Worshipping God, Growing Community and serving the world.
I’d like to tell you a little bit more about who we are and what we do at St Mary’s.
You’d think the wold be obvious, wouldn’t you? Not necessarily! It’s a fact that most people in our country don’t come to church. It’s just not everyone’s cup of tea. We get that. But we also want to make sure that Alderley (and beyond) knows that St Mary’s is open to everyone, whatever sort of life you lead and whatever you might think about God, the church and your place in it.
I want to start by telling you about bells. Yes, you heard right. Each and every Sunday, we have a team of bell ringers who jump up and down, get all hot and sweaty and make the most wonderful noise. You’ve probably heard it, if you’re close by to the lane or you might hear it wafting across the fields. The ringing of bells was used for many reasons in the past, to tell agricultural workers to come to work, to go to lunch or to go home. They also tell us, the whole village, that the folk in St Mary’s are praying for the WHOLE community. It’s our way of saying ‘we’re here for you, we value you’. Also, they sound pretty awesome! If you would like a closer look at them, come to an open day and you can even have a go at ring them….
My point is, St Mary’s is here for everyone, but especially and primarily, for God. Our amazing ancient building was created to the glory of God, its ancient stones tell stories of thousands of people who have gone before us, sat where we sit, with the same problems and questions we have today;
How can I make ends meet? Am I good enough? Does God love me? What am I doing with my life?
I’m not saying we can help with all of those questions at once, but coming and worshipping God opens up space to start a conversation. This is what we do here, we start conversations. Through these conversations, through silence, readings, singing, eating, caring, laughing and chatting we begin to grow community. As we grow, we then realise that we are not here just to live for ourselves, but for others. In simple ways, whether through supporting the Oasis food bank or by visiting our friends and neighbours or volunteering in the local community, we change not only ourselves, but the world around us. This is what God calls us to do.
So, if you’d like to know more about how to transform your life (no, we won’t put you on diet or make you do more exercise), then maybe St Mary’s is the place of you.
p.s. we also serve good coffee………
“come and join us at 9.30am on a Sunday morning, for a warm welcome lovely company and a truly special place”
