About St Laurence's
We currently have three services each month and a fourth, on alternate months. These include two Communion Services and an All Age Service. Families are welcomed and children are regularly involved in our All Age Worship, and activities are provided for them (as with all the Churches) during joint Benefice Four Churches services.
There are strong links with Foxton Primary School, and the Rector is regularly invited to lead assemblies. Occasional school services (such as Harvest Festival, Carol Service and even mock weddings and baptisms!) are held in the church for the children and their parents.
There are close links with the local Methodist Church, with whom we share All Age Worship on the 2nd Sunday of every month in the Parish Church. In addition, we share services such as Harvest Festival, Christingle, the Carol Service and Women’s World Day of Prayer.
St Laurence Church is a Grade I listed building, and occupies a site to the south of the High Street near the centre of the village. Parts of the building date back to the 13th century, although a church has stood on the site for more than 1000 years. The tower houses 5 bells, which can be rung or chimed, and an electrically driven clock strikes the hours.
The church stands in a regularly maintained graveyard, which is still in use for burials. There is also a designated area for interment of ashes.
Inside the church, the nave has fixed pews for about 150 people, and choir stalls in the chancel for 20. There are sufficient chairs for about an extra 50 seats.
A new kitchen and toilet with disabled access have recently been installed, including a baby changing table. Funds are regularly raised for various work that is needed to maintain and repair the fabric of the Church, by a local secular fundraising group, STREAM (St Laurence Trust for Restoration and Maintenance). See below for further information about STREAM.
A sound system has also recently been installed, funded by gifts from a member of the congregation.
Our greatest challenge in recent years was to replace the lead roof to the nave of the church which cost in the region of £90,000 and came mostly through grant funding and the generosity of local residents. Sadly the church fell victim to lead thieves in 2016 and the lead from both the side aisle roofs has been stolen. These are currently protected by felting but the lead will have to be replaced with another material less attractive to thieves.
Children and Families
There is currently no children’s church at Foxton. However, families are welcome and there is a children’s area in the north aisle where children are provided for during the service.
All Age Worship
Our monthly service for All Ages together is on the second Sunday of the month. The service is planned so that there is something for everyone in the service. The worship is more relaxed and less formal and led by a small group of musicians.
Activity Mornings
We hold occasional Activity Mornings for children in the Village Hall, most notably on Good Friday where we use a mixture of craft, drama and games to engage with the Easter Story.
Youth – Energise
Our Benefice Youth Group, Energise meets together monthly on the Second Sunday of the month from 6.00pm for food, games and discussion. We currently meet with the young people from the Youth Group at Hinxton, Duxford and Ickleton with our shared Youth Leader alternating venues between Hinxton and Thriplow. We can offer lifts.
Connect
A monthly Youth Service held at Stapleford Church with lively music, food and other activities. Lifts available.
STREAM
STREAM is a Community Trust set up in 1999 as an ongoing campaign to secure the survival of St. Laurence’s Church as part of Foxton’s village heritage. Trustees raise funds to maintain this important Grade 1 listed historical building for present and future Foxton generations.
We do this through regular fund-raising activities, for example a Quiz and Curry evening, an annual Cream Tea afternoon and various other events. Every year we host a Cheese and Wine evening for our highly valued Friends of STREAM members. Anyone can be a Friend of STREAM – email foxton.stream@hotmail.com for further information.
Scarecrow Festival
On Saturday 12 October, there was a great day of scarecrow fun in Foxton, despite the weather! The 50+ scarecrows dotted around the village showed once again just how creative the Foxton residents are.
TV, films and books clearly provided some inspiration as the village played host to an army of Harry Potter-themed creations (including a dementor, a basilisk and Harry himself disappearing onto Platform 9¾!), plus a midwife on her bicycle, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, Willy Wonka, Fireman Sam and Spiderman.
Then came the environmental ones – extinction rebellion, protesting in support of the poor crows, climate change protesters, a conservationist in the Dovecot Meadow and a plastic pollution robot, made by the Guides.
Animals also featured this year, with a beautiful sloth in a tree and a pig cooking sausages on the barbecue and there were some wonderful musical ones, including Ed Sheerin, a ‘festival’ performer and the ‘Wurzels’ in a JCB digger on the A10.
Visitors were treated to bacon butties, warming soup and delicious home-made cakes. Impromptu band from Orwell Methodist Church played while everyone arrived in the Church for the presentations, followed by entertainment from Foxton Singers and Foxton School choir, who gave a stunning rendition of ‘Sing’ by Gary Barlow. This year we introduced online voting and the public chose three winning designs as their favourites, Stick Man, a dog walker and dog, and Paddington Bear.
The whole event raised an impressive £1,450 for St Laurence’s Church.
News of Church Closure - January 2019
Due to electrical work being carried out, St Laurence’s Church will be closed for approximately one week from 20th January and the church will be cordoned off for safety reasons. As the work will include the removal of asbestos from the old equipment by specialist sub-contractors please do not enter the church under any circumstances. For any queries, contact Jon Cairns, Churchwarden (contact details below).
As the work may not be finished in time, we have taken the decision to cancel the Celtic Eucharist at St Laurence’s on the 26th January. There will instead be a 9.30am Celtic Eucharist at St George’s Thriplow on 26th January, as well as the 11am at St Mary’s Fowlmere. Anyone wanting a lift to the Thriplow or Fowlmere services please contact Jon or Jean (contact details below).
Who to contact
The Team Rector is:
Revd. Angela Melaniphy, The Rectory, Fowlmere, SG8 7SU
Telephone: 01763 208195
email: rector@thefourchurchbenefice.org
The Churchwardens responsible for St Laurence’s are Mrs Jean McCombie, who you can call on 01223 502368 and Mr Jon Cairns, available on 01223 870473 or email: cairns16@ntlworld.com
Foxton Regular Services
Rotating around the four churches when there is a fifth Sunday in a month, at the usual worship time for each church. For more details check our calendar.
St Mary's, Fowlmere
St Laurence's, Foxton
All Saints, Shepreth