- The Rectory
- Hadleigh Road
- Raydon
- Suffolk
- IP7 5LH
07947 737789
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Services in the 4 Marys Benefice
Please check our Facebook pages for any updates or email if you would
like to receive occasional updates by email.
Church Services for April 2024
Sunday, 7th April: 10am SSM
Morning Praise
2nd
Sunday of Easter 6.30pm Holton St Mary Evening Prayer
according
to the Book of Common Prayer
Sunday 14th April: 10am Higham Holy Communion
3rd Sunday of Easter Nicola
will talk about her experience of
travelling
to Kagera
6.30pm
Raydon Choral Evensong
Sunday, 21st April:
10am Holton Holy Communion
4th Sunday of Easter Nicola
will talk about her experience of
travelling to Kagera
Sunday 28th April:
10am Raydon Holy Communion
5th Sunday of Easter
9.30
for 10am: Stratford St Mary Family
Hour
(Parish Room)
Dates for your Diary
Sunday, 5th May is Rogation
Sunday and the speaker at our
10am service in Stratford will be Graham Miles, Lightwave
Rural Chaplain for Suffolk
This year the Archdeacons’’ Visitation with swearing
in of our
Churchwardens will take place during a service in Stoke-by-Nayland
on Thursday,
6th June at 7 for 7.30pm.
The Rev’d Canon Thomas Woodhouse, Deputy Priest-in-the-
Ordinary to HM the King and representing the Duchy of
Lancaster, Patron of Stratford St Mary, will be taking the service
on Sunday, 18th August in Stratford.
It’s the season of colds and coughs ….
If you have a cold, a cough, a sore throat or you feel in any way unwell, please be sensible and stay in the warm until you are fully recovered. Some people are vulnerable because of underlying health conditions and they may be at risk if they catch any of the seasonal viruses which are doing the rounds. Thank you.
5th Sundays in the Benefice
In 2024 the 5th Sundays fall on 31st March (Easter Day), 30th June, 29th September & 29th December and we will be meeting in our churches around the benefice. Details to follow!
Benefice Churches Open
All the churches in our benefice are open for visiting every day during daylight hours.
Family Hour in Stratford St Mary at 10am, April
This month we will be meeting on 28th April. Our usual breakfast of bacon rolls etc will be served from 9.30 am. Do join us for our informal half-hour service, bible story and kids craft activity. We very much look forward to seeing you.
The Family Hour Team
Benefice Bible Study / House Group
The House Group will not meet in March during Holy week, when there will be daily services available. The group will resume next month at 2.30pm on Thursday 25th April at the home of Mrs Judith Shanks, 34 Strickmere, Stratford St Mary.
Please make a note of
the future dates, which will be as follows:
23rd May, 27th June & 25th July 2024.
We will
not be meeting in August but will resume again on the
26th September.
April Prayer pointers for the Benefice
We pray for all those who are
ill, in pain or in any way unwell, for those personally known to us and also
for: Nicky Bull, Steve Meech, James Stock, Daphne Horrex, Amanda Berry, Penny
Watkins, Rev’d Terry Wells and Ernie Eagle.
Prayer for HM The King and the Royal Family
We
pray for those whose needs we know and for those whose needs are known to God
alone.
We remember all those who have died, among them Annie Marshall and Ann Gilder.
May they rest in peace and rise in glory. And we pray for all who are nearing
the end of the earthly journey and those who watch and wait with them. We hold
those who mourn in our prayers. May they be held in God’s love and comforted in
their grief.
Prayers for the Easter Season
May the glory and the
promise of this joyous time of year
bring peace and happiness to you
and those you hold most dear.
And may Christ, Our Risen Saviour,
always be there by your side
to bless you most abundantly
and be your loving guide.
Author Unknown
Lord God,
may we proclaim with joy
your message of hope for the world;
may our lives, as well as our worship,
testify to the truth of the Resurrection;
and broaden our vision of what is possible
through new life in you. Amen.
Susan Sayers
SUNDAY SERVICES
What kind of services?
The 10 a.m. service is usually Common Worship Holy Communion, but we sometimes have baptisms or other events during that service. Every other month the service in Stratford St. Mary is a Morning Praise service.
The evening service in the Benefice may be Choral Evensong, a said Book of Common Prayer Evening Prayer with a short sermon or a contemporary reflective Sacred Space. Follow us on Facebook for the latest updates.
10 a.m. and 5 p.m. (October-March) or 6.30 p.m. (April-September) services rotate around the parishes. In principle, the pattern is as follows (but please note that the schedule may vary - especially in December - depending on special events, so please check individual dates):
1st Sunday 10am Stratford St Mary (SSM)
2nd Sunday 10am Higham
3rd Sunday 10am Holton St Mary
4th Sunday 10am Raydon + SSM Family Hour with refreshments and activities for children in the Parish Room (green building in the middle of the village).
Donation of new hymn books
Boxing Day 1903. My maternal Great-Grandparents married here in St. Mary’s Church, Raydon. They settled down in the village and welcomed three daughters, the third of whom was my Grandma. They moved to Polsted where three sons and another daughter were born. Two of my Grandma’s brothers went on to farm locally and all but my Grandma settled in Kersey, Polsted and Stoke-by-Nayland. My Grandma married an area rep for Dewhurst’s butchers so they moved a few times, eventually settling in Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire where my Mum and her older brother, my Uncle Gerry grew up.
Both had piano lessons and played to a high standard. Then my Uncle discovered the church organ. There was no going back and he became a church organist, not chickening out of playing the pedals as I do but doing a proper job. He played for many years including when the family moved to Little Clacton in the early 60s. Gerry always supported my music making particularly when I started playing the organ at my parent’s church at the age of 15. He also made sure I had a piano when I left home as I studied for my music degree. Fast forward to 2017 and John and I find ourselves living in Raydon. I’d come back to my roots and have the privilege of being a part of the Benefice Music Team.
After many years of poor health, he went on to play for the congregation in Heaven and I was determined to do something in his memory. Manette, Ali, Martin and I had discussed the possibility of new hymn books to include Ancient and Modern hymns and worship songs and so it went on the wish list at the PCC meeting. That then gave me the idea to donate a set in his memory to the church where it all began 120 years ago and here we are today as they are dedicated. I know he would have approved!
Trudi Bishop
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