Confirmation Service with Bishop Tim

On Sunday 1 October, 12 candidates will be confirmed by Bishop Tim at St Mary’s Church. 

Everyone is welcome at this service! 

There will also be a livestream, which will be available on our YouTube channel during the service and afterwards:

 

The Rt Revd Dr Timothy Wambunya is an Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Oxford and leads the intercultural mission-resourcing hub at St Paul’s, Slough. Tim undertook his theological training at Oak Hill College and was ordained over 25 years ago in the London Diocese. He served his curacy in Southall, in a majority Asian congregation. 

After that, he was incumbent in Islington, North London, with a significant African Caribbean congregation. He was then a mission partner, serving as the Principal of Carlile College in Nairobi before being consecrated Bishop in the Anglican Church of Kenya. He returned to the UK three years ago.

Find out more about St Paul’s Slough here: www.stpaulsslough.org.uk

A new Rector’s Update about St Mary’s Festival

Please take a few minutes to watch Christoph’s update about St Mary’s Festival (Length: 6 minutes).

Download the flyer here…

Sign up to bake a cake here…

Interested in confirmation? Contact our church office…

GOOD CALL! Our sermon theme for August

GOOD CALL: Hearing from God and making good decisions

All through August we reflected on this theme in our Sunday services.

WIN PETE GREIG’S BOOK “HOW TO HEAR GOD” (deadline is 1 Sep 2023)…

 

6 August: Go for it. Click here for the service on YouTube…

13 August: Seek advice. Click here for the service on Youtube…

 

20 August: Divine GPS.

27 August: Grow in wisdom.

Ian Jennings on Prayer and Mission

Ian Jennings was an associate minister at Denham Parish Church for four years. After retiring in April 2023 he is occasionally recording a talk for us.
Here he is reflecting on one of our focus areas in our developing mission plan: the place of prayer in our mission.

Coronation Weekend at St Mary’s

 

Almighty and ever faithful God,
We pray for Charles at this time of coronation.
Grant him grace in times of challenge,
Hope in time of struggle,
Support in times of weakness,
And faith in times of doubt.
May he lead in mercy and understanding.
Grant the King knowledge of your presence
and enable him to be a witness to your love and power.
Grant him grace, peace and joy
as he fulfils the role that you have called him to.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Prayer by Fred Drummond, Scottish director and UK prayer director for the Evangelical Alliance UK

Thriving not just surviving

Jesus promises us life in all its fulness (in John 10.10) but often our reality seems to fall short. This Lent we are reflecting in our Sunday services on passages from Matthew’s Gospel, combined with Psalms to learn how we can thrive rather than just survive:

 

Sunday 26 February
Thriving, Not Just Surviving: Turn from Temptation
Mat 4.1-11 | Psalm 141.1-5,8-10

Sunday 5 March
Thriving, Not Just Surviving: Faith in the Healer
Mat 8.1-13 | Psalm 30

Sunday 12 March
Thriving, Not Just Surviving: Plain Priorities
Mat 8.18-22 | Prov. 3.1-8 NLT

(Sunday 19 March: Mothering Sunday. We are pausing the series)

Sunday 26 March
Thriving, Not Just Surviving: Calm in the Storm
Mat 8.23-27 | Psalm 34.1-8

 

 

Praying for our new prime minister


King Charles welcomes Mr Sunak at Buckingham Palace (Photo: PA)

THE Archbishop of Canterbury has asked people to pray for Rishi Sunak as he starts his term of office as Prime Minister.
Mr Sunak was chosen as the new leader of the Conservative Party on Monday afternoon, and became the new Prime Minister on Tuesday morning, when Liz Truss stood down after several weeks of financial and political turmoil.
After the announcement on Monday, Archbishop Justin Welby posted on Twitter: “At a time of great difficulty and uncertainty for this country, please join me in praying for Rishi Sunak as he takes on the responsibilities of leadership. May he, and all leaders of all parties, work across divides to bring unity and offer stability for those who need it most.”

Last Thursday, in a House of Lords debate on the cost of living, the Bishop of Oxford, Dr Steven Croft, exhorted whoever became Prime Minister to address child poverty as a priority.
“The well-being of the nation is now very fragile,” he said. “To the incoming Prime Minister, I say: ‘Please don’t make it worse. Do all you can to make it better. Don’t allow the costs of the economic downturn to be borne by children and the poorest. . . Blessed are those who consider the poor.”