St Mary's Church, Hertingfordbury
St Mary's Lane, Hertingfordbury SG14 2LE
No one belongs here more than you
Welcome to
St Mary's with
St John's
No one belongs here more than you.
Welcome and thank you for visiting our website.
Following the example of Jesus, and seeking to model the inclusive love of God, we welcome all people, whatever your status, wealth, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, age, health or mobility.
B
Blind Jesus by Alan Stewart
(No one belongs here more than you)
A few months ago, I was introduced to a lady called Celia Webster, a member of the Church of England Disability Group. For several years, Celia has had a vision for an image of the Last Supper where people of differing abilities are gathered at table with Jesus. Celia’s daughter was born with learning difficulties and as a family they have experienced first hand an intense feeling of not belonging inside or outside of church; of feeling rejected, invisible, misunderstood, vulnerable.
In conversation with Celia and with a friend Jonathan Evens, that vision evolved into this image.
It’s an image in charcoal which includes the central character of a visually impaired Jesus, surrounded by twelve people of differing ages, backgrounds and abilities, and an empty chair.
The idea is for the drawing to be nomadic, travelling from place to place, as a conversation piece or a meditation. We also hope to develop a resource for schools using wondering questions.
100 Limited edition signed prints are now available for you to purchase for £30. Proceeds will be divided between the charities Wave for Change and Mind. Please contact Rev Alan for details h.alanstewart1@gmail.com
Read a letter from Rev Alan in the latest edition of the Parish Magazine, here
News and Events
July/August 2022 edition of the Parish Magazine available now. Click here to read.
Forthcoming events
(full details in the magazine)
Friends of St Mary's: Concert by the early music group Sirinu -'Douce Dame Jolie' (see www.sarastowe.com for a flavour of the concert)
Friday 2 September at 7.30 pm.
Wine and soft drinks will be served.
Tickets £10 - contact Helen Bishop (email: thefobury@outlook.com)
Pet service:
Sunday 25 September - more details to follow
Harvest Festival:
Sunday 9 October - more details to follow
Friends of St Mary's
The Friends of St Mary's was launched at the Parish Breakfast on 30 April. Its aim is to raise funds to support the maintenance and repair of Hertingfordbury St Mary's church and grounds. For full details of events and membership see the Friends' page here and the Parish magazine here .
Electoral Roll
If you would like to be added to the Electoral Roll, you can download a form here.
Please return your completed form to our Electoral Roll officer, Elizabeth Dempster (elizabethdempster@hotmail.com)
St Mary's is now open for individual prayer from
10.00 am to 4 pm Monday to Sunday
Be part of St Mary's while at home
Even though you may not be able to attend a service at St Mary's in person, you can always be part of St Mary's at home. Go here for full details
Support us
We know that some people like to make a donation each week via the collection plate. For the times when that’s not possible, we have set up a text giving number. For details of how to give by text, click here.
Keep in touch
To be added to our mailing list and to receive Thought for the Day and invitations to services, contact Robin Bishop (contact details here).
To join our WhatsApp group, contact David Gorton (contact details here.
For our younger members
Storytime
You can find a storytime story told by Rev Alan here
Sele Messy Church
Storytelling and more from Tracy on Sele Messy Church's page on Facebook here.
Special Services
Services by Zoom
For full details of our regular Sunday online services, click here
We are using the Zoom platform for this, and it is quite straightforward. More information here.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Online and in-person Wednesdays 8pm
At St Andrew’s Church every first Wednesday.
On Zoom every other week.
For further details and Zoom codes please see St Andrew's website here
or contact the St Andrew's church office
Tel: 01992 504373 email: standrew.hertford@
Video of guided session available here
Breathe
Every first Saturday of the month, people from both our churches gather together for Breathe. Breathe is a chance to pray together about ourselves and our lives, our churches and our world. It is hoped that you will be able to use these prayers in the same way, by putting aside a time to pray, possibly on Saturday morning and perhaps with someone else. Find out more here
Our sister church, St Andrew's Hertford
Find out more about what's happening at St Andrew's on their website, www.hertfordstandrews.co.uk
Weekly Services
Sundays 9. 15 am
Holy Communion at St Mary's in church
All age services
A monthly, shorter, child-friendly, interactive communion service with songs, prayers and some new surprises. Next service:
27 March, Easter Sunday 17 April - 9.15 am at St Mary's
Sundays 10.30 am service via Zoom
For more details go to St Andrew's website here
Compline 7.00pm Sundays on Zoom
For more details go to St Andrew's website here
In peace we will lie down and sleep; for you alone, Lord, make us dwell in safety.
This short, spoken service takes its name from the Latin word for ‘completion’ and is intended to mark a quiet end to the day.
The words are available as both a PowerPoint here and Word document here and so, if you prefer, you can say the service at home.
