Thanington Family Worship restarts

Thanington Family Worship has restarted and will be on the first Sunday of each month 4 – 5pm.

It offers a relaxed atmosphere. We always have contemporary worship music and some hands-on activities. We love to do life together and celebrate the highs and the lows through our prayers. We discuss with each other how the Bible relates to our lives today.

Our theme at Family Worship for the next few months is ‘relationships’. We’ll be looking for wisdom to guide us in our different relationships – with family, with friends, with ourselves, with that ‘special someone’, with our community, with our world, and with God. We’ll learn from the BIble and from one another.

Family Worship is planned with parents and children in mind but is open to all. As with all our church services, there’s no charge to come in but there is an opportunity to give to support the work of the church.

If you’ve been coming to Messy Church and you’d like to find more encouragement in the Christian faith for you and your chiildren, then Family Worship would be a great addition.

Or if your children are growing out of Messy Church, then it would be well worth giving Family Worship a go.

Come along on the first Sunday of each month 4 – 5pm.

“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord…” Joshua 24:15

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Back to school, back to church

News / Nick White

Back to school, back to church

Children are back to school this week, and we’re inviting children and parents back to St Nicholas Church for Family Worship and Messy Church.

Thanington Messy Church – third Sundays at 4pm.

Messy Church happens on the third Sunday of each month and runs from 4 – 5:30pm. It’s planned with families and primary aged children in mind but all are welcome. Some of the older children help with the activities.

For the first 40 minutes or so, there’s a free choice of activities spread out around the church. After that, we gather together at the front of the church for a short time. We praise God with a lively song or two. We share a bible story and we pray. We finish by eating tea together.

All are welcome and children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. There isn’t a charge to come in but we welcome donations to help cover the costs, either by cash or card.

Thanington Family Worship, first Sundays at 4pm.

Thanington Family Worship happens on the first Sunday of each month 4 – 5pm. It offers a relaxed atmosphere. We always have contemporary worship music and some hands-on activities. We love to do life together and celebrate the highs and the lows through our prayers. We discuss with each other how the Bible relates to our lives today.

We look forward to welcoming you to Messy Church, to Family Worship, or to both !

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Pray for Thanington

News / Nick White

Pray for Thanington

Come and pray for Thanington!

We sense a growing call to join with other Christians, regardless of denomination, to
pray together for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done in Thanington as in Heaven.

We are inviting you to gather for an informal time of prayer on Sunday 8th
September from 6pm – 7pm, at St Faiths Hall, in New House Lane. This is a
comfortable space which overlooks Thanington and the City of Canterbury. Our
intention is to make this a regular gathering on the second Sunday of every month.

We all have other responsibilities too. Therefore, we will honour the time
commitment to pray together for 1 hour only, recognising that prayer will be ongoing
in our personal lives and in our congregations.

We hope you can join us. It would be encouraging to know if you plan to come. But
you are also welcome to just turn up!

For more details, contact Rev Christa Brodie-Levinsohn and Rev Nick White

Thanington Parish Church.

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You loved your lychgate !

News / Nick White

You've loved your lychgate !

After a huge community effort we are now pleased to say the rebuilding of the Lychgate is complete. Thank you to all who sponsored a tile, and to grant funders who made this possible. As a church we have been so aware of the importance of this local landmark to many people, who were baptized, married or had a funeral of a loved one here.

Lychgates are historic parts of some churchyards; for some they mark the entrance into consecrated ground. In reality they served a practical use in the past: corpses for burial were often waiting here until the time came for the funeral. The shelter proved an important spot to wait with loved ones; hence the seating underneath.

Now that the work is complete, we will be having a Grand Re-Opening of the Lychgate on Sat 30 March at 2pm, as part of our Easter Fun for Everyone event. Everyone is welcome and we will be joined by Archdeacon Will Adam and Councillor Roben Franklin, who will be helping us mark the occasion with style.

The Easter Fun for Everyone event will continue until 4pm with crafts, an Easter egg hunt, story trail, refreshments, stalls and a chance to try ringing the church bells. We look forward to seeing you there.

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Alpha – are you curious about life and faith?

News / Nick White

Are you curious about the Christian faith?

Alpha is for the curious. Explore life’s big questions in a friendly and safe, no pressure environment.

Every week we will meet in a small group. We will watch a short 25 minute video on one question about the Christian faith. Then there’s a chance to share your thoughts and hear what others think. You can join in as much or as little as you like. And there will always be some refreshments to enjoy too.

The questions we will be exploring are:

15 Jan … Is There More To Life Than This?
22 Jan … Who Is Jesus?
29 Jan … Why Did Jesus die?
5 Feb … How Can I have Faith?
12 Feb … Why and How do I Pray?
19 Feb … Why and How Should I Read the Bible?

It’s on Mondays 8 – 9:30pm, starting on 15 Jan and finsihing on 19 Feb.

It will take place at the vicarage, 70 Thanington Road, Canterbury, CT1 3XE.

For more details or to book a place , contact Rev Nick White, revnickwhite@gmail.com / 07562 560695.

We can’t wait to see you there !

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All Age Service moving to 4pm

News / Nick White

All age service moving to 4pm

The time of the All Age Service at St Nicholas Church is changing. It will move from 10am to 4pm on the first Sunday of the month. This change was agreed by the PCC (Parochial Church Council) and announced on Sunday 3^rd December. It will take place from January 2024.

Why? Our monthly Messy Church started in September on Sundays at 4pm, drawing in lots of local families. Sunday at 4pm seems to be a good time for families in Thanington to come together.

We want to create a more regular time for these children, young people and their parents/carers to get together at St Nicholas. So, from January, on the 1st Sunday of the month at 4pm will be the All Age Service. And on the 3^rd Sunday of the month at 4pm it will be Messy Church. Both are planned with families in mind.

For those who prefer the morning, there will continue to be a 10am service every Sunday at St Nicholas Church. This will usually be a service of Holy Communion. But on the first Sunday of the month it will be a Service of the Word.

We hope that these simple changes will help more and more people to worship in a style which helps them to feel at home in church, to connect with God, and to grow in faith.

Both our 10am congregation and our 4pm congregation are growing. God is re-building the church here in Thanington. Come and be part of it !

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Hello from Christa

News / Nick White

Hi! I’m Christa, the new curate with the parish of Thanington, St Nicholas and St Faith.

I’m delighted to be here, along with my husband Jon, who is a business consultant. We have two daughters, who are at school in Canterbury, and loving it! We have moved from London where I served with a network of five churches in the East End: the main one was St John at Hackney. I got to see there how God is breathing fresh life into His Church.

One of my passions is creativity: I like to write, create, & I love a good party! I am looking forward to serving the vision of Thanington Parish Church to reach families in the area with God’s love. Messy Church is a great creative space for this and I am excited to be part of the team making that happen once a month. In September we ran it for the first time and welcomed 35 children with their parents/carers into church.

I am also doing a short placement with the Chaplaincy at University of Kent. Canterbury is buzzing with students so I am thrilled to be able to come alongside them.

I love building people up, so in particular, if you are at a bit of a crossroads in life, I would love to meet up with you and see how God might want to encourage you, too!

Every Blessing,

Christa.

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Messy Church in Thanington

News / Nick White

Our first Thanington Messy Church happened this weekend.

Messy Church is about having fun together, exploring the Christian faith, eating together and encouraging one another. It is ideal for families with primary school children, but there are no strict age limits and all are welcome. Children must be accompanied by a parent or another adult who will take responsibility for them.

When you arrive, you can expect a range of activities to choose from around the church. Half way through we will gather all together for some lively music, a message from the Bible and a creative way to pray. We will finish each Messy Church by eating tea together. There is no charge but donations are welcome.

Join us on the third Sunday of each month, 4:00pm – 5:30pm, at St Nicholas Church, on Thanington Road. Next one on Sunday 15th October at 4pm.

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Welcome to our new curate

News / Nick White

A warm welcome to Rev Christa Brodie-Levinsohn who is being licensed today as associate curate with Thanington Parish Church.

Christa has moved to Kent from London with her family. She will be working alongside Rev Nick White over the next two years to complete her curacy. The licensing service will take place at St Nicholas Church on Thursday 7th September at 3pm.

Please pray for Christa as she takes on this new role and for her family as they settle into a new home, a new church and new schools.

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Lychgate repair underway

News / Nick White

Well, the tiles are off and work has begun to repair the lychgate at St Nicholas Church!

This work has been made possible with grants from Rochester Bridge Trust, The Brett Group, Friends of Kent Churches, Canterbury Deanery and Thanington Parish Council. Thanks also to the many indiviuals who have made donations towards this work, both members of the church and members of our wider community.

We hope the work will be completed by the end of September. In the meantime, please take extra care when walking through the lychgate to the church.

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