Longcot Village

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

Please find attached Lucy’s e-mail with this week’s Benefice Newsletter and associated documents. 

Holy Communion – Sunday 5^th June.  Canon Paul will be leading Holy Communion in St John’s Church Fernham tomorrow.  The service begins at 9.30am and will be livestreamed.

Online Services. As usual the details of the Benefice sermons and online services for this Sunday can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.  

Best Wishes,

DennisChurch Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

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

Longcot Flower Festival.  The Flower Festival has two more days to run so please visit if you can but remember that the concerts will be taking place in the church this afternoon. In addition, Robert and Jill Baker will be serving teas at Treetops, The Green, from 1pm to 4pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

Morning Prayer – Sunday 23rd May.  Richard Fergusson will be leading morning prayer in St Mary’s Church tomorrow.  The service begins at 9.30am.

Community Space. Work on the Community Space inside St Mary will start on 1st June and Parish services will be held in St John’s Church, Fernham from Sunday 6th June until the end of November.

Online Services. As usual the details of the Benefice online services for this Sunday can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

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

Longcot Flower Festival.  The Flower Festival has now begun and the church will be open from 10am to 4pm daily between Saturday 15th May and Sunday 23rd May.  The only exception to these times will be on the afternoon of Saturday 22nd May, when the church will just be open for performers and concert goers during the Clarinet Collective’s afternoon concert.  Shirley and her team of flower arrangers have outdone themselves this year with some stunning displays on the theme of ‘A Village Celebration’ from the 1940s with a street party and designs featuring Longcot in a different era.  Please find attached a photo of the nave, which provides a flavour of the decorations, but you will need to visit in person to see the wonderful displays on the windowsills!  Normal COVID rules will apply so please wear masks, sign in and use the hand sanitiser when you visit. In addition, Robert and Jill Baker will be serving teas at Treetops, The Green, from 1pm to 4pm daily.

Sunday 16th May – Choral Evensong with Choir at 6pm in St Mary.  As part of the Festival, a Choral Evensong will be held at 6pm in St Mary’s Church tomorrow, Sunday 16th May.  The choir from St Andrew’s Church have kindly agreed to sing for us.  Due to COVID restrictions seating will be limited, so please call or text Lucy to book in.  Details: 07958 378822.

Community Space. Work on the Community Space inside St Mary will start on 1st June and Parish services will be held in St John’s Church, Fernham from Sunday 6th June until the end of November.

Online Services. As usual the details of the Benefice online services for this Sunday can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

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

Sunday 9^th May – Holy Communion at 9.30am in St Mary.  Tomorrow’s Holy Communion in St Mary will be taken by Canon Paul.  If somebody would like to do one of the readings, please let me know asp.

Sunday 16^th May – Choral Evensong with Choir at 6pm in St Mary.  As part of the Longcot Flower Festival, a Choral Evensong will be held at 6pm in St Mary’s Church next weekend, Sunday 16^th May.  The choir from St Andrew’s Church have kindly agreed to sing for us.  Due to COVID restrictions seating will be limited, so please call or text Lucy to book in.  Details: 07958 378822.

Longcot Flower Festival.  Shirley and her team of flower arrangers have been working hard on identifying what arrangements would work within the current layout of the church.  The church will be open from 10am to 4pm daily between Saturday 15^th May and Sunday 23^rd May. Normal COVID rules will apply so please sign in and use the hand sanitiser when you visit.  The only exception to the opening times will be on the afternoon of Saturday 22^nd May, when the church will just be open for performers and concert goers during the Clarinet Collective’s afternoon concert.

Community Space. Work is due to begin on the Community Space inside St Mary at the beginning of June.  It is anticipated that we will again be able to use St John’s Church in Fernham from the beginning of the Government’s Step 3.  Assuming that happens as planned then the Longcot and Fernham Parish will be able to hold services in St John’s Church from Sunday 6^th June. The pattern of services will remain broadly the same as those for St Mary but more details will follow.

Faringdon Foodbank.  Many thanks to everybody who has contributed to the Foodbank collection.   We will leave the Foodbank cardboard box inside the church until the end of May, when we will be closing for the builders to start work.

Online Services. As usual the details of the Benefice online services for this Sunday can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.  

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

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

Sunday 2nd May – Morning Prayer at 9.30am in St Mary.  Tomorrow’s Morning Prayer in St Mary will be taken by Canon Paul.

Gardeners.  The church gardening group will also be meeting on Sunday morning.  A lot has been done this spring thanks to a number of individuals so the churchyard is in really good condition but this is the first time the whole group will be gathering this year (socially distanced of course).  Please find attached a photo of a wonderful iris growing on the south side of the church.

Faringdon Foodbank.  Many thanks to everybody who contributed to the Foodbank collection last Wednesday.  It was well in excess of what we had expected and will make a real difference.  For anyone else who wishes to contribute, the box will remain under the table that hosts the ‘signing-in sheet’ and sanitiser.  I would just ask that you take care to ensure that the church mice can’t take the opportunity to have a little nibble, so please wrap up anything tempting!  Thank you.

Local Villages Newsletter. Please find attached the May edition of the Local Villages Newsletter.

Online Services. As usual the details of the Benefice online services for this Sunday can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

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

Sunday 25^th April – Holy Communion at 9.30am in St Mary.  Tomorrow’s Holy Communion in St Mary will be taken by Norma and will conclude the focus on the Benefice Generosity Week.

LVT Concerts on 22^nd May.  The two LVT Concerts on 22^nd May are now fully booked.  Thank you to all those who moved quickly to make their bookings!

DofE Award. We are lucky to have two young volunteers helping in the village as part of their DofE Award: one cleaning brasses in St Mary and one helping with the village website for the Longcot Village Trust.  Thank you very much to both of them.  (I would ask that their parents pass on our communal thanks!)

Online Services. As usual the details of the Benefice online services for this Sunday can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.  

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

Our 1940’s theme with its street party and designs featuring Longcot tales is a bright welcome back to the annual flower festival. The church will be open to visitors from 10-4pm each day. On Saturday 22nd May there will be two short concerts at 3.30pm and 6pm by the Clarinet Collective, a professional clarinet sextet whose performances at St. Mary’s have been much enjoyed in recent years. The programme will include arrangements of timeless classics by Mozart, Ravel and Elgar alongside popular music from the twenties, thirties and forties, including Gershwin’s famous Rhapsody in Blue, some of Glen Miller’s greatest hits and a medley of WW2 melodies. Admission to both events is free, with donations in aid of the Longcot Village Trust fund to convert St. Mary’s into a community space. Due to Covid restrictions seats for the concerts will be socially distanced and must be reserved in advance. Please email victorialmedcalf@gmail.com to make a reservation.

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

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

Remembering HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Please see the top of the Newsletter.

Sunday 18^th April – Morning Prayer at 9.30am in St Mary.  Morning Prayer will take place in St Mary tomorrow and will focus on the Benefice Generosity Week.

Annual Flower Festival & LVT Concerts on Saturday 22nd May.  Please see the attached flyer for the Annual Flower Festival in the church and two LVT Concerts on Saturday 22nd May.  Tickets for the concerts are limited due to COVID restrictions and you are recommended to book them with Vicky Medcalf as soon as possible.

Online Services. As usual the details of the Benefice online services for this Sunday can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.   Lucy has also provided links to services that took place around the Diocese in the past week to commemorate the life of Prince Phillip.  Of particular note is the Multi-Faith service organised by the new High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, Imam Monawar Hussain.  See: https://www.facebook.com/pg/shrivenhamandashbury/posts/?ref=page_internal.

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

Longcot Village Trust has set up a GoFundMe page to try and raise the final £40,000 to renovate and improve the Church. These improvements will include an internal oak framed mezzanine structure with a staircase leading to a gallery at the west end of the Nave. This will provide ample storage and a partially glazed open meeting room which will overlook both the bell tower and the Nave. On the ground floor, a kitchenette, a private meeting room and a disabled toilet facility with baby changing will be installed. Work will also include updating the heating and lighting systems to reduce carbon footprint; installing super fact broadband access and a new, distributed IT and sound system. External pathways will also be provided to create easier access for the elderly and disabled. Hopefully this will be able to encourage others to join in with the village community and possibly bring new residents to the village.

We have already raised a sum of £150,000 but we would love for you to make a donation to help us reach our goal to help the community.

Here is the link to the GoFundMe page https://gofund.me/c50aa054

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

Please find attached this week’s Benefice Newsletter. 

Remembering HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.  There is now much information online which suggests how we can offer thanksgiving for the life of the Duke of Edinburgh and to remember his many achievements.  These include:

• The Palace website, which has been updated to cover various aspects of the Duke’s life and work.  It also contains an online book of condolence.  See: https://www.royal.uk/

• The Oxford Diocese website has information about virtual services and tributes.  See: https://www.oxford.anglican.org/

• In addition, the CofE Archbishops have promulgated a guidance document for parish churches for use during this period of mourning. A copy is attached.  It contains a timeline of events on pp2-3 from the day of the announcement to the day after the funeral, which you may find quite useful.  I would, however, point out one mistake.  There is some discussion in the document about floral tributes. It is the Government and Palace’s request that floral tributes should not be placed at key locations in order to reduce the risk from COVID-19.  Instead we are being asked to make a donation, should we so desire, to organisations like the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme.  (See also the Benefice Newsletter.)

Holy Communion. A Holy Communion service will be held at St Mary’s church tomorrow at 9.30am and will be live-streamed.  Special prayers will be said for the Duke, HM The Queen and the Royal family.   

Online Services. As usual the details of the Benefice online services for this Sunday can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.  

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot