St. Mary the Virgin Manuden

The church of St Mary the Virgin Manuden is joined with St Nicholas Berden, St Simon and St Jude Quendon and All Saints Rickling in a benefice that is in the Deanery of Saffron Walden within the Diocese of Chelmsford, the second largest Diocese in the Church of England. This new parish arrangement came about in 2006 when the Deanery of Newport and Stansted was dissolved, and the parishes were subsumed into either Saffron Walden or what is now the Dunmow and Stansted Deanery.

All our churches date back some 700 years or more and each church in the Benefice has its own character and beauty, they cannot really be compared with each other. St Mary’s like Berden and Quendon but unlike Rickling lies in the centre of the village, and has recently undergone a complete programme of re-decoration.

As the four churches share a Priest there is a weekly programme of church services, those at Manuden being a 9.30 am Common Worship Communion on the first Sunday in the month, an 11 am Common Worship Communion on the second Sunday in the month, an 11 am, Prayer Book Communion on the third Sunday in the month, and a 6 pm Evensong on the fourth Sunday in the month. When there is a fifth Sunday in the month the 11 am service visits one of the four churches in rotation.

Not only is the church used for worship but there are occasions when other activities take place such as Big Band and Choral Concerts as well as the Manuden-in-May weekend when village organisations have stalls in and around the church.

The Priest in Charge is the Rev'd Margaret Davis.

Service Times at St Marys:

All service times, church information and information about village events are published in the Parish News that covers both Manuden and Berden.

The church is always open during daylight hours for private prayer and visitors, and is well known for its warm welcome and rich array of colourful kneelers.

Manuden PCC Consultation

We have three areas we need support with – Commercial Use, Community Use, and Fundraising.
These ideas were suggested in answer to the questions in the consultation.
We need a pool of people who can help do things, signing up now is not a commitment to do anything - so please look at the form to see if you think you may be able to help.