Dear friends, Since my message earlier this afternoon, the Prime Minister has made a statement. “Now is the time for everyone to stop non-essential contact with others and to stop all unnecessary travel. We need people to start working from home where they possibly can. And you should avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other such social venues.” Because of this, as of now, all of our weekday services and activities are suspended. This includes Saturday’s concert, but Jonathan is hoping to put the concert on Youtube instead. At the present time I expect funerals we have currently booked in to go ahead. I will await guidance from the Church of…

At St Mary’s, we are making sure we are properly prepared for any emergencies, in particular Coronavirus (COVID-19). We are keeping up to date with the Government and the Church of England’s guidance as it is issued, especially in terms of services and pastoral visiting. We want to make sure everyone, especially the most vulnerable, know they can safely and with confidence come to church during this time. If you sign up for our general mailing list here we will let you know about any last minute changes or emergency plans. We’ll also post on Facebook. The Church of England is encouraging people to wash hands when they arrive at…

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Book for Lent 2020. A book about the environment written by Ruth Valerio of Tear Fund. In ‘Saying Yes to Life’ Ruth Valerio imaginatively draws on the seven days of creation (Genesis 1) as she uses the themes of light, water, land, the seasons, human kind and creatures to help us consider the Christian obligation to the planet. There are six chapters, each with topics to reflect on and a prayer, as well as practical ideas.   A Lent Book with the Archbishop of York designate as one of the co-authors. A book co-written by Stephen Cottrell, currently Bishop of Chelmsford, Philip North, the Bishop of…

Please note the Parish Office will be closed on Friday 31 January.

We have had to cancel Fun Day Wednesday today (8 Jan) at short notice. Sorry for the inconvenience. We will be back next week, 15 Jan.

Tuesday 24 Dec – Christmas Eve 2:00pm A Christmas Nativity Service and carols with a play by St Mary’s children 4:00pm The Arrival at Bethlehem Traditional Christmas story is told and carols are sung 11:15pm Midnight Mass Atmospheric choral service sung by the parish choir (with Christmas music sung by the parish choir from 10:45pm). Wednesday 25 Dec – Christmas Day 8:30am Holy Communion A simple said service 10:00am All-age Sung Eucharist Our usual festive service with Christmas carols and craft activities for children

Small revisions have been made to our data privacy notices, to include the fact that personal information is sometimes used in service sheets (e.g. at baptism). You can see the revised policies here.

St Mary’s parish directory is revised every few years. It is a printed directory of church members’ contact details, and of course inclusion is entirely voluntary. The idea is to help us easily to contact one another at St Mary’s, and I know many people find it useful. If you would like your details to be included, please fill in the form available here or in church, and return it by 11 November to parishoffice@stmarysewell.com or to the Parish Office. You need to fill in a new form even if you have been in the parish directory before.   The new, printed parish directory will be on sale in church or from the parish office, available to church members only, from December.…

Our data privacy policy for role holders has been updated to include Conflict of Interest information. You can read the updated policy here.

The electoral roll is the nearest thing the Church of England has to a membership list. Nothing to do with voting for politicians, it is a list of those who associate themselves with a given church. If you are on our roll you can vote at the annual meeting, and have rights in connection with marriage, funerals, burial, baptism, and pastoral visiting. It’s also a measure of how many people support the local church. This year the electoral roll has to start again from scratch. This mean everyone has to fill in a new form, whether or not you have been on St Mary’s electoral roll before. Please consider joining…