News & Events

We want to improve the facilities in St Mary’s by adding a more accessible means of displaying visuals with a large drop-down screen and a projector. For some time now we’ve been using two TVs which are not big enough. This will be a discrete installation, professionally fitted, that will allow us more effectively to host a greater range of events, and from time-to-time enhance worship (though there is no plan to make use of it all the time in services).

We have already raised about half of the £20,000 cost through grants. The Friends of St Mary’s have agreed to donate £5,000 which leaves another £5,000 to be found and we wondered if we might be able to raise this with private donations.

Might you consider helping us? If so, you can use or crowdfunder page: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/projector-and-screen or better still just let us know and we’ll arrange something to suite you that doesn’t involve pay commission.

If you’d like to know more please be in touch.

A new bench has been installed in St Mary’s open churchyard this morning in memory of our much loved and lost member of St Mary’s congregation, Celia Glover.

The bench has been given by Derek and sited close to a place where most recently she loved to sit and rest on her way to church and to the town. We are grateful to Alan Sonn for his work on installing it.

A great deal has been going on in and around St Mary’s churchyards over the last few weeks, and a lot has been achieved. You can find out how we’re developing the maintenance of the space at https://rossparishes.uk/churchyard. There’s more to come.

It’s a busy time, with a lot of long grass to cut back, now that the height of the growing season is past. You can help by joining the next session of the Churchyard Angels on the first Saturday of the month from 9.30 am

Our very special Sunday afternoon concert with the Gwent Chamber Orchestra (very good friends of St Mary’s and createROSS) is taking place at 3.00 pm on Sunday 2nd July. Tea and homemade cake will be served during the interval (£3.50 – pay on the day) There’s still time to get tickets (£10.00) for the concert. Full details and tickets at https://createross.co.uk/events.

St Mary’s Choir is now Out & About for Evensong during the summer. Catch us as follows:

• Sunday 9th July – Llanwarne – 6.30 pm
• Sunday 23rd July – Upton Bishop – 6.00 pm
• Friday 1st September – Chichester Cathedral – 5.30 pm
• Saturday 2nd September – Chichester Cathedral – 5.30 pm
• Sunday 3rd September – Chichester Cathedral – 3.00 pm
• Sunday 10th September – Goodrich – 6.00 pm
• Sunday 24th September – St Mary’s – 6.00 pm
• Sunday 8th October – Come & Sing & Sup – St Mary’s – 4 for 6.00 pm

If you’re a member of a local church and you’d like us to come and sing choral evensong for you between April and October in 2024 please let us know. Several dates are already gone.

This is a fun way to spend a Saturday evening, dining at the best restaurants around the town! The good news is, there’s still time to register your interest, as a host or as a guest (it’s assumed that hosts are also guests). Details are below but be quick, we need to know by Sunday 25th June as there’s planning to do!

We have assembled a choir of over 40 singers from a wide area, to sing this special service of Choral Evensong in St Mary’s, with very special music. Please come along and hear some of the most complex and beautiful Tudor church music to be performed there for many years. The service starts at 5 pm and will last about 45 minutes. We will be rehearsing from 2pm and you are welcome to drop in on that too. More at https://rossparishes.uk/great-round-byrd

The Safari Supper on 8th July is edging ever-closer and we now need to start working out who will host courses and who their surprise guests will be. We still need volunteers to offer to host starters (at your home), main course (at home) and desert in St Mary’s Church. We will then need to work out a master plan to identify who will go where.

If you would like to participate do please pass your details to Rachel, Mark, Freda or Janet Nelson or send an email to Paul. The booking deadline is 25th June after which we will write to everyone to confirm details.

On the night we meet in the Church for ’sundowners’ and then head off to our first hosts. We are not looking for fine-dining but some fun and an opportunity to share fellowship with one another. Further details can be found on the St Mary’s website: https://rossparishes.uk/safari-supper/.

Heather Hurley gave a very popular local history talk last year; she’s back for part 2. Come along and hear the stories from the lives of some of the people buried in St Mary’s Churchyard. Join us for a glass of wine and Heather’s talk. After that bring your glass out into the churchyard as we search for the graves of the people featured in the talk.

Wednesday 28th June – 7.30 pm – St Mary’s Church – A Friends of St Mary’s event.

It’s nearly time! 20+ gardeners, all around the town, have been putting the finishing touches to their gardens today and tomorrow (Saturday 3rd June) and Sunday you can go to see them between 12 and 4 o’clock. You can pick up your brochure (also your entry ticket) from St Mary’s Church at Coffee tomorrow & Sgwrs (10.30) or later, St Joseph’s School (our main car park) or the Market House. If you already have a ticket you can exchange it for a brochure at those places. Don’t miss t, it’s been 4 years since the last one.

This is Friends of St Mary’s event, our big one, all money raised goes to the upkeep and development of St Mary’s Church.

Dear Friend,

We have a garden, close to church, all set to open over the weekend of 3rd / 4th June but we need some help in supervising it. There is nothing to do but be there and sit in the garden to welcome people when they arrive. If you could help for a couple of hours (12-4pm) on either of those days please contact Mark (01989 565386)

We could also do with a few more people to help serve teas in church.

We are in the season of Ascension. If you listen carefully on Sunday (21st May) at about 10.50 (after the 9.30 service) you may hear St Mary’s adult and youth choirs singing from the tower.

These are a couple of archive pictures. Who can you spot? Guess the dates. Remembering especially Christine Wheatley RIP.

A chance to declutter? – Do you have mismatched and incomplete sets of China? I bet you do! I f so, we’d like them all at St Mary’s. We’d like cups, saucers, tea plates, milk jugs and sugar bowls (even tea pots). The more mis-matched the better. Sets also welcome and we’ll mismatch them! If you can help, please leave your contribution in the kitchen in church whenever convenient. 

Thursday (18th May) is Ascension Day, it used to be considered such an important festival that schools closed; not so much now. There’s a quiet, short said service in St Mary’s at 10am and a Sung Eucharist at 7.30. All are welcome.

Can you spot the Ascension in this window (from the Markye Chapel in St Mary’s) and what else is going on?