St Mary's Church
Fairford

The Cotswold Churches Festival

This was a major new event in the church Calendar. The aim of the Festival is to have every church in the Dioceses of Gloucester and Oxford open to visitors. We at St Mary’s are used to our church being open daily but many churches, particularly in rural areas, are not. The idea was to have all churches open for all or some of the week 14 - 22 May and to stage something as a focus for visitors, eg a Flower Festival, concert, art display etc.

St Mary's held 7 free, expertly guided tours of the windows, between 14 May and 20th May which were well attended.

Summer Lunch 24th July

It was another great day in St Mary’s community, where a good time was had by all. The net profit for the day was £958.52!!

A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped.

Deanery Youth Activities

In April there was a Deanery Youth residential at the Wilderness.

On Sat 1st Oct 2011 as temperatures soared to an all-time October high, 32 young people from all across the deanery took to the waters of the South Cerney Outdoor Education Centre lake for a day of fun and adventure! Youth gathered from various deanery clubs (including 2 school lunchtime clubs) run by Deanery Youth Worker, Chris Saunders. Although many didn’t know each other well in advance, there was a great bonding as we undertook the various challenges with the trained instructors. Whether it was trying to hit the bull’s eye at archery, attempting to stay in a canoe without capsizing or hurtling down the fearsome slide in a kayak, fun was had by all! Tired at the end of an action-packed day, many were excitedly discussing the highlights of an enjoyable day and looking forward to the next deanery residential in April 2012.

For further details of this event and any of our other deanery youth activities, please contact Chris Saunders by email or on (01452) 301042.

Babs & Beck’s Bangers and Mash and Bingo Bonanza!!

Friday 25th November was a successful night eating a scrumptious meal and playing Bingo. A good night out was had by all.

St Mary’s Under the Microscope

Members of the Northleach Church Recorders Group are compiling a record of all the church contents. The group are part of Northleach NADFAS, National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies, a national organisation which is recording the contents of the Nation’s parish churches.

A NADFAS recording contains a detailed description of each item; a photo or a drawing, a description of the article together with a translation of any inscription, the date, the measurements, the material from which it is made, the artist or sculptor, the history and the donor. Woodwork, metalwork, glass, stonework, memorials, paintings, textiles, library (including the records held at Gloucester), and miscellaneous items are all included.

There is still a great deal of recording to do which may well take another couple of years. Fairford has so many fine things – particularly the woodwork and the windows. A copy of the record will be presented to the church when all is complete.

Charities supported over the Year

January: The Bible Lands Trust
February: Church Mission Society
March: The Elizabeth Foundation
April: Jerusalem and Middle East Churches
May: The Bible Society
June: Bishop of Tewkesbury Bangalore Appeal
July: Mission to Seafarers
August: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
September: Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution
October: Army Benevolent Fund
November: Helen House
December:
9 Lessons & Carols: The Children’s Society
Crib Service: CRISIS

News December 2011
News November 2011
News October 2011
News September 2011
News August 2011
News July 2011
News June 2011
News May 2011
News April 2011
News March 2011
News February 2011
News January 2011

Special Team Ministry Service

On Sunday 15 May there was a very special service, led by the Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt. Rev’d Michael Perham to celebrate the development of the Team Ministry over the last two years and to introduce a team name and identity that unites all 22 churches (see below) of the Team.

Churches of the Team:
Ampney Crucis, Ampney St Mary, Ampney St Peter, Barnsley, Bibury, Castle Eaton, Coln St Aldwyn, Down Ampney, Driffield, Eastleach, Fairford, Harnhill, Hatherop, Kempsford, Lechlade, Marston Meysey, Meysey Hampton, Poulton, Quenington, Southrop, Whelford, Winson.

Click here for more details.

The Bible in Flowers

A Celebration of the 400th Anniversary
of the King James Bible
26th to 29th August 2011

Once again Heather Gorton and her team excelled themselves with the floral arrangements based on scenes from the King James Bible.

The St Mary's Café team, led by Barbara and Becky, provided scrumptious food.

Visitors came from far and wide to see the Flower Festival, then the Café fed and watered them - and sold ALL the raffle tickets to boot! The totals taken were as follows:
Grand Draw    £1,344.81
St Mary’s Café    £1,356.80
Bible in Flowers Donations   £1,131.20
Total    £3,832.81

A big thank you to everyone involved in the fund raising event. Click here for Photos of the floral displays.

The Christmas Coffee Morning
& Christmas Draw

This event, held on December 10th, was a great success - the net profit was in the region of £1,500! A big thank you to everyone who helped, not least all those who bought tickets, donated items for the Bring and Buy stall etc, served drinks and provided lush cakes and brownies or came along on the day to partake of all this.

A big thank you too for the donations. Our local businesses are very good at supporting St Mary’s, many of them by advertising in the Parish Magazine, but also by providing prizes for the Draw. So, please support them!

• Andrew Butler - meat voucher
• The Bull - Sunday lunch for 2
• Fairford Opticians - £50 voucher
• Londis - champagne
• Park Close Stores - fruit basket

In addition, anonymous donors gave cash for prizes and for the cost of printing the Draw tickets.

And of course, a huge thank you to Jo Williams who planned it all.