunday – Next Sunday

Next Sunday is Remembrance Sunday. We will be welcoming various groups parading, dignitaries for the town’s Remembrance Service. This will begin outside with a moment of silence and laying of wreaths just before 11am, before a service in the church. There will be no service at 9:30am.

What have we discerned?

As we come to the end of the Year of Discernment we want to share, Vision 2030, the plan we think God has for our churches over the coming five years. We will be making a presentation on Monday 11th November at 7:30pm at St. Luke’s church, members from both churches are encouraged to come and hear the plans. There will be opportunities for feedback in the meeting and in the weeks afterwards.

Coming Up: The Big Quiz Night

Tearfund’s The Big Quiz Night is back on Saturday 16th November, 7:30-9:30pm at St. Luke’s Hall. The money this quiz raises will support Tearfund’s Transforming Communities programme, helping local churches around the world lead their communities out of extreme poverty and into a sustainable future. Invite your friends, family and neighbours for some poverty-beating, community-building fun!

Basic Safeguarding Training

If you are involved as a volunteer at St. Luke’s, then you are encouraged to do the Basic Safeguarding training. This can be done online (and if you are working with children or vulnerable adults, you will need to do the online version, so that you can access the next level), but there is also an opportunity on Saturday 23rd November, 10:30-13:00 at St. Mark’s Ramsgate to attend a face-to-face training session led by Kevin Spain. You can access the online training by following this link.

Let there be Light!

On Sunday 24th November, there will be the ‘Let there be light!’ event at St. George’s after the town’s Christmas Light switch on, starting at about 5pm.

Thanet Prayer Diary – November and December

You can download the Thanet Prayer Diary for November and December here. Alternatively pick one up from the back of church.

ACTS Prayer and Thanksgiving Event – 18th November

Join us for an evening of prayer, thanksgiving and updates about the work of ACTS (Active Christianity in Thanet Schools). As well as a time to meet our new workers, Abi and Charlotte, over a cuppa and a slice of cake!

Monday 18th November, St Philips Church, Palm Bay, CT9 3JJ, 7:00pm

Links to Share:

This week a couple of links about well-known comedians.

Milton Jones

Watch this hour-long video with Milton Jones, the comedian as he talks about his career and his faith. Watch now…

Miranda Hart

This is a book review of Miranda Hart’s recently published autobiography. In it she reveals her struggles with ill health as a result of contracting Lyme Disease at 14, but she also speaks of nine treasures, which sound remarkably similar to a list of nine in the Bible…. read more.

Finally, let’s pray that we can stand out for Jesus.

Yours in Christ

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

 Weekly Calendar

Sunday 3rd November – Fourth Sunday before Advent

Eucharist (St George’s, 9:30am) – Reading: Daniel 1:1-21

Sunday School (St George’s, 10:30am)

Monday 4th             

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

Craft Group (St. George’s Hall, Soup Kitchen) – 2:00-3:30pm

Study Group (South Eastern Road) – 7:15-9:30pm

Tuesday 5th           

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

Coffee Morning (St. George’s Hall) – 11:00am-12:00pm

Study Group (Lyndhurst Road) – 2:30-4:00pm

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

Wednesday 6th         

Study Group (Langdale Avenue) – 10:00-12:00 noon

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

Depression & Anxiety Self-Help Group (Perry Room) – 6:00-7:30pm

Study Group (South Eastern Road) – 7:30-9:30pm

Thursday 7th       

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

Youth Hang Out (St. Luke’s Church) – 3:00-6:00pm

Saturday 9th         

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

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

Sunday 10th – Remembrance Sunday

Eucharist (St George’s, 9:30am) – Reading: Psalm 62

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.

St. George’s Website

  • What’s On – a page which lets you know what is happening this week and gives information about upcoming events.
  • Notices – You can read the latest notices on this page.
  • Sermons – Read a transcript of a recent sermon or watch the YouTube version recorded at St. Luke’s. There are now videos for all the sermons over the summer.

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@stlukesramsgate.org), so that we can keep records of who has done the training.

Bible Sunday (Isaiah 55:1-13)

“You will live in joy and peace. The Mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!” Isaiah 55:1-12

This Bible Sunday let’s take the call afresh to delight in God’s word, to meditate on it day and night and to enable and pray for the increasing Bible translations.

As recorded at St. Luke’s

Listen on Castbox

Community Soup in the news!

Our new Community Soup project has been in the news with a story in The Isle of Thanet News as well as a visit from BBC Radio Kent.

Click on the links above to find out more and do come along and see us – we’re open on on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 12 til 2.

Photos: Jo Burn/BBC Kent

Biblical Vision 6: New Earth (Revelation 22:1-5)

“There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 22:5)

This future vision gives us hope now. The evil in our world is temporary, but what is good has a future and our relationship with God will truly flourish. This is God’s vision for the future, but as well as giving us something to look forward to, it should inform our plans and what we invest in and work for now.

As recorded at St. Luke’s

Listen on Castbox

Biblical Vision 6:  New Earth (Revelation 22:1-5)

Fork in a Coffin

There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things ‘in order,’ she contacted her Pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes.

One of her wishes was surprising: ‘I want to buried with a fork in my right hand.’ This was not a request the pastor had ever had before.

The young woman explained. ‘…In all my years of attending socials and dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ‘Keep your fork.’ It was my favourite part because I knew that something better was coming…like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance!’

So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder ‘What’s with the fork?’ Then I want you to tell them: ‘Keep your fork  …the best is yet to come.’

Visions of a better future:

The best is yet to come. Over the last couple of months, we have been looking at moments where God revealed his plans or vision to key people. Each time it was a vision of a better future. Yes, there may be a painful path to that better future, but the promise is always that the best is yet to come.

We saw that in all the visions given by God to Abraham, Moses, David, Jeremiah and the disciples of Jesus. In their own ways, they were all about bringing blessing to all nations.

But to long for the blessing of a better world, is to accept that the world is not as it should be. To long for a world where some things are no longer the case. For Moses, there was the promise that Israel would no longer be slaves, homeless or godless. For Jeremiah, there was the promise, that the people of God would have transformed hearts, so that they would no longer be disobedient.

I wonder, when you think honestly about the world today, what you see as the big problems? What do you think needs to be no longer there in order for the future to be better.

No Longer…

As we come to the end of the book of Revelation, we are presented in the last two chapters, not just with a better new covenant, but a better new heaven and earth. And one of the features of this new heaven and earth is that the things wrong with the old heaven and earth are  no longer there.

Through chapters 21 and 22, a number of things are listed:

  • There will no longer be any sea, 21:1. This is not meant to be taken literally, rather the sea in the Bible stands for the chaos and unpredictability that leads to unexpected death and destruction. It stands for the horrors of war, natural disasters and pandemics, that all come unexpectedly with horrific consequences.
  • Then in verse 21:4 we are told that actually there will no longer be any death. People say that death is just part of life. The Bible sees it as humanity’s great enemy. An enemy that will one day be defeated by Christ.
  • Linked with that the verse also says there will be no more mourning
  • and indeed, no more pain.
  • Later on in 21:25, we are told there will no longer be any night, a promise repeated in 22:5. Again ‘night’ is a metaphor parallel to darkness. It is linked with wickedness and evil, but is fundamentally the state of a world divorced from God.
  • The associated impurity, is itself said to no longer the there in 21:27, as are all those who do what is shameful or deceitful. A warning, that is more explicit in 21:8, that not everyone will share in the glory of the new heaven and new earth, but only those who have come over to God’s side.

Does all this sound like a better world to you? A world where all these things are no longer?

Perhaps all this is summed up in 22:3, where it says:

  • “No longer will there be any curse.”

But what is the curse being referred to in this last chapter of the Bible? To understand that you need to go back to the first few chapters of the Bible.

The Curse: Cast out of the Garden

In Genesis 2, God creates a beautiful Garden of Eden, full of trees bearing plenty of fruit. He puts Adam, the first man in the Garden, and creates Eve the first woman to join him.

In the Ancient Near East, gardens were often thought of as the place where the gods lived. Indeed, we get our word, ‘Paradise’ from the Persian word for ‘garden.’ In Genesis, Adam and Eve, made in the image of God are living in God’s paradise, in his presence, serving him and ruling over the world for him.

And they can eat from ALL the trees in the garden, including the tree of life. There is only one exception. They must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Perhaps this is symbolic of choosing to decide for oneself what is good and evil, rather than leaving that to God. Perhaps it is symbolic of stepping into God’s role. Whatever it signifies, the one command they had from God was not to eat from that one tree.

Tragically, by listening to the advice of Satan, symbolised by a snake, this is what they did. In disobedience to God they ate the one fruit they were not to eat and faced God’s curse as a result – with tragic consequences.

Relationships broken

Firstly, it led to a breakdown in relationship. At first they hide from God, now too scared to face him, then they are kicked out of the garden, the place of communion with God, and they lose access to the tree of life. But there is also a breakdown in relationships in their family.

Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel, brothers. But out of jealousy, Cain kills Abel. This event, one brother murdering another illustrates the depths of evil that quickly entered the world, when we turned away from God.

Our world is no better, today in Ukraine, Gaza and Lebanon, the Sudan and many other forgotten places, the children of Adam are still killing one another.

Work becomes toil

Secondly, work becomes toil. Most of us want to work, to be unemployed can be soul destroying. We all need to be achieving something in life, whether it is cleaning pots, or performing surgery we need a role and work to do.

Work is a good thing and God put Adam in the garden to work it and take care of it. But after his disobedience, God curses Adam and tells him: “Through painful toil you will eat food from the ground…”

And we see that today. So often, work becomes toil. It is hard, it is tiring, it is a grind. We struggle to find a good work life balance.

Rule becomes oppression:

Thirdly, power is corrupted, rule becomes oppression.

Again, God created both man and woman to rule over the world. That is clear in Genesis 1. We were meant to do that in submission to God’s perfect rule, so that we ruled the world perfectly.

But, in rejecting God’s rule, human rule has often become oppression, both of the natural world, leading to climate catastrophe, one person over another.

We see that again and again through history, where one nation of people oppresses or enslaves another nation or people. But we also see it at the domestic level.

I think that is what is meant by the curse on Eve, when she is told that the husband will rule over the wife. This is part of the curse. Even in what should be the most beautiful, intimate relationship of marriage, too often there is domestic abuse, another consequence of humanity’s rejection of God’s rule.

The curse that comes from Adam and Eve’s rejection of God, then explains much of what is wrong with our world. But, Revelation 21 and 22, presents a picture of the new earth and new heaven, where the curse is no longer.

Biblical Vision: The Curse is no Longer:

This is the vision of something better. The best that is yet to come.

In part it is a return to the original paradise of the Garden of Eden, but the world has moved on, not everything that humanity has done and achieved is corrupt. In the Garden, there was just a couple, now in the Garden city described at the end of Revelation, all nations come and bring their gifts and achievements into this better world.

So, what is the vision we are shown:

  • Relationships Restored:

Fundamentally, relationships are restored. Again and again the emphasis is that God is now present with his people. The throne of God and of the lamb are in the city.

The people of God are presented as the beautiful bride of Christ and also as an unimaginably gloriously, beautiful and valuable city.

But, here also are elements from the garden of Eden. A river and a tree, both bringing life, as in the original garden. Relationship with God restored, means life restored.

It also means restoration of human relations. Perhaps that is what is meant by the phrase in verse 2, that the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Is this a way of saying, that all the wars and conflicts of the past are now over? In this place, Israeli and Palestinian, Ukrainian and Russian, will walk together in peace.

  • Work becomes service of God:

Secondly, work is restored as true service to God. Eternity, is not like an eternal holiday. We would soon be bored. There will be things for us to do and achieve in service to God himself. Only, then the curse will be lifted and work will no longer be toil. We will have the perfect work-life balance!

Indeed, all the talents and achievements of the past will be brought into this glorious city. What it is good and beautiful now will find its place in heaven. The great music, paintings, art and architecture will all have their place as work done for the service of God.

As it says in Revelation 21:26:

“Glory and honour of the nations will be brought into [the city].”

  • Rule becomes enlightened:

Thirdly, we will still have power to exercise, a universe to rule. Now, however, we will do it properly, not thinking we know best or from corrupt selfish motives, but enlightened by the light of God.

As the last verse says:

“The Lord God will give them light and they will reign forever…” (21:5)

All of this is yet to come. I hope you catch something of the beauty and the wonder of it. I hope you find hope and courage in the midst of a world full of war, natural disasters, disease, death, mourning, pain, wickedness, impurity and lies, a world of broken relationships, toilsome work and oppressive power that much, much better is yet to come.

I hope when you eventually approach death, you will metaphorically be grasping the fork of trust in Christ, so that you are ready for the better to come.

Relevance to Our Vision:

But, if our future is already promised and guaranteed, what relevance does this have for our vision now?

As church, we are a colony or an outpost of this new heaven and new earth. A place where the Kingdom of God is near. I hope you have seen that this vision of the new heaven and new earth is not divorced from the fundamentals of life now, but a better version of it. We are not just to look forward to this future with hope, but also to look at it for inspiration to make our present world and especially our church community more like this. We are called to work for something better, something closer to this ultimate dream.

So, our vision for a better church, needs to include:

A vision for better relationships, with God and one another.

A vision for our work, both in the world and in service to the church to not be toilsome, but done in joyful service of God.

A vision that any leadership role we take on in the world or in the church is done not selfishly or oppressively, but in the light of God’s revelation and the servant-heartedness of Christ.

Too often the church tries to become like the world as it is now. What it should be doing is grasping the vision of the world that God wants to create and so, help to shape the world as it is now in the light of that vision.

Will you help us to make that vision come to fruition? Who knows perhaps the best is still yet to come for our churches in Ramsgate.