About Us
We are now part of the Rossendale Team of nine parishes forming a Mission Community within the Bury and Rossendale Deanery
St Mary's remains Biblically orthodox in its Christian faith (as defined in the '39 Articles of Faith and the historic formularies of the Church of England). Jesus is Lord of every area of our shared and private lives.
We're all on a journey of repentance and transformation, it would be great to share with you on the same journey

Our Vision
Our vision is:
"To reveal Jesus as we love God and serve others in the power of His Spirit."

Our Purpose
To enjoy fellowship as we worship in Spirit and Truth, grow in discipleship, develop in ministry and deploy in mission
Prayer Request Form
Please submit your prayer requests by completing the box below and clicking Send Prayer Request
Notices
WHAT'S ON
Morning Services
Sunday 11:00AM
Sunday school for children during part of the service
Family Service
1st Sunday of month
Suitable for the whole family to join in or with Sunday school for children
Holy Communion
2nd and 4th Sunday of month
Sunday school for children during part of the service
Morning Prayer
3rd Sunday of month
Mothers' Union
3rd Monday of month 7:30pm
Group for anyone, ladies or men who are interested in the cultivation of family life
Soup and a Sandwich
2nd Wednesday of month 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Free soup and a sandwich lunch, open to everyone
House Groups/Bible Study
We currently have two groups, please contact church for more details
Renew
On-line Service
Church Services
All service Readings and Prayers will be posted here and on our Facebook page.
Prayers
20th April 2025 by Nigel
Good morning and a Happy Easter to everyone.
Jesus Christ is risen today, Hallelujah!
Our triumphant holy day,
Who did once, upon the cross,
Suffer to redeem our loss.
God Almighty, we praise your holy name in this joyful Eastertide. We thank you, Lord, because through your death and resurrection we have won victory and your redeeming grace and love. Loving Father fill us with new life so that we may love one another and do what you want us to do in sharing your love with those who don’t know you. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Hymns of praise then let us sing,
Unto Christ, our heavenly King,
Who endured the cross and grave,
Sinners to redeem and save.
God, the creator and preserver of all mankind, we pray for people of every race, and in every kind of need: make your ways known on earth, your saving power among all nations. We especially pray for peace and justice on earth as it is in heaven, to all places of unrest. We pray for the poor, sick, the needy, and we pray for all the organisations working to provide for their needs. Encourage us Lord to use our time, talents and money to help the poor, Lord in your mercy hear our prayer.
Lord, we pray for our families, friends, neighbours. Lord, we pray for our health and well-being, praying and giving thanks for our marriages, our relationships, our safety and security, for your guidance in our lives. We continue to pray for our schools and children, Lord, we pray you will nurture and guide all to your everlasting kingdom through Jesus Chris our Lord. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We commend to your fatherly goodness all that are anxious or distressed in mind or body; comfort and relieve them in their need; give them patience in their sufferings, and bring good out of their troubles. We pray for members of our congregation that are suffering at the present time.
And others known to us personally. We ask that they feel your presence and support. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
O God our maker and redeemer We pray for those who mourn we remember all who have recently died and those whose anniversary of death occurs at this time
Bring comfort, dear Lord, to all those who mourn. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
But the pains which He endured,
Our salvation have procured,
Now in heaven above He’s King,
Where the angels ever sing.
Father as we gather up all of our prayers this Eastertide, our prayers spoken today, the unspoken prayers of our hearts, our prayers of yesterday and our prayers over the weeks and months to come our prayers for whom we love, and for those whom we pray this day and forevermore. Rejoicing in the fellowship of all your saints, we commend ourselves and all creation to your unfailing love.
Merciful Father Accept these prayers for the sake of your son Our saviour Jesus Christ
Amen
EASTER DAY Talk
20th April 2025 - Acts 10:34-43 & John 20:1-18
I hope everyone is having a fabulous time taking part in Easter celebrations today!
I love Easter eggs, not just because of the chocolate, but because they’re an easily recognisable symbol of new life - which is very fitting for Easter Day.
I do think Easter eggs have a downside though! They’re usually empty aren’t they? I think there’s something quite disappointing about a hollow chocolate egg!
Surely the egg on the screen is better? Full of biscuits and sprinkles! An empty egg is a bit of a let-down isn’t it?!
But EMPTINESS is an important part of the Easter story, so perhaps my feeling of disappointment is OK?
We often find EMPTINESS a bit disconcerting don’t we?
I went to university in Norfolk, and one summer, my friends and I visited the ecumenical shrine in Walsingham. They’ve got a display there that looks like a copy of Jesus’ EMPTY tomb. You can stand in the tiny room that seems as if it has been carved out of stone and look at an EMPTY bench.
I still remember my friend David, cramming into this little space, bent over slightly, so he didn’t hit his head on the ceiling. He spent about two minutes dutifully staring at…nothing…before finally nudging me and saying ‘do you know what we’re supposed to be looking at?’
An empty tomb, like an empty Easter egg does seem a bit odd doesn’t it? I think my friend found the whole thing very amusing and bizarre. He felt it was a bit like watching crowds of people gather around in the Louvre the see the Mona Lisa, but with only the frame hanging on the wall.
Strange. Awkward. Unsettling. Disappointing. Maybe?
Our Gospel reading starts with EMPTINESS. Surprisingly, there is nothing to see! The big event, God’s miraculous act, the saving of the world, seems to have taken place overnight - in the dark, in the quiet. As far as we’re aware, nobody is around to see the moment that Jesus is resurrected and walks out of His grave.
Instead, all that’s left is an EMPTY tomb, waiting to be discovered. Strange. Awkward. Unsettling. Disappointing. Maybe?
When Jesus’ followers find the EMPTY tomb, they feel all these things and more.
The EMPTINESS isn’t just confusing, it appears to be a very cruel twist in already tragic tale!
Mary and the others are already suffering as a result of what they have seen, They’ve witnessed Jesus’ torture and terrible death on the cross. They’re exhausted, emotionally frayed and swamped by grief. Now, as they look around the tomb, they’re further dismayed by what they cannot see – the body is missing, it must have been moved or stolen? What a harrowing thought?
So, the resurrection is first experienced as a terrible EMPTINESS. Mary and the rest of Jesus’ followers hoped to properly prepare Him for burial, to hold onto his body a little longer and now, even that, has been taken away from them.
The tomb is EMPTY. All is lost. Those who had travelled this far with Jesus are left with nothing to cling to.
Like my friend David, we can find it very hard to sit with EMPTINESS but we’re all invited to do so this morning.
The other disciples are overcome and go home but we can stay with Mary, stepping back into the EMPTINESS, waiting in the space.
The resurrection could have taken place in broad daylight with fanfare and trumpets but then I think we would have missed our chance to notice this EMPTINESS.
This EMPTY space is where FAITH begins. It’s where we acknowledge our failure to comprehend, our bewilderment, our fear. It’s where we face the truth, that our powers of human reasoning are limited and can’t produce an answer, an explanation. It’s where we finally accept that we are helpless. It’s where we reach the end of ourselves.
It’s important that we don’t rush to fill the space or look away from the EMPTY tomb, so that, with Mary, we can start to recognise that that there is an ABSENCE at the very center of the Christian faith.
This absence is so incomprehensible, so unimaginable, so mind-blowing that, like Mary and my friend David, we can struggle to understand what it means at first glance.
The unoccupied, EMPTY place that is forever at the heart of the Christian faith, remains vacant and bare, because Jesus’ actions have changed creation - they have removed something.
The tomb is EMPTY because death is not present anymore.
Death is no more. It cannot take root, cannot fill our nightmares, cannot make us afraid. Death can no-longer take up space!
This EMPTINESS might be strange, awkward and unsettling – it might feel almost impossible to accept - to believe - but it is the truth that the Christian faith asks us to acknowledge.
Jesus IS alive! He is Risen! Alleluia!
The first part of our Gospel reveals that death has been emptied away but the second half is all about filling up!
If creation has changed, then it’s time for Mary to leave the tomb behind and step out into this brave, new world.
God invites us all to do this! To leave the tomb, the grave, the things of death and darkness behind and step into the new life Jesus has prepared for us.
If you’re thinking about taking that step today, I want to encourage you! Jesus is already waiting for you in the garden, just like He was waiting for Mary.
You don’t have to do anything fancy, you don’t need any special knowledge or skills, you just have to turn towards Jesus. Mary knew Jesus well, but she still struggled to recognise Him – it didn’t matter! Jesus was there anyway, ready and waiting to reveal Himself to her – to fill the space, to give her the free gift of new life.
At first, Mary thinks Jesus is the gardener. She’s not entirely wrong.
John tells us:
They are standing in a garden. It is the morning of the first day. Jesus is the new Adam. This is the beginning of a new creation. He begins, as the first Adam did, by naming His creation - Mary.
Jesus is the re-creator. He fills everything up and transforms it!
Finally, Mary recognises her friend, her Lord, her God and is astonished by the implications. The world has changed, Mary has changed. Everything has been emptied of death and filled with new life. Now is not a time for weeping – it is a time for joy.
Our final picture is of a broken, empty egg but I hope that when we look at it now, we don’t see something boring and disappointing but a reminder of something wonderful, miraculous and outrageously joy-filled!
We must look at the empty tomb but we are also called to move on from there. The footprints remind us that the egg is empty because new life has up and left and started living! It cannot be held back!
On the first Easter morning, God’s new creation was waiting be discovered by the disciples. We have that same opportunity all around us, every day! Jesus invites us to walk in the garden of His new creation with Him, to have His presence fill our lives, so that we can enjoy His love. We’re invited to join in with the gardening, wherever we see justice, mercy and peace starting to flourish! We are to go out, free from fear and filled with hope and witness to what God has done – to the Good News of Easter Day!
Sometimes, our world can feel as stale and cold as the stone tomb, but the place where Jesus’ body should have been found is still EMPTY. Death is no more. The disciples remembered the EMPTY tomb when they first started to tell others about what had happened. They remembered it when they organised the early church and acted as witnesses to what God had done. They remembered it when they faced failures and set-backs and suffering. Today, we remember. There is a new creation being built right now and it is bursting with life and love. And it will stand forever and ever because Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!
Alleluia!
Communion Reflection
This is a short Communion Reflection that you can join at any time. There is a quiet period within it that you can pause if you want a longer period of reflection
Safe Guarding Policy
At St Mary’s, Rawtenstall we work hard to maintain a safe environment for all. We are committed to implementing the House of Bishops’ safeguarding policies and good practice guidance.
If you have any concerns or enquiries regarding safeguarding, please contact our safeguarding officer.
- Parish Safeguarding Officer: Vicky Rhodes
- Phone: 01254 389589
A hard copy of the ‘Manchester Diocese Safeguarding Handbook’ and the ‘Church of England – Parish Safeguarding Handbook’ are available for inspection in the vestry at St Mary’s.
The Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser is Abbey Clephane-Wilson, she can be contacted at
- Email: safeguarding@manchester.anglican.org
- Phone: 0161 828 1465
- Mobile: 07384 460958
Out of Hours Support
The Diocese of Manchester partners with thirtyone:eight and you can access their Safeguarding Helpline if the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser is unavailable. Thirtyone:eight can be contacted on 0303 003 1111.
This also includes any safeguarding queries outside of office hours on weekdays and weekends. An Information Sharing Agreement between the two organisations will allow the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser to receive a copy of the advice thirtyone:eight may offer the caller.
In the case of an emergency
If you have immediate concerns about the safety of someone, please contact the police and your local authority Children or Adults Service. Lancashire County Council on 0300 123 6720 or outside of working hours 0300 123 6722
Helplines
NSPCC Child Protection Helpline: 0808 800 5000 (lines free and open 24 hours).
- Child-line: 0800 1111 (lines free and open 24 hours).
- Parent Line: 0808 800 2222
- National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247 (lines free and open 24 hours).
- Samaritans Helpline: 116 123 (open 24 hours).
- Action on Elder Abuse Helpline: 080 8808 8141 (freephone Monday to Friday 9-5pm)
Facts
Some interesting facts about St Mary's Rawtenstall
Year Opened
Average Congregation
Downstairs Capacity
Electoral Roll (2020)
Activities
- All
- Adults
- Scouts
- Guides

Mothers Union
3rd Monday, 7:30pm

Rainbows
Monday, 5:30pm

Ladies Fellowship
Alt. Wednesday, 2:00pm

Beavers
Wednesday, 6:15pm

Brownies
Monday, 6:30pm

Mens Breakfast
1st Saturday, 8:15am

Cubs
Tuesday, 7:00pm

Scouts
Thursday, 7:30pm

Guides
Monday, 7:30pm
Team
Meet the team of people at St Mary's who keep the building functioning, but the real church is not the building but the people who use the building.

Revd Samuel Hameem
Team Vicar in the Rossendale TeamRevd Samuel Hameem

Julie Barratt
Associate MinisterJulie Barratt

Pete Terry
Church WardenPete Terry

Jean Lang
Church WardenJean Lang

Nick and Suzanne
Childrens WorkSuzanne & Nick
Contact Us
Please contact us if you need any further information, or clarification of services/times. We will try and get back to you as soon as possible.