Church letter

March 2023

Click for the church letter from February 2023

Things are happening - but I’m not planning going anywhere

There are some unusual and exciting things happening within our parishes this month. Firstly, some of you may have heard the rumours that my job is changing - and some are jumping to the conclusion that means I am leaving. My role is changing, in that I am taking on something new, but Helen and I are definitely not leaving - our parish ministry continues. On Sunday 5 March, in the 5pm service at St George’s, I am being commissioned as the next Area Dean for the Weald Deanery by our Archdeacon. (When I know what the role involves, I’ll let you know!) If you can be at the service, it would be lovely to see you. As an incentive, there will be wine and nibbles after the service.

Secondly, on Sunday 26 March, Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkins, the Bishop of Dover, will be preaching and presiding at the 10am service at St Nicholas Church in Sandhurst. The reason for her coming to the church is to consecrate the churchyard extension and the new Garden of Remembrance. It will be an opportunity to hear the Bishop preach and to meet and speak with her after the service. The service will be a benefice service; there will not be a 10am service at St George’s.

We are also entering the period of Lent in the church year. (Not that that is unusual!) Lent begins on Ash Wednesday 22 February. There is a service in St George’s that evening, at 7.30pm. This Lent, for our course, we will be exploring the liturgy of the Eucharist service, entitled ‘In His Service’. (We’re unpacking the familiar, and discussing what the words and actions of the communion service mean to each of us.) We are meeting in the Mission Church at 7.30pm on the Wednesdays throughout March; we culminate with communion together on Maundy Thursday at St George’s.

On Saturday 25 February, we are holding our next ‘Connect Four’ service (4pm on the fourth Saturday of the month). It’s a very informal service for all the family. Come along and give it a try. We meet in the Mission Church, Back Road, in Sandhurst. As an incentive to come along to this one, we are having pancakes, as the Tuesday before is Shrove Tuesday.

Finally, I want to say a thank you to the 50 or so people who came along to the open meeting chaired by Stephen Taylor (our Diocesan Secretary) to hear people’s thoughts about the future of St George’s Church. I was delighted at the openness of everyone and the positive manner in which people expressed their views, their concerns, and their wishes. Following this, I have invited our church architect and a heating engineer consultant to present and explain the various options concerning the energy source, the heating, and the insulation (i.e. heat-loss issues) of the church to the Parochial Church Council. This will include ball-park costings, the disruption, and the effect of the options upon the environment. We will keep you abreast of the progress of this project.

Revd David Commander, Rector