During the year a number of events are held to raise money for our Mission Giving account, and all this money is donated to various charities.

ELHAM DEANERY
The Deanery consists of 21 parishes, covering a mix of urban and rural areas in the Archdeaconry of Canterbury.  The Chapter meets regularly, including an annual two-day residential, and relationships are good and mutually supportive. The Deanery is in good heart; there is a genuine commitment to mission; good ideas are exchanged and ministry is shared as appropriate. Our Synod meetings are often open to anyone in the Deanery and frequently have a mission focus; in January we discussed  Bob Jackson’s “Road to Growth” for example.

We share in the Diocesan vision of “Growing Forward Together towards 2020”. In recent years the Deanery has seen “Fresh Expressions” of worship begun and continued, while valuing our inherited models. We encourage each other in trying new things! We are committed to providing spiritual leadership for all our churches and recognise our need to be prayerful, flexible and strategic in planning for this. We note, and are encouraged by, the increasing opportunities for non-stipendiary ministry, lay and ordained. Our Chapter meetings are now timed to ensure non-stipendiary ministers can attend.

The Deanery also shares news of activities designed to help us grow in our discipleship. Pilgrimages, retreats and teaching sessions are widely publicised. Each parish is asked each year to say what its mission priorities will be – this informs the thinking of the Deanery as a whole.