Category Archives: St Mark’s Church

Farnham Literary Festival, St Mark's Church

The Literary Festival comes to St Mark’s

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St Mark’s is one of the venues in the inaugural Farnham Literary Festival which takes place between March 5 and 13, and there is lots to enjoy here.

We kick off on Saturday, March 5, at 3-5pm with a Build a World Workshop, run by fantasy writer Paul Eggleton which offers the chance to create your own fantasy world and populate it with characters in a creative writing workshop focusing on the fantasy genre. This will be available virtually by Zoom link as well. There will be a charge of £5 to include afternoon tea. Please email p.eggleton@nhm.ac.uk for details.

On the morning of Tuesday, March 8, we will be running a Writing Memories workshop in conjunction with Right at Home home care agency. This will be by invitation only but to find out more, email Stella Wiseman.

We have two events at the church on Thursday, March 10. From 2-4pm there will be an Introduction to crime novel writing workshop with crime writer Joy Kluver, author of the Detective Bernadette Noel books, the latest of which Left for Dead has just come out. Joy will teach us how to create the heroes and villains of crime fiction. The cost is just £5 and will include afternoon tea. Please contact Stella Wiseman for further details and to book.

Then at 7.30pm on March 10, Farnham Theatre Association will be at St Mark’s with A Tale of Two Theatres, a rehearsed reading by professional actors Abigail McKern, Chris Reeks, David Wylde and guests based on a book compiled by Anne Cooper of memories  by those who knew Farnham’s Castle and Redgrave Theatres. The cost will be £5 and are available here or on the door. Refreshments will be served.

On Saturday, March 12, at 5.30pm we have the awards ceremony for our poetry competition A Poem for Farnham. Poet Ellora Sutton (pictured left), judge of the adult competition, will be there to give a reading and present prizes. If you haven’t sent your poem in yet, it’s not too late to do so as we have just extended the closing date to Monday, February 28. It’s free to enter and you could win £25. For further details click here.

On Sunday, March 13, at 2.30pm, there will be the awards ceremony for the Farnham Fiction Award.

There is lots going on across Farnham in the Literary Festival and to find out more visit the festival website.

Farnham Literary Festival, St Mark's Church

Poetry competition – deadline extended

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You’ve now got until February 28 to write A Poem for Farnham and enter it into our poetry competition which is forming part of the inaugural Farnham Literary Festival.

Take part in the competition and you could win £25 and be invited to our poetry evening on Saturday, March 12 at St Mark’s Church.

There is a children’s competition, open to under-16s, and an adult one, and all you have to do is write a poem about Farnham – what it means to you, what you like or dislike, what the town feels like to you, its history, its people… anything you want to write which means Farnham to you. The winner in each category will be awarded £25 and two runners-up in each category will be awarded £10 each.

Then send it in to us to reach us by 5pm on Monday, February 28. Send your entries by email to poetry@badshotleaandhale.org or by post to Poetry Competition, St Mark’s Church and Community Centre, Alma Lane, Farnham, GU9 0LT.

There is no word limit, but entries should be typed, double-spaced.

The children’s poetry competition is being judged by poet Coral Rumble and the adult one by poet Ellora Sutton.

Coral Rumble is an award-winning poet specialising in writing and performing for children. She has had four poetry collections published, with Things that Should be in a Poem out soon. Her verse novel Little Light was published last year and she has also written picture books and for children’s TV. You can find her at www.coralrumble.co.uk and she tweets @RumbleCoral.

Ellora Sutton, she/her, is a queer poet, museum professional, and critic. Her work has been published in the Poetry Review, Interpreter’s House, Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal, fourteen poems and Poetry News, amongst others. She reviews poetry for Mslexia. She tweets @ellora_sutton, or you can find her at ellorasutton.com.

To find out more about the Farnham Literary Festival at St Mark’s click here, and to find out more about events at other places, click here.

Art, Events, Kitty Milroy, magazine, Prayer, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Your February magazine is here

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The latest parish magazine is out now and inside you will find news, events, ideas, reflections, advertisements, pictures, contacts and more, to give you a snapshot of what is going on across our parish.

There’s lots of good news at the moment and lots to look forward to this year. Read on and find out more… And don’t forget to enter our poetry competition – write a Poem for Farnham and you could win £25!

You can download the magazine here:

February 22Download
Craft, Kitty Milroy, music, St Mark's Church

Come to the craft market!

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Come to our craft market on Saturday, February 19, 10am-2pm at St Mark’s, Alma Lane, GU9 0LT, and buy lovely gifts and treats while supporting local businesses and individual crafters. There will be glass, sweets, hand and face creams, knitting, soaps, cards, pottery, candles and many other gifts, made by skilled local craftspeople. Along side this there will be live music and refreshments, plus a chance to see the Kitty Milroy murals.

And if you are a crafter, why not have a stall? Contact craft@badshotleaandhale.org or 07842761919.

Craft, Kitty Milroy, St Mark's Church

New Year, New Craft Market

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Come to the craft market at St Mark’s this Saturday

Join us this Saturday, January 15, at St Mark’s between 10am and 2pm, for the first of this year’s monthly craft markets.

There will be pottery, soaps, glass, cards, jewellery, textiles and all manner of gifts for sale, made by local craftspeople. Browse and buy while you listen to live music, then take a look at the Kitty Milroy murals which featured on BBC TV last month. Then stop off for a hot drink, a savoury roll, cakes and biscuits.

Come and support small businesses as you shop and eat.

News Releases, remembrance, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Remembrance Sunday

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Remembrance Sunday is on November 14th this year and there will be services at each of the churches in the Parish – 9.30am at St John’s, 10am at St George’s and 11.10am at St Mark’s. There will also be an Act of Remembrance at the War Memorial in Badshot Lea following the St George’s service. Anyone wishing to attend that who has not been at the service is asked to arrive for around 10.50am.

The St Mark’s service will follow the Act of Remembrance at the Hale War Memorial at 10.45am, where there will be a two-minute silence at 11am. This will be attended by Farnham Brass Band, the Scouts and Upper Hale councillor Cllr Pat Evans, and Cllr Evans and the Scouts will then continue on to St Mark’s for a service.

Lesley Crawley will also lead an Act of Remembrance at Weybourne Village Hall at 4pm.

Art, Events, Kitty Milroy, music, News Releases, Services, Social Events, St Mark's Church

A Kitty Birthday Celebration

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Come and celebrate the Kitty Milroy murals and Kitty herself at St Mark’s on November 7th at a special communion service at 11am, with the Bishop of Dorking and the mural restorers Stephen Rickerby and Lisa Shekede, and a concert and talk at 7pm.

The now-famous murals were restored earlier this year and new lighting has been installed so that they can be seen in their full glory. They are now recognised as being of national importance and a jewel in Surrey’s crown. So, on the day before the anniversary of Kitty’s birth in 1885 and, coincidentally, her death in 1966, we want to invite everyone to St Mark’s for a celebration.

The morning celebration will be a communion service at which the Rt Rev’d Jo Bailey Wells, Bishop of Dorking, will preach, and there will be a chance to hear from Stephen Rickerby and Lisa Shekede who spent 10 weeks painstakingly restoring the murals between April and June this year. In the evening there will be music, talks on the murals and Kitty, along with refreshments and, of course, the chance to see the murals.

Everyone is welcome at both the service and the evening celebration and there will be no charge, but to keep numbers manageable, particularly in the face of Covid, the evening event will be by ticket only. To book your tickets, click here.

The murals were painted between 1911 and 1920 and depict the Annunciation – the meeting between Mary and the Angel Gabriel when Mary is told she will be the mother of Jesus – as well as scenes from the Benedicite, an ancient hymn of praise to God about the wonders of the natural world, and local views. There are figures depicting the natural elements and seasons, and the models for these figures are known to be local people. The whole is a stunning creation by a hugely talented artist and the murals and Kitty herself are finally being given the recognition they deserve.

Come and celebrate this amazingly talented artist and her work.

Children and Youth, Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

All God’s Creatures got a Place in the Choir

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There were barks, there was a lot of laughter, there may have been a couple of small accidents, and there was a lot of celebration and blessing at our three Pet Services on Sunday, October 3rd.

Thank you to everyone who came and brought their dogs, their pictures of pets and their cuddly toys, or even dressed in leopard print with a unicorn horn. There was a noticeable, but eminently sensible, lack of cats, but people brought photos of pets who really wouldn’t have dealt well with the dogs.

There was barking, wagging and a lot of enjoyment of pet treats and all the dogs, pictures and cuddly toys came forward for a blessing.

This was also a celebration of the blessings that pets can bring to us and an acknowledgement that God is the God of all – scaly, furry, smooth, two-, three-, four-, five-, six-, eight, 10-, many- and, yes, one-legged things. Snails are God’s creatures too!

As the hymn we sang says:
“All God’s creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on a telephone wire,
Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they’ve got now”.

Thanks again to Castle Vets for sponsoring the services.

Woof!

Art, Kitty Milroy, News Releases, St Mark's Church

Coffee, cake, Kitty and the Big Draw

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Fancy a cup of coffee with Kitty? Milroy that is. Join us at St Mark’s on Thursday, October 7, 10.30am-12.30pm, for coffee, cake and art and take part in The Big Draw.

Morning coffee and art will be resuming at St Mark’s, once a month, on the first Thursday of each month and the first one will coincide with The Big Draw Festival. Artist Philip Ryland will be dropping in to give us some guidance. Admission is free and you don’t have to book.

The Big Draw is a charity dedicated to raising the profile of drawing as a tool for wellbeing, thought, creativity, social and cultural engagement and runs The Big Draw Festival, the world’s biggest celebration of drawing.

While you are at St Mark’s spend some time admiring the Kitty Milroy murals in the church, our recently restored and nationally celebrated murals painted 100 years ago by local artist Kitty Milroy.

Giving and Fundraising, Harvest, Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Harvest!

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Come and celebrate the fruits of the earth and share with others at our harvest festivals on Sunday, September 26.

The services are at St John’s, Hale, at 9.30am, St George’s, Badshot Lea, at 10am, and St Mark’s, Upper Hale, at 11am. There will also be an online service here on the website and on Facebook available from 10am.

Please bring non-perishable food to church to share with Farnham Foodbank. Currently the Foodbank is in desperate need of tinned hot dog sausages, tinned stewed steak, tinned minced beef and fruit jam.

Rev’d Lesley Crawley says: “Harvest is a time when we not only celebrate the gifts of God’s earth, but think of others who are struggling to feed themselves and their families. This is a growing reality in Britain today, even though we are one of the most economically developed countries in the world. Obviously we want to give to help alleviate this need, but the church is also there to challenge and ask questions about why this should be the case and what we can do about it.”

Photo by Elaine Casap.