Sarah and Christine are leading this informal musical service once more this Sunday (17th June) at 6.30 in St Mary’s.
Freespace – a new service for occasional Sunday evenings
News & Events
Semi-Toned Concert – Saturday 9th June
‘Semi-Toned’ BBC2’s the Choir; Best in Britain; £10 7pm.
Exeter University’s award-winning, all-male a cappella group won BBC2’s competition in 2016, “The Choir: Gareth’s Best in Britain”. They have gone on to tour in the U.S.A. so we’re fortunate that they are coming to St Mary’s, Ross-on-Wye.
Tickets are available here.
Day of Prayer
St Mary’s welcomes you to an informal day of prayer where prayer stations will be available to help and inspire you to pray for our church, our town, our nation and beyond.
Join us on Saturday, 19th May, anytime from 9am until 5pm when we will end with a short time of prayer together
Brampton Abbotts Open Gardens
Five delightful gardens with varied terrains in the Wye Valley AONB are waiting to be explored in Brampton Abbotts on Saturday 2nd June.
The Gardens are open, to support St. Michael’s Hospice in their valuable work, between 12 and 5pm and the PCC is involved.
Tickets are £5 (children under 12 free) and provide entry to all five gardens, one of which will have refreshments and others plants for sale.
Signed parking is available beside the church, the village hall and at Townsend Farm, alternatively you may wish to walk across the fields from Ross via Netherton.
Open Gardens – Thanks
Thanks to all who came along this afternoon to make our Open Garden such a success. Special thanks though to Leah, Margaret, Margaret and Tina who served all the tea and cake. Thank you, too, to all who provided the yummy cake.
Together we raised £550 for St Mary’s.
Walford Open Gardens – Sunday 10th June
Walford is excited to announce the upcoming Summer Open Gardens to be held on Sunday 10th June. The gardens will open at 10am with Castle Brook selling brunch bacon and asparagus rolls. Other destination will take you on a horticultural tour of Howle Hill, Bull’s Hill, Coughton and Hom Green, closing at 4pm.
The cost of a ticket is £6 per adult and children are free. There will be something a little extra at each of the gardens to keep all the family entertained. This is a unique opportunity to see inside the most interesting “secret” gardens that Walford has to offer as well as views of our surrounding countryside that you’ll never before have been afforded.
All money raised will go towards the upkeep of our beautiful church. If you able to offer any help on the day such as manning gates or assisting with parking, please do get in touch with Sanna Drummond. We look forward to seeing you on what promises to be a glorious day!
St Mary’s wrestles with the big issues
As part of it’s ‘Just Church’ series of services, St Mary’s church will this Sunday welcome Professor Adrian Kendry, visiting Professor of Economics and Security, The University of Winchester.
Professor Kendry’s talk, entitled ‘Social Justice and the Challenges from Economic Inequality, Artificial Intelligence and the Creation of a Sharing Society’, will highlight some of the greatest concerns of our age and encourage a look at the part society and the church can play in addressing and rebalancing them.
Just Church is on at 6.30pm, Sunday 29th April. All are welcome.
Open Garden & Afternoon Tea
Come along and enjoy an afternoon in a spring garden at Juniper Cottage, Bridstow on Sunday 6th May between 2.00 and 5.00 pm. There will be delicious tea and cake.
Entry fee is £5, that includes your tea. All proceeds to St Mary’s Church.
If you’re able to park at Bridstow School that would be great.
We need your help
Ross and Brampton Abbotts churches are jointly organising an exciting auction of promises that will take place on Saturday 7th July at 7.30 p.m. in St Mary’s.
We’d like your help to gather in as many exciting promises or lots as possible. Please think about what you might be able to provide.
If you are a business or organisation, in or around the area, could you ofeer us something to sell.
You can make a promise or donate an item now by completing a simple form
You’ll find much more detail at rawchurch.org.uk/auction. Please help us to make this major fundraising event a fantastic success.
Come and have a cup of coffee with us tomorrow morning.
St Mary’s Choir will be serving coffee and delicious cake tomorrow morning in St Mary’s Hall, Ross-onWye. Come along between 10.30 and 12.00 to enjoy a little snack and delightful company. Share this with all your friends!
Coffee Morning – moved to next week
We hope you agree that moving tomorrow’s Coffee Morning to next Saturday is a good idea.
Keep warm and we look forward to seeig you all next Saturday (10th March) between 10.30 and 12.00 in St Mary’s Hall for a delicious cup of coffee and some yummy cake.
Lent Groups 2018
This year we have an exciting new study entitled ‘Walking towards Glory’, as we walk in the footsteps of Jesus to the Cross on a personal journey of faith.
The course is being held throughout the Benefice beginning on 19 February as follows:
- Mondays at 7.30 pm in Ross at the homes of Pauline & Colin Leggate, Paul & Margaret Mason and Margaret Clark.
- Tuesdays at 7.30 pm in Walford at Walford Vicarage.
- Tuesdays at 10.30 am in Brampton Abbotts at Brampton Abbotts Vicarage.
Please contact Canon Chris Blanchard to join a group and for details about the venues.
Come & Sing a Victorian Evensong
Come and join the choir on Sunday 25th February. It’s free of charge and we’ll give you afternoon tea. All music will be provided. BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE You’ll find more information on the music website
Licensing of Christine as our Intergenerational Missioner
The Bishop of Hereford will licence Christine Cattanach as our Intergenerational missioner at the 9.30am service at St Mary’s, Ross on Sunday 11th February. This will be a very special event and it would be super if as many people as possible can attend.
St Mary’s History
St Mary’s History – The church history in the white folder at the back of St Mary’s, offered as a consultative guide for visitors, has been updated to reflect recent changes in the building. This document was originally put together by John Tarrant in the 1990s drawing on material from a variety of sources. You may like to know that you can find this on the website on the St Mary’s Church page. It remains a “work in progress” and will continue to be updated.
Grab a Pew … going fast
We hope that we will be pressing on with the removal of the remaining pews by the end of the year. There has been considerable interest in homing the pews (8 already reserved). If you’d like one, or know of anyone interested it would be worth having a word with Mark Sanderson before too long to avoid disappointment. They are being sold for £150 each. You’ll find much more information on the reordering website
Our new nave altar is in place
It’s great news that our new nave altar has arrived in time for Christmas and at the same time as phase one of the reordering is complete.
This is a specially commissioned piece of furniture, crafted by Timothy Hawkins (Fine Furniture Ltd in Hereford. It has been given by two generous members of our congregation.
The new altar replaces a temporary one from the 1980s! It has been made in light oak and therefore matches the new flooring, chairs, screens and oak panelling of the new building work elsewhere in the church. It has a completely open design so that now it is possible to see beyond it to the chancel.
St Mary’s is deeply grateful for this wonderful gift. Another step in the regeneration of our building and community.
Candle lit Carol Service – Tomorrow at St Mary’s – 4.00
The annual and popular candlelit carol service takes place at St St Mary’s on Sunday 17th December 2017. Come early for a good seat!
New intergenerational worker for St Mary’s
We are delighted to announce we have appointed Christine Cattanach as our Intergenerational Missioner.
Christine comes to us with a wide experience of helping to lead churches and to organise worship in a contemporary style. Christine is a lay person and will have special responsibility for the formation of new congregations in Ross. She will connect with young families and we are hoping that this will result in the involvement of younger people in the church in Ross.
She will of course be an asset to the whole benefice and the opportunities which are created by her work will be open to parishioners of Walford and Brampton Abbotts.
Christine will start with us on 2nd January.
Christe Salve Replacement CDs
A number of people have mentioned that their copy of this Christmas CD, recorded by St Mary’s choir in 2002, is no longer working. We’re flattered you’re still listening!
We’ve made some replacement copies that you’ll find at the back of St Mary’s; please help yourself.
If you weren’t around then and would like a copy, again please help yourself. If you feel able to make a donation via the donations safe by the north door that would be lovely.
Alternatively you’ll find many of the tracks on our music website
