Ketton and Tinwell Benefice

Ketton and Tinwell Benefice

St Mary's Ketton &
All Saints' Tinwell

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News and Service Times

Welcome to the Churches of St Mary’s, Ketton and All Saints, Tinwell.  All are welcome at our events and services.

The benefice is currently in an inter regnum or vacancy (since our last vicar Olwen Woolcock retired in November 2023).  Please click “inter regnum” for news of progress towards getting a new vicar.

In the meantime, please contact the churchwardens with any queries.

Ketton:
Sara Mann  saramann50@gmail.com
Alex Woodfield alex@ketton.org

Lay Pastoral  Minister  – Julia Freeman at juliafreeman@tiscali.co.uk

Tinwell:
Bryan Yule bryan.yule766@gmail.com

Please see the notices below for current information.

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Wasn’t it wonderful on Sunday to participate in the baptism of Ava Maria Beckett Badici?  Of course, she is no stranger to St Mary’s and we look forward to growing our families at church.  We are very keen that a baptism happens within the main church service and the whole congregation has a chance to welcome the new member of the church.  The service was led by Rev John Ellis and he was so good at it that we have booked him for our next baptism in late April.  

 

Talking of bookings, we are delighted that services in both Ketton and Tinwell on Easter Day will be led by +John, Bishop of Brixworth. (Tinwell 09.00 Ketton 10.30)

 

 

Alpha Course – Our friends at St George’s in Stamford are running an Alpha Course starting on 21 January and have asked if there is any interest from our benefice.  I attach a flier.  Do let me know if you want to join.

 

 

Ketton Wassail – This very seasonal event starts at 4.15pm on Saturday 18th January in Hall Close with a bang and the Rutland Morris men, followed at 5pm in the porch of St Mary’s with the Ketton hand bell ringers and then on to more merriment and dancing organised by Adam and Mary Cade.  A flier is attached. 

 

 

Vacancy – I have been a bit quiet about our vacancy in the past few months but I hope to be able to announce our next steps in the coming weeks.  We know there is someone out there with Ketton and Tinwell in their hearts!

 

 

PCC Secretary – we are on the look-out for a new PCC secretary.  Nikki Young has done sterling work on this for a number of years but has asked us to stand down with effect from the upcoming annual church meeting in April.  We would really love a volunteer to come forward.  It does involve attending and minuting the 5-6 PCC meetings a year and a bit of paperwork.  I am sure she would provide a very good idea of the role in a private and anonymous conversation.

 

 

Youth Group – there is a rumour of a “progressive supper” on Friday 7th February.  I will see if I can get to the bottom of this.

 

 

Our church yard – As a church warden, you get to field all sorts of weird and wonderful enquiries.  Recently we have been asked a few questions about the church yard and who is buried there.  They must have been given a subscription to Ancestry.com as a Christmas present!  The church yard at St Mary’s was closed to new burials in 1881 (with some very limited exceptions) and the plot by the Lych Gate is only permitted to receive cremated remains. I am thinking of asking the school to start a project to identify the graves and head stones. Does anyone know of any information already in existence to start them off?

 

 

What’s coming up in our churches in the next fortnight:

 

St Mary’s Ketton 

 

Sunday 19 January 2025   10.30 Morning Worship led by Christobel Price

Sunday 26 January 2025   10.30 Holy Communion led by Very Rev Christopher Armstrong

 

All Saints Tinwell  

 

Sunday 19 January 2025   9.30    Holy Communion led by Rev Keith Denison

Sunday 26 January 2025   9.30    Family Service led by Rev Keith Denison

 

The Open the Book Team will be going in to Ketton School on Thursday [22] January.

 

 

 

PRAYERS FOR ST MARY’S KETTON AND ALL SAINTS TINWELL – 

Prayers continue to be held in St Mary’s on Saturday at 9.00am (for half an hour) for the future of St Mary’s, Ketton and All Saints, Tinwell

 

Weekly Prayer Group – the next session will be at 8 Braithwaite Close on 23 January at 2.30.

 

The bells of St Mary’s will be rung at 4pm on 24 January to mark the 100th birthday of Dorothy Wright.  That is a lot of bumps!

 

Please pray this week for:

  • Getting closer to a peaceful resolution in the Middle East 
  • A peaceful transition of power in the United States

 

If you do need to get in touch then please do so at alex@ketton.org or 07712 043 282.  

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Recent Blog Posts

30/09/202411.00am Sunday October 6th followed by a bring and share lunch in the Congregational Hall at 12 noon. Do bring something (non-perishable) for the Stamford Food Bank if you can. X Exit full screen gallery ⇗ Open full size image → Next image 0 of 0 ← Previous image [...] Read more...
25/08/2024At our service on 25 August we were joined by Rev Martyn Taylor of St Georges Church Stamford who took this shot of our congregation of 66 people today. We are still in vacancy and all praying that the right soul will come to join our church soon. This is the sort of welcome you can expect! X Exit full screen gallery ⇗ Open full size image → Next image 0 of 0 ← Previous image [...] Read more...
05/02/2024A Lent Course using Chocolat, the film based on the novel by Joanne Harris, as a starting point for exploring issues about God, faith, the world, and what it is to be human. To introduce the course, the ‘Chocolat’ film will be shown at 10.30am on Tuesday 13th February at Ketton Methodist Church, Bull Lane, PE9 3TB. Tuesdays 20th & 27th February and 5th, 12th & 19th March at Ketton Methodist Church. Refreshments from 10.30am Sessions start at 10.45am and end by 12noon X Exit full screen gallery ⇗ Open full size image → Next image 0 of 0 ← Previous image [...] Read more...
29/01/2024VIEW FROM THE PEW Wanted – one new vicar – a whole one! St Mary’s had a great Christmas – some of the largest congregations ever seen! Craig totted up 240 people at the Christingle.  He doesn’t usually count up to more than 95 on the golf course! Joking aside, it is always fantastic to see so many people drawn to church over the Christmas period.  The writer A N Wilson wrote a very interesting article in the Times recently: “Churches exist as much for those who don’t go as for those who do, and that is part of their beauty….Churches do not only exist for those who are pious or those who know themselves to be saved. Churches exist for those who do not go to them at all, or who do not go very often. And this is what is surely so beautiful about the Midnight Mass, or the Christmas morning service in which the pews are filled by those who would not necessarily know how to define their religious position.” At St Mary’s, we wholeheartedly agree that the church is for the whole village!  Our plans to fill the current vacancy involve recruiting a full time vicar.  We are making real headway on this mission internally within the Parish and the Diocese.  However, this needs a lot of additional support both in terms of time commitment and yes, sadly but obviously, financial.  The parish is funded exclusively by less than 50 villagers.  It doesn’t get help from the Church of England, the Council or Central Government as some might think. In the same way that the church is for the whole village, we do want to expand our financial supporters from less than 50 to a much wider spread, representative of the whole village, those who want the church to be there when they need it for a funeral, a wedding, baptism or a Christingle, as well as being very welcome at our services, our youth group, prayer meetings and other everyday activities.  Please think (and pray!) about how you can help. More news to follow next month. Contact us at fundourvicar@kettonandtinwell.uk X Exit full screen gallery ⇗ Open full size image → Next image 0 of 0 ← Previous image [...] Read more...
27/11/2023On Sunday 26th November 2023 Rev Olwen Woolcock took her last service in St Mary’s. The congregation of St Mary’s, Ketton was joined by those of All Saint’s, Tinwell, people from Olwen’s previous parish in Hugglescote, Ellistown and Snibson, people from the Methodist Church, representatives from the prayer guild that have supported Olwen during her ministry and of course her family.  Alex Woodfield, church warden, thanked Olwen on behalf of the church for her time at Ketton and Tinwell and reminded the congregation of the difficulties Olwen had to face from the moment she arrived in March 2020 as the country went into lockdown and we were not allowed to meet together. Olwen said “It was a lovely service in church and a wonderful send off. I was so pleased to give communion and bless you all.  It was a very good ending to my time here in Ketton and Tinwell and to my ministry. It was a privilege to serve you. Ministry is full of people’s stories and journeys and I have been honoured to share many of yours.” Olwen and her husband Ray will be moving to live in Barnack. X Exit full screen gallery ⇗ Open full size image → Next image 0 of 0 ← Previous image [...] Read more...
16/11/2023At a confirmation service on November 5th 2023 eight people were confirmed by Bishop Jonathan Meyrick at a joyful service at St Mary’s. It was a very special occasion when those concerned renewed their baptism promises and affirmed their faith. The candidates were Maisie smith, Olivia Gray, Ella Parkinson, George Aspinall, Henry Waldock, Ian Belcher and Bethany and Daniel Fox. We hold them in our prayers.   X Exit full screen gallery ⇗ Open full size image → Next image 0 of 0 ← Previous image [...] Read more...
16/11/2023X Exit full screen gallery ⇗ Open full size image → Next image 0 of 0 ← Previous image [...] Read more...
05/08/2023For young people 11-16 yrs X Exit full screen gallery ⇗ Open full size image → Next image 0 of 0 ← Previous image [...] Read more...
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05/08/2023At the Tinwell Cream Tea on Sunday 16th of July 2023 there was an exhibition of photos showing the trip to Doingt Church in France to return their crucifix. The photos are included here in case you missed them.  Click the image below to start the slide show, then the arrows at the bottom of the screen to move between the slides. X Exit full screen gallery ⇗ Open full size image → Next image 0 of 0 ← Previous image [...] Read more...
05/07/2023Reporters from ITV Anglia and BBC East Midlands recorded the handover of the crucifix to the church in Doingt. BBC East Midlands Today By Simon Hare (@SimonHareBBC) ITV News Anglia By Stuart Leithes (@LeithesITV) X Exit full screen gallery ⇗ Open full size image → Next image 0 of 0 ← Previous image [...] Read more...
13/04/2023ITV News broadcast the story of the Tinwell crucifix and how it is going to be returned to France. https://youtu.be/wY3Ksd_xVes Broadcast by by ITV News Thursday 13th April 2023 at 6pm. X Exit full screen gallery ⇗ Open full size image → Next image 0 of 0 ← Previous image [...] Read more...
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