Before his retirement, the Rev. Filmer, vicar at St Peter and St Paul Church in Yalding, Kent, came up with the idea of replacing wine with grape juice during Holy Communion because he didn’t want the 4 or 5 alcoholics in his congregation to feel isolated during his services.

His action was prompted by the church’s close association with the Kenward Trust which runs a nearby rehab centre.

Said the Rev Filmer, “I didn’t feel like it was fair that some of our congregation might feel excluded from everybody else”.

Church of England’s Canon Law states that the drink used for communion should be “….wine the fermented juice of the grape, good and wholesome.”

So the change was a bit of a shock for some of members of the congregation who said they felt that the changes had devalued the communion.

It seems however that after the Rev Filmer retired, full blooded wine has been re-instated at the church.

Being a Tuesday I was joined once more by Margaret Mills who took us over to Barking, which used to be in Essex, and still considered by many as part of the county.

In particular, Margaret wanted to explore the history of Eastbury Manor House which dates back to the year 1573 and was rumoured to have been one of the locations where Guy Fawkes and his gunpowder plot associates met just ahead of their unsuccessful bid to blow up the House of Lords during the state opening of parliament in 1605.

You can listen again here to what Margaret had to say on this subject:-

I look forward to seeing you again next week,
Scott