Community, Parish Council & Village
‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means God with Us’
(Matthew Chapter 1, verse 23)
This Christmas 2017 edition of Good News, St Mary’s Parish Magazine, is Continue reading “St Mary’s Christmas 2017 Good News Update”
St Mary’s Autumn 2017 Good News UpdateThis Autumn 2017 edition of Good News, St Mary’s Parish Magazine, is reproduced below (together with additional material from various notices), use the links to the stories & news items.
I am officially an ‘empty nester’ as Continue reading “St Mary’s Autumn 2017 Good News Update”
This Summer 2017 edition of Good News, St Mary’s Parish Magazine, is reproduced below (together with additional material from various notices), use the links to the stories & news items.
I have become more and more aware recently that the Christian faith is far more about having a relationship with God than it is about following a set of rules.
I used to feel that the Christian faith was a set of ideals Continue reading “St Mary’s Summer 2017 Good News Update”
This Easter edition of Good News, St Mary’s Parish Magazine, is reproduced below (together with additional material from various notices), use the links to the stories & news items.
Easter is a wonderful time of year as we celebrate the time when Jesus rose from the dead, proving that God’s power of life over death, light over darkness and hope over hopelessness, is real. It is a time to celebrate and give thanks for all that God has done for us; which is undoubtedly easier to do as the days lengthen and the temperature rises. Continue reading “St Mary’s Easter Good News Update”
This Valentine’s Day edition of Good News, St Mary’s Parish Magazine, is reproduced below (together with additional material from various notices), use the links to the stories & news items.
This update includes a number of items including Messy Church report, notice of a funding appeal, being launched to avoid running into a deficit in coming years, and news of upcoming events.
Messy ChurchLast weekend’s Messy Church was great fun and featured a mini pantomime with the story of the Three Wise Men, together with lots of fun activities for children and grown-ups alike! Thank you to our Messy Church team who put so much effort into preparing the services.
The next Messy Church will be on Sunday 14 February.
Our next Senior Citizens’ Lunch will be on 16 January @ 12.45pm. If you would like to come or can help with food etc. please contact Murray Harlow on 07989 720256.
St Mary’s will be joining folk from the churches from Great Horkesley, Langham & Boxted on Sunday 31 January to worship together at a joint service @ St Mary’s Church in Langham. If you would like a lift, please contact the parish office on 243683.
St Mary’s is hosting a deanery wide course designed to equip lay people to take a more active role in public worship. The course is open to everyone at St Mary’s as well as other churches in the Colchester area. Please let Dorothy Chadborn have your contact details if you would like to attend: [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].
The following appeal has been issued by the St Mary’s Parochial Church Council.
St Mary’s is dependent on regular giving and donations from its members and supporters. We do not receive any external financial support and we are spending more than we receive.
Our main expense is the contribution we make to the costs of our Diocese. In recent years, St Mary’s has benefitted from a reduced “parish share” as we have not had our own vicar. This year, we expect to pay our full share. The PCC also wants to support Mandy’s ministry to help grow our church and we are planning to fund a new administrator position to help her focus on her ministry.
This means we expect to spend nearly £10,000 more this year than we received in 2014!
We have approved changes to the use of our reserves which mean we don’t expect to run out of general funds until 2017….but that’s just two years from now!
We will be talking a lot about giving over the next 2 years and explaining how we receive and spend God’s gifts. The PCC wants to encourage an £8,000 increase in annual regular giving by 2017. So, whether 
you’re a long-time member, new member, village resident or visitor, we are asking you to prayerfully consider your personal financial commitment to the continued, healthy life of this church in West Bergholt.
Thank you.
St Mary the Virgin PCC
St Mary’s is dependent on regular giving and donations from its members and supporters. We do not receive any external financial support.
Most members of the Church give by standing order.
Gift-Aid allows us to claim back tax already paid on the gift. This means that every £1 gift-aided is worth £1.25 to the Church. If you already give by standing order or want to do so, please consider regularly the amount you give. Standing order forms are available in the Church.
If you are a UK taxpayer, please gift-aid your donation.
There is a plate, a donations box and white gift aid envelopes in the church for one-off donations. If you pay tax, please complete and sign one of these envelopes and put your donation inside – then we can claim tax back on these gifts too. Please don’t use these envelopes without signing them – it means you haven’t understood what they’re for!
Even if you don’t pay tax, we can claim tax back from the Government! There’s just no need to fill any forms. Please don’t give £50 notes! We cannot claim the tax on a single gift of more than £20.
Perhaps you can help with fund-raising, helping to explain church finances or with book-keeping. Your help does not need to be just financial. For further information, speak to our Treasurer, Jon Wilson, or a member of the PCC.
St Marys’ Notices – 11th October 2015Sun 18 October – 8.00am BCP Communion at St Mary’s, Langham; 9.30am Morning Worship, St Peter’s, Boxted; 11.15am Morning Praise, St John’s, Great Horkesley
Congratulations to Dorothy Chadborn who was licensed as a Pastoral Assistant yesterday at Chelmsford Cathedral, following her successful completion of the Diocesan Pastoral Care Course. In case you are wondering what is the role of a pastoral assistant, the following is a definition from the Diocesan web site:
“Pastoral Assistants are those in whom the Church has discerned special gifts for ‘pastoral care in the church and wider community. They are not people who know all the answers. But they are men and women of prayer; people who reflect on the dilemmas of modern life in the light of the Bible and Christian tradition, and people who want to communicate to others the message of Christ through caring action”.
Our prayers are with Dorothy as she begins her new role.
Messy Church – well done to Caroline Finlay and the Messy Church Team for another great service this morning on the theme of the Rugby World Cup. Lots of children had fun decorating (and eating!) rugby ball shaped biscuits, making puppets and taking part in a quiz. There will be no Messy Church in November as St Mary’s will be joining in with the Village Remembrance Service at the Orpen Hall on 8 November, so the next Messy Church will be on 13 December, when we will have a Messy Nativity!
Christmas Shoe boxes – thank you to everyone who has signed up to complete a shoe box or donate particular items. Completed shoe boxes need to be brought to church or to the parish office by Sunday 1 November, but if you are donating individual items, please could we have them by Sunday 18 October to allow time for making them up into complete shoe boxes. If you need labels for your boxes, there are a few left in church and in the parish office.
All Saints Day Service – Sunday 1 November @ 9.30am – Rev Paul Norrington will be leading and preaching in a special service on the theme of ‘gifts for the building up of the church’. Mandy will staying with us at the end of the service because she no longer has to rush off to take another service on the first Sunday in the month. Everyone is invited to stay for coffee and cake after the service and there will be a chance to discuss the Mission and Opportunity Fund.
Tools with a Mission – thank you to all those who have already donated their unwanted tools. The tools will be collected on 23 October, so there is still time to bring them to the parish office or Richard Chadborn if you haven’t yet had chance to look through your garage.
Best wishes
Liz Dixon, on behalf of St Mary’s