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Annual Report

November 2015

For use at the Open AGM 12th November 2015

at St Johns Hill United Reformed Church, Sevenoaks

(7.30 for 8pm)

www.ctsd.org.uk

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Contents

Page

Officers & Executive Committee 2014 - 2015 3

Chairman’s Letter 4

Minutes of the twelfth CTSD AGM, 20th Nov 2014 5 & 6

CTSD Accounts to 30 September 2015 7

Independent Examiner’s Report 8

Events & Publicity Group 9

SAYT - Sevenoaks Area Youth Trust 10

Christian Aid 11

Sevenoaks Counselling 12

Compassion 13

Food bank 14 North West Fellowship 15

Ministers’ Forum 15

Prayer for Sevenoaks 1 6 Trinity School 16 List of CTSD Members 17- 20

Churches Together in Sevenoaks and District is a Fair Trade organisation and, as such, undertakes to try to use Fair Trade goods wherever possible and, in particular, to try to ensure that Fair Trade tea and coffee are served at all its meetings.

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Churches Together in Sevenoaks and District Officers and Executive Committee 2014 – 2015

OFFICERS:

Chairman (From Nov 2014) Philip Hardaker 22 Bayham Road St Thomas’ (RC) Sevenoaks TN13 3XD 01732 454499

Treasurer (From 2001) Douglas Seal 12 Holmesdale Road St John the Baptist (CofE) Sevenoaks TN13 3XL 01732 456124

Secretary (From Nov 2009)) 49 Kennedy Gardens Isobel White Sevenoaks TN13 3UG St Thomas’ (RC) 01732 461694

COMMITTEE AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVES:

Christian Aid Stephen & Jean Day St Mary Kippington (CofE)

Sevenoaks Counselling Jean Day St Mary Kippington (Cof E)

Sevenoaks Churches Group Tony Cornfield for Social Concern Sevenoaks Community Church

North West Fellowship Rev David Kitley St Mary’s Kippington (CofE)

Sevenoaks Area Youth Trust Caroline Berry St Nicholas (CofE) Sevenoaks Deanery Rev Linda Green Representative St Martin’s Brasted (CofE) Co-opted Members Elizabeth Dwinell (Society of Friends) Anne Straight St Mary Riverhead (CofE)

Events & Publicity Pat Harman (RC) Valerie Ruddle (Methodist)

So in Christ we who are many form one body,

and each member belongs to all the others.

Romans 12:5 (NIV)

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CTSD Chairman’s Report 2015 The past year has been very interesting. When I took over from the Rev. Canon David Kitley at last year’s AGM it became clear to me just how much the Christian communities of Sevenoaks and the surrounding area achieve by working together. We should all be very grateful for the efforts of all who make this possible. In this context, we shall miss Tony Cornfield, who, as many of you are aware, has moved away from Sevenoaks. As well as being a former Chairman of CTSD and a long term member of the Executive Committee, he was the catalyst for many of the initiatives in the field of social concern. However, he put in place a succession plan which has seen a smooth transition an all areas. In March the Secretary and I attended the annual meeting of Churches Together in Kent. This gave us a feel for the activities of other local groups across the County. It also enabled us to establish links with the religious affairs team at Radio Kent. This has proved useful in promoting a number of our activities. In early May, the Rev. Canon Mark Griffin chaired on our behalf an Election Hustings meeting at St. John’s URC attended by all the local candidates in the General Election. This was extremely well supported and led to some interesting and well-mannered discussions. Thank you to all involved. In the absence of a suitable candidate who is available to take on the Chairmanship this year, I have agreed with the Executive Committee to allow my name to be put forward as Chairman for a second year (out of line with recent practice but within the 3 year term provided by the constitution of CTSD). I look forward to maintaining the impetus of our grouping. Regards Philip Hardaker

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,

,Minutes of the thirteenth Annual General Meeting of CTSD (formerly Sevenoaks Council of Churches, formed in 1958)

held on Thursday 20th November 2014 at 8.00pm, at St Johns Hill United Reformed Church

Present: 40 names on the attendance register from 14 Churches: Bessels Green Baptist / Christ Church URC/ The Drive Methodist / Otford Methodist / St Bartholomew, Otford / St Johns Hill URC/ St John the Baptist / St Luke / St Mary, Kippington / St Nicholas / St Thomas / Sevenoaks Community Church / Vine Baptist/ Vine Evangelical

1. Chairman Rev David Kitley welcomed everybody & especially Rev Chris Ruddle, County Ecumenical Officer & James Taylor, SAYT Youth Worker

Apologies received: Caroline Berry, David Brunning ,Mike Downing, Rev Linda Green (St Martin’s, Brasted), Rev Mark Griffin (St Luke’s), Pat Harman, Maureen King, Rev Carol Kitchener (Seal St Lawrence), Rev Chris Smith (St Botolph’s, Chevening), Anne Straight

2. Opening Praise and Prayers led by Chairman Rev David Kitley, based on Mark Ch 13

3. Agenda agreed with no items under AOB

4. Minutes of the Twelfth Annual General Meeting of Churches Together in Sevenoaks & District, as they appeared in the Annual Report, were taken as read

5. There was a question about how much financial support is given by Churches to the Counselling Service & SAYT. Stephen Scott, a trustee, volunteered to find the answer.

(Answer: SCCS 2010/11 £17,600 from 22 Churches

2013/14 £12,800 from 13 Churches

SAYT 2010 £28,500 from 16 Churches

2013 £19,300 from 14 Churches )

6. Annual Report was taken as read with issues arising discussed, as appropriate, under item 11

7&8.Adoption of Accounts followed by the re-appointment of the Independent Examiner Mr Michael Richardson were proposed by Rosemary Cracknell, seconded by Douglas Cracknell & accepted nem con .

The Secretary was asked to convey thanks from CTSD to Michael Richardson

9. Election of Officers

a) To Christian Aid Committee: Treasurer: Mr David Brunning (St Thomas of Canterbury RC)

All in favour

b) To Sevenoaks & District Churches Group for Social Concern (SCGSC).

Chairman: Tony Cornfield (Sevenoaks Community Church)

Treasurer: Rosemary Wakefield (St John’s Hill URC)

Executive: Simon Dawes (St Nicholas, Grace Church)

Graham Roper (St Mary Kippington)

Sharon Lester (Hope Church)

All in favour

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c) CTSD – Chairman – Philip Hardaker (St Thomas of Canterbury RC

All in favour

10. Sevenoaks Area Youth Trust presentation by Youth Worker, James Taylor who gave a very full & interesting account of how they engage with young people via Thursday evenings at Greatness Park, in schools (Knole Academy/Trinity/Combe Bank),at the House in the Basement Youth Café. Finances are tight & there is an annual deficit. In answer to a question James said that the greatest need is for more volunteers.

11. Reports:

a) Events & Publicity Group: The United Service in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will be at 6.30pm on Sunday Jan 18th 2015 at St Martin’s Brasted, with speaker Sandy Elsworth,who is working in water management in African countries. There will be prayers each day in different Churches & a Service using Taizé music at The Drive Methodist Chucrh on Sat Jan 24th

Lent groups will be organised again using the York Course.

b) Sevenoaks Area Youth Trust – as in Annual Report & presenation

c) Christian Aid – Peter Ashwell pleaded for more support for this global organisation, with a special request for more collectors in Christian Aid week.

d) Sevenoaks Christian Counselling Service – Jean Day referred to the Annual report. Leaflets were available to take away.

e) Compassion/Group for Social Concern - Tony Cornfield said that “partnership” was the key word ie becoming aware of needs and finding a solution & making referrals for those in need, rather than just handing them a leaflet. The CAB now has this group on its list to refer people to.

f) North West Fellowship – as in Annual Report

g) Prayer for Sevenoaks –Alan Edwards said that the time had come for a change in format from the bi-monthly meetings; maybe the formation of satellite groups. Councillors do often ask for prayer in support of their work.j

h) Trinity School – Chairman of Governors, Bill Lattimer reported that Ofsted inspections had all been very positive. The school now has 240 pupils & will move to temporary accommodation on the Wildernesse site in Sept 2015; and into its new building on that site a year later. The school aims to offer outstanding education & build God’s kingdom in equal measure. More community service projects for 11-13 yrs old would be appreciated.

12. AOB: no issues raised

13. Date of next AGM: possibly Thursday 15th November 2015 at 7.30pm for 8pm ,

with thanks to St John’s URC for hosting this one & agreement to continue.

The question of falling numbers attending & Churches represented was raised. Exec would look at this.

On behalf of all, Tony Cornfield thanked Rev David Kitley warmly for his year of office

14. Rev David Kitley led us in a closing prayer

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Churches Together in Sevenoaks and District

Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 30 September 2015

2014 2015

£ £ £ £

370 Subscriptions (see note 1) 410

84 Lent Groups surplus 41

1 Deposit Interest 0

455 451

Deduct:

96 General Expenses, Postage, and Stationery 167

148 Churches Together in Kent - Subscription 160

231 Ecumenical Services Expenses 219

0 Christmas Advertisement 325

475 871

(20) (Deficit) for the Year (420)

Balance Sheet as at 30 September 2015

GENERAL FUND:

1046 Balance at 1 October 2014 1650

(20) (Deficit) for the Year (420)

83 Transfer from Publicity Fund 0

541 Transfer from Festival of Carols Fund 0

1650 1230

PUBLICITY FUND:

431 Balance at 1 October 2014 -

20 Contributions from Churches -

(368) Costs incurred -

(83) Transfer to General Fund -

0 0

COLLECTIONS FUND

612 Collections at Ecumenical Services 696

(612) Paid to Kenward Trust 0

0 Water Project (220)

0 SAYT (476)

0 0

1650 1230

Represented by:

1650 Balance at Bank 1230

NOTE:

1. Subscriptions in 2015 were £10 for each member church. It is proposed that subscriptions remain at this level for 2016.

Douglas Seal- Treasurer

Sevenoaks and District

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT The report on the funds of Churches Together in Sevenoaks and District for the year ended 30th September 2015 is set out overleaf and is in respect of an examination carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011.

Respective responsibilities of members and examiner

As members of Churches together in Sevenoaks and District you are responsible for maintaining records and the preparation of the appropriate accounts. It is my responsibility to issue this report on those accounts in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 .

Basis of Examiner’s Report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. This examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Treasurer and a comparison of the accounts with those records. The procedures undertaken do not provide evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.

Independent Examiner’s Statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention

(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements

- to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Act; and - to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with

the accounting requirements of the Act have not been met; or (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper

understanding of the accounts to be reached. M J Richardson, Chartered Accountant, 19 Mount Harry Road, Sevenoaks. 18 October 2015

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Events Report

OCTAVE OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY The United Service on 18th January 2015 was originally planned to take place at St Martin’s, Brasted. However, when heating problems arose, St Mary, Kippington, kindly offered a venue. The service, entitled ‘The Well is Deep’, was prepared by the churches of Brazil, and led by Rev Linda Green. A choir of 36 from 7 churches was directed by Richard Walshaw with Len Ross as organist. The speaker was consultant water engineer Sandy Elsworth who provided much food for thought and prayer, especially as he was about to leave for Sierra Leone to advise on sanitation improvements during the ebola epidemic. Daily prayers were arranged at different churches and times throughout the Octave, ending with a Taize-style service at The Drive Methodist Church on Sunday 25th January at 6.30pm. LENT GROUPS The 2015 Ecumenical Lent Groups were again organised by Stephen and Jean Day with Allan and Valerie Ruddle. 67 people from 10 churches joined 9 groups for the 5-week York course ‘Praise Him’. The charge of £7 per person (£9 for couples sharing a book) covered all expenses with a small surplus. GOOD FRIDAY Members of Christ Church URC made us very welcome and provided an interesting programme for Good Friday evening. Singers from 12 churches formed a choir of 40 voices directed by Fiona Darroch with Janet Sharpe as organist. The congregation numbered about 60. The proceeds of £326.30 from a retiring collection were sent to SAYT, the CTSD charity for 2015. LOOKING AHEAD The beginning of the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity will be celebrated by a United Service, on Sunday 17th January at 6.30pm. The service, entitled ‘Salt of the Earth’ has been prepared by the churches in Latvia. Rev Chris Ruddle, Ecumenical Officer for Churches Together in Kent, will be the speaker. Daily prayers are being arranged at different venues and times from Monday 18th to Saturday 23rd January. A Celtic service will be held at St Luke’s on Sunday 24th January at 6.30pm. The Ecumenical Lent Groups will begin on Monday, 15th February. This year’s course is ‘The Psalms – prayers for today’s church’ with Rev John Bell, Rev Dr Jane Leech, Fr Timothy Radcliffe and Rev Preb Rose Hudson-Wilkin as speakers. An event for Good Friday evening on 25th March is being arranged.

Valerie Ruddle

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Sevenoaks Area Youth Trust

SAYT has had an interesting and varied year. Holly Byles completed her Oasis Youth Training course in the summer. It was hard work but she has gained much from doing it and is putting into practice what she learnt. Dave Garrett left in March to work with Youth With A Mission in Australia, the Philippines and India. We have had regular news from him and it is being a tough time for both him and Beth his wife. When Dave left Holly took on his part time position as youth worker for Vine Evangelical church, so she, like Dave before her, works half time in each role. Julie and Holly had to work on their own until September when James Taylor joined them. He and his wife Abi have moved from Durham where James worked as church youth worker. We now have three part time youth workers and they need wisdom in sorting out their various activities. The youth workers take regular assemblies at Combe Bank school and run lunchtime meetings at Trinity school and Knole Academy, though pupil turnover and the major building works at Knole mean starting afresh there. Regular Thursday evenings at Greatness continue, sometimes with challenges and sometimes with real encouragements as good relationships are established. The House in the Basement (the Town Council’s Youth Cafe in the Stag theatre) which youth workers attend each Wednesday, is also a good place for getting to know the young people. The Youth workers and those from other churches in the area meet for a Prayer Breakfast on the last Saturday of the month. These provide an opportunity for sharing concerns and plans as well as encouragement as many youth workers are on their own. A small number of young people from Knole Academy and Greatness have joined others at Soul Survivor and Big Church Day Out. Here they have a great opportunity to discover more of what being a Christian is all about. The Trustees are delighted that Bill Lattimer and Shirley Byles have become Trustees. Rob Marsh has stepped down as chairman and Chris Williams is acting in that capacity for now. John Shanley has also stepped down but continues to provide much appreciated support at Greatness. An exciting Murder Mystery Fund raising evening was held in April and we have a Quiz night planned for October 11th. The youth workers have visited a number of churches during the year and are always happy to speak at a service or other occasion. We are grateful to all our churches for their support, the most recent example being an inspiring evening with long distance swimmer Mark Sheridan at Seal St. Lawrence. Caroline Berry

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Christian Aid

2015 was Christian Aid’s 70th Anniversary and this year’s Christian Aid Week in May was successful in terms of donations collected but disappointing with regard to the number of volunteers on-the-streets and hence the number of houses visited. Thankfully, even with the challenging economic situation and the impact of austerity, overall donations have held up and other special events (e.g. Carol Singing) have also been well supported and hence the local Committee has been able to support Christian Aid’s success in supporting women and families to provide for themselves and their communities around the world. To learn about the type of support that is given, please do look at christianaid.org.uk or contact the S&D Committee who can arrange a Christian Aid speaker to visit your church or small group.

Organisation - The Christian Aid Sevenoaks and District Committee met three times between 15 November 2014 to date - on 18 February, 1 July and 14 October – and comprised representatives from St Thomas’s, St Mary’s Kippington, St John the Baptist, St John’s U.R.C., St Luke’s and Otford Methodist Church. As we have no Chairman and with the Secretary leaving at the end of this year, the remaining Champions for 10 local churches will concentrate on running 3 events each year – Frugal Lunch; CA Week; Carol Singing. The Treasurer will retain a local bank account.

We would welcome new supporters from other Sevenoaks area churches. So if you are interested in global issues and what you can do “to serve the least of these” then do get in touch by calling David Brunning (our Treasurer) on 01732 465518 or email davidabrunning@ btinternet.com to find out more about us.

Financial Results - During the year ended 31 March 2015: the Ctee sent £14,072 to Christian Aid HQ, comprising £11,967 for CA Week, £1,000.00 for Carol Singing, £390.00 at the Frugal Lunch; and £715 raised by various donations and contributions. A further £857.20 was sent direct to C.A. by churches involved with the Committtee Since 1 April 2015, the Ctee’s activities have raised £19,692.32 for CA, mainly from the CA Week collection which included the anticipated Gift Aid. Future Activities

Carol Singing at Sevenoaks Railway Station on 21 December 2015 from 4.30pm to

8pm.

Frugal Lunch at St Mary’s Kippington on 13 March 2016 with Christian Aid Staff speaker

CA Week House-to-House Collection between 15 and 21 May 2016

Please join us and support Christian Aid!

Christian Aid Sevenoaks & District Committee

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Sevenoaks Counselling

Our therapy team consists of fourteen practitioners. On average eighty appointments are booked each week. In the last twelve months we provided over 3000 sessions with 140 new clients. There has been an increase in the number of families and young people seeking help and in order to meet the growth in demand we have equipped more of our team to work with this particular client group. We continue to provide support to those in our community working in related fields such as leaders of churches and staff from a variety of community services. Although client numbers have reduced slightly since last year, the recent economic climate has led to fewer being able to come close to meeting the recommended charge. Meanwhile overheads continue their slow but inexorable rise. We are grateful for the financial contribution that churches make – though we remain concerned at its continuing decline – which currently constitutes just over 10% of our income. The generosity of Christ Church URC in allowing us to use the Bridge without charge adds a very significant boost to our financial health. We are grateful also to Sevenoaks Town Council and Sevenoaks District Council for the grants we receive. In the past year we have said goodbye to two of our team - Nigel Law who had been part of the therapy team for 7 years and to Mary Wright who was our Clinical Psychologist for 5 years. Our Chairman Stephen Scott is also leaving the service this year. We are enormously grateful to all three for their dedication, hard work and commitment to the work of the service over many years. Early in 2015 following much discussion, consultation and prayer the Trustees and counselling team agreed that our operating name was increasingly misleading and confusing to the public and needed to be changed. We settled on ‘Sevenoaks Counselling – a professional service offered by Christians to the whole community’ which more accurately describes who we are and what we do. New publicity and an updated website followed this change. Our popular training programme during 2015 includes four professional development days and a Non-Violent Resistance taster day in July, for parents and professionals involved in the care of a child with anger issues and with a special diagnosis or struggling significantly with social skills. Following this our ‘Peaceful Parenting’ course is underway and due to run into early 2016. The Annual Public Meeting was held in May when we were treated to an inspirational talk about Mindfulness and specifically whether it has anything to offer the Christian. Our guest speaker was Rev Shaun Lambert – a Baptist minister counsellor and author. Our supporters’ prayers and financial giving keep us afloat – thank you! Maureen King – Head of Counselling

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SCGSC Compassion Report Befrienders . . . Sevenoaks Child Contact Centre . . . Family Mentoring Team . . . Sevenoaks Debt Advice (managed by West Kent Debt Advice) With huge thanks and gratitude to all the volunteers in these four initiatives, without whose time and energy, none of this would be possible. It was with very mixed emotions that we said goodbye to Tony Cornfield. We are pleased that he has found a new home, church and challenges and opportunities. But we will all miss his inspirational guidance, commitment and amazing energy. Tony has been at the forefront of pushing the social concern agenda for the churches in the Sevenoaks district and has initiated many of the partnership activities, frequently by his own hands-on involvement. He will be greatly missed by so many. But thanks to Tony’s foresight and organisation the Executive Committee and the various projects continue! Graham Roper has agreed to take over as Chair of the committee, although he wishes to make it clear that he can’t possibly cover all the tasks undertaken by Tony! It is intended to recruit additional members and to look for others to support in specific areas. We are delighted to say that Stan King (VEC) has taken on the role of representing Churches Together at Sevenoaks District Council meetings. We are pleased to say that the existing projects continue to work effectively throughout the area:-

Befrienders now have 17 volunteers befriending 21 people

Child Contact currently have 7 families using the centre

Family Mentoring are now up and running with 4 trained volunteers supporting families referred by the Troubled Families Board

Debt Advice continue to be busy with two sessions a week in Sevenoaks We are so grateful to all the churches and their families for the various forms of support that are given that enable these projects to continue their vital work. Needless to say, financial support remains vitally important. For all the projects there is a need to meet all the usual running costs, insurance, postage, telephone etc., and these costs are ongoing. The accounts summary for the year ending 30th June 2015 is: Balance B/F £1946.30 Income £1960.61 Expenditure £1606.45 Balance C/F £2300.46 The Executive Committee: Graham Roper Chair (St Mary Kippington) Rosemary Wakefield Treasurer (St John’s Hill URC) Sharon Lester Executive (Hope Church) Simon Dawes Executive (St Nicholas’ Grace Church)

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Loaves and Fishes Foodbank

‘FOOD IN AND FOOD OUT’ This year new families have been recommended to us by Social Services, Spring House, West Kent Housing, Citizens Advice Bureau, Church Leaders, Headteachers and family support officers and other agencies. Loaves and Fishes continues to support up to 40 families each week and, as in previous years, we have helped a number of other people with shorter term emergency bags of food. We have been able to give some families extras such as nappies and baby items and all of them have received fresh fruit. A family with young children living in bed and breakfast accommodation with no cooking facilities is being provided with food suitable for their circumstances. Some families only require help for a short time while others are with us for the long term. The positive news is that since the last report a number of our families are now no longer in need of the foodbank. All of the above is possible because of the continuing generous donations of good quality food from 28 local churches of all denominations, several schools and charitable organisations plus many individuals some of whom choose to be anonymous. A number of groups and individuals have also given money. THANK YOU. As indicated last year donations of food exceed the allocated storage space in St John’s Church Hall and food overflows into other areas. I am very pleased to report that the outgoing Spring House Trust has given a grant of £3,500 to Loaves and Fishes foodbank to be used for extending and improving the storage facilities. St John’s Church PCC has generously agreed to allow the building of a second foodstore in the corner of the church hall and work on this will be completed in August this year. This will not only increase the storage capacity but will create a safer, more efficient and user friendly space for our volunteers to operate in. This year we were invited to talk about Loaves and Fishes to the newly founded Westerham Community foodbank, St George’s Church Weald, The Drive Methodist Church, Bessels Green Baptist Church and to school assemblies at St John’s Primary School, Sevenoaks Primary School , Walthamstow Hall Senior School and Trinity School. A very big thank you is also due to our volunteers both new and long standing who freely give their time and energy to support our families. Carole Bonner

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North West Fellowship Report

Throughout the year the members of the Fellowship took part in the customary quarterly services and combined August evening services, which were held at Christ Church. On October 19th, the Autumn Service will be at St John the Baptist Church at 6.30pm. The speaker will be Revd Robin Jones. The Advent Carol Service 2014 was held at St Luke’s Church and was very enjoyable. The combined choir sang with enthusiasm as usual under the leadership of Valerie Ruddle. This year it will be at St Mary, Kippington Church on Sunday 29 November 2015 at 6.30pm. In Lent, the Midweek Meetings with frugal lunch are held in five of the six churches of the fellowship. In 2015, the charity to benefit from the collection at the lunches was the Kanjanji orphanage project in Zambia. We shall shortly make a decision regarding our overseas charity for 2016. We did not hold an annual pilgrimage this year. The Silent Witness Walk on Good Friday has become a regular feature and is well supported. Banners help to make it more noticeable and it always concludes with a short time of prayer and singing at Bligh’s Meadow. An Election Hustings, organised by CTSD but fully supported by NWF was held on Sunday 3 May 2015 at St Johns Hill URC Church Revd Mark Griffin chaired this event, the 5 candidates attended and the Church was full. At each meeting, we share news from the member fellowships and encourage one another in prayer. Our current Chairman is Rev’d David Kitley from St Mary, Kippington. I am the new secretary who worships at St Mary’s, Riverhead. Karen Forster-Pearce (Secretary)

The Sevenoaks Ministers’ Forum

The Sevenoaks Ministers’ Forum continues to meet in a room in the Undercroft at St Nic’s, Sevenoaks, where they provide a generous light lunch for us. The group is made up of leaders from the following denominations: Cof E, the Vine Evangelical, Hope Church. We meet every two months, taking it in turns to lead a session. The result is good communication, sharing, mutual encouragement and supportive praying! David Kitley, Chair

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Prayer for Sevenoaks

Having tried a new format this year it has not been as successful as the earlier years. Once again the format will change for 2016 incorporating dates with a mixture of events but on the second Thursday of alternate months starting in January. Thank you to all those who have shown their support in person or by e-mail. There are also many who receive the prayer letter. I am still certain that however we attempt to pray together there is still a need to bring those who work for us at all levels in the community before the Lord. My thanks also to CTSD secretary, Isobel White, without whose help none of this would be possible. Alan Edwards - Organiser

Trinity School

Trinity, the new Christian Secondary School in Sevenoaks, is now into its third year. In September a new group of 120 eleven year olds joined the school taking the total numbers to 360. In September the school moved from Riverhead to our new site on Seal Hollow Road, where Wildernesse Boys’ School used to be. For this academic year we will be in temporary classrooms on that site. Then in September 2016 we will move into the new building which is now making rapid progress. When the school is full, in 2019, we will have 800 pupils. Trinity is unique because it is sponsored by a diverse group of 30 local churches who are all members of Churches Together in Sevenoaks and District. Most of the school’s governors are elected by these churches. People from local churches regularly join with parents and governors to pray for the school. The school holds termly services at local churches. Pupils from the school carry out community service often in collaboration with local churches. The school has collective worship or reflection each day and often this is led by local church ministers. We really value these links. The school’s strapline is ‘Education for life in all its fullness’. The governors and staff wish the school to be academically excellent and to support the students’ spiritual, cultural and physical development. Our Ofsted inspection in July was very encouraging, rating the school ‘Good’ in all areas. We are grateful that local parents are supporting the school, making Trinity one of the most over-subscribed secondary schools in Kent for this year’s intake. This year we will have an inspection of our Christian ethos: our supervising churches have helped to set the agenda for that inspection through their representative body Sevenoaks Churches Education Trust, or SCET. We are very pleased to have appointed Alice Dunstall as our first full time Chaplain. Alice lives in Maidstone and has experience both as an RE teacher and a youth worker. In conclusion I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to all our local churches and local supporters for all you have done to help us get this far in our exciting journey! Matthew Tate, Headmaster

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Churches Together in Sevenoaks and District

List of Members (email addresses, websites and local maps are given on our

website: www.ctsd.org.uk)

* signifies that, as of October 2015 these are the churches which have returned a signed Declaration and paid an annual subscription.

Other churches listed are those which have paid an annual subscription.

Names given are those provided by the churches as the CTSD contact. Where none has been provided, the name of the Incumbent or the Church Secretary has been used.

Bessels Green Bessels Green Revd Charlie Ingram Baptist Church* 01732 454921 Bessels Green Baptist Church Office, Bessels Green, Sevenoaks TN13 2PS Borough Green Church of the Good RevdTony Powell

Shepherd (C of E) 01732 882447 The Vicarage, 24 Maidstone Road, Borough Green, TN15 8BD

Brasted St Martin (C of E) Revd Linda Green The Rectory, Brasted 01959 565829 Westerham TN16 1NR Chevening St Botolph* (C of E) Revd Chris Smith The Rectory, 01732 453555 Homedean Road, Chipstead TN13 2RU Dunton Green St John (C of E) see Riverhead Eynsford St Martin (C of E) Revd Gary Owen The Rectory 01322 863050 6 Pollyhaugh Eynsford, DA4 0BE Eynsford Baptist Church Church Secretary High St 01959 522121 Eynsford DA4 0AA Halstead St Margaret* (C of E ) Revd John Benson The Rectory, 01959 532133 Church Road, Halstead, Sevenoaks TN14 7HQ Ide Hill see Sundridge Ightham St Peter (Cof E)* Revd Tim Hatwell The Rectory, Bates Hill 01732 886827 Ightham TN15 9BG

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Kemsing St Mary (C of E) Revd James Oakley The Vicarage, 01732 761351 High Street, Kemsing Sevenoaks TN15 6PY Knockholt St Katherine* (C of E) Revd John Benson The Rectory, 01959 532133 Church Road, Halstead, Sevenoaks TN14 7HQ Otford Methodist Church* Revd John Ritson 18 The Old Walk, 01959 928752 Otford TN14 5PP

Otford St Bartholomew* (C of E) Revd Richard Worssam The Vicarage, 01959 523185 The Green, Otford TN14 5PD Platt St Mary (C of E) Interregnum The Vicarage, 01732 885482 Comp Lane, Platt, Sevenoaks TN15 8NR Plaxtol see Shipbourne

Riverhead St Mary* (C of E) Revd Martin Booth (with St John, Dunton Green) St Mary’s Vicarage, 01732 455736 The Glebe Field, Shoreham Lane, Sevenoaks TN13 3DR Seal St Peter & St Paul* Revd Anne Le Bas (C of E) 01732 762955 The Vicarage, Church Street, Seal, Sevenoaks TN15 0AR Seal Chart St Lawrence* (C of E) Revd Carol Kitchener St Lawrence Vicarage, 01732 761766 Stone Street, Seal, Sevenoaks TN15 0LQ Sevenoaks The Drive Methodist Revd Gillian Le Boutillier-Scott Church* 01732 452870 6 The Drive, Sevenoaks TN13 3AE Sevenoaks Hope Church* Adam Northcroft The Mill Lane Centre 01732 464456

128 Seal Road Sevenoaks TN14 5AX Sevenoaks Royal City Redeemed Christian Church of God Tinuola Adeyemi 5 Princess Close London SE28 8SJ 07473 343 430 (worship in Sevenoaks Town Council Chamber)

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Sevenoaks St John the Baptist* Fr Robin Jones (C of E) 01732 451710 St John’s Vicarage, 62 Quakers Hall Lane, Sevenoaks TN13 3TX Sevenoaks St Luke* (C of E) Revd Canon Mark Griffin St Luke’s Vicarage, 01732 452462 Eardley Road, Sevenoaks TN13 1XT

Sevenoaks St Mary Kippington Revd Canon David Kitley (C of E) 01732 452112 The Vicarage, 59 Kippington Road, Sevenoaks TN13 2LL Sevenoaks St Nicholas* (C of E) Revd Canon Angus MacLeay Church Office, 01732 740340 Rectory Lane, Sevenoaks TN13 1JA Sevenoaks St Thomas of Fr Richard Harvey Canterbury* (RC) 01732 454177 The Presbytery, 12 Granville Road, Sevenoaks TN13 1ER Sevenoaks Society of Friends Elizabeth Dwinell Meeting House, 01732 884122 30 Hollybush Lane Sevenoaks TN13 3TJ Sevenoaks URC* at Christ Church Littlecourt Rd 01732 456763 Sevenoaks TN13 2JG URC* at St John’s Hill St John’s Road 01732 740935 Sevenoaks TN13 3LW Sevenoaks Vine Baptist Church* Revd James Crockett Church Office, Park Lane 01732 740634 Sevenoaks TN13 3UP Sevenoaks Vine Evangelical Pastor Stan King Church Office* 01732 469833 Hitchen Hatch Lane Sevenoaks TN13 3AT

Shipbourne St Giles (C of E) Revd Andrew Procter with Plaxtol The Rectory, 01732 811081 The Street

Plaxtol Kent TN15 0QG

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Shoreham St Peter & St Paul Revd Diane Rees (C of E) 01959 522363 The Vicarage, Station Road,

Shoreham TN14 7SA Sundridge St Mary (C of E) Revd Pam Davies with Ide Hill The Rectory Office 01959 563749 Chevening Road Sundridge, TN14 6AB Underriver St Margaret* (C of E) St Lawrence Vicarage, 01732 761766 Stone Street, Seal, Sevenoaks TN15 0LQ Weald St George* (C of E) Revd Mandy Carr St George’s Vicarage, 01732 463291 Church Road Weald TN14 6LT

Westerham St Mary the Virgin Revd Kevin Barnard (C of E) 01959 563127 The Vicarage, Borde Hill, Westerham TN16 1TL Westerham Evangelical Church* Pastor Phil Sutton Fullers Hill 01959 563148 Westerham TN16 1AB Westerham St John the Baptist Fr Ivan Aquilina Crowsnest 01959 563226 Hosey Hill Westerham TN16 1TB West Kingsdown St Edmund* (C of E) Revd Judy Thurlow

The Rectory, 01474 852265 School Lane, West Kingsdown TN15 6JL West Kingsdown Baptist Church Revd Anne Clements Fawkham Road 01474 852054 West Kingsdown TN15 6JP Wrotham St George’s Revd Edward Wright The Rectory Borough Green Rd 01732 882211 Wrotham TN15 7RA Although the formal Salvation Army presence in Sevenoaks ceased in 2003, Dianne Jarrett can be contacted as link person at: 71 Riding Park,Hildenborough Kent TN11 9JD tel .01732 838226

www.ctsd.org.uk