The Church on Fairford Leys

Our History

Fairford Leys is a modern urban village, built in 1998. The development was carefully designed to create a great place to live, including a central square with community facilities. Part of this vision was the provision of a place of Christian worship. Local churches in Aylesbury from the Anglican, Methodist, United Reformed Church, and Roman Catholic traditions worked together to establish a new, ecumenical, local church.

Our Services

 Our worship style can be described as relaxed and informal. We vary the Sunday services over the course of a month, using liturgies from our supporting denominations. We also have a regular service involving craft and creativity to explore a Bible passage. We call this All Together Worship.

On a Wednesday morning we meet for a reflective Celtic style Communion. There is time to share prayer requests, and after the service the fellowship continues over refreshments.

Our Congregation

Fairford Leys is a diverse community and our congregation represents that. Many of our members live locally, but some travel from the surrounding area. We welcome and encourage participation from our members whatever their age; we believe that part of worshipping God is to use our gifts and talents for the benefit of all. This might be in a Sunday service, or in work in the wider community.

 

St Mary the Virgin

St Mary the Virgin is in the Parish of Aylesbury. Other churches are St Peters in Quarrendon,  The Church of Fairford Leys and the Church on Berryfields are ecumenical partnership churches in the parish.

St Mary's stands in the centre of Aylesbury, and due to its position on a small hill, is among the tallest and most visible buildings in the town, being visible across the entire Vale. St. Mary's Church is the Parish Church for Aylesbury and also the County Church for Buckinghamshire. As a result we host many civic events during the course of the year. The Rector is traditionally the chaplain to the Town Mayor of Aylesbury.

We pride ourselves as a church with its doors open to visitors seven days a week. We house a small Cafe which sells teas, coffees, cakes and hot foods Monday to Friday. We are also the venue for the Thursday Lunchtime Concerts that have taken place here for over thirty years. There is usually a Said Eucharist Service every Tuesday during the week at Midday.

St. Mary's Church is in the modern catholic tradition. This means that we celebrate the Eucharist as our principal service, wearing vestments and using incense when appropriate. We have a full choir who are affiliated to the Royal School of Church Music. Our repertoire is broad, enjoying modern and traditional hymns and music. We are a very welcoming church, most especially for your young children. We believe very strongly that our worship is for all, and our toddlers enjoy their space within the main body of the church! We have a thriving Sunday School and of course opportunities for all our members to assist with serving.

St. Mary's is the proud home to a gifted and much-awarded team of bell ringers, who offer bells for all major services. We are a very diverse community, with an increasing population from many countries and cultures from around the world, most notably Zimbabwe!