Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

Please find attached this week’s Benefice Newsletter and associated documents.

Benefice Service – St John’s Church Fernham.  This Sunday’s service is a Benefice Service at St John’s Church, Fernham, at 11am, and will be led by the Revd Norma Fergusson.  All are welcome.

St Mary’s Church.  The refurbishment inside St Mary’s Church is nearly complete.  Keith is in contact with ABS Builders in order to sequence the final clearing up by them inside the church which will then leave us in the congregation to clean off the pews and reorder them inside the nave.  We would be very grateful for some willing volunteers to help with this and either Keith or I will be in touch with you at the start of September with details.  We are then planning to resume normal services at the beginning of October.  Again, details will be sent out once they are absolutely firm.  In the meantime, many of you will have noticed the scaffolding on the south side of the bell tower.  Through some very generous donations Keith has managed to raise enough money to pay for the repairs to the roof.  We also now have clearance from the Diocese to proceed and the work will begin at the start of the month.

Ride & Stride (R&S) 2021.  My apologies for not getting this information out earlier but the annual Ride & Stride event will take place on Saturday 11th September.  Although St Mary will not be open to welcome Striders, it is still hoped that one or two brave souls from the Village will be able to visit some of the churches in the Vale and obtain some sponsorship.  If you are interested in taking part, please contact me asp for details, including sponsorship forms.  I would particularly welcome potential Striders who are undertaking their DofE Award!

Village Newsletter.  A copy of the September ‘Village Newsletter’ is attached.

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Longcot with Fernham PCC