St. Mary’s is again supporting Operation Christmas Child. It is an exciting and worthwhile project, providing Christmas gifts for children around the world, and absolutely anyone can join in! Fill a shoebox with gifts for a child who would otherwise receive nothing. You can find out more at http://www.samaritans- purse.org.uk or chat to Linda Staff in church. If you’d like to participate, please fill a shoe box with gifts and wrap it following the instructions on the above website. You can then bring your shoe box to St Mary’s during office opening hours (9:30am-12noon Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday) or on Saturday 8 November 10am-12noon or Saturday 15 November 10am-12noon.

If you have tickets for Saturday’s garden party, please note because of the weather this has now been moved to the church hall.

Our church Electoral Roll is the nearest thing a Church of England church has to a membership list. If you are over 16 and baptized (christened), and either a regular worshipper or resident in the parish, please consider joining our roll if you haven’t already. You can download the form below. Only those whose names are on the Roll are entitled to take part in the Annual Parochial Church Meeting on 27 April so please if you are not on the roll, submit an application form by 9 April when the Roll has to close until after the APCM.

St Mary’s PCC is petitioning for permission (a “faculty”) for two projects. The first is our sound and vision project. We are applying for permission for both phases (sound and vision) now, and we hope to implement the sound system in the next few months. The second phase will require further fundraising. The second project is a revamp to the parish room, for which a facelift is long overdue. Full information about these projects is contained in the attached downloads.

On Monday 27 January 2014, St Mary’s parochial church council was presented with our sound team’s favoured plans for our new sound system. We have done a great deal of research and experimentation and believe we now have the best design proposed. The PCC agreed that the scheme should now be sent to the Guildford Diocese’s relevant committees so that, we hope, permission to proceed can be granted. If all goes smoothly, we hope that work will begin on phase 1– the sound side of the project– soon after Easter. We are also applying at the same time for permissions for phase 2– the projection and multimedia components– though this…

  Fed up with the cold winter? Come and celebrate the coming of Spring at St. Mary’s through a day of craft, games, music and drama. Spring into Spring with us! The fun day will be for children aged around 5 to 11 with many activities and games. It will start at 11am and finish at 3pm. There will be a drink and short service at 2.30pm to which parents, etc. are invited. Please bring and collect your children to and from the church, making sure they have been marked off on the register and given a name badge before leaving them. They will need to bring a packed lunch…

10 DAY PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND, 8th – 17th SEPTEMBER 2014, WITH THE REVD JOHN BAXTER The time for our pilgrimage to the Holy Land is rapidly approaching. We still have places available and it would be good to see more people join our band of pilgrims. Brief details of our pilgrimage are shown below and I would like to encourage you to have faith, take the plunge and speak to me about the possibility of going. I do believe that God is calling people from our church to bring their faith more to life by walking in the footsteps of Jesus, seeing and experiencing his journey to Jerusalem, to…

Wayfarers meet on some Sundays during the 9.30am Holy Communion service, starting and finishing in church with the congregation. There is a discussion or activity that takes place while the sermon and prayers are going on in church. Wayfarers is for young people who are 11+.

Here is the latest version of our Looking Outwards prayer cycle, prayed at Morning Prayer in church and by many parishioners each day of the month. UPDATED

Everyone at St Mary’s would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Please note the parish office is closed till 6 January, but the answer phone message has information about who to contact in case of emergency (0208 393 2643). On Sunday 29 December, there are two services only, Holy Communion at 8am and 9:30am. The Twelve Days of Christmas come to an end on Sunday 5 January, the Epiphany, with Holy Communion services at 8am and 9:30am and our all-age Epiphany service at 11am– the Wise Men finally get to Bethlehem.