NOVEMBER 2000

Dear Friends,

I am now into my third month here in Aylesford and Eccles and I must say I am thoroughly enjoying the experience! I thought it might be interesting for you to hear some of my reflections.

It is true that we are all in one parish, but at the same time it is such a varied parish! Starting down at Barming station, reaching up past Sainsbury's to Holt Wood and the Royal British Legion Village and the large medical centres behind it, then taking in the Greenacres Estate, then moving on towards the motorway, the railway line and the river, to the older and most beautiful parts of Aylesford and Pratling Street (as well as the less beautiful parts of the industrial area!), and then north past the wonderful attraction of the Friars to Eccles, Kits Coty and part of Bluebell Hill. It's more like a little county than a parish, and I know of few other parishes which have so much variety within them, from hospices, to industrial areas, to religious centres, to archaeological sites, to modern 21st century out-of-town shopping centres. It's quite incredible really.

This variety has both its good and its challenging aspects. On the positive side the parish is made up of a whole host of different smaller communities, and I am enjoying the wide range of ministry these different units are allowing me to have. For instance I am taking regular assemblies at three primary schools in the parish, taking in a population of some 450 children in all in Aylesford and Eccles, usually on a weekly basis. Likewise, the Royal British Legion village have now asked me to take communion to three of their residential courts - Dennis Cadman, Charles Busby and the Duchess of Kent, (putting all the communicants together we would number some forty five people). Similarly, I am thoroughly enjoying visiting and taking communion to Gavin Astor House, and I look forward to taking assemblies at Aylesford secondary school in the second half of term. These are just some examples of many of the way our parish affords a wide and exciting ministry to its priest and to the church in general, and I haven't even mentioned our many weddings and baptisms!

The advantage of the parish's many smaller communities is that a monthly service or a weekly assembly can help foster the link between that community and the church, and through this help bring our message of God's love to people who might otherwise not have heard it. We have to go out as Christians into the community these days - we cannot expect people to come to us if we do not first make the effort.

So what of the challenging aspect of the parish? Well, although the different communities that each make up our parish each have their own special identity and community spirit, we are such a large geographical area that we as a Sunday congregation have much to do to reach into the lives of people of those living around us. Going back only forty years ago, many of the inhabitants of Aylesford would have quite naturally looked at St Peter and St Paul as "their" church, even if they did not attend it on a weekly basis. Now with the expanding population and the fact that many hardly ever venture beyond the railway line and the river, it is a real challenge to reach out to the population and show them that not only is church-going a vibrant and exciting thing - it can bring real peace and meaning to life in a way nothing else can.

Please then pray for our mission as we continue up to the Christmas period. Pray not just for me but for the witness of all of us as Christians. These are exciting times we live in!

Yours in Christ

Simon Tillotson

This letter appears in the parish magazine. To subscribe to the magazine please email Brian Eddy or contact the church office.