St Mary in Window 3 St Mary's, Fairford

St Mary's Church
Fairford

St Mary's, Fairford Angel in Window 1

Meet the Archbishop!


The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is coming to Gloucester Diocese prior to his retirement; there are two major events planned:

Gloucester Cathedral
Saturday 21 July, 12 - 5pm
For all ages and free!

  • Bring a picnic to share with friends
  • Crafts, sports, worship, clowns, magicians and so much more
  • Meet local organisations, explore faith and enjoy the cathedral
  • Special areas for under fives and their grown ups
  • A session for families with children to question the Archbishop
  • A session for adults without children to question the Archbishop
  • No need to book - and it’s free
  • Everyone is welcome

All Saints Church, Newlands
Forest of Dean, Sunday 22 July

9.30am Mini-pilgrimage
11am A special Communion service at which Archbishop Rowan will preach. With local choirs and awe-inspiring music. Special activities for children. Followed by light refreshments.

For more information on the Archbishop’s visit, please go to the Archbishop’s Visit page, www.gloucester.anglican.org

Charity of the Month:
The Mission to Seafarers

The Mission to Seafarers The July charity is The Mission to Seafarers with . Their theme for that Sunday is ‘Isolation’. Imagine the stress of being on a ship, with a foreign crew, far from home for up to 18 months at a time. It causes huge heartache and concern when you cannot keep in touch with family and loved ones. The Mission hopes that parishioners will remember the 1.2 million seafarers in their prayers and help to continue the important work of the Mission with a donation. Most of the things we use are brought by sea. The work can be dangerous and lonely too. The charity runs ‘home from home centres’ known affectionately as ‘Flying Angel Clubs’ in over 100 ports around the world. In these hospitable and welcoming Clubs, seafarers can relax away from their ships, find books and warm clothes, make vital phone and internet contact with faraway loved ones and enjoy the fellowship of other crews and local people. The Mission relies entirely on voluntary donations in support of the Anglican Church’s work around the world.

There is literature on the south wall top shelf to take and read or you can write to The Mission to Seafarers, St Michael Paternoster Royal, College Hill, LONDON EC4R 2RL.
Tel: 07500 333190.
Website www.missiontoseafarers.org.

Previous Charity Fundraising

Monies collected from the box in the church for the May charity, The Prayer Book Society, amounted to £32.20 to which the PCC will add further amounts.

The Bells... the Bells...!

At 08:12 on 27th July 2012, thousands of people across the UK will be joining together to ring in the first day of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Everyone across the country is invited to take part.

Anyone can join in by ringing any bell whatsoever. For more info, go to the website: www.allthebells.com.

St Mary’s Bellringers hope to take part but, as it is a working day, are unable to confirm yet if it possible. Open your windows at just after 8am that day and you should be able to tell if they were able to make it...

Olympic Bells

St Mary's Food Bank

The generosity and support for St Mary’s ‘food box’ has been wonderful and the groceries that are given by so many is proof! The box is checked and if necessary emptied most days and the produce is being stored in anticipation of the Cirencester Food Bank being up and running. The date for this is scheduled for August / September and will be at Ashcroft Church. Fairford families who are currently benefitting from a little extra help are receiving it from Swindon, but as soon as the Cirencester premises are ready, they will be able to collect from there and also enjoy a ‘cuppa’ at the same time!

The Trussel Trust are training and supporting the team of volunteers who will collect and distribute (if necessary) and will ensure that proceedings are carried out legally, properly and fairly.

In the meantime, Sue Black, our Village Agent, has found a family in great need and has taken some of the donated provisions herself, to make life a little easier until their difficult patch passes.
Wendy Graham

St Marys Food Bank

For Children: 8th July
Jesus and Me Club

10am St Mary’s Church, Fairford
Stories, craft, fun and food
Every second Sunday
Stories, craft, fun and food

Concerts by Music in Country Churches

This was a very successful event, planned and executed by Alison Godsal and her vast number of cohorts, especially her husband Mike. Much hard work goes in to such events and we are very grateful for the unstinting support they gave. And Prince Charles was just as complimentary as ever about it all, so a good result all round.

Service of Thanksgiving

The Diamond Jubilee celebrations really brought people together: people from the Chapel and St Thomas’ joined us in St Mary’s for the Service of Thanksgiving and there was a real buzz about the town as people entered into the spirit of the occasion. While it was obviously about The Queen it was also about us as a nation. As I said in my sermon, she has for 60 years given this nation a sense of unity and purpose that no one else could provide and she has done so from an explicitly Christian viewpoint; affirming by word and example the ultimate importance of family, community and Christian values and principles.
The Team Rector


News June 2012
News May 2012
News April 2012
News March 2012
News February 2012
News January 2012
St Mary's News Round-Up 2011

Copyright © St Mary's Parochial Church Council 2010-2012