Prayer

prayer3

Prayer is simply being with God who loves us. In prayer we praise God, give thanks, listen for His voice and bring our needs and the needs of the world before Him. There are various opportunities to pray with others detailed below and the church is open from 9am-5pm almost every day of the year for anyone to come and spend some time in the peace with God. 
 
Prayer Ministry
If you would like us to pray for you or someone you care for then we would be glad to do that. Prayer Ministry is a model of prayer where a couple of people come and pray alongside you seeking God with you. St Mary’s is blessed with a group of people who are trained to offer extended times to pray with you about any issue you would like to bring to God. This could be a health need or a difficult time you are facing or just simply that you want to know God’s love.

We can come alongside you in prayer in various ways:
  • There are people available to pray for individuals at each of our services on Sunday, during the distribution of Communion and after the service, and sometimes at other points too.
  • If you write a prayer on the paper provided in church and attach to the string across the organ pipes, your prayer will be included in the Saturday prayers.  
  • Email your prayer request to prayer@stmarysb.org.uk
  • Contact one of the clergy directly.
  • Use the QR code in the poster below if you would like to book an appointment to pray with someone in person
 
Prayer at St Mary's leaflet 20
 
 
At times we have coordinated prayer walks along the roads near the church to pray for residents. For one week each year, congregation members volunteer set amounts of time to come in to church and pray, mainly for our mission partners, in what all together becomes a week of continual prayer (see 24/7 Prayer Week). If you would like to be involved in this, contact the church office on 0117 968 7449.
 
Daily Prayer
The clergy lead daily prayer on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings in the James chapel from 9am - 9.30am. You are welcome to join them if you would like to. 
 
Prayer for Youth and Children 
A group of people meet to pray for and support the Youth and Children’s Ministry on Mondays from 9am - 9.45am  in the James Chapel.  You are welcome to join in. 
 
Saturday Morning - Currently on Zoom
Prayers are led for the church community and any who have asked for prayer. Do join the group at 8.30am for an hour if you’d like to.  The Zoom link can be shared with you if you contact the church office.
 
Meditation Group
There is a meditation group who meet twice per month to pray quietly and reflectively. If you are interested in this, you would be most welcome, please contact the church office. 
 
Urgent Prayer requests 
If you have a need that you would like prayed for urgently and in confidence we have a small group of people who have committed to pray for you. Please send your requests to prayer@stmarysb.org.uk or the church office and someone will respond. 
 
Wednesday Prayer Hub
Every Wednesday morning during term time we help to run a drop-in space for people to come for prayer at one of our partner churches in Shirehampton. Read more about this here.
 
24/7
At least once a year we commit to praying for 7 days 24 hours a day for the world and the church. We also spend time listening for anything that God would like to say to us. This is always a significant point in the annual life of the church when church members sign up for 1 hour slots for the week. 

 
Hello
Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click to see more

Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello

The following information is for those planning a visit, so that you know what to expect if you come to a service at St Mary’s.

Where and When

We meet at St Mary's Church for our Sunday services, find us on the map and you can read more about the different styles of worship here. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space (parking is mainly on the roadside on Mariners Drive) and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team who will be wearing a lanyard.


about us2

Our Services

Sunday 9am - our more traditional service with Holy Communion.
Sunday 10.30am - contemporary worship (alternating each week to include either our SHINEonSundays children's groups or Communion for Everyone (see below).
Alternate Sundays 4pm - Explore@4 

Click here for the dates for the term.

Everyone is welcome at any of our services and all of them will include singing, prayers, a Bible reading, a talk and ways to respond to what we have heard. There is usually an opportunity to receive prayer during or at the end of the service.

Please do just come as you are, you don't have to wear anything special and you don't have to join in, you are free to simply observe or participate as much as feels comfortable to you.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access into the church, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. There is an accessible toilet in the church and several toilets, including baby changing facilities, in the foyer of the church hall.  If you need Communion to be brought to you, please let one of the Welcome Team know when you arrive.  

Communion:  At our services where there is Communion all those who love Jesus and want to follow Him are welcome to receive Communion.  If you would prefer to come forward to receive a blessing from the person leading the service, please do so. There will always be gluten-free wafers/bread available.  At St Mary’s we follow the Church of England’s decision not to allow wafers/bread to be dipped in the wine.  If you would prefer just to receive the wafers/bread then you can do so, you will still have received Communion in full.  To find out more about this, please click here. Prayer ministry will be available during Communion and after the service.  For families joining the church, parents are encouraged to have a conversation with the Vicar about children receiving Communion.

Please note: we sometimes have a combined service on Sunday mornings during August and occasionally at other points in the year, so do check out our calendar just to double check the timings!

What happens for children and young people at church?

Families are welcome at all our services.  At the 10.30am services on alternate weeks we offer groups for 0-12’s during the service.  On alternate weeks at 4pm we offer Explore@4 which is specifically aimed at families, helping children and adults grow in faith together.

 
Sundays children and youth

On Week A we will have our SHINEonSundays groups for 0-12 year olds.  We start the service together in church then the groups meet in the hall for 30-40 mins whilst the service continues.  You will need to go with your children the first time and register them.  You can then return to hear the talk once your children are settled and we will reunite for the end of the service.
 
On Week B for we have Communion for Everyone and everyone remains in church worshipping together.  On these weeks we also offer our 4pm Explore@4 which is aimed at helping families to worship, learn and grow together, through song, discussion, reflection, interactive activities and creativity.

Click here for the Week A / Week B dates for this term.
 
For more information about what happens in the children's and youth work, there is more information on our Sundays page and on our Community page.

Does anything happen during the week?

Yes, the church is usually open from Monday to Saturday from 9am to 4pm for visitors and those who wish to use the building for private prayer.

We also have a short communion service on Tuesdays at 11.15am which follows our Connect group on Tuesday.  You can find more about that group here.

There are other groups and activities during the week including a baby and toddler group, youth group and activities for our more senior members. For other events and during the week look at our calendar here.
 

Getting Connected


Emails

Every Friday a Church Family Email is sent out containing a Thought for the Week from one of the church leaders and information for the coming week.  To sign up for these please click here.

Home Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know people. Being part of one of our home groups might help you to make new friends and grow in faith. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some afternoons and some evenings. Read more here Home Groups.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church you can sign up to serve on a team, usually we encourage people to be involved with the church for a few months before joining teams.

Other Ministries

For other ministries, check out our Church Life part of the website.

Leadership 
Jema Ball   simon potter round
Jema Ball   Simon Potter
Vicar   Associate Vicar
 
We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.