See the Calendar for Church Services
Church In Our Community Meetings
- The Prayer Meetings will be held on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month, from 5:00 - 6:00 pm in the St Mary's Funtington Church Room
- The Ideas Meetings will be held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month, from 5:00 - 6:00 pm in the St Mary's Funtington Church Room
Everyone warmly welcome!
Interregnum News - Update from the Parochial Church Council (PCC)
The first draft of the joint Funtington-Chidham profile is being put together by the Profile Working Group and will hopefully be ready by the second week of September. It will then go to both PCCs for final comments and approval, following which it will be submitted to Archdeacon Luke. There will be a formal consultation period before the actual recruitment process can start. The interview panel will be chosen by the PCC. In light of this the August PCC meeting has been postponed until Thursday, 26th September at the usual time of 7 pm at St Mary’s Funtington.
Dates for your diary
29th September at 10am - Harvest Festival at St Mary's Funtington. This is a joint service with Chidham and will be followed by a community brunch. Volunteers needed - please see the St Mary's noticeboard.
Car Parking
Sadly we have been experiencing a number of cars being permanently parked in the church car park. Despite requests for them to be moved for our last 3 x large gatherings at St Mary’s Church Funtington they were left in the car park. Unfortunately this meant people of limited mobility could not easily walk to the church, in addition to which on Wednesday 7 cars were parked in the vicarage drive. Please can we remind everyone that we officially only have 2 disabled spaces in the vicarage drive and we cannot use the top end of the drive to turn round.
Sharing the Chalice during Communion
We have been reminded by our visiting priests that Bishop Martin instructed the Diocese last year that we should all be sharing the Chalice during the Act of Communion and not to intinct (dip our wafers in the wine). This is because drinking from the silver Chalice is less of an infection risk than dipping the wafer. We have been told that if we do not wish to drink from the Chalice we can take communion by sharing the bread only.
This term the Home Group is running the very successful Alpha Course every Tuesday at 7:30 pm at 10 Lynch Down. Everyone welcome at any time during the 8-week course. Please see Eloise Rank or Neil Watt for more details.
Chidham School are still in need of a Governor
If you are interested please talk to Jessica Reid (Rural Dean)
Invitation to try Bell Ringing at St Mary's Funtington
Have you ever thought of trying this fascinating hobby? The next "have a go" session is on Sunday 16th June. You need to be 12 years old or over. Come and see if you would like to take up this wonderful activity.
Save the Date
- 14th September - Sussex Historic Churches Trust - Ride and Stride
Data Protection Update
So that we are compliant with the Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) please would everyone complete the "Consent to Share" form at the back of each of our churches and return them to Deborah Hughes or the church wardens.
Vacancies on the PCC
We now have vacancies on the PCC if you think you may like to be more actively involved in the running of the Churches and the Parish in the New Year. No previous experience is needed. Please contact any members of PCC or Carolyn Watt for an application form.
Contactless Giving by Debit/Credit Card
We now have contactless giving machines in St Mary's Funtington, so you no longer need to bring cash to put in the collection plate. The St Andrew's West Stoke machine is having teething problems, in progress. You can donate by using your debit or credit card which will also help reduce Parish administration. If you are not sure how it works, please speak to one of the Churchwardens. Meanwhile, here is first QR code for online donations. Either scan it with your phone camera or click on the link to make a payment:
During the Interregnum the website is being regularly updated and any changes and future events will be there so please check from time to time. We also have a “WhatsApp” phone group to which information is also added. If you want to join this group please let Carolyn Watt know.