SILENT AUCTION - Time, Talents, Gifts!A Big Thank You! to everyone who has donated items for our Silent Auction Catalogue which is now live until 24th November for you to place your bids. A copy of the catalogue is attached to this news item and you can also find this on the church website (with photos of the items) at https://www.stbartholomews.co.uk/silent-auction/ If you would like to receive a further paper copy, please collect one from the Church lobby or the Otford Parish office.16th November – items without bids or those with lots of bids will be published again for any final bids to be placed.24th November – Deadline for all final Bids to be in.30th November - bids will be opened and the item awarded to the highest bidder.1-8th December - winners will be notified with details of how to pay via the church office and who to contact to claim their item. The giver of the item will also be advised how much their item went for and who will be in contact with them to claim it. You have 6 months to claim your item. We look forward to receiving your bids as an opportunity for fund-raising for church funds and would like to thank everyone for their support whether it has been donating items and/or bidding for items. If you would like further information or have any questions, please contact Jo Chandler on 07703 797 039 or jo.chandler@live.co.uk Thank you for your support.
The Remembrance Sunday service at St Bartholomew's will take place from at 10:30am and be live streamed. It will include all the usual elements of the annual Act of Remembrance, including live and specially recorded segments. It will be live streamed on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/StBartsOtford) and the church website (https://www.stbartholomews.co.uk) to allow as many who would usually come along to take part remotely. Many in the village will be standing outside their houses to mark the two-minute silence and that will be reflected in the service. You will also find attached a photograph of the gathering at the village War Memorial on Remembrance Sunday 2018, the centenary of the end of the First World War.Following the service at 11:15am there will be a linked screening of a ten-minute video presentation of Otford during the Second World War. This will be live on the Facebook Otford Village Hub (https://www.facebook.com/groups/otfordhub). The video presentation was produced by Phil Clucas with the technical support of Barbara Darby and uses archive material provided by Ed Thompson and other committee members of the Otford-based ‘1940s Society’.
The church will be open for private prayer on Mondays to Fridays from 9.00am to noon. Please feel free to visit the church, observing all the necessary precautions and taking note of the signage. You can also continue to drop items for the Loaves and Fishes foodbank in the entrance lobby at these times. An extra noticeboard is in church next to the font where you will be able to find resources, prayers and notices. If you take any nice photos of things you are doing or when you go out for walks please email them to Revd David and we will try to have a display on the board as well as sharing on social media pages. The Parish Office will not be open during the Lockdown period. Emails and phone messages will be regularly checked.
As a result of the current Government restrictions and after taking advice, it has been reluctantly agreed that the Remembrance Parade and Observance at the War Memorial cannot be held this year.However, the service in St Bartholomew’s church at 10.30am will be broadcast online and will include all the usual aspects of the Act of Remembrance, including a reading of the names from the war memorial and the two-minute silence at 11.00am.A wreath will be laid symbolically at the memorial on behalf of all in the village, and others who normally lay wreaths will have the opportunity to do so at other times and will be provided with some suitable words and prayers they may use.We would ask you not to gather at the memorial, but instead hope you will join in spirit with others and share in Remembrance by watching the livestreamed service on www.facebook.com/StBartsOtford or the church website www.stbartholomews.co.uk
