The Cake - Spring 2022
A slice of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst life A slice of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst life
LOCAL COMMENT Vicar says goodbye to her beloved chickens! Farewell with love from Revd Ann In the words of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore: ‘Now is the time to say goodbye. (Goodbye) Now is the time to yield a sigh. (Yield it, yield it) Now is the time to wend our way-eee Until we meet again Some sunny day’. And so, six years and three months after I became Vicar of Cranbrook, it’s time for me to say goodbye to all you lovely people of this parish. I am retiring on 5 March after nearly 20 years of ordained ministry. “I will miss you all, I have really enjoyed my stay here and loved the house and garden, but as I was told at theological college, vicars are in a way ‘resident aliens’ in the parish they serve” It has been a great privilege to enter into your lives at sad and happy times and to enter into the life of the community and town of Cranbrook. I will miss you all, I have really enjoyed my stay here and loved the house and garden, but as I was told at theological college, vicars are in a way ‘resident aliens’ in the parish they serve. We come and reside amongst you, for a few years or for many, and we go and make way for someone else to enter that role. The word Goodbye is, I seem to remember reading somewhere, a shortening of the phrase God Be With You, and this is my prayer for all of you, whether you have faith or not. God be with you in all you do in your community, school, church and business here in this wonderful town of Cranbrook in the Garden of England, sometimes called Kent! Over the time I have been here, I rather hope I have built bridges, encouraged us ‘churchy folk’ to get out of the church building and get on with the community building, by being a presence in the High Street and at community events with our stalls selling cakes, books and plants, and by inviting community 20 The Cake • Spring 2022
LOCAL COMMENT organisations to come inside the wonderful building we know to be St Dunstan’s church for concerts and Saturday ‘coffee and cake time’, and much more besides. There is much more to be done, but at nearly 66-years-old I will retire and pass on the baton to the next vicar. I hope, like any good gardener, I have prepared the soil well and possibly sown some seeds of faith amongst you. Sometimes we don’t see the results of our planting, but preparing the ground and sowing the seed is always done in the hope that, when the right conditions come along, blossom and fruit will follow. To all you lovely parishioners I look forward to reading about your blossoming and fruit, and do take care of your next vicar, resident alien that he or she may be. May God bless you all, Goodbye and love from Revd Ann A note from Revd Ann while Cranbrook is without a vicar The vacancy may be a long one, so in the meantime there are four names to share with you. If you need a priest for any reason, then please ring Revd John Tapper on 01580 713836. If you would like to receive Communion at home please ring John Mulrenan, one of St Dunstan’s Readers, on 01580 714756. If you need to ask for a referral to Nourish, our local foodbank, please contact Wes Sargent, the minister at Cranbrook Congregational church, who is taking over this duty. Sad to say this is still needed as families and individuals have their finances squeezed even more as the year progresses. Last but not least, if you need to book the church for a concert or event, or wish to enquire about a wedding, baptism or funeral, then please ring Julie Warman in the church office on 01580 715861. St Dunstan’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) will be meeting during the vacancy, putting together a profile they hope will attract the right person to feel that God is calling them to serve as the next vicar of Cranbrook. I do know that one of the stumbling blocks that may mean the vacancy is longer than the normal nine months or so, is whether the PCC can show that St Dunstan’s is a sustainable church, able to afford a vicar. It does cost us all to have a vicar. We vicars don’t come out of thin air, we have been selected for training, trained and then housed and paid a stipend. St Dunstan’s contribution to the Church of England finances amounts to well over £60,000 per annum. Please don’t think vicars get paid that much, but with employers’ National Insurance, clergy pensions, housing and training etc. it all mounts up. JUST 50P A WEEK… If you think Cranbrook should continue to have a vicar, and I sincerely hope you do, please think about making a donation to St Dunstan’s PCC. Julie in the office (01580 715861) can tell you the church bank account details. If 3,000 adults in Cranbrook could commit to giving just £20 a year (less than 50p per week) then that would almost cover it, and the PCC could then tell the Archdeacon that St Dunstan’s is a sustainable parish. I do think that vicars are worth more than 50p a week, I like to think you will do too. A Veterinary Practice Like No Other! Small, family owned, independent 21a Stone St, Cranbrook TN17 3HF | 01580 763303 info@herondenvets.co.uk | www.herondenvets.co.uk The Cake • Spring 2022 21
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LOCAL COMMENT<br />
organisations to come inside<br />
the wonderful building we know<br />
to be St Dunstan’s church for<br />
concerts and Saturday ‘coffee<br />
and cake time’, and much more<br />
besides.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is much more to be<br />
done, but at nearly 66-years-old I<br />
will retire and pass on the baton<br />
to the next vicar. I hope, like any<br />
good gardener, I have prepared<br />
the soil well and possibly sown<br />
some seeds of faith amongst<br />
you. Sometimes we don’t see<br />
the results of our planting,<br />
but preparing the ground and<br />
sowing the seed is always done<br />
in the hope that, when the right<br />
conditions come along, blossom<br />
and fruit will follow.<br />
To all you lovely parishioners<br />
I look forward to reading about<br />
your blossoming and fruit, and<br />
do take care of your next vicar,<br />
resident alien that he or she may<br />
be.<br />
May God bless you all,<br />
Goodbye and love from Revd Ann<br />
A note from Revd Ann while<br />
Cranbrook is without a vicar<br />
<strong>The</strong> vacancy may be a long one, so in the<br />
meantime there are four names to share with you.<br />
If you need a priest for any reason, then please ring<br />
Revd John Tapper on 01580 713836. If you would<br />
like to receive Communion at home please ring<br />
John Mulrenan, one of St Dunstan’s Readers, on<br />
01580 714756. If you need to ask for a referral to<br />
Nourish, our local foodbank, please contact Wes<br />
Sargent, the minister at Cranbrook Congregational<br />
church, who is taking over this duty. Sad to say<br />
this is still needed as families and individuals<br />
have their finances squeezed even more as the<br />
year progresses. Last but not least, if you need to<br />
book the church for a concert or event, or wish to<br />
enquire about a wedding, baptism or funeral, then<br />
please ring Julie Warman in the church office on<br />
01580 715861.<br />
St Dunstan’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) will<br />
be meeting during the vacancy, putting together<br />
a profile they hope will attract the right person to<br />
feel that God is calling them to serve as the next<br />
vicar of Cranbrook.<br />
I do know that one of the stumbling blocks that<br />
may mean the vacancy is longer than the normal<br />
nine months or so, is whether the PCC can show<br />
that St Dunstan’s is a sustainable church, able to<br />
afford a vicar.<br />
It does cost us all to have a vicar. We vicars<br />
don’t come out of thin air, we have been selected<br />
for training, trained and then housed and paid a<br />
stipend. St Dunstan’s contribution to the Church of<br />
England finances amounts to well over £60,000 per<br />
annum.<br />
Please don’t think vicars get paid that much,<br />
but with employers’ National Insurance, clergy<br />
pensions, housing and training etc. it all mounts up.<br />
JUST 50P A WEEK…<br />
If you think Cranbrook should continue to have<br />
a vicar, and I sincerely hope you do, please think<br />
about making a donation to St Dunstan’s PCC.<br />
Julie in the office (01580 715861) can tell you<br />
the church bank account details. If 3,000 adults<br />
in Cranbrook could commit to giving just £20 a<br />
year (less than 50p per week) then that would<br />
almost cover it, and the PCC could then tell the<br />
Archdeacon that St Dunstan’s is a sustainable<br />
parish.<br />
I do think that vicars are worth more than 50p<br />
a week, I like to think you will do too.<br />
A Veterinary<br />
Practice Like<br />
No Other!<br />
Small, family owned,<br />
independent<br />
21a Stone St, Cranbrook TN17 3HF | 01580 763303<br />
info@herondenvets.co.uk | www.herondenvets.co.uk<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Cake</strong> • <strong>Spring</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 21