All Saints' Church, Stock, Essex (parish of Stock Harvard)

Advent and Christmas at All Saints' Church in Stock

11am, Sunday 17 December, Advent III.  Hymns and Communion.

6pm, Sunday 17 December: Nine Lessons & Carols. Savour a Christmas tradition with this enduring service, which will be followed by mulled wine and mince pies.

11am, Sunday 24 December, Advent IV.  Hymns and Communion.

4pm, Sunday 24 December: Children's Crib Service.  Join us for some joyous fun on Christmas Eve.

11.30pm, Sunday 24 December: Midnight Mass. A traditional service with Carols and Communion to welcome Christmas Day.

11am, Monday 25 December: Christmas Day. Carols and Communion for the joyous day.

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Regular Services at All Saints'

The Sunday Communion Service at All Saints' Church in Stock is normally held at 11am, with Hymns and Communion. 

A Communion Service is held whenever possible on Wednesdays at 10am.  A service will be held on 13 December but NOT on 20 December. Mail pauline39collier@gmail.com.

* Food bank donations will be accepted on the first Sunday every month following the Sunday service (about 12.05pm).

The south side of the Chancel roof stripped of tiles and made rainproof pending retiling

Major roof repairs under way

After many months of consultations with our long-serving architect, roofers, the Diocesan Advisory Committee, and bat consultants (plus Historic England and Natural England keeping an eye on our plans), we can finally announce that repairs to the Nave and Chancel roof are ready to start.

Step back nearly three years to the gusty day when a 2m row of tiles slipped on the Chancel roof (over the altar and choir stalls).  Checks revealed that roof repairs after the nearby 1940 landmine explosion had been done while facing a post-war shortage of key materials.  See below for the wartime damage.

In short we discovered that the roofs over the Chancel and the Nave (the main seating area) had no waterproof underfelt, the wooden battens were untreated and rotting, and even the nails were poor quality and rusting through.

That left major areas of the roof liable to fail at any time, leaving wooden slats open to the elements.

We have been through the detailed process of obtaining a bat licence (after three separate surveys) to allow work to go ahead. Six new bat boxes have been installed on churchyard trees to provide additional and any replacement accommodation.

Scaffolding has appeared along the south side of the roofs, and back down the north side till it joins the north aisle roof.  We shall be taking advantage of this to undertake a few other essential repairs such us securing coping stones and fixing gutters and hoppers.

One of the biggest – and most frustrating – challenges of maintaining a Grade 1 listed church is spending a six-figure sum for a repair that is designed to be virtually unnoticeable when complete. But soon you can admire how it has mostly appeared for centuries - and will be for many more years.

We look forward to the day when we don't have to look up warily to check for signs that could mean immediate catastrophic failure is upon us.

* If you wish to help to cover our costs – in conjunction with the Friends of All Saints’ Church, mail Martin King if you might be able to help.
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All Saints' Church is the parish church of Stock Harvard, in the village of Stock. This ancient building is Grade 1 listed and sits beside a large graveyard, a garden of remembrance and a glebe - which is a field used for the dinner dance, flower festival and fete that is one of the biggest events in the village calendar. Please see the following introduction about our worship. And click here to find us.

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Introduction to All Saints' Church

The first written evidence of the existence of a church in Stock is in 1232, and it is reasonable to suppose that a church, consisting of a nave and a chancel, was erected here in the early Norman period.

The building, and the generations of Christians that have worshipped here for hundreds of years, witness to the timeless truths of the Gospel. Christ is as present with us today as he was present when All Saints was first built and the villagers first worshipped within its hallowed walls.

Stock is a village about a mile north of Billericay and 6 miles south of Chelmsford. It used to be called Stock Harvard and the ecclesiastical parish is still known by that name.

All Saints is the village parish church where Christians of different backgrounds from the village and surrounding area come together in the company of all the saints to worship the living God.

We stand within the catholic tradition of the Church of England, and at the heart of our life is the celebration of the Mass. Sunday by Sunday, and during the week, we gather to do what our Lord commanded us, to receive the body and blood of Christ in Holy Communion and to hear God speak to us through the Scriptures.

As members of his Church we all seek to follow Jesus, through whom we can enjoy a living relationship with God.

If you would like to find out more about us or to discover more about the Christian faith then please get in touch, or come and visit us.

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Safeguarding

We are committed to Safeguarding Children, Young People, Victims/perpetrators of Domestic Abuse and Vulnerable Adults.

The PCC has adopted the Church of England’s policies and best practice on safeguarding, which may be found on the Church of England’s website at 
https://www.churchofengland.org/more/safeguarding

Our Parish Safeguarding Officer is Judith Sabine, who may be contacted at church or by email at judithsabine@btinternet.com

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Churchyard rules

The graveyard at All Saints' Church and its Garden of Remembrance (in and around which ashes are interred) are subject to rules imposed by the Diocese of Chelmsford. Click HERE to download the diocesan Churchyard Handbook (in pdf format) that applies to all churchyards in the area. Similar rules are common across England.

On this site: Stock Churchyard and Garden of Remembrance

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Ringing the change at Stock

The Revd Jacqui Pearson was licensed and installed at Stock on 9 January 2023 as Priest-in-Charge of the Reservoir Group of Parishes.

In a ceremony at All Saints' Church attended by representatives of all the parishes, the Revd Jacqui was licensed by the Area Bishop, the Rt Revd Dr John Perumbalath, and installed by the Archdeacon of Southend, The Ven. Mike Power.

The Mayor of Chelmsford was among the guests. The clergy teams included the Revd Miranda Seaman, Associate Priest of Stock and West Hanningfield, and Fr Barry Hall, Honorary Assistant Priest at Stock.

As well as All Saints’ Church in Stock, the Reservoir Group also comprises; St Margaret, Downham, with St Peter, South Hanningfield; St Mary, Ramsden Bellhouse; and St Mary & St Edward, West Hanningfield.

The Revd Jacqui, who rang the church bell to make known that her new ministry had begun (pictured above), was previously Assistant Curate at St Andrew and St Francis’ Community Church, Boreham.

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Queen's tree

The memorial tree for the late Queen Elizabeth II, planted and blessed outside the east window of All Saints' Church in Stock on the last day of 2022, shook off the winter with an abundance of young leaves.

Inspired by the oak branches placed on the Queen's coffin for her funeral, this commemorative oak is in a prominent place near the footpath from the village and is marked with a plaque to be a lasting high-profile memorial.

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Fr Barry Hall RIP

Click HERE to see our farewell to our late Asssistant Priest.

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