• Nurturing Faith
• Sustaining the Human Spirit
• Serving the Community

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Sunday 21st February 2010 The First Sunday of Lent

Thought for the week

Lent
Lent is a time to learn to travel
light, to clear the clutter
from our crowded lives and find a space, a desert.
Deserts are bleak: no creature comforts,
only a vast expanse of stillness,
sharpening awareness of ourselves and God.
Uncomfortable places, deserts.
Most of the time we’re tempted to avoid them,
finding good reasons to live lives of ease;
cushioned by noise from self-discovery,
clutching at world’s success to stave off fear.
But if we dare to trust the silence
to strip away our false security,
God can begin to grow his wholeness in us,
fill up our emptiness, destroy our fears,
give us new vision, courage for the journey,
and make our desert blossom like a rose.
Ann Lewin

As a Christian community we have three main concerns.

We seek to be a company of people who are nurturing faith. This faith is rooted in the good news of God revealed in Jesus Christ and is expressed and strengthened in worship, in learning together and in fellowship. You will find details of our worship services and our home groups programme on other pages of this website.

We also set out to use our historic building as a resource for the whole community. It lends itself to cultural events, music, drama, exhibitions and is a fascinating visual aid for school pupils to use in pursuit of many aspects of the national curriculum. In all these ways we seek to play our part in sustaining the human spirit. Again, look through other pages for details of how you might be involved in these aspects of our life.

Believing that faith must lead to action, our third concern is to be serving the community. We do this in various ways. Members of St Mary’s through their own jobs and their social involvement are sharing in this service. The church community itself has a ministry among young families and vulnerable people and we are always looking for new ways of putting faith into action. Why not come and join us?
Why not join the choir or the bellringers?

Daily Prayer for Today

Morning Prayer
Evening Prayer
Night Prayer

"Daily Prayer provided by the official Church of England web site, © The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2002-2004."

For further information about St Mary's and our life of worship, witness and service talk with one of the clergy or welcome team after the service or, during the week, contact one of the churchwardens Leslie Crossley 264647 or Emmeline Lambert 268705 or Assistant Priest The Revd Diana Spink on 262133.

Welcome to the website of St Mary’s Church, Hemel Hempstead, The Parish of St Mary and St Paul. We are part of the wider church scene in the town, details of which can be found on the website of Churches Together in Hemel Hempstead http://www.hemelchurches.org.uk

St Mary’s Church stands at the heart of the Old Town of Hemel Hempstead, just off the High Street. Its tall and elegant spire makes it unmistakable. It has been a place of worship for over eight hundred and fifty years and provides a real focus as a centre of spirituality and history in a town most of whose history goes back barely fifty years.

The Ecclesiastical Parish of St Mary and St Paul,Hemel Hempstead, Reg. Charity 1130644