The Bishop of Rochester is delighted to announce that The Revd David Green is to be appointed the new Vicar of the parish of St Luke’s in Tunbridge Wells, with a plan to be licenced in the early Autumn. David served his curacy at St Philip & St James, Walderslade, and for the last 13 years, David has lived in West Malling and served first as Priest-in-Charge of West Malling, Offham and Kings Hill, then as Vicar to West Malling and Offham and, since 2022, as Team Vicar to the Kent Downs & Malling team ministry. David trained for ordination at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He holds a BA Honours degree in Biblical Studies from the University of Sheffield and gained his Masters in Pastoral Theology while at Ridley. Prior to ordination, David worked in publishing and new media.David writes: “I am looking forward to building on the good foundations already present at St Luke’s, while also helping St Luke’s to fulfil its missional calling in our post-Pandemic world. I thrive on being able to reach out in the local community through schools, community groups, and with baptisms, weddings and funerals. As a keen liturgist and member of the Society for Liturgical Study, I am also enthusiastic to grow and equip the local church through the importance of the church’s worship and service. I am interested in new media. I am a movie buff and have written and spoken about the use of moving imagery and films in church worship and outreach, and during a recent sabbatical explored the impact of online worship during the Pandemic. I am also a keen sports fan and particularly enjoy football and American Football. I am a former season ticket holder and long-suffering fan of Tottenham Hotspur and hold a coaching qualification with the British American Football Coaching Association!” Please pray for David and Kerry, and their teenage children Bethya, Nathanael and Josiah, as they prepare to move house and for David to begin his new ministry in Tunbridge Wells. David’s final Sunday in the Kent Downs team will be the 28th of July. The Green family hope to move into St Luke’s Vicarage during August. The following message from David Green was also read to the congregation:“As much I feel the sense that the Lord is calling me to something new, and that it’s the right time and the right post, and that makes it an exciting moment and a new challenge, it will also be very hard to leave the Kent Downs & Malling Team. Our children have grown up here and they will always call it ‘home’, we’ve made a great many friends and made some wonderful memories, and it has been a privilege to try and lead (variously) Kings Hill, West Malling, Offham, and more latterly to work alongside Helen and Kelly amongst the other parishes of the Team in mission and ministry. I know some will hear this news with some shock or sadness. Perhaps for others there will be rejoicing! You can’t please all the people all the time. There will be many more opportunities to say goodbye and talk at greater length in the next three months, but perhaps it’s just good to remind everyone that if the Lord is calling me to something new, that must also mean He is calling someone new to work with you. I am sure they will bring fresh energy and gifts to the role of Team Vicar, working with Helen and supporting her as Rector, and I am sure they will help to lead you all forward in faith and in hope."
Following two years of challenging work by several volunteers, we are pleased to release the attached document into the public domain.The document contains an indexed (by family name and year) of those interred or memorialised in the Church and Churchyard. We believe that this will help us celebrate and recognise our local heritage.If you need further information, please contact us.Updated 11 May 2024
If you feel that God may be calling you to take a new step in ministry, one of the Ministry Team will be very pleased to explore this with you. As a Team we wish to encourage new ministries and release gifts. ‘Hearing God’s Word’ and ‘Speaking God’s Word’ are two courses run by the diocese which, on completion, enables people to lead and speak in church on an occasional basis. These can be delivered at Team or Deanery level if there is enough interest. For those who exercise a pastoral ministry the course ‘Caring Concerns’ could be run so that they are up to date with best practice around boundaries, safeguarding, lone working and other issues. Please speak to the Team Rector if you would like to know more.
This week’s investigation by Madeleine Davies of the problem of filling the offices of churchwarden or treasurer confirms what many have suspected: that the difficulties in their own benefice extend across most of the dioceses of the Church of England.Read the original article here All new Church Times subscriptions received in March will receive a FREE additional 3-month subscription to the bestselling app, Reflections for Daily Prayer.Subscribe to Church Times
