Thurstable and Winstree Team Ministry

serving the parishes of Tiptree with Tolleshunt Knights and Great Braxted, Copford, Easthorpe, Messing, Inworth,
Layer de la Haye, Layer Breton with Birch, and Layer Marney

The 'Layer' Parishes: Layer de la Haye • Layer Breton with Birch • Layer Marney

Welcome

C of E logoThe three 'Layer' parishes serve the Essex villages of Layer de la Haye, Birch, Layer Breton, and Layer Marney. We are part of the Church of England and our parishes are situated in attractive rural settings, just south of Colchester.

Our parishes are within the 8-parish Benefice of Thurstable and Winstree. The Layer parishes work closely with the parishes of Copford and Easthorpe. The other three parishes in the benefice are Tiptree with Tolleshunt Knights and Great Braxted, Messing and Inworth.

We welcome everyone who would like to join us for our services of worship, or our social events, regardless of the stage he or she has reached on their own spiritual journey. Meeting and worshipping together are essential parts of christian faith and life.

On this website you can find a range of information about our parishes and their activities.
Lower down this page are links to the main pages on the site, each with a brief explanation of content.


St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye - The sanctuary
St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye - The Sanctuary

TWTMlogoBenefice Clergy

Team Rector: The Rev'd Anne-Marie Renshaw, who has overall responsibility for leading ministry in the benefice.

Associate Priests: The Rev'ds Liz Barnes, Christine Eaton, Christine Newmarch, Ruth Hatchett and Michael Hatchett.


Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals

To discuss a baptism, wedding or funeral please contact the Team Rector, The Revd Anne-Marie Renshaw.

Useful information for those considering a wedding in any of the churches in our benefice can be found on the page Wedding Information for Enquirers


News(see also our Forthcoming Events page)

Newssheet for Week Commencing Sunday 8th December 2024

The newssheet (in PDF format) for the benefice's eight parishes for the week commencing on the above Sunday can be viewed and/or downloaded by using this link: Weekly Newssheet.


Deanery Re-organisation - Consultation

The Witham Deanery is currently consulting on re-organising the 18 parishes in the middle of the deanery, including ours, into a larger benefice with 4 full-time clergy.

There will be an open meeting to discuss the proposals on Saturday 11th January at 10:00am in St Luke’s Church Extension. This meeting is open to anyone from our parishes. No booking is required.

A two-page A4 paper about the proposals (in MS Word format, 24 KB) can be downloaded from this site by using the link: Witham Deanery - Future Structure.


Safeguarding Statement

We are committed to Safeguarding children and young people and vulnerable adults.

Our PCCs have adopted the Church of England’s policies and best practice on safeguarding.
Information and resources may be found on the Diocese of Chelmsford website at www.chelmsford.anglican.org/safeguarding.
Use the following link to view and/or download The Church of England's Safeguarding Code of Safer Working Practice.

Our Parish Safeguarding Representatives are:
Layer de la Haye: Mrs Anne Hughes – Tel: 01206-734168
Layer Marney and Layer Breton with Birch: Mrs Judy Bancroft – Tel: 01206-330067
Copford and Easthorpe: Mrs Susan Collins – Tel: 01206-211294

To email any of our Parish Safeguarding Representatives please send your message to thurstableteamadmin@btinternet.com, noting that emails to this address are usually checked only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
If the matter is urgent please telephone.


Our Churches Open for Private Prayer and Visitors

Our churches are open for individual private prayer (except during services) as follows:

St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye: Open daily from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

St Mary the Virgin, Layer Marney: Open daily from 10:00am to 4:00pm.
If you would prefer to visit Layer Marney Church at a quiet time, please see the entries on our weekly news sheet under ‘Coming Up This Week' to check when the church will be busy. In addition, other activities may also be taking place during the week when we are preparing for wedding ceremonies and other services.

St Michael & All Angels, Copford: Open daily from 9:00am to 5:30pm, or dusk if earlier.

St Mary the Virgin, Easthorpe: Open daily from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

The above days and times are those effective as at June 2024.


Church Giving

Thank you to everyone who continues to give to our churches, by whatever means: it is much appreciated.

If you would like to help us with our costs by setting up a standing order or making payments direct (e.g. through internet banking) to one of our bank accounts, please contact your PCC Treasurer for the information you will need. (For Layer de la Haye parish this is Mrs Anne Hughes (01206-734168))

If you wish to make payments to the church of St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye, whether by bank transfer, cheque, standing order or direct debit, please note that the name of its bank account is now St John the Baptist Church, Layer de la Haye.


Site Map


Further Afield - Our Parishes in Context

Our parishes are in the Witham Deanery.

Witham Deanery is in the Diocese of Chelmsford. To learn more about our large Diocese which stretches from heavily populated East London to quiet rural Essex villages, visit the Chelmsford Diocesan Website.

Diocesan Bishop
Bishop Guli
The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani
Bishop of Chelmsford
Area Bishop
Bishop Roger
The Rt Revd Roger Morris
Bishop of Colchester
Archdeacon
Ruth Patten
The Ven Ruth Patten
Archdeacon of Colchester
Area Dean
Revd Simon Garwood
The Revd Simon Garwood
Witham Area Dean

Page updated: 05 Dec 2024 at 20:35