St Mary & St Giles
Not simply history!
This Parish Church is about more than what has gone before. We are a living community of faith and the central point of our common life is the Parish Mass at 9:30am every Sunday. Here the People of God, of every age and race, gather around the altar to celebrate Christ’s great Sacrifice on the Cross and his glorious Resurrection and Ascension. It is at the altar that we receive the fruits of his redemption in the Blessed Sacrament of his Body and Blood. In the strength of this spiritual food we are sent out to be Christ’s Body in the world today and to share in the continuing mission of Christ the Redeemer.
Christian Worship takes place in this building day by day. Here people of all ages are Baptised and Confirmed as members of Christ’s Body; here men and women come to be joined together in Christian Marriage; here the sinful come to receive God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation; here the Sick are Anointed; and here the dead are prayed for and commended to the mercy of Almighty God in the Funeral Rites of the Church.
As the People of God in this place we seek to live out our Christian Life to the full. We meet for fellowship in various groups and activities believing that our faith in Christ inspires all we do and say. We believe that we share in Christ’s continuing mission of redemption so that people may come to know his love and forgiveness for themselves and seek to worship Him in the fellowship of His Church.
The church is open every day (the west door is unlocked during daylight hours, monitored by a CCTV camera triggered by a movement sensor).
The Blessed Sacrament Chapel is particularly valued as a place of quiet prayer and reflection. Services are also held on weekdays (the Eucharist is usually celebrated daily, and the Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer are said in church, also daily) – details are given in the weekly Service Sheet and on the noticeboard outside the west door.
Close links are maintained with the St Mary & St Giles Church School, which attends a Eucharist or other act of worship in St Mary & St Giles on a termly basis. Parties from the church school and other local schools regularly visit the church as part of their work in fulfilment of the National Curriculum. The nave is regularly made available for concerts and exhibitions, and is used for coffee mornings and other social and fund-raising activities throughout the year, especially in the summer months.
Regular Sunday congregations average approximately 150, with congregations at major festivals exceeding 200.
Access for wheelchairs is available through the Parish Hall – please follow the path along the north side of the church. After Mass on Sundays tea and coffee are served at the back of the church providing an opportunity for fellowship with one another.