Author: Stephen Barker

Lent Appeal 2023 – Tools with a Mission

Every Sunday during the season of Lent (apart from March 19th), I will be in the Church Hall after Eucharist, with boxes and bags to collect your unwanted tools and donate them to the excellent charity Tools with a Mission. They collect the tools we no longer want and deliver them to Africans who desperately need them – a simple yet brilliant idea, which is eco-friendly to boot.

You can find a full list of what TWAM does and doesn’t want here:

https://www.twam.uk/donatetools?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_9e2qpGY_QIVR57tCh1DDwv6EAAYASABEgIKl_D_BwE

By the way, their definition of tool is pretty broad – it encompasses Bibles in plain English (presumably not King James), so if you have any of those, they would also be very gratefully received.

Please get in touch with me at {This email is obscured. Your must have javascript enabled to see it} if you would like to donate tools and/or Bibles, as it will help me to get a reasonable idea of how many boxes and bags I’ll need! Please do consult the webpage mentioned above, as there is quite a list of things they don’t want. Finally, please bear in mind that I have limited storage space, so I can’t accept anything much larger than a small sewing machine or a laptop computer.

I must say I’m really looking forward to this collection – many thanks in advance for all your donations!

James
Eco Church Rep

World Day of Prayer
Friday 3rd March 2023

This year’s World Day of Prayer is on Friday 3rd March. There will be a service at St Stephen’s welcoming people from across Canterbury at 11.00am, followed by a soup lunch in the church hall. It would be lovely to have a good number from St Stephen’s joining us if you’re able to.

Ash Wednesday
Wednesday 22nd February 2023

This year, Lent begins on Wednesday 22nd February. We will be marking Ash Wednesday with two services, our regular 10am Holy Communion, and a special Sung Eucharist at 7.30pm.  The Imposition of Ashes is when a cross of ash made from last year’s Palm Crosses is placed on the forehead remind us to ‘remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return, turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ’.  This will be a part of both services for those who wish to partake.

Commemoration of Lady Loretta
Saturday 4th March 2023

As is our custom, we will be commemorating Lady Loretta, anchoress from 1221, around the anniversary of her death here on 4th March 1266 with talks on her life and witness followed by a short midday service.

Saturday March 4th 2023

11.00 am St Stephen’s Church Hales Place

Two short Reflections:

The Social, religious and political context of Lady Loretta’s life
Revd Dr Kevin Maddy

What can we learn from the anchoresses in the 21st Century?
Dr Peter D Toon

followed by  Questions and discussion

Then at Noon there will be  Midday prayers and dedication of Memorial Plaque to Lady Loretta led by Canterbury Gregorian Music Society. 

Join us online live or at anytime afterwards

Quiz Night
Saturday 4th March 2023

Join us for a evening testing your knowledge in aid of the maintenance and repair of St Stephen’s bell ropes.

Etty Hillesum Evening

Tickets are now available for an evening talk by Rowan Williams and Klaas Smelik exploring the importance of Etty Hillesum, the Dutch-Jewish writer murdered in the Holocaust in 1943. The event will take place on Friday 24th February 2023, 7pm, in the Canterbury Cathedral Lodge at 7pm. Tickets (£5 / £1) can be booked at https://Etty.eventbrite.co.uk .

The Dutch-Jewish writer Etty Hillesum was murdered in 1943 by the Nazis in Auschwitz. Famously, as related in her posthumously published diaries, she refused to allow hatred to cloud her response to genocide. Her example of courage, service for others, and inner resilience is relevant today as it was then. Her insistence on replacing hate with love sets an example which inspires and challenges.

The evening will consist of lectures follwed by Q&A by two leading experts on Etty’s life and thought. Prof. Klaas Smelik is the editor of Etty’s diaries, and founder of the Etty Hillesum Research Centre; Lord Rowan Williams is the former Archbishop of Canterbury. In the break there will be an opportunity to read quotes from Etty’s diary, view a short video and other educational resources, and to meet Dr Lotte Bergen, the Director of the Etty Hillesum House in the Netherlands.  

This event is part of the Etty Exchange, a Straits Committee Small Project Initiative, co-funded by Kent County Council and Provincie Zeeland, and organised by the Etty Hillesum House Middelburg and the Poetry Practice Ltd. Canterbury.

Advance booking essential.  Tickets (£5 / £1) include refreshments and are available at https://Etty.eventbrite.co.uk

Tea @ 3

Tea @ 3 is a social event for everyone but particularly those who live on their own but also for couples and others who would just like a afternoon of activity and fun.

Please do email Margaret if you would like to join in.

Advent and Christmas Services at St Stephen’s

Join us at St Stephen’s this Christmas as we celebrate the Birth of Jesus.

For details of all our services, pease see our special Advent and Christmas page.

Compline for St Simon and St Jude

Join us either in church or online on Friday 28th October at 8.45pm as we mark the Feast Day of St Simon and St Jude with a special service of Compline, with music sung by our choir.

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