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St Mary's is a spiritual haven
It is a holy place at the heart of the High Street. The doors are kept open as much as possible for those who want a quiet moment, or to soak up it’s peace and sense of continuity. Many people who do not attend church on Sundays still value the opportunity to come into St Mary's during the week. It is a special place.
The Friends are helping to ensure that St Mary's remains a spiritual haven.
St Mary's is a place of prayer
The midweek celebration of Holy Communion has an important place in the team ministry's life. Other acts of worship take place there during the year, including regular prayer meetings and youth worship events. The church has always stood at the centre of the spiritual life of the community.
The Friends want to keep the sense of worship in St Mary’s.
St Mary's is adaptable
Over the centuries, each generation has carefully adapted the interior of the church for its own uses. Old photographs and prints bear witness to this. St Mary's looks very different today from how it looked 100 years ago. What is clear is that the changes made have always been carefully thought out and well executed.
The Friends want to continue to adapt the church building to meet the needs of the church in the 21st Century for outreach, for worship and broader use by the community.
St Mary’s is for the whole community
Now suitably adapted, the church is an ideal setting for concerts, exhibitions and a wide range of public events and community occasions. The interior of the church is more flexible, with appropriate heating and lighting. This has opened up the church for more activities than before. For example Churches Together Billericay were able to use the building for the Billericay Festival, the Rotary Club has used the church for an Art Exhibition and the Air Training Corps have used St Mary’s to serve refreshments after the Annual Remembrance Day Service.
The Friends of St Mary Magdalen appreciate the importance of the church to the community and want to conserve it for future generations.
St Mary's is a place for young people
The High Street has plenty of pubs and restaurants, but few places where the town's under-18’s can go legally. St Mary’s position makes it ideal as a venue for events for these young people. There are regular youth gatherings in the evenings run by the local church youth leaders. We want to build on this and to see St Mary's become a regular venue-of-choice for Billericay's young people.
Doing nothing isn't an option
Any building needs constant maintenance, and this costs money. To 'earn its keep', St Mary's needs to be used. Thousands of pounds have been spent on the repair and repainting of the window frames and unblocking the drainpipes but there is more to do. To supplement rental income the Friends will help fund the maintenance of St Mary's so that it can continue to be a special place for future generations to use and enjoy.
The Friends recognise that if we do nothing, St Mary's will deteriorate very quickly and are committed to maintaining St Mary’s for future generations to enjoy.
Redevelopment
Stage 1 of the renovation of St Mary Magdalen was completed with the floor having been levelled and tiled with underfloor heating and wood framed upholstered chairs. St Mary’s is now much more comfortable and flexible. In addition, a kitchen and new toilets have been built and some redecoration has taken place. Access for people with disabilities has also been improved. Future plans include the building of a disabled toilet, improved access, bringing the balcony back to use, renewing lighting and further redecoration. We are undertaking each phase as soon as we have secured funding.
As we do this, the Friends are ensuring that every care is taken to preserve the amenity and character of St Mary Magdalen.
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