Groups / People of the Five Churches

For more details on any of these groups please contact the church office.

Brighstone Childrens Work

Jesus said "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these". Matthew 19 v14

Children are very important to the whole life of St Mary's and they are always welcome and encouraged to play a full part in church. They have a special time each Sunday morning called BIG Worship; (Be Imitators of God). BIG Worship lasts 30 minutes and is taken by a group of church members; it is child and family friendly. Sunday Club is the main teaching time for the children; it runs in parallel with the main service and is a mixture of fun and teaching. Sunday Club covers all the age ranges and meets in the local school".

Roy Bromley

Music at St. Mary's, Brighstone

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.". Psalm 100 v1-2

We enjoy an active and diverse musical life at St. Mary's, Brighstone. Main services include contemporary and traditional music led by our Director of Music from organ or piano, and often accompanied by other musicians on the piano or occasionally guitar. We have a number of musicians who are also involved in leading worship during main services, as well as special monthly services Logos and Solace. We like to encourage the musical talents of the younger members of the Church, through the Children‟s Choir and Music Group. We use the Complete Mission Praise (2005), as well as our own 'Brighstone Praise' resource which features new and additional songs.

Beth Peckham, Director of Music

Brighstone Music Group

"Sing Joyfully to the Lord…praise the Lord with the harp and make music to him". Psalm 33 v1-2

Our music group accompany monthly family communion services and special services at St Mary’s and our aim is to enhance the praise and worship. The group comprises of a variety of instruments; including woodwind, guitars, cellos and keyboard. We practice on the first Thursday of the month and new players of all ages are welcome.

Miriam Crewe

Brighstone Occasional Choir

"May the word of Christ dwell in you richly … as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your heart to God". Colossians 3 v16

The choir accompanies the main morning service on the third Sunday of the month, with a practice the preceding Wednesday at 7pm. Our major singing event is the Annual "Mission to Seafarers"
Carol Concert, just prior to Christmas (A tradition going back to 1966). Some singers just join us for this occasion. We are always glad to welcome new members, especially those able to sing the Alto, Tenor and Bass lines.

Ivor Debney

Brighstone Children's Choir

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!". Psalm 150 v6

Meets in St. Mary’s Church, Brighstone on Mondays 5.45pm-6.30pm.
It is free and open to all children year 2 or above. Now under the exciting directorship of professional singer and former National Youth Choir of Scotland teacher, Liz Traill. We're a friendly and welcoming bunch with an enthusiasm for seeing children engage with music and enjoy singing! We’d love to see you there!

Home Groups

Every other year we run an Alpha Course to encourage Christians to examine their faith and to enable those who are searching to explore Christianity. This 10 week course provides an open forum to discuss your questions and to feel at home in the local Christian community.

We also encourage members to meet in small groups with their own leaders, in different homes to study and discuss the Bible. These groups discuss many current topics and are places to find friendship and support.

The Ladies Group in Brighstone meet on alternate Friday mornings, popular for its food and fun!
A group meets on Wednesday evenings for Bible study and prayer in Mottistone or Brighstone.
A new Post Alpha group in Brighstone presents ”The Bible for Beginners”
A small group at Brook uses Life- builder booklets to facilitate shared leadership and meets every Tuesday morning.
The Shorwell group on Fridays studies the Jewish roots of our faith.

You are always welcome to join any of these groups, further information is in the Church news-sheet and is available from the office.

Peter and Gill Greig-Allen, Group leaders

Overseas Mission

'Therefore go and make disciples of all nations'
Matt 28:19

In 2001 we took a group of teenagers from St. Mary’s to work with Russian orphans; followed by a physiotherapist and then some students who helped on summer camps. All worked through Love Russia a Christian Charity. Last year an older member went to Korea to teach English to Christian missionary students. Our aim is to encourage people to experience short term mission in different parts of the world as Jesus commanded and to encourage the church to support and pray for them.

Simon and Sue Young, Love Russia Volunteers

Pastoral Care

We have a Pastoral group who support the Ministry team in visiting those in any kind of need in our Parishes. If you would like a visit, support or help from your local church or a lift to any of our services please contact the Church office or call one of the team whose contact details are found in Pastoral Care leaflets in all of our church buildings.

Len Grant

Youth Work

We have a weekly youth club called Rock Solid for school years 5-8 held at the local hall on a Monday night. We also regularly go into the local school and build relationships between us as the Church and the School. If you are of suitable age you are more than welcome to come to Rock Solid.

Check out our Youth Blog for all the latest info

Ben Crouch, Youthworker

After nearly 3 years of having Ben as our Youth Worker, we are nearing the next step in our vision for youth work among our churches. This step is an ambitious one; to appoint a full time Youth Worker from September.

We are currently seeking funding for this project and asking our congregations to pray and consider supporting this project with giving. We are more than two thirds the way there, but still need further giving for this exciting project to become a reality. So, keep praying. Any questions, then Peter Johnson is only too happy to answer them on

For more details on any of these groups please contact the church office.