WELCOME TO ST MARY'S AND ALL SOULS
Confirmation |
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Take a look at the churches in the Benefice from the air |
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St Mary's and All Souls Services We will post any revisions to services here and on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StMarysAndAllSouls |
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St Mary's and All Souls latest Newsletter |
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PCC Papers You can now download minutes and other PCC documents from the PCC page |
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Food Bank latest needs: https://bromleyborough.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/ *PLEASE DON'T SEND US FROZEN OR CHILLED ITEMS AS WE DON'T HAVE THE CORRECT STORAGE FOR IT AND IT SPOILS BEFORE WE CAN DISTRIBUTE IT* WE'VE GOT PLENTY OF PASTA, CEREAL & BISCUITS
Thank you!
Judith Simmonds will be taking the Parish contributions towards the end of the month so please drop your donations into our box in the porch before then. |
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Michael writes:
A new Archbishop – a really important choice for the Church of England.
As I write this month, the members of the Crown nominations Committee who will choose the next Archbishop of Canterbury have been announced.
The appointment is always an important one but this time it feels like it has taken on another level of importance as the successful candidate will not only need to be gifted in many areas but will also need to be able to restore confidence in the Church of England particularly around the area of Safeguarding.
Only this week, another scandal has been publicly revealed where three sisters have revealed that they were abused by their father (a priest), a churchwarden and a curate when they were children in a church in the Northeast of England. They reported the abuse on three separate occasions and the church did nothing.
This case draws in another former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams and this leads to a conclusion that the whole culture of the church at that time was systematically programmed to protect the reputation of the church at all costs. It does seem remarkable that no one was prepared to put their head above the parapet and work to ensure justice for the victims and even now there is only really one of our bishops (The Bishop of Newcastle, Rt Rev Helen-Ann Hartley) who is speaking publicly of the failures of the church. She was the only serving bishop to publicly call for Justin Welby’s resignation.
With the new revelation this week, it seems that such cases will continue to come to light and implicate a whole generation of our leaders. Could it be that a candidate who is not tainted by that period of inaction would be a good choice for Canterbury?
That is difficult to imagine because experience and wisdom are also necessary. So, who should be the next Archbishop of Canterbury? I believe it needs to be someone who truly lives their life by gospel values and who will challenge anything and anyone in the church where things are not right.
Let us pray that the right person can be found who has those qualities and we should pray for the Crown Nominations Committee as they meet over the coming weeks to choose our next leader.
Reverend Michael
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