Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and Lent

Pancake Party
St Catherine’s Hall
Tuesday 17th February

Drop in between 2.30pm and 4pm or stay all afternoon and help raise funds for St Catherine’s tower restoration.

£5 to include 2 pancakes and tea or coffee

Gluten free available on request

Names before 15th February please

Pay on the day

Ash Wednesday (18 February)

Eucharists with the imposition of ashes will be held at 10.30 am at St Andrew's Wickford and at 8.00 pm at St Mary's Runwell.

Lent Course - Who Is My Neighbour?

A course from St Martin-in-the-Fields in conjunction with the National Gallery, exploring Art and the Bible Story. We are offering this six week course from week commencing 23rd February. The final week will be decided by each group. Lent Course groups are meeting on Tuesday and Thursday evening at 7.30 pm and on Thursday afternoon at 2.00 pm. Email to jonathan.evens@btinternet.com if joining a group would be of interest.

Stations of the Cross

A set of Stations of the Cross by the late Valerie Dean have been installed at St Andrew's Wickford for Lent and Holy Week. We will pray these Stations during Holy Week.

Valerie's Stations of the Cross have a very clear and intense focus on details which are evocative of the whole. They have previously been shown at St Martin-in-the-Fields and the Diocesan Offices of the Diocese of Chelmsford.

Valerie Dean returned to England in the summer of 2007 after living for 27 years in Belgium. There, she studied art for six years and had various exhibitions, in and around Brussels. On returning to England, she became involved in the Kent arts scene and exhibited, regularly, in the Francis Iles gallery, in Rochester. She also took part in the Canterbury Arts Festival and exhibitions in Whitstable.

She worked in acrylics and her technique was usually to put materials and colours on canvas or board, to see what emerged. It was a dialogue between the artist and her materials. Because of her background, this often consisted of figures around a religious theme. They just appeared! Very often, people seemed to want to appear in her paintings, a little like the pictures in the fire that she used to see in her childhood. At other times, she found that buildings and places she knew inspired her.

See also 'Fear not, for I am with you: An exhibition of religious paintings by David Sowerby'
9 January – 3 April 2026
St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN

St Andrew’s is usually open: Sat 9am-12.30pm; Sun 9.30am-12 noon; Mon 2-3.45pm; Tue 1-4.30pm; Wed 10am-12 noon; Fri 10am-1pm. https://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html

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Emmylou Harris - Prayer In Open D.

Upcoming events in the Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry

Here are the upcoming events in the Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry during January and February:

Fear not, for I am with you: An exhibition of religious paintings by David Sowerby

9 January – 3 April 2026

St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN

View the exhibition and hear David speak about his work at ‘Unveiled’, the arts & performance evening at St Andrew’s Wickford, Friday 9 January, 7.00 pm.

St Andrew’s is usually open: Sat 9am-12.30pm; Sun 9.30am-12 noon; Mon 2-3.45pm; Tue 1-4.30pm; Wed 10am-12 noon; Fri 10am-1pm. https://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html 

David Sowerby

Born 24th October 1954

Studied Foundation at Middlesbrough Art College

BA (hons) Art and Design at The Central School of Art (London)

I worked as a freelance illustrator and teacher throughout my life and eventually retired as a Principal Lecturer at The University of the Arts London.

I now support a range of charities, both local and national, via my mutual interest and fascination with art and creativity. 

An earlier exhibition was just prior to the first lockdown which was held at The Transition, Chelmsford, with proceeds going towards The British Heart Foundation raised just over £6,000.

I continue to support local and national charities, contributing a large percentage of any sales to such charitable organisations and causes.  

My work can be viewed on my Facebook pages, search for David Sowerby with more available to view at Sowerbycreations (Facebook again) 

Unveiled

A regular Friday night arts and performance event
at St Andrew’s Church, 7.00 – 9.00 pm
11 London Road, Wickford, Essex SS12 0AN

See below for our Spring 2026 programme and http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for more information.

Exhibitions, open mic nights, performances, talks and more!

Unveiled – a wide range of artist and performers from Essex and wider, including Open Mic nights (come and have a go!).
Unveiled – view our hidden painting by acclaimed artist David Folley, plus a range of other exhibitions.

Spring Programme 2026

• 9 January (7.00 pm) – ‘Fear not, for I am with you: An exhibition of religious paintings’ exhibition viewing evening. Meet artist David Sowerby, see his exhibition & hear him speak about his work. David worked as a freelance illustrator and teacher and was a Principal Lecturer at The University of the Arts London.
• 23 January (7.00 pm) – ‘Writing on the Arts’. A talk by Jonathan Evens reflecting on his experiences of writing on the Arts for publications including Artlyst, ArtWay, Church Times, International Times, Seen and Unseen and Stride Magazine, among others.
• 6 February (7.30 pm) – Meet film director Will Norman and see his acclaimed film My Brother Bob, which explores the meaning of quality of life and won Best Documentary at the UKFF. Will Norman is a London based director known for his surreal and playful approach to storytelling across commercials and music videos.
• 27 February (7.30 pm) – Rev Simpkins in concert. Rev Simpkins’ music mixes the colourful folk tradition of Appalachians Mountains with the melodiousness and carefully-observed lyrics of the Kinks. Close harmonies intertwine with banjo, French horn, and bass. “Melodious, chaotic, gloriously energetic, the fruit of the fevered musical imaginations of Matty Simpkins.”
• 13 March (7.00 pm) – ‘Nevendon to Wickford’. A talk by Geoff Whiter of Wickford Community Archive. Geoff’s talk will include a number of unseen photographs of Wickford Town centre.
• 27 March (7.30 pm) – Open Mic Night. Everybody is welcome to come along & play, read, sing or just spectate. See you there for a great evening of live performance!

These events do not require tickets (just turn up on the night). There will be a retiring collection to cover artist and church costs. See http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for fuller information.

Rev Simpkins 

Suffolk-Essex musician, Rev Simpkins, presents an evening of acoustic music of great imagination and charm.

The Rev will perform songs from his acclaimed folk albums such as ‘Big Sea’ and ‘Saltings’, together with songs from his band album ‘Pissabed Prophet’. The gig will also feature songs from the Rev’s most recent album ‘Headwater’, a collection of fever dreams and reflections on awe and delirium, recorded in the aftermath of an extreme reaction to immunotherapy treatment for stage 4 cancer. These songs recreate sounds and visions experienced on the hospital ward.

The Rev’s sweeping melodies, rich harmonies, and fascinating lyrics have won him both a cult following and national acclaim. This is a rare chance to experience the breadth of the Rev’s  work in one evening.

"Bizarre Post-Punk mastery...Ludicrously cool" 8/10 Vive le Rock on ‘Pissabed Prophet’

“Headwater takes us into new ruminative territory with its industrial electronic soundscapes and use of drones and silences to bring us into contemplation.” International Times

Nazareth Community Gathering

Saturday 17 January, 2.00 pm

St John’s Church, Outwood Common Rd, Billericay CM11 2LE

A first meeting of the incipient South Essex Nazareth Community including: Study (Letter from Nazareth); Sharing (Wonderings); Staying With (Preparing a 7S’s Rule of Life); and Sacrament (Eucharist).  

A contemporary Rule of Life: Silence, Service, Scripture, Sacrament, Sharing, Sabbath, Staying With

All are welcome to find out more and take part in this initial Gathering to begin forming a Nazareth Community in South Essex.

WICKFORD AND RUNWELL 

PARISH STUDY DAY 2026 

THE BIG STORY: THE BIBLE IN FIVE ACTS 

Saturday 31st January 2026 

9.30am - 2pm in St Andrews church 

Lunch provided.

Explore the amazing story told through the Bible from Creation to Jesus and the Early Church and look into the future and what it means for us.

... discuss ...

Discuss is a youth discussion group meeting monthly on Fridays, 7.00 pm, St Andrew's Centre. All discussion topics chosen by the group. All teens and twenties are welcome.

Dates:

• 16 January
• 20 February
• 20 March
• 17 April
• 15 May
• 12 June
• 10 July

Pancake Party

St Catherine’s Hall

17th February 2026

Between 2.30 pm and 4pm

£5 for pancakes and tea or coffee

There will also be a raffle

Sign up lists coming soon, pay on the day

WICKFORD AND RUNWELL PARISH 

LENT 2026 

Inspired to Follow: Who is my Neighbour 

A journey through Lent 

A course from St Martin-in-the-Fields in conjunction with the National Gallery, exploring Art and the Bible Story. We are offering this six week course from week commencing 23rd February. The final week will be decided by each group. 

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Rev Simpkins - In The Marsh A Desert.

Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and Lent

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Party, St Catherine’s Hall, Tuesday 4th March

Drop in between 2.30pm and 4pm or stay all afternoon and help raise funds for St Catherine’s restoration. £5 to include 2 pancakes and tea or coffee. There will also be a raffle. Sign-up sheet at the back of the church. Gluten free available on request. Names before 2nd March please.

Ash Wednesday: Our Eucharists with the imposition of ashes will be at 10.30 am in St Andrew's Wickford and 8.00 pm in St Mary's Runwell. All are welcome.

LENT 2025 - ON A JOURNEY

A five week course looking at journeys in the Bible. We are offering this course the week commencing 10th March. If you are interested in attending please let us know your preferences in order (1,2,3) and you will be allocated to a group. The options are Tuesdays at 7.30 pm, Thursdays at 2.00 pm, and Thursdays at 7.30 pm. If you are prepared to host a group please also let us know. Do you have any special requirements that need to be considered? Please let a member of the ministry team know.

The Bible is full of journeys made by people guided by God. Some are shorter and some are longer. All are transformational. Life is often thought of as a journey. There are high points and low points, paths where we travel swiftly and paths where we feel bogged down, there are some times when we feel like we have come to a dead end and some times when the future ahead looks far away. In this course we look at five particular biblical journeys and think about how the people involved might have felt, and what responses they evoke in us when we hear them. Do they remind us of our own journeys with God? 

• Week 1: Abraham’s wanderings 
• Week 2: The Exodus 
• Week 3: Ruth and Naomi 
• Week 4: Jesus journey to Jerusalem (based on St Luke’s gospel) 
• Week 5: Paul’s missionary journeys (based on Acts)

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Water Into Wine Band - Hill Climbing For Beginners.

Quiz Night and more ...

This Saturday there is a Quiz Night raising funds for work at St Catherine's Wickford.

The details are: Saturday 4 February, 7.00 pm, 1st Runwell Scout Hall (Runwell Gardens SS11 7DW). £5.00 p/head. Tables of up to eight. Bring your own snacks & drinks (Tea and Coffee available). To book a table email StCatherinesQuiz@hotmail.com.

Our fundraising campaign is for urgent work that is required to the Tower of St. Catherine’s Church Wickford as a result of ground movement caused by the long dry summer. This resulted in subsidence of the foundations in the North West corner of the church which caused a number of large cracks to appear in the walls and some stonework to fall. As a result, urgent safety and weather protection work costing £23,000 is required followed by the investigations needed to design a long-term solution to the problem.

A fundraising campaign to raise an initial £23,000 has been launched, but this is only the beginning of a much longer project to effectively underpin the church in order to prevent the regular recurrence of the issue. This first stage of the project will involve: removing or temporarily fixing loose stonework; undertaking temporary roof repairs and loose filling of walls for weather protection; removal of loose internal plasterwork; temporary covering of affected windows; and the reinstatement of the lightning conductor.

"Our churches are seeking to be at the heart of the community in Wickford but also need the support of the wider community in the town, particularly as we address the problems of subsidence at St Catherine's Church and the expense of maintaining this much-loved community building given the effects of significant climate change."

“Our recent consultation exercise in the Parish revealed that the churches in Wickford and Runwell are seen as contributing to the sense of community and are valued both for the support they bring to others and as centres for peace and prayer which provide a sense of Christian presence. Many local people have been baptised or married at St Catherine’s or have family members commemorated in the churchyard. For all these reasons, we believe many locally will want to support this campaign to ensure that this much-loved community building is repaired and secured for the future.”

See press coverage of the campaign in the Echo (https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/23223658.st-catherines-church-wickford-launches-fundraising-campaign/).

Future fundraising events include:

• Pancake Party, St Catherine’s Hall, Tuesday 21st February. Drop in between 2pm and 4pm or stay all afternoon and help raise funds for St Catherine’s tower restoration. £4 to include 2 pancakes and unlimited tea or coffee. Gluten free available on request. Sign-up sheet at the back of the church. Names before 15th February please.
• Rumatica Ukulele Group: Saturday 11 March, 3.00 pm, St Catherine’s Church (120 Southend Road, Wickford SS11 8EB). A local band playing and singing a wide range of popular songs including rock, pop, country, swing, rock and roll. Enjoy a cream tea afterwards in the church hall. Elsa (from Frozen) will be making an appearance at the cream tea and children will be able to meet her and have a photograph taken.

Those wishing to contribute to this campaign, can send cheques made out to Wickford and Runwell Parochial Church Council to The Rectory, 120 Southend Road, Wickford SS11 8EB or phone 07803 562329 / email jonathan.evens@btinternet.com for the bank details to use for a bank transfer.

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Susan Tedeschi - Lord, Protect My Child.