Services and Worship at St Mary's Church

Please find below our current service times.

Special and seasonal services will be published as necessary.

5th Sunday after Trinity

5th July 2026

Collect

Almighty and everlasting God,

by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified:

hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,

that in their vocation and ministry

they may serve you in holiness and truth

to the glory of your name;

through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

or

Almighty God,

send down upon your Church

the riches of your Spirit,

and kindle in all who minister the gospel

your countless gifts of grace;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Zechariah 9.9-12

 9   Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!

    Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you;

    triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey,

    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

 10   He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

    and the warhorse from Jerusalem; and the battle-bow shall be cut off,

    and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea,

    and from the River to the ends of the earth. 

 11   As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,

    I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

 12   Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;

    today I declare that I will restore to you double.

Romans 7.15–25a

 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good.

 17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

 18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.

 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.

 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand.

 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self,

 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin. 

Matthew 11.16–19, 25–end

16 But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another,

 17  We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

   we wailed, and you did not mourn.

 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon;

 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners! Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.

25  At that time Jesus said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;

 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

28 Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Post Communion

Grant, O Lord, we beseech you,

that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by your governance,

that your Church may joyfully serve you in all godly quietness;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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6th Sunday after Trinity

12th July 2026

Collect

Merciful God,

you have prepared for those who love you

such good things as pass our understanding:

pour into our hearts such love toward you

that we, loving you in all things and above all things,

may obtain your promises,

which exceed all that we can desire;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

or

Creator God,

you made us all in your image:

may we discern you in all that we see,

and serve you in all that we do;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Isaiah 55.10-13

 10   For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

    and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout,

    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

 11   so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

    it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

    and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 

 12   For you shall go out in joy,

    and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you

    shall burst into song,

    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

 13   Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;

    instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord  for a memorial,

    for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. 

Romans 8.1–11

8  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

 4 so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to Gods law-indeed it cannot,

 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

 10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Matthew 13.1–9, 18–23

13  That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake.

 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.

 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: Listen! A sower went out to sow.

 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.

 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.

 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.

 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.

 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

 9 Let anyone with ears listen!

18  Hear then the parable of the sower.

 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path.

 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

 21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.

 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.

 23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.

Post Communion

God of our pilgrimage,

you have led us to the living water:

refresh and sustain us

as we go forward on our journey,

in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Shared from the Lectionary app. Material subject to copyright. Please visit the About this App page for further information.

What is Prayer Space?

On the 1st Saturday of each month during vacancy, between 10am -12 noon we simply open the church doors and invite people in. Tea and coffee are available. There's no service, so visitors can use the 'space' for a time of prayer and reflection, while others may enjoy exploring the building. We also play gentle music to add to the atmosphere. This 'Space' is for you, a place of peace and tranquillity. 

Daily Prayer: 

for each and every day

Join the Church in prayer. Here you will find the CoE services of Morning, Evening Prayer and Compline. Then services include the daily readings and audio versions can be played. Just click the link below.

https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/join-us-service-daily-prayer

The Prayer Chain: 

let us carry your prayer

In addition to the prayer offered at our services, St Marys offers a prayer chain. The links in the chain are individual members of our church, who will pray in turn for people or situations. Knowing that others are praying with you and for you, can be an important support in times of difficulty, or uncertainty, or after a bereavement. We can, of course, also pray alongside you in times of thanksgiving. You can request prayer for yourself, for a friend or relative, or for a situation. The prayer is quite separate from our public prayers or notice sheet and will be held in confidence, shared only with members of the chain.

The prayer chain is led by our licensed lay minister. Request for prayer can be made by speaking to her before or after a service, via the Prayer Chain box at the back of church, or by telephoning our Parish Office on 0191 488 1553 .