Larkfield and East Malling
Methodist Church

Called to Love and Praise

Welcome

We are a friendly, welcoming Church, of all ages with a membership of around 80, 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.

Stop Press:

Updated 2/7/22

New Gallery page updated with Muffins and Messy Church

Naomi's News...

2/7/22

Dear friends,

Some of you have already signed up for the training taking place this Saturday, and on Saturday 16 July, for anyone involved in planning and leading Local Arrangements. I was working on the programme yesterday, while spending time at the wonderful St Benedict's Centre in West Malling. The Director, the Revd Jane Williams, asked what I was up to. She shared with me a very simple model, offered to her by a friend (after the vicar rang on Saturday evening to say he couldn't take the service the following day!). 'Read the Bible passage for the day. Ask yourself: what is God trying to say to me? Then ask yourself: what am I going to do about it?'

I was struck by this simple, but powerful, approach to reading passages from the Bible. This week, why not dip into the daily Bible readings on the Methodist Church website, and ask yourself: what is God trying to say to me? And what am I going to do about it?

Some news and updates for the coming week:

Known & Loved evaluation and reflection evening - Wednesday 6 July 7.30pm

As you know, at 7.30pm on Wednesday 6 July, there will be an opportunity to meet via Zoom with friends from Churches Together in Malling to reflect on the 'Known & Loved' Mission Week. The meeting is open to everyone.

Here are the Zoom details:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81195095648?pwd=YMJ-MIKPLgdAE9ucs6X22fD15eVuDx.1
ID: 811 9509 5648
Passcode: 577191

If you would like to share your reflections and K&L experiences by email, please contact David McKie on knownandloved@wmbc.org.uk

Methodist Conference

This year's meeting of the Methodist Conference, the governing body of the Methodist Church in Britain, draws to a close today. If you'd like to see what you missed, you can catch up on previous sessions here, watch an ordination service here, and read addresses from the President and Vice-President of the Conference here.

Seeking a NKMC Youth Pastor

Please find attached a job advert for a new Youth Pastor for the circuit. Please pass this on to anyone who might be interested (particularly if they speak English and Cantonese) - but noting that the deadline for applications is tomorrow!

And now for something completely different...

I know that some of you have visited the island of Iona, with its wonderful worshipping community and rich history of Celtic spirituality. The team on Iona currently has a few short-term volunteer spaces for specific roles at the Abbey this summer. The Abbey team welcomes guests from many countries to Iona each week to explore issues of common concern, including the environment, peace-building, poverty & inequality, racism, refugees, inclusion & diversity, and interfaith dialogue. The team works and worships together, and shares meals as part of its common life. The details can be found here or you can contact VolunteerApplications@iona.org.uk

Every blessing,

Naomi

Spreading the Word

2/7/22 Mobile website phone / email updates

19/06/22 New Gallery page added, for pictorial record of life at church - but I need your pictures!

29/05/22 Bug sorted - the worship from home link (on the Service page) is now working. If you find any part of the website not behaving, please let me know (via Contact page).

Last month (June)

38 new visitor spent an average of 7 minutes looking at the website.

5 visitor returned to the site and spent an average of 11 minutes looking at the website.

Services(13 unique visitors) and Activities(11) pages were most popular.

Mobiles phones viewed the website 124 times compared with only 60 desktops.

Last Year

The figures are in for 2021, when 418 people visited the website 605 times for an average of 5 minutes 4 seconds.

Visitors were from all parts of the UK, with multiple visits from Canada (8), US (8), Ireland (5), New Zealand (3) and India (3).

Popular pages visited were:

Services 125

Activities 95

Girls Brigade 83