Larkfield and East Malling
Methodist Church
Called to Love and Praise
Minister: Rev. Naomi Oates naomi.oates@methodist.org.uk
Larkfield and East Malling
Methodist Church
Larkfield and East Malling
Methodist Church
Called to Love and Praise
29/5/2026
On this page:
Welcome Hub now has its own dedicated Welcome Hub page available from the main menu above.
Also check out the new, extended Notices page which now includes diary events and more...
GB Awards Evening
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We had an amazing time on Monday evening at the annual 1st Larkfield Girls' Brigade Awards Evening, as we celebrated the achievements of these fantastic young women. We also celebrated the incredible Val and Claire, who are both standing down as volunteers with 1st Larkfield GB in the summer (see attached photos). We owe both Val and Claire a great debt of gratitude for their years of dedicated service, and for the ways they have inspired the GB girls and supported their families. Please continue to pray for Val and Claire in this time of transition, and that the right volunteers will come forward so that we can continue to run both the younger and older sections from September.
Welcome
We are a friendly, welcoming Church, of all ages with a membership of around 64, and many more in our wider Church family.
Our Church family comes mainly from the villages of Larkfield, East and West Malling, Kings Hill, Addington, Leybourne, Ditton and Aylesford, all of which are just west of the County town of Maidstone in Kent.
We enjoy worship in a variety of styles from traditional to modern, and our congregations usually include a wide variety of ages, from toddlers to octogenarians.
See our Services page for full details of in-person and on-line services and opportunities for worship.
There are a large number of regular groups and activities (see activities and Children and Family pages).
Girls Brigade, Boys Brigade and Messy Church are term-time only.
Are you interested in becoming a member of the Methodist Church?
We have a small number of people currently exploring becoming members of their local Methodist church. I'll soon be running some sessions for anyone exploring membership (thinking together about what it means to be a Christian, a Methodist, and a member of the Methodist Church), after which attendees will be invited to be received into membership, if they wish. These sessions usually take place over lunch, or tea and cake, and are a great chance to explore faith in a small group. If you'd like to be involved (or know someone who might), please let me know. You can find some FAQs about Methodist membership here.
News from the hot seat...
28/5/26
Dear friends,
It's been a scorcher over the past week - and not just the weather. Last Sunday, we celebrated Pentecost, and God's gift of the Holy Spirit to the disciples 2000 years ago and to us today. We remembered the tongues of flame that rested on each person's head as they were filled with the Holy Spirit - so at Messy Church at Larkfield and Eccles yesterday and today, there were/will be flame-coloured streamers and cupcakes depicting Pentecost using jelly babies and candles. Sunday was also Aldersgate Sunday, when Methodists remember John Wesley's experience of having his 'heart strangely warmed' as he realised that God's love and forgiveness was for him. So it's certainly been a week for warm heads and hearts! You might have seen a video from the President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference exploring what warms our hearts today - if not, you can find it here.
Sale of The Church in Burham
I know that many of you are anxious to know when the sale of The Church in Burham will progress, as it is sad to see the building standing empty. James, our Circuit Operations Manager, has been working extremely hard to move things forward, and we have consent from the circuit and district, but there have been delays in acquiring consent from Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes, the Custodian Trustee. This is due to a discrepancy between the DAR valuation and the valuation given by the auctioneer, and the need for charities to get the best possible price when selling properties. Thanks to James and Bonni-Belle, there has been some progress this week, and we hope we will soon be able to move to auction. We are very sorry for the delay - if you have any questions, don't hesitate to be in touch.
Treasurer handover
Those of you who were at the General Church Meeting will have gathered that Ron Hazelwood has generously offered to be appointed as our new Church Treasurer. Many of you will know Ron from the Bible Course, Alpha, Messy Church and Breakfast Church. Alan is currently in the process of handing over to Ron, and Ron will become Treasurer from the end of June. He will be working closely with Rob Wilding, so if (after the end of June) you attend the 10am service and have any finance-related queries, feel free to speak to Rob initially. We are deeply grateful to Alan for his years of dedicated service as Treasurer, and for all the many ways he continues to offer his time and gifts in the life of our church.
Ron has completed the membership course, and we look forward to his baptism, confirmation and reception into membership in the autumn.
Sabbatical cover - Update
There has been a slight change to the ministerial cover arranged for my sabbatical, as Rev Alex's knee operation has been rescheduled for 3 June. This means that:
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Rev Robert Zachar will provide ministerial cover for Larkfield - including Burham - and Eccles.
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Rev Bonni-Belle will provide ministerial cover for Hextable and Tonbridge Road from 8 June, when I go on sabbatical. She will hand over to Rev Alex when Alex returns from medical leave. The date for this will depend on Alex's rate of recovery, but from 2 August onwards, please contact both Alex and Bonni-Belle with matters requiring a minister.
With so few ministers available over the summer, I'm afraid there will be fewer opportunities to have communion on the June - August preaching plan. We are very grateful to Rev Amanda Pink for leading a communion service at Larkfield on 16 August; there will also be communion at the united service at St James the Great on 30 August. If you would like to receive communion in June/July, you would be most welcome at any of the other circuit churches - you can find the preaching plan here.
Every blessing,
Naomi
Remember...
Updates to the church website
We're enormously grateful to Martin, who has generously continued to update and maintain the church website for several months after moving to Shropshire. Thank you, Martin.
Claire Boxall and Georgia Harvey (whom many of you will have met at Alpha or at Girls' Brigade, where she volunteers) have generously agreed to take over looking after the website, and will do so jointly. If you have any updates for the website, please contact Claire and Georgia on gigi.lh@outlook.com
The future of 1st Larkfield Girls' Brigade
Hopefully, you will have gathered by now that this is a time of great change and transition for 1st Larkfield Girls' Brigade, which meets at the church on Monday evenings and is an important part of our outreach to young people. This summer, Val and Claire will be standing down after many years of faithful service. The GB Leaders and Helpers have met twice and begun to put plans in place for September onwards. We are pleased that we believe we will still have sufficient volunteers for our younger sections; however, we are urgently seeking a new volunteer who can take overall responsibility for the older sections, working alongside our fab team of existing volunteers. We have liaised with local churches and schools, and advertised on social media, but so far, the right person has not come forward. We will need to make a decision in early June as to whether we can continue the older sections in September. Please hold the Company in your prayers, and especially Val and Claire as they prepare to step down. Please also think carefully about whether you, or someone you know, might be willing and able to join the team and to take on a position of responsibility for the older sections. Full training and support will be provided. If you have any thoughts, I would love to hear from you.
Could you be an e-steward?
Six years after they began, our weekly circuit online services continue to be greatly appreciated. The circuit is seeking someone to act as 'e-steward' on the first Sunday of the month - monitoring the chat thread, greeting worshippers as they arrive, and posting information in the thread about the order of service. Training will be provided. If you might be able to help, please contact James Walker on operations.nkmc@gmail.com
Church WhatsApp group
Did you know that the church has an informal WhatsApp group, so we can share news and prayer requests? If you'd like to join, please send me your phone number.
Diary Notices
To find all upcoming events, please visit our Notices page, which includes the following:
Booking Church Facilities
We have a variety of rooms to suit your requirements, each with its own kitchen. The Church Hall and the Sycamore Tree rooms are available for booking at competitive rates. More details on our bookings page.
Church funds - We need your help!
It's not always easy to talk about money, but at a recent Church Council, we spent a long time doing just that. Unfortunately, due mainly to rising costs, our church is currently running at an annual deficit of up to £10k - which means we're in danger of running out of funds in just a couple of years. Larkfield is a brilliant church, with a huge amount of energy, creativity and a real desire to reach out and share God’s love. It would be such a shame if that work came under threat, due to a lack of funds. As Brian said: 'I don't want to be shopping at Morrisons in a couple of years and hear someone say - didn't there used to be a church over there?'
There's not much we can realistically do to reduce our expenditure, so the Church Council has agreed various ways to try and increase our income. We appointed three small groups, to look at finding new lettings, applying for grants, and organising church fundraising events.
There are things that all of us can do - whether or not we're in a position to give financially. Here are some ideas:
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If you donate to the church, and are eligible for Gift Aid, please ensure you're signed up - it's easy, and means we get an extra 25% at no extra cost to you. Please speak to Tricia for more details.
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If you’re in touch with any groups, organisations and classes locally, ask whether they might be interested in hiring our hall or the Sycamore Tree. Chat to Mike, our lettings officer, about availability.
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Support our fundraising efforts.
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If you generously buy resources that we use at church, and don't claim the cost - you could claim, and then donate the same amount to the church, so we can claim the Gift Aid (assuming you're eligible).
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Let me know if you'd like to join one of the groups looking at lettings, grants, and church fundraising events. We're looking especially for someone else to join Mike and Val on the 'lettings' group - making contact with local organisations and advertising our premises.
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Pray! For God to provide the resources we need to do his work in our community.
No Cash?
No Problem!
Donate to the church the cashless way
You can now donate to the church with your smart phone!
Scan the QR code on the Donate page of the website or any of the QR codes displayed in the church.
For more information or questions contact Martin White
You can also now make contactless donations direct to Martin White's phone using card or smartphone!
Spreading the Word - Our Website
Latest Traffic
In May there have been 64 new visitors to the site, 31 from directly entering the site, 36 via Google 6 via Bing, 6 referrals from NK Methodists, 4 from facebook, 2 from theplaymap.co.uk (a site for parents/carers) and 1 from the Boys' Brigade! Together with returning visitors, that was a total of 124 unique visitors and 99 site sessions, viewing 208 pages.
Popular pages visited were:
Bookings
Services
Activities
The 20th May was especially busy with 10 visits but you are always welcome.
We are a busy church with many activities. If you spot any omissions or errors please the webmaster will be delighted to hear from you - email quantum.martin@btinternet.com
Welcome everyone.