A PROFILE OF ST MARY’S, HINCKLEY

 St Mary’s is the ancient parish church of Hinckley, within the Diocese of Leicester, part of the Church of England, the historic church of this country. The present Vicar has been at St Mary’s since October 1991.  St Mary’s is in the town centre and tries to be a true parish church serving the needs of the local community. Next door is St Mary’s School (C  of E Controlled), which has strong links with the church.

 St Mary’s is a seven day a week church: from Monday to Saturday the church is open from 10.00am to 4.00pm. During the last ten years we have improved our facilities: we have a creche & toilets, a Church Office (with a Church Secretary on duty each morning) and a Counselling room. We also have a Coffee Bar in the North Transept, open when the church is open, serving the best and cheapest coffee in Hinckley! It is staffed by over fifty volunteers.

 We have four services every Sunday : a traditional Prayer Book Holy Communion at 8.00am, a lively informal young families service at 9.30am, a more formal Sung Eucharist at 10.45am, and a fairly quiet 6.00pm Evening Worship. We include the ministry of Wholeness & Healing on the first Sunday during the 10.45am service, and on the second Sunday at 6.00pm.

 A Country Market takes place in the centre of the church every Friday morning. Many use the church during the week who are not members of St Mary’s; some are not members of any church. We have a very large Second Hand Book Stall in the North Aisle; a Traidcraft Stall, and a Christian Greetings/ Prayer Card & Book Stall in the South Aisle.

 We are a broad church with a wide range of people who make up our community. Our services are a mixture of formality and informality. We have quite a busy social life, and many of the activities are open to non church members. As well as our Church Community Hall, next to St Mary’s,  we have the St Francis Community Centre, Tudor Road, serving the all age needs of people living in that part of Hinckley.

 We try to keep in mind the desperate needs of many living in the  Third World, and support  Christian Aid and Traidcraft.  We give ten per cent of our Coffee Bar profits to Christian Aid. In 2001 we committed ourselves to give away ten per cent of church income to Missions and Charities. We also try to be as environmentally friendly as we can, and  hope to shortly become an Eco-congregation.

 Our Mission Statement: St Mary’s is an open Church aiming to make God’s love real through our worship and by being a welcoming community where we try to care every day for everyone.