The Priory Church of St Mary and the Holy Cross is open daily between 10am and 4.00pm for individual prayer in line with social distancing and  hand hygiene guidelines.

The Priory Church of St Mary and the Holy Cross is open for worship  as listed under Services.

ZOOM SERVICES

Zoom Services on Sundays will continue on a monthly basis  – the first Sunday of the month at 5pm.

To participate please telephone Ian Newton on 01328 830947 or email iannewton46@ gmail.com. You will be warmly welcomed.

Ian Whittle is very keen that we continue to offer services for any who are not able to come to church.

I have been delighted to take part in Divine Worship on Zoom, made possible by Mr. Ian & Canon Fiona Newton, with whom I’ve worked closely over these last months. Vast thanks to all.

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RECTOR’S LETTER

Dear Friends and Parishioners,

After what seemed an interminable winter, we are at a lovely time of the year, despite the horrors of the world, and we remember what we are called to do – from the First Epistle [Letter] of St. John, chapter 2 verse 28: ’And now little children, abide in him’.

From this position of absolute Security, we can then serve our fellow men and women and work to save the beautiful world which we’ve been lent.  And after fourteen years in these lovely parishes, my gratitude simply becomes greater.

From that position we can reach out to people we might not like, or understand – not to make them like ourselves, but to share the love of God, revealed to us in our Lord Jesus Christ in whose light and love we stand, at ease with non-believers and friends of other Faiths.

Twenty six years ago I left The Hague, where eight hundred people came to church, my church (plenty go to other places!), but whether it’s eight or eight hundred our constants are the same.  A very long time ago in Cambridge one church had a huge poster saying ‘Alleluia.  Christ is Risen’; and another one said ‘Don’t let worry kill you.  Let the Church help.’  Unforgettable.  Let us love.

Yours most truly,

Ian Whittle.

Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802

Earth has not anything to show more fair:

Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

A sight so touching in its majesty:

This City now doth, like a garment, wear

The beauty of the morning: silent, bare,

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

Open unto the fields, and to the sky,

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Never did sun more beautifully steep

In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill;

Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

The river glideth at his own sweet will:

Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;

And all that mighty heart is lying still!

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)