Longcot Village

St Mary’s is hosting another fabulous concert on Saturday 12th July at 6pm. Bar will open at 5.30pm. Please see the flyer below for details.

The Clarinet Collective returns to St. Mary’s Church, Longcot on Saturday 10th May to present another evening of relaxing and uplifting music for clarinet sextet. The programme features new arrangements of well-known works by Bach, Mozart, Dvorak and Ravel alongside popular numbers from the twentieth century, including Singin’ in the Rain and, to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Vera Lynn’s wartime classic, It’s a Lovely Day tomorrow.

Themed flower arrangements can be viewed in the church at the concert and also every day during South Oxfordshire Artweek, from 11th – 18th May.

Admission is free with a retiring collection. All seats should be reserved in advance by emailing victorialmedcalf@gmail.com Profits will be shared between St. Mary’s Church and the Longcot Village Trust. The bar will be open from 5.30 pm and at the interval.

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary Longcot,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for the week commencing Sunday 16^th June. 

Service at St Mary Longcot – Sunday 16^th June.  The Revd Robin Cardwell has kindly agreed to lead this week’s service at St Mary.  It will be Holy Communion and will begin at the usual time of 9.30am.  We also have an organist for the service.

Future Funding.  Last week I explained about the financial arrangements that were being put in place for the Lighting Project in St Mary.  I hope that you will indulge me for a few more minutes, as I expand on the subject of raising funds for both St Mary and St John churches.  I would like to start by highlighting the very generous covenants that individuals across the Parish make to church funds.  Without these we would not be able to survive financially.  It is worth noting, however, that some of the sums given have not changed in 10 or so years and have therefore not taken into account inflation.  If it would be possible for an uplift – not matter how small – to the sums covenanted, it would be really appreciated.   For those who contribute to the collection plate every week, rest assured that we are still able to collect Gift Aid (currently 25%) on those sums through the Gift Aid Small Donation Scheme (GASDS).  It would, however, be more advantageous to our fund raising for monthly sums to be covenanted as that provides the PCC with a guaranteed income stream in order to plan future expenditure.  For example this would include our next planned project for St Mary, which is to improve the audio-system including replacing our hearing loop, which has broken.   If you would like to provide more help, then please e-mail me or speak to me directly.  (07531 189474)

Autumn Fundraising Events.  There are three fundraising events in the planning stage for St Mary over the Autumn/early Winter.  Full details will follow but in outline they are:

1. A whiskey tasting event in September or October hosted by Tom Arnold and based on similar highly successful events he has organised in St John’s Church.

2. A classical concert organised by Vicky Medcalf in October, following the wonderful performance in May.

3. A talk in November by Tom Arnold on the Titanic story and drawing upon the links between St Mary’s Church and the Carter family.

Hopefully this e-mail has given you some food for thought and I look forward to talking to you individually about this issues that I have mentioned above.

Best Wishes,

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary Longcot,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for the week commencing Sunday 14^th April. 

St Mary Longcot.  The Sunday service at St Mary Longcot will be Holy Communion and will be led by the Revd Patrick.  The start time is the usual 9.30am. 

Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM).  A copy of the reports delivered at the APCM on Wednesday is on the noticeboard in the church porch.  If you would like an e-copy then please just ask me.

Oxfordshire Art Weeks.  As usual the ‘Oxfordshire Art Weeks’ will be held throughout the County in the month of May with different weeks for different areas.  We come under Southern Oxfordshire with exhibits open from 18^th to 27^th May.  Further details can be found on the web and a few copies of the ‘Festival Guide & Artist Directory’ are on the bookcase just inside the entrance to St Mary. 

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary Longcot,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for the week commencing Sunday 28^th January. 

Sunday 28^th January.  This week’s Benefice Service will be held in St Andrew’s Church Shrivenham. Start time is 10.15am.

St Mary Longcot.  The next service at St Mary Longcot will be a Holy Communion on Sunday 4^th February at the usual time of 9.30am.

Bob Birtwhistle RIP.  Most of you will already be aware that Bob Birtwhistle passed away peacefully at his home last weekend.  His funeral will be held on Friday 9^th February with a service at Kingsdown Crematorium at 10am and a thanksgiving in St Mary’s at 2pm to celebrate his life. Everyone is welcome at either or both services, but the family have indicated that they would particularly welcome friends and congregation to the afternoon church service at St Mary.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Heather and her family.

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary Longcot,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for the week commencing Sunday 31^st December. 

Benefice Service – Sunday 31^st December.  A Benefice Service will be held at St Thomas’ Church Watchfield on Sunday 31^st December and will be led by the Revd Norma Fergusson.  Start time is 10.30pm. 

Sunday 7^th January.  The next service in St Mary Longcot will a Holy Communion on Sunday 7^th January at the usual time of 9.30am.Happy New Year Everybody

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary Longcot,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for the week commencing Sunday 3^rd December and the associated readings. 

Service at St Mary Longcot – Sunday 3^rd December.  Sunday’s service will be Holy Communion and will be led by the Revd Patrick.  It will be his first service in St Mary since he was appointed Associate Vicar, so please do come along and support him.  Refreshments will be served afterwards.  Start time is the usual 9.30am.

Christmas Services.  Please find attached a list of the Advent and Christmas services in the Benefice during December.         

Local Bus Service.  Most of you will be aware that a new bus service has started and passes through Longcot.  The bus stop is outside the Old Vicarage on Kings Lane (near Hughes Crescent), although the timetables say that the stop is by the Village Green.  I have a suspicion that it will just stop anywhere in the village if you just wave your arm at it!   The end-stops for the bus are Faringdon and Wantage.  Copies of the timetable and the route are attached.                                                                     

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary Longcot,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for Sunday 26^th November and the associated readings. May I draw your attention to the second page of the newsletter where the PCC’s very grateful thanks are extended to all those who assisted with last Sunday’s highly successful concert at St Mary.  It was a fabulous event.

Benefice Service, St Andrew’s Church Shrivenham – Sunday 26^th November.  This month’s Benefice Service will be held at St Andrew’s Church Shrivenham. Norma Fergusson will lead the worship and will be ably supported by the Benefice Choir.  Please note that start time will be 10.15am. 

Local Villages Newsletter. Please also find attached the December edition of our local villages newsletter.                                                                                          

Longcot Service – Sunday 19^th November.  The Service at St Mary Longcot on Sunday 19^th November will be at 9.30am as usual. It will be Morning Prayer and will be led by Richard Fergusson.  

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary Longcot,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for the week commencing Sunday 12^th November and the associated readings. 

Benefice Consultation Survey. 

1. The Revd Norma Fergusson is retiring in May 2024, and the Benefice is looking towards the future and her successor.  To that end an informal consultation is being organised by the Diocese.  It will start with a meeting in Shrivenham Memorial Hall on Sunday afternoon 19th November. Everyone is welcome, whether a churchgoer or not.  Come and share your thoughts and observations on what we currently do well, what is less successful, and what you would like to see happening in the future.

2. Tea and cake will be served from 3:30pm, with the start of the meeting at 4pm.

3. The meeting will end by 6pm at the latest but, for those of you (like me) who are attending the concert in St Mary, please feel free to attend for as long as you are able.

4. We would love to see you there, but if you are unable to come along, you can still take part in the consultation process via our online survey which is available at https://s.surveyplanet.com/v3h79lf9.
   A copy of the survey is attached if you would prefer to complete it on paper.  You can then send it directly to our administrator Lucy Laird (her address is at the bottom of the survey sheet) or pass it to me (in an envelope please) for onward delivery.

Longcot Remembrance Service – Sunday 12^th November.  This year’s Remembrance Service in Longcot will begin at 10.50am with an Act of Remembrance at the War Memorial in the Churchyard and the service will then be completed inside the church.  The Revd Norma Fergusson will lead the worship

Licensing Service of the Revd Patrick Mabhunu.  The Revd Patrick Mabhunu’s licensing service was held at Ashbury last Monday.  It was a joyous affair with (literally) standing room only.  (See the Newsletter for photographs.)  We all extend a very warm welcome to Patrick and his family and look forward to having him officiate in St Mary Longcot in the near future.