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THE CHURCH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST AT PENSHURST Church of St John the Baptist, Penshurst The first Priest of Penshurst, William - or Guillielmus, was appointed by an Archbishop of Canterbury very soon to be martyred in his cathedral, Thomas Becket. In 1170 the community of Penshurst represented a clearing in the great Weald, the dense impenetrable forest of the Greensand Ridge. Our Parish Church of St John the Baptist, built on the site of the earlier place of worship, has for centuries sought to minister to the people in the community and to remain, as it were, a clearing in the wood: a space where prayer remains valid ( remembering T.S. Eliot's poem Little Gidding), where people and community are affirmed and blessed in all the important moments of their journey through life. Thus for example we see in the sixteenth century burial register that 'a poor wandering boy' was laid to rest with dignity and reverence one cold winter's day; and how many smiling but nervous brides have walked through the fourteenth century entrance to the churchyard under the midsummer sun. The ministry of sacrament and prayer continues day by day, and the ministry lies deep in the old stones and in the heart of the community of the Church, the Body of Christ here in Penshurst. A most warm welcome to one and all.

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