St Mary's Church

St Mary’s Church lies at the centre of the village, next to the village green, Glebe Field, and opposite the pub, The Waggon and Horses. It is now open most days to welcome not only casual visitors to the village, but also any parishioners who may like to drop in for a few quiet minutes. There is a car park next to the church, and a beautiful churchyard which gives much pleasure to those who visit. The church dates from the 13thcentury, and the history includes a record of the plague of 1604. It has an interesting organ, and details of this and other items can be found inside the church.

For more background and history of St Mary's click here and if you are interested in supporting St Mary's Church please click here.

A small but active congregation plays a part in many of the village activities including monthly coffee mornings, a weekly lunch club, parish events, a visiting scheme to the Hazelford Residential Home and Southwell Court and a pastoral care team who are willing to call on any parishioner who might benefit from a visit.

There are strong links with the local primary school. The whole school comes to church to celebrate festivals and end-of-term services; individual classes visit to explore various aspects of the church.

St Mary's Churchwardens, Diana and Rachael.

What do Churchwardens actually do? Nowadays, far too much time seems to be spent at a computer, trying to keep up with all the administrative work that is necessary to keep the wheels of the parish running as smoothly as possible. Our main responsibility is to have good working relationships with our parish priest, the Benefice administrator, the Benefice, the PCC, the parishioners, and on a different level with the Area Dean, the Archdeacon, and ultimately, the Bishop. Much of what we do is dictated by laws and rules, and we have to work within them, presenting reports at the right time, complying with regulations when carrying out work on the church fabric, and ensuring that wording on gravestones complies with the relevant rules. 

A Sunday is usually the quietest day of the week for us – when we have a service in Bleasby, we arrive about ¾ hour early, to check that the heating is working, (in winter!) the lights work, there are fresh flowers on the communion table, and no water has dripped through the roof. New notices are put up, and old ones removed. We catch up on any information relevant to the parish, such as illness, the need for pastoral care, new arrivals,   We then prepare for the service by filling in the register, sorting out the communion vessels, putting out the correct order of service, and putting up the hymn numbers. We welcome with relief the reader, the person leading intercessions, the coffee provider, and especially whoever is taking the service, because in an emergency, it is the responsibility of the church wardens to take the service. As the congregation arrive and during the service, we keep an eye on everyone. 

If you would like to find out more about St Mary's Church or get involved in any way, please contact one of our Church Wardens:

di.temp@btinternet.com or prandrew74@outlook.com

Further information on all the benefice churches can be found here.