Parish News News

Priest-in-Charge Fr John Ainslie (revjohnainslie@gmail.com; 01628 629827)

Do please join us after Mass for Tea, Coffee and Cake in the Vestry Hall - - just ask if you don’t know the way!

SERVICES THIS WEEK: Thursday Mass at 10.30am; next Sunday Sung Mass at 10.30am.

NEXT SUNDAY WE CELEBRATE OUR DEDICATION FESTIVAL – the Anniversary of the Consecration and Dedication of our Church. We give thanks for all the blessings God has bestowed upon us in this place, the worship offered here, and the ministry to our Parish for nearly 150 years. We re-dedicate ourselves to serve Christ in this place, through committed and regular attendance at Mass, through growth in faith and discipleship, and through service to God and the local community. May this be a place where love, joy and hope in Christ abound, where others come to seek and to find the love and forgiveness of God. May we be a truly welcoming Christian community.

The ALL SOULS SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE OF OUR DEPARTED LOVED ONES is on Saturday 1st November at 4.30pm. It provides for a gentle time of prayer with the opportunity to light a candle, all in the context of a Sung Requiem Mass. As usual THERE IS A LIST at Back of Church for you to add the names of those you wish to be read out and remembered at this service.

We are offering this opportunity to remember departed loved ones to the people of our town, especially through other churches and through the Funeral Directors in Maidstone. Do please come and support this service, remember your own loved ones, and provide a welcome to others who come – who may be less familiar with our church than you are.

Sunday 2nd November is All Saints Sunday.

Sunday 9th November is Remembrance Sunday, where we welcome our uniformed organisations to join us in remembering those who died in the two World Wars and in conflicts since.

Saturday 29th November is our Christmas Market.

FOR OUR PRAYERS: We pray for the Church – for Archbishop-Designate Sarah Mullaly; for our own Bishop Luke and for all the clergy and parishes under his care; and for St Michael’s Church, that many would come to find the love and forgiveness of God. We pray for our Parish, especially for families, the elderly and the vulnerable; for our schools, for care homes, for the Wendy House Pre-School and for the uniformed organisations which meet in our church halls. We pray for peace in all the places of war and conflict, and for the relief of suffering.

We pray for those in need, and especially Glynis Reynolds, Yvonne Young, Jessica O’Sullivan, Lindsay Wheeler, Martyn Nash, Fran, David Green, Norman Farrington, Chris Jenkins, Bridget Humphries and Bob Humphries.

We pray for the recently departed, especially Kathleen Damiral and Kathleen Owen. We remember those who have faithfully served God in this Church in previous generations, and we pray for those whose year’s mind occurs this week: Rosamund Jones, Pamela Waite, Rachel Herriott, Dorothy Pye, John Meredith, Freddie Brown. SUPPORT ST MICHAELS: to make a donation towards the work and worship of St Michael’s Church go to: www.parishgiving.org.uk/donors/find-your-parish/maidstone-st-michael-and-aa-maidstone/