{"id":3900,"date":"2023-05-24T10:53:52","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T09:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stgilespontefract.org.uk\/?page_id=3900"},"modified":"2025-06-10T00:11:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T23:11:53","slug":"st-marys","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cofe-pontefract.co.uk\/st-giles\/about-us\/st-marys\/","title":{"rendered":"St Mary&#8217;s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">St Mary&#8217;s Church meets for worship in the hall of the St Mary&#8217;s Community Centre, Chequerfield. We&#8217;re very friendly and welcoming to all visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-image-fill-element\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 30%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Services<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the beginning of 2025 the decision was taken to move our worship from 9.00 a.m. on a Sunday morning, to 4.00 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This decision was taken to enable to church to be more accessible to the people who live on Chequerfield, and to allow them the opportunity to experience worship which is family friendly and varied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As part of this we are experimenting with a variety of types of worship, this includes more relaxed forms such as Caf\u00e9 Church  or table talk, and on the 3rd Saturday we have our Messy Church.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/cofe-pontefract.co.uk\/st-giles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/05\/St-Marys-600x360.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3902 size-medium\" style=\"object-position:50% 50%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cofe-pontefract.co.uk\/st-giles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/05\/St-Marys-600x360.jpg 600w, https:\/\/cofe-pontefract.co.uk\/st-giles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/05\/St-Marys-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cofe-pontefract.co.uk\/st-giles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/05\/St-Marys.jpg 1023w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About Us<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We are a small, but growing community, holding our services in the hall at St Mary&#8217;s Community Centre in the heart of the extensive Chequerfield estate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our congregation is keen to see our church grow and thrive and be an integral part of the community. We organise various initiatives to connect with people and on the fifth Saturday of the month, we can be found running the caf\u00e9 at St Giles&#8217; Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We love to see new people join us, and you will be made very welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Messy Church<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-medium is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"463\" src=\"https:\/\/cofe-pontefract.co.uk\/st-giles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/05\/Messy-Church-logo-1-600x463.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4059\" style=\"width:200px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cofe-pontefract.co.uk\/st-giles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/05\/Messy-Church-logo-1-600x463.jpg 600w, https:\/\/cofe-pontefract.co.uk\/st-giles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/05\/Messy-Church-logo-1-1024x791.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cofe-pontefract.co.uk\/st-giles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/05\/Messy-Church-logo-1-768x593.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cofe-pontefract.co.uk\/st-giles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/05\/Messy-Church-logo-1.jpg 1375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Messy Church is a monthly event for people of all ages, taking place here at St Mary\u2019s. It includes crafts and other activities; an informal service with music, storytelling and prayer; and free shared food. Children very welcome (please bring a grown up!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Messy Church takes place at 4.00 p.m. on the third Saturday of every month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information, email <a href=\"mailto:stgiles.office@cofe-pontefract.co.uk\">stgiles.office@cofe-pontefract.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2017 we celebrated our 60th Anniversary. The original St Mary&#8217;s Church on this site&nbsp;was built in 1957 to serve the Chequerfield estate which was built after World War II to provide new council housing in Pontefract. In 2003 the church was demolished and the St Mary&#8217;s Centre was built on the site and opened in 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pontefract has a long association of having a church dedicated to St Mary. An earlier church on the site of St Giles&#8217; Church in the town centre which&nbsp;was&nbsp;called&nbsp;St Mary de Foro&nbsp;translated as&nbsp;&#8216;St Mary in the Marketplace&#8217;.&nbsp; From the latter part of the 19th Century and through the early part of the 20th Century there was a Mission dedicated to St Mary on Watergate (near where the Haribo factory now stands). From there local clergy and the Church Army ministered to the residents of Tanshelf area of Pontefract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>St Mary&#8217;s Church meets for worship in the hall of the St Mary&#8217;s Community Centre, Chequerfield.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3906,"parent":96,"menu_order":-3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3900","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>St Mary&#039;s | St Giles\u2019 Church Pontefract<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"St Mary&#039;s Church is a small, faithful congregation who meets for worship in the hall of the St Mary&#039;s Community Centre in Chequerfield.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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