Contact Details
St Mary's Church, Church Lane, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, LN9 5HWTel. 01507 525 600
Horncastle
Coronavirus
We are very pleased to share with you that our beautiful Church is to re-open on Monday 15th June for private prayer and reflection between the hours of 10am and 4pm, Monday to Sunday.
As you can see from our photographs, Revd Charles and our Churchwardens have undertaken a risk assessment and have looked at the guidance for the health related cleaning of the church.
In order to maintain social distancing within the church, we are encouraging people to sit in the open chancel area at the top end of the church for prayer where there will be half a dozen chairs spread out and the chairs will be cleaned on a regular basis.
Also, for the purposes of track & trace, we will be inviting people to safely leave their name and a means of contact on a form near the door.
Sanitisers will be provided for people to use as they enter the building.
Until further notice, we continue to suspend all gatherings including home groups, alpha courses and public worship services at all of our churches within the Southwold's Partnership.
This is a turbulent time for us as both as a nation and individuals. It is our prayer that in the midst of this we will find our hope and strength in Christ and be channels of care and compassion to those around us.
For further information, please click on this link to view the statement from the Church of England.
https://www.churchofengland.org/…/archbishops-call-church-e…
Rev'd Charles is currently producing a weekly bulletin to keep everyone updated, offer prayers and resources to sustain us in our faith.
If you would like to receive a copy of this by email or know of anyone who would like a copy, then please let us know at: southwoldsgroup@btinternet.com
In addition, you can join us remotely on Zoom for our weekly Sunday morning service at 10am. If you
want to partake please email us at the above address so that we can send you the details of how to log on.
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SAFEGUARDING
Most of the time at church we are like a big happy family. However, even in very happy families, people can have a bad day and even people we know and trust can upset us. We want to help everyone have good days all of the time. We try to make sure that people who have jobs in the church always behave well and in a way that is helpful to you. We never want anyone or anything in church to frighten you, confuse you or worry you. It is important that you tell us if something is upsetting you or if you are feeling worried about something that's happening or something somebody is doing. We have specially trained people who you can talk to and who you can ask for help. Those people are good at safeguarding. This means they look after everyone's safety. Caring for people is a very important part of our Christian life.
The people who can help you are the parish priest or the parish safeguarding office. You can contact the safeguarding officer, Marilyn Hieatt or Revd Canon Charles Patrick. If you wish to speak to someone outside the church you can contact the diocesan safeguarding team – their contact details are available here:
https://www.lincoln.anglican.org/safeguarding-overview
There is also information there about other places from where you can get help or advice.
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Welcome to St Mary's Church
As a town church, we take seriously our responsibility to provide spiritual worship to our community. We hold weekly Wednesday (CW) and Thursday (BCP) morning Communion services. On Sunday we hold a 10.00 a.m. Communion service, which attracts a congregation of between 70-105 people. House groups meet weekly and a men's group have recently met to explore their faith and some of them can be found in the local hostelries discussing not just the weather but issues around faith! On the fifth Sunday in the month a South Wolds Group Communion service is held which is a great opportunity for the Group to come together in worship.
On a monthly basis we have an early Communion Service, Wholeness and Healing Service and Rejoice Service.
The size of our congregations vary from 60-110 people at our Sunday Eucharistic in St Mary's Church Horncastle, and between 5 and 30 people at our two other Sunday village Group Eucharistic Services. We also provide a variety of Services of the Word for families and our special festival services of Harvest and Carols are particularly well attended.
St Mary's ecumenical links are with the Methodist Church for Palm Sunday and Remembrance Day. On a Saturday night our church is used by the local Roman Catholic community for Mass.
The town of Horncastle is a country market town of great charm. It was originally the Roman town of Banovallum and remains of the Roman wall can be seen within the local library. Situated on the banks of the Rivers Waring and Bain, the town contains many attractive buildings and is noted for its many antique shops. Horncastle is the central town that people from the villages of the South Wolds come for their shopping, education and amenities. It offers good shopping facilities; has a twice weekly market; a farmers' market once a month and every year hosts large Christmas and summer fairs.It has a full range of healthcare amenities, doctors, vets, opticians, and physiotherapists with easy access to the hospitals in Louth, Lincoln and Boston. It has a good range of schools with a large community primary school a secondary modern and grammar school and a residential/day school for children with special needs. Colleges of further education can be found in Boston and Lincoln, but there is a very good adult educational college in the town. There are a wide range of clubs available; a choral society, theatre group, brass band, dance school, uniformed groups, U3A, YFC, art clubs, as well as a full range of sporting facilities; swimming, tennis, gym, cricket, football, rugby, bowls and so on. Horncastle is a good place to live and many people who come here never want to leave.
We are known for our friendly hospitality. We see this as part of our ministry to our community. When visitors or new people arrive our Churchwardens and sidespeople ensure they are greeted and invited to join us for tea and coffee after the service. We are a very sociable Church and like nothing better than an opportunity to celebrate an occasion.
We open on a Thursday and Saturday morning (market days) for coffee in St Catherine's Room. Every Wednesday morning a group of us host Coffee Plus, an activity group for people with learning difficulties. We have a great team of Church Stewards who are knowledgeable about our church history. This ensures our church is open every day (11am until 3pm subject to steward availability) during the spring, summer and autumn months. We have between 1300 and 1600 visitors a year. Our visitor's book speaks for itself in terms of how great people think St Mary's Church is both as a building and a place of sanctuary and peace.
Our regular worship, which includes both young and old, is enhanced by our exceptionally talented musicians who play the piano and organ for our services. We are blessed indeed by a professional musician whose contribution to our church music is well known locally. We have a dedicated choir whose contribution to our communion services is appreciated and warmly received.
St Mary's has recently undergone extensive renovations and is now in an excellent state of repair.
The Friends of St Mary's are a strong and successful association that has worked tirelessly with the people and businesses of Horncastle to help keep the building in good order. We are keen to continue to develop the Church to be used as a community building as well as an inspirational worship space. The fund raising events of concerts by national and international acts are educational, uplifting and great fun.Please contact the church office on 01507 525600 if you require any further information.
Regular Services (SUSPENDED until further notice):
Sunday
8 00 am Holy Communion (BCP) on 1st Sunday of the month
10 00 am Holy Communion every week except 3rd Sunday when a Family Service is held
6 00 pm Rejoice (3rd Sunday alternating between St Mary's and Queen Street Methodist Church)
Wednesday
9 30 am Holy Communion or Celtic Eucharist (alternate weeks)
Thursday
10 00 am Holy Communion (BCP)
Churchwardens details can be found in the 'Who section'.
Church Opening Times
During the summer the church is normally open during daylight hours.
From November to Easter, the church is open to visitors during our normal office hours. However, we regret St Mary's will be open for private prayer ONLY during the current coronavirus restrictions. Opening times are 10 am - 4 pm daily.
Coffee/tea and biscuits are usually available on Thursdays from 10.30 until 11.15 am
and Saturdays from 10 am until 12 noon. However, this service is SUSPENDED until further notice.
Who's Who?
Our clergy serve all of the South Wolds Partnership. Our resident clergy are:
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Rev Canon Charles Patrick |
Rev Cilla Smith | |
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Churchwardens |
Michael Hieatt 01507 525071 |
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Administrator |
Debbie Knight 01507 525600 southwoldsgroup@btinternet.com |
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Verger |
Andrew Bunker |
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If you need to get in touch with any of the below, please contact the Parish Office initially, via the Administrator or Verger. | |
Town Church Committee | |
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Secretary |
Janet Ceillam |
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Treasurer |
Janet Leedham |
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Safeguarding |
Marilyn Hieatt |
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Buildings |
Michael Hieatt |
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Mission |
Rev Charles Patrick |
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Ministry |
Rev Cilla Smith |
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Children's |
Helen Woodhouse |
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Planned Giving Secretary |
Rev Charles Patrick |
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Electoral Roll |
Pam Crisp-Beard |
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Youth Group |
Ali Rhodes |
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Bellringers |
Don Hare |
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Bookstall |
Helen Marshall |
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Church Cleaning |
Verger |
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Flower Arranging |
Barbara Scholey |
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Magazine |
Jo Woodhouse |
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Mothers' Union |
Veta Jay |
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Pastoral Visits |
Marilyn Hieatt |
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House Groups
Children & Youth Work
Study Courses
Home Communions
Nursing Home Ministry
Lay Ministry Training
Mothers' Union
Coffee Plus
Pastoral Teas
Friends of St Mary's concerts & coffee mornings
Christmas Tree Festival
Arts & Music Festival
Open Churches Festival
Gospel Choir
100 Club
Rejoice
Prayer Breakfasts