Electoral Roll Update 2020

The electoral roll needs to be updated before the Annual Parochial Church Meeting on 26th April 2020. If your name is on the elctoral roll, then you are eligible to vote at the meeting. All PCC members and all Sidespersons must be on the roll.

  • If you are already on the roll, and would like to stay on, no action is required. Names will be carried forward for 2020.

  • If you would like your name to be added, please obtain a form from Zoe Anderson. You need to be baptized and aged 16 or over. If you live outside the parish, it is a requirement that you have attended this church for at least 6 months

  • If you have moved in the past year, please advise your new address.

  • If you would like your name to be removed, please also email Zoe.

The deadline for all changes in Sunday 29th March. The electoral roll will then be renewed and no more changes can be made until after the meeting.

World Day of Prayer: 6th March

The service in Sevenoaks will be at St Thomas’ RC Church at 11.00am

Rise! Take your mat and walk! The focus this year, is on Zimbabwe.

The name Zimbabwe (derived from the Shona words dzimba dza mabwe) means ‘house of stones’ and one of Zimbabwe’s impressive historical sites is the monument of the Great Zimbabwe, stone structures of granite, built with great masonry expertise about 900 years ago. It is thought to have been the capital of the Empire which lasted from 1220 to 1450. There is evidence of a sophisticated civilisation, trading in cattle, ivory and gold. The ruler Munhumutapa was the first to trade with the first Europeans to arrive (the Portuguese).

In the 1890s Cecil John Rhodes arrived to exploit the region’s mineral wealth with his British South Africa Company. He was also responsible for colonising the area that became Southern Rhodesia. During this period there was a systematic purge of the indigenous population in order to dispossess them of their land and its rich natural resources. The independence of Zimbabwe came at a huge price as thousands of lives were lost when people rose against the colonisers. Resistance to colonial rule continued until mass nationalism began to take shape in the 1960s. In 1965 the then Prime Minister, Ian Smith, unilaterally declared independence under white minority rule, because Britain refused to grant Rhodesia independence until it introduced black majority rule. From 1960 to 1979 there were many influential nationalists including Joshua Nkomo, and Robert Mugabe. In 1979 Ian Smith formed a unity government with the African National Council, and the country was christened Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.

Three Parish Prayers

We are resuming our weekly half-hours of prayer on a Tuesday evening. This will be shared, as listed, between the three parishes of Kippington, Riverhead and St Luke’s, as we pray for the West Sevenoaks Team Ministry, for one another and for the appointment of clergy. We will be meeting at 7.15pm as follows:

Tuesday 11th February is at St. Luke’s
Tuesday 18th February is at St. Mary’s, Kippington
Tuesday 25th February is at St. Mary’s, Riverhead

Vacancy for Team Rector

Could you be called to be Team Rector of the new West Sevenoaks Team Ministry? The current Team Vicar positions at the other two churches are also vacant, providing an exciting opportunity to develop a brand new Team Ministry.

The Team Rector will be based at Kippington, close to the town of Sevenoaks.

On 1 December 2019 the new West Sevenoaks Team Ministry was established, uniting the benefice of St Mary's Kippington, the benefice of Riverhead with Dunton Green, and the benefice of St Luke's, Sevenoaks.

Vacancy details:

https://www.dosomethingyoubelievein.com/job/cofe/1937/team-rector

Confirmation Service: Sunday 23rd February

St. Mary’s Kippington will be hosting a Confirmation service on Sunday 23rd February at 6.30pm, led by The Right Rev Simon Burton-Jones, Bishop of Tonbridge. Four members of our Church family will be confirmed along with candidates from St. Mary the Virgin, Westerham. Please put the date in your diary and come and support them on this step of their faith journey.