Welcome. Accidents or First Aid If you have an accident or need first aid, please initially ask for help from a steward or churchwarden.

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3 Welcome Information for visitors: We hope that you enjoy worshipping with us. If this is your first visit, please fill in one of our Welcome Cards and hand it to a member of the Welcome Team or one of the Stewards. Notice to Parents or Guardians of Children (0-14yrs) Please ensure that you accompany your children whilst on Church premises. Children remain the responsibility of their guardians at all times. No team member can be responsible for your child before or after planned activity groups. Whilst we do our best to ensure the safety of children, the church door is open to everyone and therefore also to many potential risks. If You Would Like Prayer If you would like someone to talk or pray with you at the end of any service, please come to the Chancel area at the front and speak to someone with a Ministry Team badge. For your own protection, we advise that you only receive prayer ministry from Ministry Team members (all of whom will be wearing badges). CONTENTS: Welcome + Contents December Sunday Services Page 4th - 10th Dec 5 11th - 17th Dec 6 18th 24th Dec 7 25th 31st Dec 8 Events & Notices 9 Outside St. Luke s 10 Missionary Update General Information Accidents or First Aid If you have an accident or need first aid, please initially ask for help from a steward or churchwarden. Please Consider Other People Please be considerate to our neighbours when you are parking your car and avoid the red zone area (the area immediately around the church). Please mute or turn off your mobile phone during the service and put used plastic cups and any other litter in the bins provided. Thank you. 3

4 December Sunday Services Sunday 4th December 9:00am 9:30am 10:30am 6:30pm Communion The New Family Service Celebration & Thanksgiving Celebration Sunday 11th December 9:00am 10:30am 6:30pm Morning Prayer Kidz In & Christingle Communion Sunday 18th December 9:00am 10:30am 5:30pm Communion Celebration Carols by Candlelight Sunday 25th December Christmas Day 10:00am All Age Communion Sunday 1st January New Year s Day There will be only one service at 10:00am Morning Prayer 2016 cliparts.co 4

5 Diary and Events: 4th - 10th Dec Cleaning rota week 1 Sunday 4th 9:00am 9:30am 10:30am 6:00pm 6:30pm Communion The New Family Service - Hall Celebration & Thanksgiving Prayer Celebration Monday 5th CHURCH OFFICE OPEN 9-12, 2-5 9:30am Cafe n Tots - Hall 1:30pm Cafe n Tots 2 - Hall 2:00pm Garden Team All welcome Tuesday 6th CHURCH OFFICE OPEN 9-12, 2-5 Prayer room available to book 10:00am 60 s+ group Hall Evening Lifegroups Wednesday 7th Evening Lifegroups Thursday 8th CHURCH OFFICE OPEN 9-12, 2-5 9:30am Cafe n Tots - Hall 10:00am Oasis SLH Conference room 7:45pm Bite Size - SLH Conf rm Prayer Focus: FAMILY TRUST & CAST Thank God for, and pray for Alex Clark at Family Trust and James Alder at CAST, their teams and the Trustees as they plan together for the coming new year and as they take part in and lead the planned Christmas events and activities. Pray that they will receive a clear vision for their ministry that this outreach will expand further over the coming year. Thank God for all those young people who as a result of their contact with the Family Trust and CAST teams this year have discovered that Christianity is relevant to their lives. Pray that they and others will continue to grow in their faith. familytrust.org.uk Friday 9th 7:30pm Saturday 10th 3:00pm Nexus Lifegroup SLH Thanksgiving Service - Church 5 Please also remember in your prayers the people living in our parish in Vinters Road and Waterlow Road.

6 Prayer Focus: CHURCH ARMY AFRICA Thank God for Richard and Patience Mayabi and the staff and volunteer missionaries and evangelists working for Church Army Africa throughout Africa often in very difficult circumstances. Although this has been a very successful year, financial problems associated with Carlile College in the past still need to be resolved. Pray that Richard and his staff will receive a clear vision for their ministry in 2017, for the continuing success of Church Army Africa and that all the necessary resources including finances will be made available to resolve the consequences of past problems. churcharmyafrica.net Diary and Events: 11th - 17th Dec Cleaning rota week 2 Sunday 11th 9:00am 10:30am 6:00pm 6:30pm Morning Prayer Kidz In & Christingle Prayer Communion Monday 12th 9:30am 1:30pm 2:00pm 7:30pm CHURCH OFFICE OPEN 9-12, 2-5 Cafe n Tots Christmas Party- Hall Cafe n Tots 2 Christmas Party- Hall Garden Team All welcome PCC Meeting SLH Tuesday 13th CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED Prayer room available to book 10:00am 60 s+ Christmas Party - Church Evening Lifegroups Wednesday 14th Evening Lifegroups Thursday 15th 10:00am 11:00am 7:30pm CHURCH OFFICE OPEN 9-12, 2-5 Oasis SLH conference room Cafe n Tots Christmas Party - Hall Prayers for Africa SLH conf room Friday 16th 7:00pm 7:30pm Worship Team SLH Forefront Hall and MCR Please also remember in your prayers the people in our parish living in Well Road and Weyhill Close. 6

7 Diary and Events: 18th 24th Dec Cleaning rota week 3 Sunday 18th 9:00am 10:30am 5:30pm Communion Celebration Carol Service Monday 19th 2:00pm 6:00pm CHURCH OFFICE OPEN 9-12, 2-5 Garden Team all welcome Winter Shelter Team - Hall Tuesday 20th CHURCH OFFICE OPEN 9-12, 2-5 Prayer room available to book Evening Lifegroups Wednesday 21st Evening Lifegroups Thursday 22nd 2:00pm CHURCH OFFICE OPEN 9-12, 2-5 Happy Holidays Crafternoon Saturday 24th 3:30pm 11:30pm CHRISTMAS EVE Kidz Karolz - Church Midnight Communion 7 Prayer Prayer Focus: Focus MAIDSTONE PRISON Thank God for the Prison Chaplain, Alisoun. Pray that she will have a clear vision for her ministry over the Christmas period. Pray that as a result prisoners and the wardens will come to know the love and mercy that God has for them, that he is relevant to their lives. Pray that God s peace and love will be abundant in the Prison throughout the Christmas period and into the New Year. Pray for the Prisoners, their families particularly their children and friends over the Christmas period as they face separation, deal with resentment, regrets and loneliness. Pray for those recently released from the Prison and their families and friends as they seek to rebuild their lives and repair relationships and develop new relationships. Please also remember in your prayers the people living in our parish in Wheeler Street and Winchester Place.

8 Prayer Focus: HOMELESS PEOPLE IN MAIDSTONE Diary and Events: 25th 31st Dec Cleaning rota week 4 Pray for all those who face Christmas and the New Year with little hope for their future and nowhere to live. Thank God for the staff and volunteers at Maidstone Day Centre, Goodsell House, Lily Smith House and Trinity Foyer as they continue to support the rough sleepers and vulnerable people in the Maidstone. Sunday 25th 10:00am Monday 26th Tuesday 27th Thursday 29th CHRISTMAS DAY All Age Communion CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED Thank God and pray for all those involved in the Maidstone Churches Winter Shelter, which will provide shelter over the 3 day Christmas Period and will officially open on 3rd January and closes on the 28th March 2017 with 15 beds. Thank God for all those who provide the necessary financial support and resources to support all these organisations. Pray that sufficient provision will be made available. Lifegroups Lifegroups usually take a break over the holidays please check with your lifegroup leader. Church Office Please note that the church office will close on Thursday 22nd December and reopen again on Monday 2nd January 2017 at 9:00am. homelessinmaidstone.org.uk maidstoneshelter.org.uk New Year s Day Sunday 1st January 2017 There will be only one service at 10:00am Morning Prayer Please also remember in your prayers the people living in our parish. 8

9 Events and Notices Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all Copyright 2015 HarperCollins Christian Publishing St. Luke's Fair Trade Big Breakfast A big thank you to everyone who supported the Fair Trade Big Breakfast, we raised 180 which has been sent to Traidcraft Exchange. By sitting down for breakfast we all stood up for farmers in developing countries and also those at home. A special thank you goes to the team who prepared the breakfast and who set up and cleared the hall making it a wonderful event. Company Next meeting: Saturday 3rd December 2pm - Hall 9

10 Events and Notices cont../.. Bite Size Next meeting: Thursday 8th December 7:45pm-9:00pm St. Luke s House Conference Room Meet monthly to explore and discuss a well-known parable or other bible passage. The next meetings will follow on 12th January 2017 and 9th February. December s meeting will discuss Matthew 2 The visit of the Magi. Everyone is welcome to attend. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available, please feel free to come along. Karen and Gordon Mackley Car Park Barrier We have recently had an unusual incident reported to us. Someone started to drive into the Foley Street car park, but then realised there were no free spaces and tried to reverse back out again. As they did so, the barrier descended unexpectedly. To avoid any chance of this happening, the barrier service company have advised that it is better to drive fully into the car park, then turn your car around before driving back out again forwards in the normal way. Updates/news about Missionary Organisations supported by St. Luke s If anyone has any updates/news about Missionary Organisations supported by St. Luke s including prayer requests and/or their personal experiences of attending Missionary events locally, nationally and internationally and would like to share briefly (2 minutes) at any Sunday Services at St. Luke s please speak to Karen Sanders (aka Mackley) to arrange this. Outside St. Luke s Daily prayer for the month Please pray for Archbishop Justin, for Bishop Trevor, Dean Robert and the Cathedral, the three Archdeacons, Provincial Episcopal Visitor Bishop Norman and for the people and clergy of the Diocese. Please pray for the Diocese as we seek to: grow the church numerically and spiritually, re-imagine ministry and build partnerships that enrich communities. Pray for our overseas partners in Madagascar, and for the Diocese of Arras and Lörrach, Baden. Pray for the Channel Islands 10

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12 Missionary Update Andrew & Faegheh Parfitt - CMS Partners Fifteen years ago I would have been amazed to see a local Muslim man walk into a church seeking, but now it is not surprising. Joyful, uplifting and inspiring yes, but not surprising. Andrew and Faegheh, who are partially supported by St Luke s Church, have been engaged in Christian outreach to the Afghan and Iranian refugee communities in the Govanhill area of Glasgow for the last seven years. At the start of September Faegheh began studying for a degree in midwifery at the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley. Through prayer and good advice Faegheh was able to discern that midwifery could be a good fit for her. We are sure that the course will be both interesting and demanding, and we appreciate your prayers of thanksgiving for the opportunity and for help, wisdom and stamina in Faegheh s studies. Please also give thanks for the work Faegheh has been able to do at the Well Multi-Cultural Advice Centre. She has been involved there for five years. We trust God used her in her time there. In the summer Andrew spent time praying how he could be most useful in mission now we have a new son, Aidan. In the past year Faegheh has been doing the majority of CMS work while Andrew has been teaching English and involved in ministry only at the weekend. Andrew will still be teaching English at St Rollox Church of Scotland while Aidan is at nursery, and the rest of time he will be involved in ministry. We would appreciate your prayers in this process of establishing a new rhythm of life of ministry. Andrew is involved in two Bible Studies with asylum seekers and refugees, mostly from Iran and Afghanistan. It has brought a fresh joy and amazement at how in these times Christ is drawing Muslims to himself in our cities. A couple of weeks ago we attended a very high Anglican Sunday Eucharist and in the congregation we saw a man, obviously from Sudan or Somalia judging by his appearance. We learnt that he was indeed Somali, from a Muslim background, and had just come into the church off his own back, seeking God. The next week he came along to the weekday Bible study. Christians have been praying for this kind of thing to happen and now it is. Please pray for this man as he seeks God and for all of this. Andrew is really praying that he can meet regularly with people, renew fellowship and encourage people in discipleship. He realises what an asset language is. Andrew wants to spend some time on improving his language skills. Please pray for this. We also ask you for permission to spend more time in language study and perhaps less in hands-on ministry activities. Finally we would ask your continued prayer for us in this new season. So we leave you with some joyful news on August 31 Aidan was baptised at St Aidan s Church, as they celebrated St Aidan s day it was a feast of Aidan-ness. You can give to Andrew and Faegheh online at: churchmissionsociety.org/parfitt Contact details: ajparfitt@gmail.com 12

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14 General Information Pastoral Care If you become aware of pastoral needs within the church family, please contact Barnabas Fund This fund, supported by regular contributions from the Church Council, provides help to members of St. Luke s by making small grants to help with one-off emergency difficulties. All applications are considered in the strictest confidence. Personal Belongings Personal items you bring to St. Luke s remain your responsibility; please keep them with you at all times. Wheelchair Access Please keep the ramps at the entrance and the aisles inside the church clear at all times. This is important to help and welcome those who use wheelchairs and pushchairs and, in the event of an emergency, these areas need to be free for the emergency services. Toilets A wheelchair accessible toilet (and babychanging facility) are available in the church foyer. No Smoking Smoking is not permitted in any area of St. Luke s Church or buildings. Audio Hearing Loop An audio link is installed within the area of seating in the main body of the church. All the seats to the left-hand side of the central aisle are covered by our hearing aid induction loop. Recycling Please remember to recycle your paper and plastic cups using the green bins provided. Information about Connect The cut-off date for items is the 15th day of each month. Notices should be sent to connect@stlukes.org.uk or the church office. We reserve the right to edit any submission. An online edition of Connect can be found on our website and large print versions are available from the stewards on request. Want to get involved? If you would like to get more involved in the practical side of life at St. Luke s but are not sure how, you can get more information from the church office (or volunteer@stlukes.org.uk) Tell the story We d love to hear from individuals and groups who meet in and around St. Luke s. If you d like to tell the story about what you do, how it blesses you and others and how you see Jesus at work in your situation, why not let us know at tellthestory@stlukes.org.uk. Contact Us Church office, St. Luke s House, 16 St. Luke s Road, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 5AW Phone: admin@stlukes.org.uk stlukes.org.uk Office hours: Monday, Tuesday & Thursday 9am 12noon and 2pm-5pm (Closed Wednesday & Friday) Registered Charity No

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