The
Wider Church
Saint
Mary's Church is part of the Church of England parish of
Upton cum Chalvey, which derived its name from two historic
districts of Slough – Upton, in the East of the parish,
with its Saxon church of Saint
Laurence – and Chalvey, in the West of the parish,
with its nineteenth century church of Saint Peter. Saint
Mary's Church is located in the centre of the parish and
serves the town centre of Slough – an area between the
M4 to the South, the A4 to the North, Windsor Road to the
West and Yew Tree Road to the East. The three Anglican churches – Saint
Mary's, Saint Peter's and Saint
Laurence's – work together as a team ministry, and
are served by three clergy and two
parish wardens.
Saint
Mary's has a particular civic ministry (through civic funerals,
an annual service of remembrance, school carols services,
or large scale concerts
or exhibitions). As a large venue, it is often used for
deanery confirmations and
other large church services.
The
parish maintains close connections with the Slough community
chaplaincy, known as Kingsway
Connections and the hospital chaplaincy at the Heatherwood
and Wexham Park NHS Trust and the Upton Hospital. It forms
part of the Anglican Deanery of
Burnham and Slough, a group of Church
of England parishes in the Slough and South Buckinghamshire
area.
The
Anglican World
Saint
Mary’s Church is an Anglican Church. The Anglican Church
is a world-wide family of churches under the spiritual leadership
of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr
Rowan Williams. There are over 73 million Anglican Christians
living in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Burundi, Canada,
Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Japan, the Holy Land, Kenya,
Korea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, Mexico, Myanmar (Burma),
New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, The Philippines,
Rwanda, Malaysia, South Africa, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan,
Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, The Sudan,
Tanzania, Uganda, the United States of America, Ghana, The
Gambia, Belize, Barbados, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Nassau, Bermuda
and Zaire. Together they form the Anglican Communion of Churches.
They are linked by their prayers for one another, and their
common mission to serve Christ in their neighbours.
The Anglican
Communion Office facilitates contact between the partner
churches of the Anglican Communion and can provide further
information about its member churches.
The
Wider Church: Ecumenical Partners
The
Greek word from which we derive the word 'ecumenical' means
'the whole inhabited earth'. Saint Mary's ecumenical relationships
are international, and bring together Christians from all
sorts of backgrounds. We believe that all who believe in
Christ, wherever they may be, whatever their denomination,
loose their differences and are as one in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Jesus said that His will is for His Church to be
one in Him (Gospel of Saint John, 17.21), our close relationships
with our sister churches reflects this.
In
Slough, we work in close collaboration with the Methodist
congregations at Saint Andrew's and Ledger's Road and the
Roman Catholic congregation at Saint Ethelbert's. The Society
of Friends (the 'Quakers') regularly contribute to our Sunday
Evening worship. The United Reformed Church provides
the home for the Slough City Centre Ministry Team, 'Kingsway
Connections'. Saint Mary's is part of Slough Town Centre
Churches Together, which brings together Christian churches
of all denominations.
Internationally,
Saint Mary's and the Anglican parish of Upton
cum Chalvey are linked in a partnership of prayer with
the Lutheran congregation of Auferstehungskirche (Church
of the Resurrection) and the Roman Catholic Congregation
of Herz Jesu Kirche (Sacred Heart Church) in Pforzheim,
Germany. North of the Black Forest, Pforzheim (like Slough)
is a large industrial centre in close proximity to a sprawling
metropolis.
Saint
Mary's School maintains links with the Anglican primary
school at Zerqa, Jordan. Zerqa is located c.20 miles
North-East of Amman.
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