This morning our Eucharist at 10 am was celebrated by Father Stephen. The Gospel reading was from St John Chapter 17, and Father Stephen expanded on this in his sermon. This Chapter which is sometimes called Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, in which he prays to the Father for those who follow him after he has left this earth, all believers for all time.We are to be in the world, but not of the world, spiritual and faithful, and God will protect us from evil. A heartening message in such difficult times.

The Choir sang 'God is gone up' by Croft as the anthem. There was coffee after the service

Next week we will have a double celebration of Pentecost and also our Rogation walk. As we shall be walking around outside, do bring weatherproofing and sturdy footwear!!

Please put the concert by Chichester Voices on 2nd of July at 3:00 pm in your Diary, tickets available form Janet Harland!

Our new building is nearly finished!! Read more >

This Thursday evening at 7:30 we celebrated the Eucharist of the Ascension. On a beautiful early summer evening we were delighted to have in the congregation our newly confirmed young people, Jessica, Maggie, Ben and Hugo. Their confirmation by Bishop Mark took place on Tuesday evening.

We sang traditional Ascension tide hymns, and Father Stephen preached on the two descriptions of the Ascension from St Luke, pointing out that we now look forward to Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

We left Church while it was still light enjoying the beauty of early summer remembering that God loves us.

This Sunday morning our 10 am service was Mattins. It was also the 50th anniversary of Father Roger becoming a Deacon, quite an achievement! Father Stephen conducted the service and Father Roger preached. The Choir and Congregation sang the Venite (chant by J Turle), and the Benedictus, (chant by S Wesley) and Psalm 66. The Choir also sang the Te Deum in the setting in B Flat by CV Stanford . The Anthem was 'O for a closer walk with God' also by CV Stanford.
In his sermon, Father Roger, who produced an hour glass to ensure his sermon did not run over time, rather than speaking on the readings for today, he told us something of being a deacon and a priest. Starting in the Diocese of Portsmouth on Hayling Island, via the Dioceses of Guildford and St Asaph to mention but two, to his happy association with us at St Mary our Lady. It has been a long and fruitful ministry which we are delighted to be celebrating with Roger and Christina. Following the service we enjoyed a piece of cake and a glass of 'Fizz' and were able to present Father Roger and Christina with tokens of our appreciation, Many Congratulations to them both!

The flowers were beautiful after a wedding in church yesterday.



Father Stephen's sermon spoke of both the new testament and gospel readings. The first reading was about St Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Stoning was the usual form of execution at the time for the Israelites.  There were stones in abundance. Many crimes would result in stoning as the punishment. We probably all remember the poor woman being stoned for adultery (the man however got away with it). With stoning, it is impossible to say who threw the fatal stone. No one person bore the guilt.  Before his conversion on the road to Damascus, St Paul was a persecutor and after his conversion was almost stoned to death. He wrote extensively of love, the love of God in Christ Jesus. St Stephen and St Paul both faced hostility,  prayed for God to forgive their persecutors and had faith in the love of God.


The choir sang Mozart's "Ave verum corpus" as the anthem.

Dr Lesley is on holiday, so apologies for the lack of photographs.

The church looked beautiful as ever. As today is the first Sunday of the month it was a family service and the Sunday school took a lead in our worship today.

The gospel reading was about the Good Shepherd and the Sunday school expanded the theme. We were told that the area where Jesus preached was rocky and not very good for planting crops so sheep and goats were farmed. The life of a shepherd was very hard. He did not own the sheep but looked after them for someone else. If he lost one of his flock, he would have to pay for the lost sheep. It was a dangerous job as there were robbers and wild animals that would try to steal the sheep, usually at night. To try and protect the flock, the sheep were put into a fold, a circle of rocks with thorny and prickly shrubs on top. The only way in and out was through the “gate” (really a gap in the wall) and here the shepherd would stand guard. Often a few shepherds would band together for safety. If anyone or thing tried to get into the fold other than through the gate, they were up to no good. In the morning, the shepherd would call his flock, and the sheep knew his voice and would follow him out of the fold to graze. Jesus is our shepherd. We should know his voice and when he calls we should follow him. Some people stray but Jesus is aware of our problems. We should treat Jesus as the sheep treat the shepherd, as Jesus will lead us into eternal life. The intercessions were well read by a member of the Sunday school.

During communion, the choir sang, “The Lord is my Shepherd” by Howard Goodall, the junior choir taking the solo part.