“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.”
(1 Timothy 6:11-12a)
Sunday Service, 27th April 11am – At St. George’s!!
This Sunday is our annual joint service at St. George’s church at 11am, followed by the St. George’s Day parade down the High Street and a lunch in the hall. Do join us for the service and as much else as you can manage. There will not be a Livestream this week.
St. George is the patron saint for England. He was a Roman soldier who became a Christian and was ultimately killed for his faith in AD 303, executed by the then Roman Emperor, Diocletian only a few years before the emperor Constantine came to power and converted to Christianity himself.
Over the next few weeks, we will be celebrating some key moments in our nations history that celebrate some important military successes. On 8th May, we celebrate Victory in Europe day, the 80th anniversary of the final defeat of Nazi Germany. We will reflect on this at our services on 4th May. Then on the week beginning 18th May, there will be big celebrations in Ramsgate of the evacuation of the British Army in Dunkirk in 1940, when through a combination of perfect weather, great military planning and the involvement of small boat owners around the English coast 338,000 allied soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk. The result was nothing short of miraculous and a key moment in our national history.
As we celebrate these great military victories, it is worth remembering that the Christian life is often described in the Bible as a battle or a fight. It does not involve the normal weapons of war, but it does involve the inner struggle with our own temptations and the battle to persuade a sceptical world of the glorious truth of the good news about Jesus Christ.
In the Second World War, many people in our country worked extremely hard, took great risks and made great sacrifices to defeat the evil of Naziism. If we want to see the church grow in our town today, we, like St. George, need to be up for the fight.
Paul Worledge
Youth Hangout – Restarting this Thursday!
We are re-opening the after-school club, Youth Hangout from Thursday 1st May for Year 6 pupils and upwards. It will run in St. Luke’s church. Come along, for refreshments, to hang out and play games. Please encourage your youngsters to come and bring friends. Drop in anytime between 3 and 6pm.
APCM and PCC membership
Our Annual Church meeting (APCM) will be on Thursday 22nd May at 7:30pm in the Church Hall. At this meeting we will be updating you on plans for our Vision 2030 and electing members to our PCC. Please put the date in the diary. Also, please consider standing for our PCC or nominating someone who would be a good fit. We need the wisdom of a variety of church members to help us guide the church over the coming years.
Joy Brenchley
Members of St. Luke’s who have been coming for more than ten years will remember Joy Brenchley, who played a big part in the leadership of the church as PCC Secretary, Church Warden, service leader and most importantly leader of the Women’s Fellowship. Sadly, we have learnt that she passed away in early April. There will be a funeral for Joy at St. Luke’s.
Message from Dick and Caroline Seed
While Caroline was away training lecturers at Johannesburg Bible College (JBC) last week, we received news that the final registration of the online postgraduate diploma in higher theological education had come through in record time. It took just two months, although we had been told we might have to wait for twelve months by the government department. Thank you for praying!
This means it is “all systems go” for start-up in January 2026. Applications will go live on the website on 28th April. As a result Dick is now fully focused on writing the first two units to be run in February and March/April next year.
Give thanks too for a good week in Johannesburg for Caroline with Karen (who flew back from Australia) and Thapelo Khumalo, one of the GWC faculty members, who is interested in becoming part of the TEDS team. We ran Phase 1 of the short certificate course for lecturers from Johannesburg, Soweto, Bulawayo and the Eastern Cape. Pray for them as they implement what they learned in their classes next semester.
Youthscape Launchpad Diocesan Event
6:30-9:00pm on Monday 2nd June at St. Laurence church in Ramsgate. Led by Bp Rose Hudson-Wilkin, with Jen Tobin the Diocesan Lead Officer for Children & Young People’s Work and Launchpad Youth Scape Representatives. This is an intergenerational event for young people 11 years old and upwards and those helping to lead young people’s work. See Tonya Curry if you are interested in going as part of a group from St. Luke’s.
Links to Share:
Defeatist Mentality?
In this article the writer argued that the church is besieging hell. Read more…
The death of progress?
In this article, the writer claims that the myth of technological progress is being proved false. Read more…
Finally, in the light of Christ’s victory in the Resurrection, let’s keep fighting the good fight.
Yours in Christ
Paul Worledge
(Vicar, St. Luke’s Ramsgate)
Weekly Calendar
Sunday 27th April – St. George’s Day Celebration
Joint All Age Service (St. George’s Church), 2 Tim. 2:1-13, 11:00am-12:00pm
St. George’s Day Parade and Lunch in St. George’s Hall, 12:00pm onwards
Monday 28th
Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Study Group (South Eastern Road) – 7:15-9:30pm
PCC, (Perry Room) – 7:30-9:30pm
Tuesday 29th
Prayer Meeting (St. George’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Christ Church Toddlers @ St Luke’s (St. Luke’s Church Hall) – 9:30-11:30am
Study Group (Lyndhurst Road) – 2:30-4:00pm
Wednesday 30th
Study Group (Langdale Avenue) – 10:00-12:00 noon
Study Group (South Eastern Road) – 7:30-9:30pm
Thursday 1st May
Prayer Meeting (St. Luke’s Church) – 9:30-10:00am
Cafe4All (St. Luke’s Church), Coffee and Chat for all – 10:00-11:30am
Youth Hangout (St. Luke’s Church), After school club for Year 6 upwards – 3:00-6:00pm
Friday 2nd
Play and Praise (St. Luke’s Church Hall) – 10:00-11:30am
Saturday 3rd
Churches Together in Ramsgate Prayer Breakfast (St. Laurence Church) – 9:00-10:00am
Sunday 4th – 3rd Sunday of Easter
Family Service with Baptism and VE day celebration
(St. Luke’s Church), Psalm 126, 11:00am-12:00pm
Online Forms
Under the ‘Contact’ tab on the website, there are now three forms that you can use to help us in managing the church:
- Events Application Form. Use this if you are organising a church event that needs a church room booked, advertising or ticketing.
- Submit a Notice. Use this if you want to ask us to include a prayer request or other notice in the church notice sheet or email.
- Maintenance Reporting Form.Use this to report any non-urgent issues with our buildings or grounds.
St. Luke’s Website
- What’s On – a page which lets you know what is happening this week and gives information about upcoming events.
- Notices – You can read the latest notices on this page.
- Sermons – Read a transcript of a recent sermon or watch the YouTube version recorded at St. Luke’s. You can also listen to the sermon through the podcast website castbox.
Safeguarding Training
If you volunteer in anyway at church the national authorities are strongly encouraging you to take at least the Basic Module in safeguarding training once every three years.
If you have not completed the training in the last three years, then the module can be completed online and takes about ninety minutes. You can access the training by following this link. You will need to first register, to access the training. Once the training is completed, you will be sent a certificate. Please forward that certificate to James (office@stlukesramsgate.org), so that we can keep records of who has done the training.e sent a certificate. Please forward that certificate to James (office@stlukesramsgate.org), so that we can keep records of who has done the training.
St. Luke's Church Ramsgate 