Synodal Response: Thanks to Roger Peacock and Emma MacQuillin for their help coordinating this.
There continued to be overwhelming acknowledgement of Father Adams' hard work and commitment to the Church. We have received 20 written responses and 10 attendees at the meeting. The responses will be presented sometime between 24th January and 18th February, via an online meeting, with the Archbishop of Southwark.
If anyone would like to make an online submission the closing date is the 18th February.
A full summary can be found here

Participation : There were many suggestions to aid participation including coffee mornings, parish council, quarterly magazine, Annual Fete, social media presence etc. It was felt the young and lapsed were least included and this could be tackled with community activities, social gatherings, helping hands group among other things. There was a suggestion made around celebrating the churches 30th anniversary this May and inviting all the community including the school, and deepening the involvement with the school.

Communion: Many felt the opportunity to access Communion at St.Augustines was excellent and that we should continue to pray for others to return to the Church. We need to improve on reaching out to the lapsed, we hope to remain welcoming and maybe by being included in the Action Forum and with the delivery of the Easter/Christmas cards we could make a start.
There was talk of how to develop more of a community - possibly with coffee mornings and/or toddler/baby groups, maybe one group to accommodate all.

Mission: The mission of the Church was listed as spreading the Good News with love, help and support for one another and that this could be shared within the Diocese with more 'get-togethers', communication and pilgrimages. There is a lot of fundraising within the Church for various charities but we could do more in the wider community.

Poor Box.
Whilst we included Medway Foodbank in our recent round of donations from the Poor Box I am conscious that there may be people even closer to home and perhaps within the Parish who might also welcome our support. If you or someone you know are struggling financially and in need of a little help then please do get in touch with me. This will of course be in the strictest confidence. Thank you. Fr Michael.

Operation Christmas Child 2021 Shoebox Appeal.
We managed to send off 152 boxes, which is an incredible achievement in this current climate.
Of the 152 boxes I put together 57 boxes on behalf of the parishioners who had generously donated £876, so thank you to all those who donated money and to the rest of the Parish that kindly made up the other 95 boxes, with a special mention to Maureen Chapman who knitted all the hats and gloves for the shoeboxes, which she does each year and has already started for next year!From the South East processing Centre in Tonbridge they have sent out 63,637 boxes and they are all on their way to Liberia, Central Asia and Albania. I will update you with the worldwide total early next year.

Thank you once again for supporting this wonderful charity Andrew

The Bishops have issued a statement regarding the importance of Honouring Sundays.
The full text can be read here
If you are unable to attend Mass live Masses can also be viewed via https://www.churchservices.tv/ or at https://mass-online.org/
Holy Communion will not be available online so you may like to make an Act of Spiritual Communion

Holy Communion for the Housebound and Hospitalised:
If you know of anyone who is housebound or in hospital who would like to receive Holy Communion for Christmas then please give me their contact details and I will arrange a visit. Thank you. Fr Michael.

The Catholic Post
Please ensure you take your free copy of The Catholic Post which is a brand new monthly Catholic newspaper. Whilst the Parish will cover the cost so that each edition is free of charge to you the intention is that you may wish to donate £1 per copy which you can place in the Papers moneybox in the Narthex. The paper provides thoughtful articles and news from around the country and beyond from a Catholic perspective and the content will grow as the paper becomes established and circulation increases. I commend it to you. Fr Michael

We Miss You - Come Home.
This Advent we can all play our part in this very important evangelisation mission to encourage the lapsed in our parish back to Mass. Please take an appropriate supply of Invitation Cards and The Ultimate Relationship booklet and give these to anyone you know who are lapsed or who perhaps have not yet started returning to Mass after the Covid lockdowns. The Invitation Cards contain my contact details so that anyone can get in touch with me to discuss any issues or concerns about coming back to St Augustine's. It also contains our website address so that they can check the Christmas Mass times and dates and times for Confessions. I know I can depend on your enthusiasm and support for this initiative. Thank you. Fr Michael.
We have singing at Mass on Sundays - if anyone knows of an organist, please let me know.
Thank you for your continued support and understanding in these exceptional times. Fr. Michael.

Second Collection causes 2021 can be seen here.

Easyfundraising
So far this has generated donations of £378.34 which is pretty impressive. If more parishioners sign up Easyfundraising has potential to generate over £1,000 p.a. for St Augustine's which would be very valuable in these difficult times.
Please support St Augustine of Canterbury - Parkwood on Easyfundraising, you can raise FREE donations when you shop online with over 5,000 retailers. It's simple and only takes 2 minutes to sign up! Please sign up now at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/staugustineofcanterbury/
It is a simple process. When you register please select St Augustine of Canterbury, Parkwood as your preferred charity. Each time you shop on line please log on to Easyfundraising first and then select your retailer e.g. Argos and you will be directed to their site and you then shop in the usual way. There is no additional complication involved. As an initial target for St Augustine's it would be great if we could see 50 parishioners signing up. Please do try and give it a go. Thank you.