Join us Online: YouTube (from 6am Sunday)

For those who feel safe and would find it a support to come in person to church, then the church is open at 11:00am on Sunday for a family service.

If you plan to come to in-person church please register!

(You can now book for services through to June 20th, you can either book one week at a time or all the services in one go. We'll take your most recent booking when drawing up the register.)

Register to attend

Also, join us for a chat at 11:30am on Sunday: 

Click this link to join the Zoom meeting.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God."

(1 John 4:7)

I am very grateful for everyone's support and prayers for my licensing as Priest in Charge of St. George's on Tuesday evening. It was a good service with a real sense of coming together. There were people from both St. Luke's and St. George's, representatives from the local community and other Ramsgate churches and the Bishop and Archdeacon.

Sadly, we could not invite everyone, but there was just the right number of people to allow both social distancing and the feeling of a good size gathering. We were not allowed to sing as a congregation, but we had some wonderful singing from a small group of singers from St. Luke's, which really lifted the service.

As well as this coming together of support, I feel that the prayers said for me, both formally during the service and informally by many others including those not able to be there are an incredible blessing. Ultimately, the success of this new partnership between St. Luke's and St. George's, our mission to Ramsgate and my ability to cope with it all depends on God's support and help (Psalm 127:1). So, prayer is essential. It is also a great expression of our love for one another.

Let's also remember to pray for each other's individual needs. Someone today, told me how wonderful it is to have the support of Christian friends, because unlike non-Christian friends they will pray for you! Do pray for those on the prayer list we send out each week and remember other church members that you know, but may not have seen in the last year.

The next few months are going to be both exciting and challenging for both churches and me personally. Firstly (May), we need to adapt to the new services and the fact that I will be leading and preaching at two services each Sunday. Secondly (June), we need to make the switch at St. Luke's from a focus on pre-recorded online services with an in-person church version to 'normal Sunday' gatherings being livestreamed. Thirdly (July), we will be welcoming Claire our new curate. So, please do pray for all of this and keep praying for me as we move into this new era. 

Join us this Sunday for the second in our sermon series on 1 John: Love is... This week's talk is: Love is... from God (1 John 4:7-21)

Please read on...

• Prayer: Urgent: Opener to send in. Churches Together in Ramsgate prayer meeting. The latest prayer requests.
• Care: Electoral roll reminder. Update from Tearfund.
• Share: Last Sunday. St. Luke's Life Stories - a new poem. Christianity in Iran. Evangelism in a digital age.

Contributions to this week's Opener

URGENT: For this Sunday:  We need people responding to: "Dear friends, let us love one another:" with 

for love comes from God.

Please send contributions in as soon as possible (by 10am on Friday). You can send them by Whatsapp (07769 871520) or by WeTransfer.com to: [email protected].

Churches Together in Ramsgate Prayer Breakfast

Join us this Saturday (1st May) at 9am on Zoom for this monthly gathering across the Ramsgate churches. 

Here is the link or you can phone in:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8651865167

Meeting ID: 865 186 5167

If you ring 02034815240, followed by 8651865167# then you will hear and speak at the meeting. Calls charged at normal UK rate

Prayer Requests:

​​Be assured I will do my best to check that people are happy for the requests to be shared before including them. Please pray for...

• India and South America as they struggle with extreme outbreaks of Coronavirus.

• Paul as he starts out as Priest in Charge of St. George's as well as vicar of St. Luke's.

• Pauline Emptage in hospital and awaiting major surgery on her back.

• Collette Judge who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

• Rosemary Ebelthite's cousin's son Grant. He is home and feeling  stronger after a change in medication.
  

• Joy Smithers. Pray for her continuing treatment for a broken left leg and infected right leg.

• Shirley Crabb that her hip operation can go ahead soon.

• Annie's mum. Give thanks that she has now moved into her new home. Please pray that she settles in well.

• Flo Baldock still having tests and treatment for her stomach, but also struggling with a chest infection.

• Jean Mayton, after a serious bleed on the brain recently. Give thanks that she is showing signs of recovery.

• Nathan Court for his continuing treatment.

• Barb (Gloria's daughter's friend) undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

• Jeannette (Claudia's sister) undergoing chemotherapy treatment.

Electoral Roll

If you have been sent a form to join the electoral roll, then please make sure you return it by THIS SUNDAY 2nd May so you can be included on the roll for our Annual Meeting on 18th May at 7:30pm.

Update from Tearfund: Brazil's coronavirus catastrophe – how the church is responding

Brazil is now in the midst of a crisis due to rising cases of coronavirus. Hospitals are at breaking point, with around 3,000 people dying every day from the disease. ‘The situation in Brazil is unbelievable… everyone is grieving,’ says Claudia Moreira, who oversees Tearfund’s work in Brazil. ‘But we are not lost, God is in control.’ Tearfund is working closely with local partner organisations and churches across the country. We believe that the church has a crucial role to play in helping Brazil recover from the crisis. Claudia shares more in this video update. Warning: contains mentions of suicide that some viewers may find upsetting.

Last Week's Talk:

Love is Laying Down One's Life (1 John 3:16-24) - Available Online

We talk a lot about love and its importance, but do we ever ask ourselves what we mean by ‘love’? In 1 John we are called to love one another as Christians, but we are also shown what love is through the lens of the cross.

St. Luke's Stories

Thank you to Pam Elmes for another beautiful poem. This time it is on the theme of God's constant love for us: A Love Story.

Remember you can use this form to send in your personal reflections on your pandemic experience, which we can then publish. We also welcome mini-autobiographies and poems!

Blogs to Read

Are you willing to pay a Price?

Hear about how Christianity is growing in the Islamic republic of Iran.

Evangelism in a digital age​

This article talks about how young people are engaging more with Christianity online.

Finally, let's remember to keep loving one another. Not least by praying for each other.

Yours in Christ,

Paul Worledge 

Vicar, St. Luke's Ramsgate

www.stlukesramsgate.org​