WELCOME TO THE PARISH CHURCH
OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN, SWANLEY
01322 662201
Coronavirus Covid-19
The NHS is now running Covid Vaccination Clinics at St Mary's Church Hall Swanley: under the NHS Grab-a-Jab scheme anyone aged 16 or over can make an appointment or simply come along and wait when the clinics are in session. Please note that some mapping services locate the church's postcode, BR8 7AQ, at Oliver Road. If you find yourself there, make your way up the hill towards the town centre, past the Police Station and you will find the Church on the corner of St Mary's Road and London Road, on the other side of the road from the library and diagonally opposite Asda. The Church is hosting but not running the Vaccination Centre, please direct all enquiries to the NHS. Click here for more details.
Church Services
The only service in church from 10th October to 27th October is the Sunday Mass at 10am, all other services are temporarily suspended. The normal service pattern resumes from Thursday 28th October.
ALL SOULS
The annual commemoration of the faithful departed is on Tuesday 2nd November. A candle order form is available here. You are welcome to attend Mass at St Mary's and the sung Mass that day is at 7.30pm. Even if you're not able to be there, you can email Fr Dane and ask for individuals to be remembered at the service.
The Sunday obligation is presently suspended and no-one should feel under any pressure to attend any worship whatsoever!
Of course, faithful Christians should be seeking to ensure they have a prayer life which routinely engages them in saying sorry for their sins, adoring our Creator, giving thanks for our Saviour and kindling the fire of the Holy Spirit within us all. This prayer life may be nourished by joining online acts of worship or through attending less 'busy' services during the week.
St Mary's has returned to its traditional pattern of one Mass for a Sunday, which is sung, at 10am and Evening Prayer at 5pm.
It is expected that all attending public worship will wear masks and it is required of anyone who sings that they MUST wear a mask.
Public worship remains slightly different from usual as congregational singing is being reintroduced but with restrictions, social distancing is still recommended and not everyone is ready to move at the same pace so there is a need to be patient, prayerful and kind as we move forward.
The Mass Book for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time is available here as a booklet and here as single pages.
October's Newsletter is available here as a booklet and here as single pages.
We are reintroducing the lighting of candles over the course of the Autumn.
The Church Hall is closed as it is in use as a vaccination centre: there is no access to the kitchen or the toilets at all.
The weekday Masses are celebrated at their usual times (except from 10-27th October):
Tuesday, 7pm
Wednesday, 11.30am
Thursday, 10am
Friday, 11am
Saturday, 10am
No pre-booking is required for any Mass.
We
Are
Here
Serving Swanley since 1901
St Mary the Virgin Swanley serves the town of Swanley, building up the Kingdom of God through Word, Sacrament and service. It is firmly anchored in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England and is a Forward in Faith parish, under the Episcopal care of the Bishop of Richborough.
Safeguarding
Making sure the whole Church family is safe is an important part of what we do here. Full details can be found here.
Daily Prayers
A useful rule of life can involve the saying of prayers each day when we wake and before we go to sleep. These prayers don't have to be long, in a set form or use big words. Some people find a daily routine helps them and others do prefer having a set of prayers which they know other Christians throughout the world are using. One such resource is called Universalis and on this site you'll find prayers for the whole day - along with the readings used at Mass - which are shared by Christians throughout the world.
We are a family of faith
We live & work
and grow & pray
together
Our faith is centred on Jesus Christ
and his sacrifice for us.
We seek to live the love of God which is given to us in the Lord.
Thank you to our supporters
St Mary's gets no money from the government,
no money from local councils
and no money from the central church.
Every penny we spend has to come from people and businesses
who dig deep to support our work - and we're grateful to them all.