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: Rev'd Manette Crossman
Tel. 07947 737789
Email: Rev'd Manette
Lay Elder: Sandy Ranson
Tel 01206 322156
Email: Sandy Ranson
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 it doesn’t matter whether you are a regular or occasional churchgoer or don’t really go to church at all. If you live in the benefice or have links to one of the villages, we are here to help you with the occasional offices of Weddings, Baptisms and Funerals. Please get in touch with Rev’d Manette or with one of church wardens if we can help in any way.
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 ask for their permission first), please let Rev’d Manette know..
For Home Communion, please get in touch with Rev’d Manette who will be able 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 Simon
Tennent
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
Lay Agricultural Chaplain
We are a benefice of four rural villages with farming communities. In Suffolk, we are fortunate to have the support of a Lay Agricultural Chaplain. Graham Miles who can be contacted 24/7 on
Tel. 07413 683368 or email graham.miles@cofesuffolk.org
- The Rectory
- Hadleigh Road
- Raydon
- Suffolk
- IP7 5LH
07947 737789
Email Us