21/08/2026
Message from Chris the Rector
"As a parish, we place children and young people at the heart of our life, mission and ministry - so that people of all ages and backgrounds can meet with Jesus.
We're blessed to have people of all ages, languages, cultures and backgrounds worshipping together in our church community. We are very much an intercultural, intergenerational church - a living picture of St Paul's words that in Christ "there is neither Jew nor Greek... for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).
As part of our parish life, we have a thriving Sunday Club of around 15 to 20 children, a junior choir, and young people serving at the altar as part of our serving team, and there is a Youth Group for teenagers.
But it goes further than this. Children and young people are involved in the life of the parish in real and meaningful ways, they are included in the sacramental life of the church through baptism and receiving communion. St Mary's has two youth wardens, and young people are trained as liturgical deacons - the youngest of whom is13. She, along with other young people are communion assistants.
What matters most about this is that it's ordinary. It isn't meant to be extraordinary — just simply normal. St Paul once told young Timothy, "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12) — and that's exactly what we see week by week at St Mary's.
The prophet Joel foresaw a day when God would pour out his Spirit on all people - "your sons and daughters shall prophesy… your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions" (Joel 2:28). At St Mary's, that promise isn't just a future hope; it's something we see lived out already, young and old alike sharing in the Spirit's gifts and in the life of this church.
This is what it means to be the body of Christ: young and old worshipping alongside each other, young and old each in turn teacher and learner."
Chris
