St. Mary's Church Macmillan Coffee Morning
24th September 2016

The ladies of St.Mary's Church, Ramsden Bellhouse took part in the 'Biggest Coffee Morning in the World' in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

The weather was kind enough to allow people to sit outside in the Church garden and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee together with a selection of delicious cakes including Joan Wright's beautiful madeleines. Over £300 was raised for the Charity.

Thank you to all those ladies who made cakes and provided the teas and coffees, as well as those who supported this worthwhile cause.

This is Macmillan's biggest fundraising event, where people across the UK are asked to hold a coffee morning and raise money for people living with cancer.  St. Mary's Church were pleased to be a part of it.

St. Mary's Flower Festival, Songs of Praise
and Big Band Concert
27th to 29th August 2016

Over the bank holiday weekend St Mary's Church held its annual Flower Festival.

The Festival weekend started on a high note with a concert by the Sid Bolan Big Band –  held this time in the Church grounds on a beatiful hot evening. Some 80 people attended, bringing their own picnics and many compliments were made on the entertainment provided by the Band and the Vocalist. The concert raised £706.

The Church was alive with beautiful colours and arrangements.   Our thanks go to the talented and creative people who made them.

On Sunday, the weather was not so kind, bringing strong winds in the afternoon.  It was therefore decided to hold the 'Songs of Praise' service in the Church, the first time in many years that this has happened. Fortunately, Monday was a lovely sunny day again.

This year the weather was good, but the attendance poor, which naturally affected the takings, the total being £2,234, £700 down on last year. This was made up by the profit on the Concert, but that was meant to be an extra fund raiser.

Grateful thanks to the many people who assisted in running the event, including erecting the tents, manning the stalls and providing and serving the refreshments and, of course, to our visitors who came along and made it all worthwhile.

To see the Flower Show photo gallery pictures, click here.

Click here to see more about St. Mary's Church.

Southend Vox Choir
Saturday 21st May 2016

On a rather chilly, but dry, evening St. Mary's Church once again resounded with the lovely voices
of the Southend Vox Choir.

The concert opened with a very unique version of the
Lennon & McCartney song "Let it be" which would certainly
have met with the approval of the composers.  The show continued with both modern and classical numbers, including
the very amusing "The invention of Printing" by Bob Chilcott.

During the interval a cheese and wine buffet was served from a marquee in the Church grounds and the evening concluded with a beautiful version of "May the road rise up to meet you
(Irish Blessing)", a beautiful song, beautifully sung and a very fitting end to a lovely evening.

The evening raised over £500 for St. Mary's Church funds. Thank you to all those who came along and supported the Church.

Quiz Night
15th April 2016

Our Quiz Night on 15th April was an outstanding success, attracting 12 teams.

The Quiz was run by Angela and Steve Tuff and was not too difficultso as to discourage the lower order teams.  The winners were the Church team comprising Stephen, Jean and Robert Andrews, Bernie, Suzy and Alan Pegrum, beating Billericay by just two points.

The event raised £582 for Church funds after paying the rent of the Village Hall. Many thanks to all who supported this event in any way.

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Women's World Day of Prayer Service
Friday 4th March 2016

"Receive Children. Receive me"
Our service was held at the Baptist Church, Ramsden Bellhouse at 11.30am.

Men, women and young people of all denominations all are welcome

This year the Women’s World Day of Prayer was written by the women of Cuba and entitled 'Receive Children. Receive me.’

Three children from Downham school were invited to take part in the service - and they read their parts beautifully, including wishing us Buenos Dias (good morning in Cuban), and leading us in some of the prayers from the service sheet as well as those they had written.

They had brought with them the brightly coloured 'prayer parrots’ they had made on which their prayers, and those of others, were written.  Some of these were later displayed in St Margaret’s church for others to see and enjoy.

Terry and Tony gave an inspiring dialogue with an accompanying Powerpoint presentation displayed on a screen.  We also learned some lovely new worship songs as well as spending time in friendship and fellowship together over a delicious lunch.

A very big thank you for all who contributed to the event in any way, especially for the contribution by the children and those who prepared the lunch for us.

For further information and resources please see the WWDP website: www.wwdp.org.uk