With effect from 1 June, 2008, the name of Cranbrook Deanery has changed to:- THE DEANERY IN THE WEALD Following a change of the Deanery name from 1st June, 2008, a new website - www.deaneryintheweald.org.uk - is now online and should be used in preference to this website, which will not be updated and will, in due course, disappear. The new website has more functionality and will be regularly updated. The Deanery Handbook will be reprinted to reflect the changes that have taken place since the last issue. The church shown is St. Michael and All Angels, Marden. The Deanery in the Weald is part of the Diocese of Canterbury and, as reflected in its new name, is situated in the Weald of Kent - the Garden of England. The Deanery comprises the parishes of:- Cranbrook Goudhurst with Kilndown Hawkhurst Headcorn Marden Sissinghurst with Frittenden Staplehurst The Area Dean is Rev. Canon Gill Calver, Rector of Staplehurst. The Lay Chair is Mrs. Valerie Wallis, MBE. The Deanery Synod comprises members of the clergy of the constituent parishes, and lay members elected at their Annual Parochial Church Meeting to serve for 3 years. The Deanery is also represented at the Diocesan Synod. The Deanery Synod normally meets, occasionally in 'open' session, 4 times a year, rotating round the parishes, in February, May, September and November, with additional meetings if there is a need. Each October, incumbents, parish representatives and treasurers meet to agree the Parish Share for the following year. Joint Introduction by the Lay Chair and Area Dean The nine parishes which make up this most westerly part of the diocese of Canterbury were, until about five years ago, part of a very large sprawling deanery covering much of West Kent. We now form a much more cohesive grouping, stretching from the three parishes linked by the main line to London (Headcorn, Staplehurst and Marden) in the north, to Hawkhurst and Kilndown in the south; from Frittenden in the east to Goudhurst, the most westerly parish in the diocese. In the centre lies the small town of Cranbrook with its immediate neighbour Sissinghurst. Here are some of the most attractive villages in the south-east of England. Most of the characteristic oast houses have been converted into housing and the hop gardens have disappeared, but the villages retain much of their charm of former years. Within comfortable commuting distance of London, these villages have attracted many incomers, some to retire, but many more to find a refuge from the hurly burly of their daily lives. Here among us they discover active communities, good schools, local attractions such as Sissinghurst Castle or Bedgebury Forest, and active churches, keen to respond to the challenges of living the Christian faith in the twenty-first century. The Church in the deanery of Cranbrook worked hard in the first eight years of its existence. We have established a deanery mission plan together, which includes, for example, our commitment to chaplaincy to Angley School. A certain wariness over matters such as finance has given way to a spirit of co-operation. We are planning together for the future pastoral care of the people of the whole deanery, and beginning to plan for our growth and development together. We are also working towards running training courses of various sorts across the deanery. All that is going on is girded by our deanery prayer group, which meets regularly. There are many new patterns of ministry, and already we are welcoming the deployment of self-supporting ministers in our midst, to say nothing of new forms of authorised lay ministry. We are fortunate indeed that within our communities there are many people who give so generously of skills developed and experience gained from many walks of life. Against this background of change the Church continues to provide its traditional ministry to the sick and the bereaved, the care and nurture of our children and the weekly provision of worship to God which (we hope) inspires and challenges our congregations, together with opportunities to study and grow in the Christian faith. We hope that our new-found togetherness will support the life and ministry of our individual parishes. Valerie Wallis, MBE - Lay Chair Rev. Canon Gill Calver - Area Dean and Rector of Staplehurst