St Martin's & St Paul's
Parish Canterbury
and welcome to the website of the parish of St Martin & St Paul in Canterbury.
About this site
We are part of the Church of England, and are a parish serving the south east of Canterbury, about 60 miles south east of London in the heart of Kent, which is known as the Garden of England. You will find links to events and services in the next week or so, and location plans for the two churches. We look forward to seeing you soon!
You can find more information here about services or how to find our churches.
Other News
There will be a special candle-lit Taizé service on the 6th January 2012, The Epiphany of Jesus, beginning at 7.30 pm at St Martin's Church - all are very welcome. Then, on Sunday 8th January at 6.30 pm, there will be a service of the Three Wonders at St Martin's Church; again, this will be a candle-lit service involving processions; why not come along?
The next St Martin's Conversation will be on the 15th January 2012, beginning at 5.30 pm. It will be led by the Rev Canon Kerry Thorpe, the Diocesan Mission and Growth Adviser, who will speak on Mission Questions at St Martin's. It will be followed by supper at St Martin's House - all are very welcome.
Helping with the Canterbury Night Shelter
Canterbury's Night Shelter is at the Parish Centre every Tuesday night until the end of February 2012. The Parish Centre will open to the visitors at 7.00pm and the visitors will leave about 7.30am the following morning. To make this happen, we need volunteers to be in the Parish Centre at 7.00pm to welcome the sleepers and help them set up, and a second set of people to arrive at 9.00pm and stay overnight. There will a paid worker present at all times who will know the sleepers. All of the sleepers will have been vetted by the staff at the Open Centre where they will assemble and have an evening meal before transferring to the Parish Centre at 7.00pm.
Meeters & Greeters
7.00pm to 9.15pm: We will need 4 people per evening to prepare the hall, welcome the sleepers, help set up the beds, make tea and coffee
and chat to the visitors.
Overnight Volunteers
9.00pm to 08.00am: We need four people each Tuesday night to stay overnight in the Parish Centre. It is anticipated that they will be
able to spend a period of time sleeping in pairs, so that at any one time there are two volunteers awake and the paid worker. It is hoped that
each church can provide its own Overnight Volunteers, as they will be familiar with the buildings and its facilities; but you will need to
volunteer to Catching Lives who will be organising the rota.
Aside from this, as with last Winter, we will also need donations of tea, coffee, sugar, cakes and fruit to welcome our visitors warmly, for which there will be collection boxes at the back of each church.
Obviously you may feel you want to help but cannot do Tuesdays. There will be a need for volunteers at other churches so please volunteer to help in other venues through the Catching Lives website or email Catching Lives.
I will be co-ordinating helpers for the Parish Centre but to volunteer as an Overnight Volunteer please use the Catching Lives website or contact Ewan Flack at Catching Lives, tel 01227 765227.
Jackie Curd
Tel 01227 452131/07712432906
Pilgrim Post
January's edition of Pilgrim Post is now online.
. The Parish Pantomime
The parish pantomime, Cinda's Error, was held on the 4th and 5th March 2011 in the Parish Centre. It was a great success, with true love triumphing over divers dastardly plots, as can be seen from these photographs.
Caption 1
A welcome from the Rector
Canon Noelle Hall, writes "I am Rector of the Parish (since 2000) and am married to Malcolm, an organ tuner and builder. We have an fifteen year old son. I have been in the ministry of the Church of England since 1986 and have served in four parishes.
"Our Parish is one of ten in the Deanery of Canterbury, and while St. Paul's Church is close to the City Centre the Parish extends a long way out on the Eastern side of the City. St. Martin's Church is the oldest Parish church in the English speaking world and part of Canterbury's World Heritage Site. St. Augustine came here in 597 to begin the mission authorised by Pope Gregory the Great.
"Our churches stand in the centre of the Anglican tradition and we have an enthusiastic choir and a lively Sunday School called Sunday Zone which meets at St. Paul's at 10.30 am in term time.
"If you would like me to visit you or if you would like to discuss a baptism, wedding, or funeral or any other special service please contact me on 01227-462686".
A new vision for the Parish
We are called to worship God in Jesus Christ and to make Christ known in our community.
We do not have all the answers. We are on a spiritual journey.
We look to Scripture, reason, and tradition to help us on our way. Whoever you are, we offer a space for you to draw nearer to God and walk with us.
This is a Vision for the Parish approved by the PCC (Parocial Church Council) in December 2008. Will you join us?
Older News
Bishop Richard's visit to Bethlehem as an Ecumenical Accompanier
Bishop Richard Llewellin went to Bethlehem on Saturday, 19th February 2011 for three months. He is part of a team of four people, serving as Ecumenical Accompaniers. Their main tasks are:
- monitoring Checkpoint/Terminal 300 (Gilo)
- accompanying weekly demonstraions
- visiting outlying villages
- taking part in activities in refugee camps
- supporting the Christian community
- networking with non-governmental and Church organisations, and
- advocacy.
Bethlehem has the largest Christian population in the Palestian Territories. It is a centre for Palestinian and other organisations and is strongly affected by the separation of the new barrier/wall. Many outlying villages are also affected by the expansion of seetlements; house demolition and harassment are common.
- provide a protecting presence and support for non-violent resistance,
- visit families,
- take testimonies of Human Rights violations,
- participate in olive tree planting and harvesting,
- collect stories for advocacy, and
- pray and show solidarity with the local Christian community.
The possible re-ordering of the interior of St Paul's Church
Following the special parochial meeting held on the 9th February 2011 to discuss whether to go ahead with the proposed re-ordering of the interior of St Paul's Church, the PCC voted to go to the next stage, by seeking approval for the re-ordering from the Diocesan Advisory Committee, and obtaining tendrs from builders for the work. A final decision whether to go ahead will not be made until after these have been received in a few months time.
St Martin's Conversations: Going back to go forward
Find out more about the St Martin's Conversations! Do come along and expore aspects of the Christian life in an informal setting in this historic church, the oldest in the English-speaking world. The next meeting is on Sunday 18th September 2011 beginning at 5.30 pm.
Nick Ashman, our Youth & Families Worker
Nick is aged 28 and is our Youth Worker until the Summer of 2012 while exploring the possibility of ordination and working with students at Canterbury Christ Church University. He has spent already spent one year in the parish, having previously worked for two years in South London engaged in youth work. Before that, he lived in Tenterden. Interests include being a DJ, clubbing, football, computer games, and music production.
Paul's Priesting
Paul Ratcliff, our curate, was ordained Priest on Sunday 4th July 2010 at 2.30 pm in St Paul's Church by Bishop Trevor in front of a congregation of about 140 people. Many friends and supporters from Paul's former parish at Seasalter were present to witness this tremendous day for Paul, Heather, and their family. Please remember to keep them in your prayers. Here are a few images; the one with the Archbishop was taken in the Old Palace garden on Saturday, 3rd July and is copyright Robert Berry. The rest were taken in the Parish Centre after the Ordination service. Many thanks to the Social Committee for providing such a splendid tea.
Feedback and comments
If you would like to leave any comments about this site, please click here to send an email
Pictures of the churches
Images of St Paul's Church(left) and St Martin's Church (right) For a larger picture, please click on the photograph. More pictures can be found on other pages in this website.
Updated 08 Nov 11
© PCC St Martin's and St Paul's Canterbury 2008 - 2011
