The 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
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.
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
Newssheet for Week Commencing Sunday 23rd March 2025
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.
Benefice 2025 Lent Course
Our Lent course this year is A Christian Look at the Environment.
Join us as we use materials produced by the John Ray Initiative to think about what a Christian approach to environmental issues might look like. Each session will look at a Bible passage in the context of the environment, then there will be a reflection from a different angle drawing on the wisdom of theologians and scientists to apply the biblical thinking to current environmental issues, sparking questions and issues for discussion. See www.jri.org.uk/resources-studies/ for further information.
The course sessions will be held on Tuesdays, from 7:30 to 9:00pm, at St Luke’s Church, Tiptree with refreshments, and on Thursdays at 12 for 12:30 to 2:00pm at 7 Birch Way, Birch Green, CO2 0NQ, with a soup lunch.
The course starts during the week commencing 10th March, and has five sessions. All are welcome to join us for any or all sessions. There is no charge. If you plan to attend any of the sessions at Birch Green (where there will be a soup lunch), please contact Liz Dingle beforehand so she knows numbers for catering. You can call her on 01206-330531 or email her:- emdingle at aol dot com
A leaflet (in the form of a PDF document) with details of the course, including dates, times and venues, is available here to view or download
Full Revision of the Electoral Roll
Under the Church Representation Rules, a new Church Electoral Roll is to be prepared this year. Every person who wishes to have his or her name entered on their parish's new Roll, whether it is entered on the present roll or not, is requested to apply for enrolment.
If you would like your name to be entered on the Roll, you should be aged 16 or over, be baptised and live in the parish or attend services regularly if you live outside the parish. An application form (in MS Word *.docx format) can be downloaded from this page using the link: Electoral Roll Application Form. Application forms are also available in our churches. Completed forms can be left at your usual church or given to a churchwarden or one of our priests.
Applications for enrolment on the Roll of the parish of Layer de la Haye should completed and submitted no later than 31st March 2025. The closing date for applications for enrolment on the Roll of another parish will depend on the date of that parish's APCM - please check the closing date with your usual church.
Members of the Electoral Roll are entitled to be nominated for an official role in the Church and to nominate and vote at their parish's AMP and APCM.
Deanery Re-organisation - March 2025 Update
Following the consultation about future ministry and mission in the Witham Deanery, our Deanery Synod met on 11th February and voted overwhelmingly in favour of forming a new Team Ministry made up of the 18 parishes in the middle of the deanery, including ours.
The 18 parishes will be grouped into 4 clusters, each with a full-time priest to lead it. We have yet to come up with a name for the new team and for the clusters, but they will be:
We can now go ahead with recruiting two more priests to lead clusters 3 and 4. Archdeacon Kate Peacock will be meeting with these PCCs in early March to take this forward.
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 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.
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.
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![]() The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani Bishop of Chelmsford |
Area Bishop![]() The Rt Revd Roger Morris Bishop of Colchester |
Archdeacon![]() The Ven Ruth Patten Archdeacon of Colchester |
Area Dean![]() The Revd Canon Simon Garwood Witham Area Dean |
Page updated: 20 Mar 2025 at 17:25