We aim to provide a wide variety of services for parishioners and visitors alike:

Monday to Friday:

9.00   am   Morning Prayer

5.00   pm   Evening Prayer

Wednesday:

10.00 am   Holy Communion*

Sunday Services:

8.00   am   Holy Communion* - a traditional language service lasting about

                 40 minutes.

10.00 am   Parish Eucharist - with our choir, a junior church, and a small area at

                 the back of the church with books/crayons etc where parents can sit

                 with their younger children if they wish.  Service lasts for about an

                 hour, followed by refreshments.

6.30   pm   Evensong - a smaller reflective service using the Book of Common

                 Prayer and lasting about an hour.

*Gluten free communion wafers are available, please just ask when you come up to the altar rail.

We also hold a 'First Steps' service for tots. For those of you with pre-school children we have a monthly tots service here at St Augustine's at 10:45am, with songs, craft activity, story and Jaffa cakes.  This service generally falls on the 2nd Wednesday in the month.

The Blessed Sacrament is perpetually reserved for the Communion of the sick and dying.  Please inform the vicar of parishioners who are sick or in hospital.

Lent Course

Surprised by Prayer: 

Dr Linda Barnard will be leading a Lent course on prayer, which will be on Wednesdays from 10:45am (after the 10:00am Holy Communion Service) to noon and are open to all.  She will be drawing on the words of Jane Austen and C S Lewis. 

The Wednesdays in question are 11th, 18th & 25th March and 1st April – they work as single events or as a course.

Linda Barnard

Forthcoming Services:

Mothering Sunday 22nd March: 

10:00am Family Eucharist with Distribution of Flowers.

Easter Services 

Palm Sunday 5th April – 10am Blessing of Palms in the church Hall followed by Procession and Eucharist.  6:30pm Evensong. 

Wednesday 8th April – 10am Holy Communion followed by Stations of the Cross.

Maundy Thursday 9th April – 8pm Eucharist of the Last Supper with foot washing followed by a vigil until midnight. 

Good Friday 10th April – 10am Children’s Stations of the Cross Service followed by workshop and hot cross buns and preparation of the Easter Garden. 

2pm the Liturgy of the Day with Veneration of the Cross.

Holy Saturday 11th April - 8pm Vigil Eucharist. 

Easter Day 12th April - 8am Holy Communion (BCP).  10am Family Eucharist with Easter Egg Hunt.  Ladies are asked to wear hats.  6:30pm Evensong

Confirmation Sunday 3rd May at 4 pm: 

The Bishop of Bradwell will be coming to confirm at St Augustine’s on 3rd May. This gives us an opportunity to consider our commitments, and off you have never get round to being confirmed (or baptised, for that matter), or you have children in year 6 or above who haven’t been confirmed, please have a word with Fr Jonathan. The service is the Church of England’s way of those who have come to maturity to affirm the promises made on their behalf at baptism, and when it is customary to begin receiving communion. We shall have mixture of adults and children this year, and preparation is done on a tailor made basis as candidates come from a variety of different backgrounds. Fr Jonathan

Please see also our daily and weekly services above

The vicar is always pleased to receive enquiries about christenings,

weddings and other services.

Telephone 01702 587597 or email jonathan.collis@cantab.net   

Fr Chris Giles

We are pleased and saddened by the news that our own curate Fr Chris Giles has now received an appointment to be The Rector of the Stourhead Benefice, Suffolk, between the towns of Haverhill and Clare. 

Fr Chris updates:

My last service will be Easter morning (Sunday 12th April) and my Institution and induction service will be on the 29th April at St. Peter and St Paul’s Church Kedington.  Thank you all for the congratulations and good wishes I have received about my appointment as The Rector of the Stourhead Benefice, Suffolk which lies between the towns of Haverhill and Clare. Fr Chris

Note: there is a website actually called ‘Stourhead Benefice’ which gives you pictures, maps and details of the 8 rural parishes it serves.  It also has a lovely video from parishioners advertising for a new vicar!  http://stourheadbenefice.org/wordpress/  

Our congratulations and best wishes

to Fr Chris and his lovely family

The Weekly Newsletter is now available online by clicking on the

document below:

Late News Flash 

The Roundabout Magazine for Februry / March 2020

is now available in the church.

If you are unable to get to church we can arrange for the magazine to be delivered. 

please email geoffreymann406@btinternet.com

or Call Geoff on 01702 582008

Forthcoming Musical or Special  Events 

Please go to the 'Forecast of Events' page which can be found under the above heading of News-Notices-Events or click on link .

Forthcoming Musical Events:  

Saturday 14th March Freda Parry Scholarship Fundraising Concert - tickets £10 and £8

Saturday 21st March Gaudeamus Concert - Easter Story 

J. S. Bach - Easter Oratorio

Schutz - The Seven Last Words of Jesus

D'Astorga - Stabat Mater

Chelmsford Cathedral.  The Dean of the Cathedral produces a quarterly events guide with the aim of encouraging everyone to discover what the Cathedral has to offer.  To find out more and to view the guide, please click on the link below:

www.chelmsfordcathedral.org.uk

Church Extension Update

Having obtained approval from the Diocese Advisory Committee (DAC) some months ago for our extension plans, our architects submitted a formal building application to Southend council.  We waited the seemingly obligatory 16 weeks for the council to approve the plans, only to be told that our application had been rejected.

The reasons for the rejection were to my mind, and that of our architects, relatively minor and we were extremely disappointed that the council thought it necessary to issue a formal rejection without any kind of prior notice or liaison from the council planning department.               

I arranged a follow up meeting with the council and our architects on Wednesday 30^th October to discuss the rejection and find a way forward.  Following lengthy discussion about the role of the DAC and the processes we have been through to get DAC approval for our plans, I’m happy to report that the meeting went well and I am reasonably confident that the councils objections have been addressed.  We can’t be absolutely sure because the council official we met with was not the person who rejected the plans (of course not!) but our architect will now submit a new set of plans, with minor alterations, which we hope will be approved.

Another delay is of course inevitable and we’ve been told that it could be another 16 weeks before we receive the councils response, that will be Mid February.

There won’t be much to report before then so I wish you all a very merry, albeit slightly early, merry Christmas and hope that the New Year will bring us good news!  Best wishes to you all.

Peter Barron

If any of you would like to find out more about baptism, confirmation or marriage, please don't hesitate to contact me at

jonathan.collis@cantab.net

“We are committed to ensuring that St Augustine’s is

a safe place for all”

For further information please go to our safeguarding page, the link is here