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Shipbourne Rector  Restoration Appeal

St. Giles' Church Shipbourne

The parish church of St Giles' Church, Shipbourne is situated on the west side of Shipbourne Common. The present church was built by Sir Edward Cazalet of Fairlawne and opened for worship in 1881. Details of services are set out below, showing whether the service is in Shipbourne Church or in the neighbouring parish of Plaxtol.

Evening office, a short service, takes place every Thursday at 4.45pm

Playchurch
Playchurch at Shipbourne Church is aimed at pre-school and primary school children and their parents. It is an opportunity for everyone with young ones to meet and worship at St Giles in a relaxed atmosphere. Playchurch takes place at 9.30am on the second Saturday of each month. It lasts about 3/4 hour with Bible stories and craft activities for the children and is an opportunity for parents to have an informal discussion on the week's theme. There will be refreshments for both children and their parents.

Playchurch this Spring will be on Saturday 8th March, 12th April and 10th May.

If you've got young children, it would be great to see you there. For more details, call the Rector Andrew Procter on 01732 811081 or Sally Bryden on 01732 810935

Choral evensong takes place at 6pm in either Shipbourne or Plaxtol on the fifth Sunday of any month.

The Annual Parochial Church Meeting will take place at 8.00pm on Wednesday 23 April 2008 in St Giles, Shipbourne.

Shipbourne Rector

Andrew Proctor is the Rector of Shipbourne with Plaxtol. He was installed as Rector at a service of induction on 20 September 2007.

Andrew has been a parish clergyman all his working life. He originates from Yorkshire and served a curacy and a first living in the Pennines before another living in inner Bradford. For the last fourteen years he has been Vicar of Hextable and Swanley Village. His wife Elizabeth is a Medical Consultant in Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Gillingham. They have four children in their twenties - two married daughters and two single sons - and a disobedient dog.

Andrew can be contacted at:
The Rectory, The Street, Plaxtol, Kent TN15 0QG
Telephone 01732 811081 e-mail andeliz2000@yahoo.co.uk

Governance
The Rector is the Chairman of the Parochial Church Council (PCC) which is responsible for the running of the Church. The Annual Report and Accounts of the Church are presented to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting which is held normally in April each year. The members of the PCC are elected at this meeting from the congregation.

Churchwardens:

Mr John Boyd (810750) email: johnboydqq@yahoo.co.uk
Mrs Monica Long (355325) email: monmike@cornfield.fslife.co.uk

PCC Secretary: Mrs Mary Perry (810797)
Children’s Representative: Mrs Jill Adams (810185)

Healing Prayer Group
The group meets on the third Friday of each month to pray for the sick. Anyone is welcome to attend. Requests for prayer can be put on the prayer board in church. For more details, including time and venue, please contact Jeannie King on 01732 364529.

The Bells
The tower contains six bells which were re-hung in 1993. Bell ringing practice is on Thursday nights at 20.00. Call the Tower Secretary, Mary Clark on 01732 811265, if you would like to ring the bells.

The Choir
The Choir sings at the 9.30 service every Sunday. Practices are held at the home of John Young, the choirmaster and organist once a week on Thursday or Friday. Contact John Young on 01732 810289 if you would like to sing with the choir.

Flowers
Felicity Ward organises the rota for the flower arrangements in the church each week. Please contact her on 01732 810525 if you would like to help with the flowers or to discuss flowers for weddings or funerals.

Farmers’ Market
A Farmers’ Market is held at the church every Thursday between 9.00 and 11.00. You can buy local produce including breads, meat, vegetables, mushrooms, smoked fish, pickles, cheeses and fruit. The church organises the Market as a service to the local community.
For more information ring Bob Taylor 01732 833976.

Church Events
St Giles' Fair, the church fete, takes place each year on Shipbourne Common on August Bank Holiday Monday.

St Giles and Shipbourne Newsletter
The Newsletter contains information about the church and the local community. It is produced by the church and delivered free to every house in the parish. Further copies are available in the church. The editor is Frank Chapman 01732 810455.

Church Finance
St Giles is responsible for all its own expenses, including making a contribution to the costs of the diocese, and relies on donations from parishioners and other friends from outside the parish, who support the church’s work. Donations are made by bank standing order, an envelope scheme or by donations in church and benefit from Gift Aid where the necessary declaration has been made. Further information on supporting the ministry of the church can be obtained from the Treasurer, John Browne on 01732 354378
 

Shipbourne War Memorial

St. Giles' churchyard old memorial inscriptions

St. Giles' stained glass

Farmers' Market

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St Giles Shipbourne Restoration Appeal

The church launches an appeal for funds for urgent repairs to the Tower and nave roof of St Giles Church

St Giles Church has been standing for 125 years but the structure is showing its age. When the church was inspected by the architect in 2005, she found that the nave roof was worn out, the roof of the Tower was leaking, causing rot in the timbers supporting the roof, and some of the stonework was badly damaged after being exposed to the weather for more than a century. The advice was that we couldn't patch it up any longer: the roofs need to be renewed.

Fund raising started straight away. The Church applied to English Heritage for a grant out of Lottery funds and we were delighted when they offered a substantial grant towards the cost of the repair work. This enabled us to do exploratory work in the summer of 2007. This revealed that the Tower roof was in a much worse state than had been thought and added to the urgency of the project.

We are hoping that we can do the repairs in the summer of 2008, but first English Heritage have to confirm the grant. The work will involve erecting scaffolding inside and outside the tower and on the roof so that the work can be done safely. The existing tiles will be stripped off and replaced and the heavy roof timbers and leadwork will be repaired where necessary to make St Giles watertight and ready for the next 125 years.

Fund raising continues. We have applied for funds to various grant making trusts and some have already made generous contributions. We are grateful to all those individuals who have generously supported the Appeal. However currently we still need some £43,000 by the end of June 2008, to enable us to fund all the urgent high level works. You can contribute by sending a cheque, payable to St Giles Church Shipbourne, to the Treasurer, John Browne at 66 Old Hadlow Road, Tonbridge Kent TN10 4EX

Do support the parish's fund raising efforts. For example, do you have a copy of the Shipbourne Cookery Book? It is on sale for £10 and copies can be obtained from the Farmers Market or from Sue Lee on 01732 810556.

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