On Sunday, December 2, the morning after the Christmas Cracker dinner, St Mary’s Church Hall was again packed to capacity as members of the congregation crowded in after the 9.30 service for a preview of the copies of the church’s 500-year-old monumental brasses, which have been produced in exquisite replicas for use in displays and brass-rubbing. The replicas were donated to St Mary’s by Eve Myatt-Price to commemorate her 50 years membership of the church. At the unveiling, the vicar said everyone was greatly indebted to her and to another local historian, Charles Abdy, for conducting negotiations with the manufacturer, Michael Ward of Crewkerne. He also thanked Jeremy Harte, curator…

The Revd John Baxter and members of St Mary’s Church, and other nearby churches,  set off on pilgrimage to the Holy Land on Monday 19 November. Read about the beginning of their trip in this article in the Epsom Guardian. A report of the pilgrimage with photographs can be found here: http://www.ourpilgrimage.co.uk/

On 10 November 2012 St Mary’s hosted the latest in our series of organ recitals. On this occasion the recitalist was Ronny Krippner, Organist and Teacher of Music at King’s College School, Wimbledon and Assistant Director of Music at the celebrated ‘Handel church’, St George’s, Hanover Square. The programme was as follows: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) – Sinfonia from Cantata No. 29 arr. Guilmant Francois Couperin (1668-1733) – from Messe pour les Couvents William Boyce (1711-79) – Voluntary in D Herbert Howells (1892-1983) – Master Tallis’ Testament Percy Whitlock (1903-1946) – Folk Tune from Five Short Pieces Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937) – Finale from Organ Symphony No. 6 in G Minor,  Op. 42 No.…

On 1st November 2012, over forty children gather at St Mary’s for a season “Fireworks Fun Day”. Great fun was indeed had by all: music, craft, games, and more made up the day. Watch out on the website for information about future fun days!

On Saturday 13 October 2012, St Mary’s annual schools concert was held in church. Ewell Grove Infants, Danetree Junior School, Ewell Castle Junior School, and Ewell Castle Senior School’s “The Castle Ravens” all sang pieces for us in the first half, followed by instrumental performances by a choral scholar and organ scholar from St Mary’s. After enjoying refreshments during the interval we reconvened to hear Emanuel School’s group “Vocalicity”, then all the choir got together for as a combined choir singing songs from the shows– raising the roof, to great applause and appreciation from all who attended. Many thanks to all those who worked so hard to make such a…

On Sunday 16 September, St Mary’s people from all our congregations, and others, gather together to hear presentations about “2013: Turning our Vision into Reality.” If you couldn’t make the day and would like to find out more, you can download the information in the response packs below. We look forward to hearing your responses! Letter from the Vicar Summary of the presentations from the day — find out what you missed! Time & talents response form Letter about Planned Giving Please Contact the Parish Office to ask for a copy of the Planned Giving Leaflet (we can’t make it available for download) Prayer Bookmark A photograph showing the day’s first…

On 1 July 2012, the Bishop of Guyana, the Rt Revd Cornell Moss, visited St Mary’s. After celebrating the Eucharist and preaching a very engaging sermon, the Bishop answered our questions about his diocese and about our links parishes. (You can read more about our ongoing Guyana link). We then took over the whole ground floor of the Il Laghetto restaurant at the end of Church Street for lunch with the Bishop. Around fifty parishioners filled the restaurant and enjoyed a very good lunch with our episcopal guest.

On 17 June, St Mary’s held its annual pets’ service: “All Creatures Great and Small.” Pets as well as people were invited to this service, and the congregation included cats, dogs, and even a guinea pig. The Vicar, the Revd Russell Dewhurst, led the service and gave a talk, illustrated with stories from his childhood experience with pets. The music was led by members of our parish choir and also the Junior Singing Group, singing “Who put the colours in the rainbow?” among other things. At the end of the service, pets were invited to the front of the church to receive a personal blessing from the Vicar. As you…

On 10 June 2012 we held a special service, “Songs of Praise”, to celebrate and give thanks for hymns. Nine members of the congregation chose a favourite hymn. Before each hymn was sung, they explained why that hymn was a particular favourite. It was very interesting to hear all the different reasons why hymns were chosen– historical, musical, spiritual– and very uplifting to sing them all. The singing was led by St Mary’s Singers, a voluntary choir formed earlier this year, who have sung regularly at our baptism services. The hymns chosen were: Guide me O thou great redeemer Come, thou fount of every blessing Angel voices ever singing Alleluia,…

Saturday 9 June saw the latest in our recital series: “The return of Eight hands on 1, 2, or 3 pianos.” The church’s three pianos usually live in different rooms: in the choir vestry, the parish room, and in the main church. Following the success of last year’s similar recital, our three pianos were brought together again in church, and we were treated to piano duets, trios, and quartets. The recitalists were our Director of Music Jonathan Holmes and his colleagues from the Music Department of Emanuel School, Clapham: Sarah Holmes, Richard Harker, and Simon Gregory. In the first half we enjoyed some popular and familiar composers of keyboard music:…