Tag: Christmas

December 2022 News

Colin Dixon, Friends of St Mary’s Chairman, writes:

We are now looking forward to the Friends of St Mary’s Nine Lessons and Carols service just before Christmas on 18th December at 7pm. We have set it later than normal to allow football fans to attend after the World Cup Final. This service is one of the highlights of the Christmas season and is a lovely service for families.

(Photo by Pauline Dixon)

We are hoping that the new gate on the west wall of the Church, that is being funded by the Friends, can be installed before the Christmas services start. Or at least before the old one falls to pieces.

The same goes for the notice board on the South side of the West Wall which is clearly on its last legs.

We are thinking hard about what to do on the South side of the Churchyard where the large fir trees were removed two years ago. Since then there have been many workgroups trying to reduce the weeds and clear the debris of many years, that was hidden behind the trees and is now in plain sight.

We are now pretty convinced, after two seasons of work, that it needs a professional landscaper to deal with it – unless there are some young fit and healthy people out there with time on their hands, looking for something to do.

We are open to suggestions for what to do with the area – we already have a very nice bench on the South East side of the Churchyard.

If you have any ideas please let me know.

DECEMBER SERVICES

Sunday 4th December Holy Communion (9.30am)
Sunday 11th December Evensong (5pm)
Sunday 18th December FOSM Service of 9 Lessons & Carols (7pm)
Saturday 24th December Christmas Family Service (4.30pm)
Sunday 25th December Holy Communion (9.30am)

Friends of St Mary’s 9 Lessons & Carols Service

Just a quick post to remind you that on Sunday 19th December at 5pm, we will be holding our traditional 9 Lessons and Carols Service, which you are warmly invited to attend.

The service will begin at 5pm, but if you’d like to come earlier, you may enjoy hearing the Hawkesbury Ringers ringing our wonderful new bells from 4.30pm – a fitting start to a service filled with traditional Christmas music, led by Director of Music Ben Humphries, with the choir.

There will be plenty of parking available in the field beside the church. Please bring a torch if you think you will need one to negotiate your way to the church porch.

For health and safety reasons, please wear a mask in church. Unfortunately for social distancing reasons, we’ve had to cancel our plans to share mince pies and mulled wine with you after the service, but we are sure that in our beautiful setting, the service will be hugely enjoyable.

If you’re not able to attend, or you’d like to share our service with friends and relations further afield, here’s the video link to view the service on Youtube. It will go live at the time of the service and remain visible afterwards for you to view at your leisure.

November 2020

Lisa Overton, Secretary of the Friends of St Mary’s, provides this month’s news round-up:

2020 AGM

The 2020 AGM of the Friends of St Mary’s will take place on Sunday 22nd November at 4.30 pm in St Mary’s, followed by Evensong at 5 pm. Current restrictions allow us to gather in the church as long as we can be socially distanced, which we believe will be manageable, but if any members are unable or feel uncomfortable about attending in person please let us know and we will try to arrange a virtual connection to the meeting. It would be very helpful if you could let me know if you plan to attend.

Please wear face masks, sanitise on entry to the church, provide your contact details and take a seat where indicated by our ushers.

Friends’ Christmas Service

At the time of going to press, we are still unclear about holding a service for the Friends at Christmas time, and we are very grateful for your understanding about this.

Progress on the Tower Works

As the work on the church tower progresses, the funds raised by the Friends over the last 8 years are being put to a wonderful purpose. We hope to have some photographs taken from the scaffolding very soon, which will show the way in which the stone string-courses and drip mouldings have been cleaned prior to the replacement of decayed stone and new mortar pointing.

This Month’s Services

1st Nov – 9.30am – Holy Communion
2nd Nov – 6pm – Remembering Our Lost Loved Ones
11th Nov – 7pm – Festival of Remembrance
15 Nov – 9.30am – Morning Prayer
18 Nov – 9.30am – Morning Prayer
22 Nov – 5pm – Evenson
25 Nov – 9.30am – Morning Prayer
29 Nov – 5pm – Advent Sunday Service