St. Mary & St. Giles, Stony Stratford

St. Mary & St. Giles, Stony Stratford

January isn’t often an auspicious time of year to visit churches but the opportunity arose to have a trip out so here are a few.

St. Mary and St. Giles sits in the middle of this town on the outskirts of Milton Keynes. It is a pleasant place with a sense of history. The church is open every day and an A board outside announces this fact to passers by. A lot of thought has gone into visitors here. There is a good welcome notice in the entrance porch.

Inside there was a friendly steward who spoke very warmly of the church and pointed out things of interest. There were some good leaflets – a welcome one, a chantry roll to request prayer for those who have died, a baptism leaflet and a monthly intercession one in which the parish’s roads and people are prayed for. Too few places do this – I have come across only a handful in all the churches I have visited. There was also a locally produced booklet ‘this prevailing presence’ which is a booklet of prayers for use before and after the celebration of the Mass. That also tells you what sort of parish this is. The church is a member of Forward in Faith.

Two votive stands are available to use and there is a prayer request board as well. One thing that sets St. Mary & St. Giles apart is the interpretation boards around the church. They are on features such as the pulpit and Blessed Sacrament Chapel. They are very good and it is good to see this as we cannot assume that visitors know what church furniture etc. is for.

The weekly news sheet caught my eye as well. It is very well produced and even features a whole page on ‘The First Apologia of St. Justin Martyr’ – this congregation is very well taught!

There is a trail display board outside the church as well. The church website is at parishstonystratfordcalverton.com and this clearly says that the church is open every day.  I enjoyed my visit to this church and I rate it as very good – go and have a look!