Longcot Village

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

Please find attached this week’s Benefice Newsletter and associated documents. I would draw your attention to page 2 and a report on the visit of the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire to the Benefice Palm Sunday service.  During the service the High Sheriff presented a well-deserved award to Lucy Laird, our Benefice Administrator.

Easter Morning Holy Communion.  The Easter Morning Holy Communion service will be held at St Mary at 9.30am.  Please remember your masks.  All are welcome.

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 All,

Canon Paul will lead will lead an hour long reflective service with readings and recorded music from Noon on Friday 2^nd April.  Feel free to attend for the whole period or just pop in for 5 minutes or so, but please remember your mask.  It might be an opportunity to remember those friends and family members who have died recently.

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. There is an extremely thoughtful item from Richard Fergusson in the Newsletter on the impact of a year of lockdowns.

Palm Sunday Service.  The Benefice Palm Sunday service will be held tomorrow in the churchyard of St Andrew’s church at 10.15am.

Easter Morning Holy Communion.  The Easter Morning Holy Communion service will be held at St Mary at 9.30am.  All are welcome.

Local Villages Newsletter.  I have also included a copy of the April 2021 edition of the local villages newsletter.  (Richard makes another appearance there as well!)

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,

Newsletter. Please find attached this week’s Benefice Newsletter and associated documents.  I would draw your attention to the article on the National Day of Reflection on Tuesday 23^rd March.  The event is to mark the one year anniversary of the first lockdown and is intended to commemorate those that have died during the pandemic.  St Mary will be open for private prayer from 10am to 3pm and this will include a minute’s silence at Noon followed by ringing of the church bells.

Opening Up of St Mary.  Thank you to those who gently reminded me that Easter Sunday is 4^th April this year.  I got the date wrong in last week’s e-mail – sorry!  Just to repeat, however, our first public service in St Mary for three months will be Holy Communion on Easter Sunday 4^th April at 9.30am.  The church will also open up for private prayer on Wednesday 24^th March (in addition to the Day of reflection).

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

Take a look at the new Longcot Village Trust page to find out more about progress on the Community Hub project in St Mary’s. We are getting very close to starting work but we still need some help to raise the final sums.

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

Newsletter. Please find attached this week’s Benefice Newsletter and associated documents from Lucy. Richard Fergusson has written a lovely piece about Mothering Sunday, which is definitely worth a read.

Opening Up of Churches.  The plan is still for St Mary to be open for public worship from Sunday 4^th April with an Easter Day Holy Communion.  The church will now also be open every Wednesday for private prayer.  See the Newsletter for timings.

Mrs Sylvia Frankham – RIP.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to Sylvia’s funeral last Wednesday but especially to Norma and Richard.  It was a lovely service which was livestreamed and seen in various countries around the world.  It is still available to view on the Benefice Facebook page.

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

Church Grounds.  Many thanks to all those individuals who have been tidying up the flora and fauna in the churchyard.  It is really looking beautiful and well worth visiting whilst taking some lockdown exercise.

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

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

Opening Up of Churches.  You will see from the Newsletter that the Benefice is now beginning to open up our churches for both private prayer and public worship.  It will be a slow and cautious process, and we will endeavour to go at the pace that our congregations are comfortable with.  For St Mary that means we will open for private prayer between 10am and 3pm this coming Tuesday and from the following week it will be on Wednesday 17^th March for the next few months.  We will then open for public worship from Sunday 5^th April with Holy Communion for Easter Day.  I look forward to seeing you then!   Due to the forthcoming building work taking place in St Mary from the beginning of June, Norma and Paul are hoping to be able to lead services in St Mary for every Sunday in April and May.  This will depend upon the availability of both clergy and LLMs but I hope to be able to confirm this shortly.

Benefice Wardens’ Meeting.  A Benefice Wardens’ meeting was held last Wednesday evening by Zoom.  Norma has asked us all to consult with our congregations on two issues as we begin to open up our churches: first, what we have missed during the current lockdown (and what we haven’t); and, second, if it were possible to amend our Sunday service timings, is there a preference for a time for St Mary?   I would be grateful if anybody who wishes to make a comment could let me know by next weekend so we could discuss at the next PCC meeting.  Thank you.

Mrs Sylvia Frankham – RIP.  I am sure you will all wish to join me in offering condolences to the Frankham family on the death of Sylvia.  Her funeral will be streamed live and details are contained in the 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 documents from Lucy. I would draw your attention to an update on the lockdown as it effects the Benefice which Norma has written.

I have also included a copy of the March 2021 version of the local villages newsletter.

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,

My apologies for the delay in last week’s Newsletter being sent out – it got stuck in my outbox!

Anyway, please find attached this week’s Benefice Newsletter for Sunday and the associated documents. 

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

For information (and possibly action) – you should be aware that the trustees for the Longcot Village Trust (and in particular Keith Reid) have been hard at work preparing for the building work to take place in St Mary from the beginning of June.  The improvements to the church 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-fast 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.

We have already raised a sum of £150,000 but we would love for you to make a donation to help us reach the £190,000 we need to complete the project.  The Trust has now set up a GoFundMe page to try and raise the final £40,000. How about it?  Here is the link to the GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/c50aa054

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.

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