Around this time of the year the Mission to Seafarers has established Sea Sunday and provide a focus for the work of seafarers. There have been a few boxes of books coming in to the Rectory for the fete and I noticed one about the Battle of the Atlantic. Years ago I read “The Cruel Sea” and decided that being middle of the Atlantic Ocean in a winter storm being followed by a submarine must be one of the most frightening experiences. Even today the sea is a potentially dangerous place: according to google there are an estimated 24 large ships that sink of go missing every year and 2,000 seafarers die each year. This is not meant to warn about anyone thinking of booking a cruise but more a ref
St Mary’s church has developed a reputation for hosting inspiring and memorable singing events. In recent years, singers have joined together from near and far in exploring great music in many styles including Vivaldi’s Gloria and Faure’s Requiem with Richard Grylls, the exciting ‘Gospel’ repertoire with Geraldine Latty and our own 15 hour hymn singing marathon, or “Hymnathon”. This year, the chosen work is the incomparable Messiah by Handel. We are delighted to welcome Richard King, an experienced and charismatic musician who will guide the massed chorus of participants through our favourite choruses and also some of the ‘solos’. The Hallelujah chorus will be included! The workshop will sta
Join us for our next Taizé Service this coming Sunday 24 June at 6pm. This is a quiet meditation service with chants and silence. Tea, coffee and cake will be served afterwards and everybody is welcome!
This is the theme for the service today: what do we mean when we talk about sin in a church service? Hopefully the theme is that the church is not about some kind of spiritual self help but rather being open to God’s extraordinary promises. I had a conversation with someone who said that they found the Christian faith interesting and they liked going to church but they just could not cope with all the emphasis on sin. There is a book called Life Events about church services and there is part of a Baptism when the parents and godparents are asked ‘Do you repent of your sins?’ The book describes some of the responses from families: ‘It’s the wrong terminology: ‘Repenting sins’ is not appropria
This year's fete will be opened by our local EastEnders star Ben Champniss and pupils from St. Mary’s School will perform a maypole dance. There will be a host of activities for children in the Rectory garden including a princess lucky dip, face painting, the children’s craft tent, pets corner, a toy tombola, bouncy castles and ice creams. On the school field you will find the ever popular coconut shy, have a go at “Soak the Rector”, try your skill at putting a golf ball, or see how far you can throw a welly. New this year will be a tug of war game. Make sure to register your team well in advance for a chance to win the first St. Mary’s Summer Fete Tug of War Cup. Try our burgers fresh from
Keep up to date with the latest Parish news in the June edition of the Parish Newsletter. Please click here to download. If you have any advertising or editorial queries please direct these to Editor, Jill Hipson.
Join us at 10:00 on Sunday 10th June for All Age Worship. This week we will focus on Genesis 3 and sinning like a Christian. Everybody is welcome and a creche is available in the church. Please do come along and bring the little ones!
