Who are we?
Our Benefice consists of the four small rural parishes of Higham, Holton St Mary, Raydon and Stratford St Mary, on the south-eastern Suffolk/Essex border, in beautiful Constable country, bounded by the rivers Stour and Brett. We are in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, and in the Deanery of Hadleigh.
Each church maintains its own unique, historic identity within its own village, and its PCC and finances are dealt with separately from the other churches. But we are more and more functioning as one worshipping community, with our worship rota containing one morning and one evening service a month for each church. Please see our Services page for where the services are held month by month.
Our challenge, our mission, and our vision is:
'Telling the story. Inviting others. Blessing the world.'
Please explore the pages on our churches our services and our events, and join us whenever you can. Visitors of all ages will be given a warm welcome at any of our services and events.
Please see the information under 'Services' for all the details of services.
You can also find the 4-Mary's Benefice on Facebook.
Rector: The Benefice is currently in a vacancy - for any enquiries please contact the church wardens (contact information is provided later on this page).
Lay Elder: Currently pending
Your Parish Churches are here for you. If you have recently moved into one of the villages, do get in touch. We would love to meet you, and itdoesn’t matter whether you are a regular or occasional churchgoer ordon’t really attend church. If you live in the benefice or have links to oneof the villages, we are here to help you with Weddings, Baptisms or Funerals. Please get in touch with one of church wardens if you would like more information.
We have an active prayer ministry in our benefice. If you would like us to pray for you or for someone you know, or if you would like to add someone to our prayer list (do check with them first), please let Sandy Ranson know.
For
Home Communion, please get in touch with Christine Cousins who will be happy to
arrange this for you.
Regular updates about what is going on in our parishes can be found on the Benefice Facebook Page.
Churchwardens
Higham
Churchwarden Hugo
Parker
Tel: 01206 337234
Assistant
warden Martyn Carr
Holton
Churchwarden Richard
Noel
Tel: 01206 298276
Churchwarden
Paul Torrington
Tel: 01473 312046
Raydon
Churchwarden Geoff
Horrex
Tel: 07810 086143
Assistant warden – currently vacant
Tel: 01473 310320
Stratford
Churchwarden Sandy
Ranson
Tel: 01206 322156
Assistant
warden Christine Cousins
Tel: 01206 322530
Benefice
Safeguarding Officer
Martin O’Brien
Tel. 07964 543718
Email: Martin O'Brien
- The Churchwardens, St Mary's Benefice
- See the About Us tab for contact information