Everyone is welcome.
Our door is ancient, beautiful and heavy so please push the latch down and give it a good shove. When you come into church you will be welcomed and given anything you need for the service. If you have any questions, please ask.
You can sit anywhere. There are two areas in the middle of the church with room for a buggy or wheelchair.
Children are welcome at all our services. Our Children’s page will tell you more.
Our Sunday services are usually between 45 and 75 minutes long and our Wednesday midday service is about 25 minutes long.
Toilets and baby changing facilities are available in the Mews (the small hall at the bottom of the steps, on the green).
Refreshments are served in the Mews after every morning service, please come and join us.
It is usually easy to park in the roads close to the church. There are also a few spaces around the green in front of the church including 2 disabled parking spaces.
There is a slope with long shallow steps leading up to the church. This has a hand rail on one side. This works well for pushchairs and buggies but is harder for wheelchairs. We are working on plans to build a proper disabled access up to church.
On the first 4 Sundays in the month the 9:30 AM service lasts between 45-70 minutes. This may be Holy Communion, Morning Prayer or a Family Service. When there is a 5th Sunday in a month, the service is at 10:30 and alternates between St Mary’s and St Peters, Little Budworth.
There is always something suitable for children. See our Children’s page for details.
There is a monthly pattern to services on the Children’s page but this can change, so it is best to check the calendar to be sure of the type of service on a particular day.
Evening services are held occasionally. See the calendar.
On Wednesdays at 12 noon we have a spoken Holy Communion service which lasts about 25 minutes. This follows the traditional Book of Common Prayer (BCP) service format.
There are special services such as Christmas, Easter, Harvest, Remembrance, Mothering Sunday and many more. For details of what is coming up look on the calendar and What’s Happening at St Mary’s.
Music at Saint Mary’s plays an important, dynamic part in the church’s worship.
St Mary’s has a small but well-maintained Victorian pipe organ and each week there is the chance to hear a wide range of solo organ music before, during, and after the service.
The music in services includes introits, anthems, psalms and a specially composed communion setting by the Director of Music.
St Mary’s has a mixed adult SATB choir which sings a wide range of music from plainsong to worship songs and rehearses weekly on Thursdays from 7:00pm to 8:00pm during term time. For special occasions, such as Christmas and Easter, an enlarged choir known as St Mary’s Singers is formed.
Baptism (Christening) is when a person commits themselves to follow Jesus Christ as a disciple. Originally this was for adults but as the early church grew parents wanted their children to be part of this new community of faith.
In Baptism you are:
We are able to Baptise those who live within either of our parishes and those who live outside of our parishes who attend either St Mary’s or St Peter’s on a regular basis (at least once a month for at least six consecutive months).
When children are old enough to make these decisions for themselves, they will be able to be Confirmed. Usually this is anywhere from age 11 upwards.
Find out more
Marriage is one of the greatest joys of life. Marriage is a holy estate, a vocation and a wonderful, challenging and stretching adventure in self-sacrificing love.
Couples, one or both of whom live within the parish, or who are on the electoral roll, may apply for a wedding at St Mary’s.
If you live further afield and have a Qualifying Connection under the 2008 Marriage Regulations you may also be able to be married at St Mary’s. There is more information available or speak with the Vicar.
A funeral marks the close of a human life on earth. It is the opportunity for family and friends to express their grief and to give thanks to God for the life of someone at the end of their journey in this world, to commend them to God’s keeping and to pray for ourselves.
You can find more information about funerals in the Church of England.
We see taking funerals as an important part of our ministry at St Mary’s and gladly give our time to talk through your loss and to help to arrange whatever kind of funeral service is most appropriate.
You are entitled to a service at St Mary’s if you live in the parish (whether you are a churchgoer or not) or if you are on the electoral roll.
People who have lost someone are often busy with practical details and arrangements between the death and the funeral and do not experience the full sense of their loss until later. Grieving is a natural and important part of coming to terms with and healing from a loss and may continue for some time.
The staff team at St Mary’s is always willing to try to help.