What three words would you use to describe St Mary's? We asked everyone who was in church over a couple of weeks and we had a range of suggestions. Some of the phrases include: tucked away, my Holy place, full of hope, it gets my here (my heart), my second home, steeped in prayer, and place of love.Adjectives included: prayer, love, loving, lovely, spiritual, welcoming, traditional, ancient, enchanting, friendly, historic, beautiful, faithful, calm, atmospheric, uplifting, transforming, and Godly.Visit us and let us know what three words you would use.
We took part in the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch – both in our church grounds and in our own gardens. Taking part in activities like this helps us to see God’s beauty in creation, gives us time of silence and helps us to steward God’s world. We love it, even though it can be very chilly this time of year.We decided to count at sunset. The weather was sunny. The sun setting made it a challenge to identify the birds, as did the distance and the fact that the Holly Trees hid quite a lot! We saw the same number of species as last year, six, but more birds in total. Listening to the birds in such a beautiful setting is such a pleasure and joy. I hope you are able to come and experience it at some point.
We had our Christingle service today, learning about the symbolism involved in the Christingle and we learnt that some people only put fruits or sweets on three of the sticks as the empty fourth one reminds us of the areas in the world that don't have enough food.If you missed it and would like to go to one, the other Billericay churches in our parish have services on the 24th: Christ Church at 3, 4:15 and 5:30pm. Emmanuel from 5pm and St John's start at 3:30.
