Our Priorities

Getting our priorities right

St Mary’s is a church with a rich history — nearly 800 years of prayer soaked into its walls. But the church is not the building. The church is you: the people who gather to worship, to serve, to give, and to journey together in faith.

In May 2025, at our Annual Parochial Church Meeting, we introduced a set of eight priorities to help guide the life and direction of our church in the years ahead. These were discussed and developed through the PCC and, at the start of 2026, explored together as a congregation across a series of Sunday services.

These eight priorities are not a hierarchy or a checklist — none ranks above another. They are a family of values, each one supporting and strengthening the rest. Together, they reflect who we want to be as a church: welcoming, active, prayerful, joyful, and caring.

This webpage gives you a short guide to each priority. We hope it will be something you return to, reflect on, and use to pray for the life of St Mary’s.

“For I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  — Jeremiah 29:11

For reflection:  Which of these eight priorities speaks most to you — and how might you play a part?

Going Forward Together

These eight priorities are not a programme to be completed — they are a vision to be lived. They will look different in each season of the church’s life, and they will mean something different to each person who reads this booklet.

We pray that they will give shape and direction to our life together. We hope they will prompt conversations, inspire volunteers, deepen prayer, and — above all — help St Mary’s to be a community where God is glorified and people are loved.

If you’d like to talk about any of these priorities, or to find out how you might be involved, please do speak with the Rector or Churchwardens. We’d love to hear from you!

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us — to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.”

— Ephesians 3:20–21