The Canonry Benefice - Diocese of Canterbury

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six summer Evensong services held at All Saints’ every year, with the occasional Wedding or Baptism being held by special permission. During the last few years a Friends of Stourmouth Church has been formed to help with the Churches Conversation Trust upkeep and ongoing maintenance of the church. They hold a number of events each year including concerts, talks, carol services etc. Worship and Church Life At present there are 33 on the Electoral Roll for Preston and Elmstone. The two churches have a regular, dedicated and friendly congregation of 20 - 25 with a larger congregation of 40+ at Family Services and 60 – 80 at major festivals. Services are held alternately at St. Mildred’s and Elmstone at 9.30am. 1 st , 3 rd and 4 th Sundays – Holy Communion 2 nd Sunday – Family Service 5 th Sundays are used in various ways. Our church services are very traditional and mainly Eucharistic, apart from Family Services. We don’t have a choir but enjoy our music and hymns; we use Common Praise hymn books and occasionally 100 Hymns for Today. We are replacing the previous service booklets, based on ASB, with a variety of booklets to fit in with the lectionary year. Some of these include additional worship songs and hymns that are not in Common Praise. St Mildred’s is developing a good relationship with neighbouring Preston Court, a new wedding reception venue, and the present House-for-Duty Priest conducts a number of weddings during the summer months. The regular attendance of many young couples with their families and friends is adding a new vibrancy to the worship at St Mildreds and many couples are maintaining a link way beyond their special day. We have had a strong Junior Church for many years which meets every Sunday during term time in the Village Hall at 9.30am. The average attendance is 18. The children and leaders take a very full and active part in our church life and regularly take an active part at Family Services. Over the years many of these children have gone onto confirmation and many stay at Junior Church as helpers. Having recently used the Canterbury Diocesan material for discipleship we plan to further encourage and develop links with the communities we serve – the school has already increased use of the church building and the House-for-Duty Priest takes weekly assemblies and attends various functions at the school. We also want to increase our own prayer and spiritual life. We recently introduced coffee at the Third Sunday Service at Elmstone – this has proved successful and gives the congregations time together. 13
Lay Involvement We are now delighted to have 2 Church Wardens for Elmstone and another 2 for St Mildreds. Three of these are new to such a position and bring a fresh energy that is very welcome. There are five elected members of the PCC including a Secretary and a Treasurer. Two members are also representatives on the Deanery Synod. The full PCC meet on average four times per year with an average attendance of 80%. The first lesson is generally read by a small team of dedicated people and, at present, one lay member helps with the intercessions. We also have a brilliant band of sides persons who help at services and give a warm welcome in the congregation. There are volunteer church cleaners, along with a regular paid person, and flower arrangers. In addition four members of the congregation have been prepared and trained to administer the chalice. Outreach and Church Activities The church has continued excellent links with the local Primary School and, although the buildings area mile apart the school has increased its visits to the church. The Parish Magazine is a joint magazine between all the four churches in the Benefice and we try to contribute to this as much as possible. The church congregation aim to be involved in as much of village life as possible and are able to submit events and items to the quarterly Parish Newsletter. We are fortunate that Preston is an active community with clubs for Shortmat Bowls, Cricket, Football, Book Reading, a History Society, Horticultural Society, WI, Pre-School Playgroup. In recent years there has been a Steam Rally held in Preston right next to St. Mildred’s which is very much a village event; the church and Friends of Preston Church take a full and active part in this. Preston Parish council is proactive having instigated the formation of a committee to produce a Parish Plan for Preston and Elmstone. This committee then produced a Village Design Statement for adoption by Dover District Council. The committee has reformed as the Village Society, an umbrella organisation that produces a quarterly Parish Newsletter, implements the Parish Plan and is available to support local organisations, clubs, societies including the Church and Village Hall. Currently its fundraising is targeted at the building of a new Village Hall. 14
Page 1 and 2: 2012 The Canonry Benefice The compo
Page 3 and 4: Introduction The Canonry Benefice i
Page 5 and 6: Finances cont…. Based on informat
Page 7 and 8: Appendix A The Parish of Ash with W
Page 9 and 10: Coffee is served after the 10.00 Su
Page 11 and 12: Outreach and Church Activities We h
Page 13: church was founded. On the right ha
Page 17 and 18: Outreach and Church Activities The
Page 19 and 20: Church and Village The Parish is ce
Page 21 and 22: Wingham PCC meets approximately fiv

The Canonry Benefice - Diocese of Canterbury

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