Our two churches (Lullington & Orchardleigh) attract between 6-8 worshippers to services that we hold. Our ages range from 55 – 75 years old. We are a friendly bunch who know each other and enjoy sharing a sherry or fruit juice after each service, when we share and care for each other, passing on the love God has given us to others. We host 30 weddings each year, so have 4-6 wedding couples attending each service to create their qualifying connection. We see this as a brilliant opportunity to share the love of God with people who may not be regular attenders at church, and hope our new Priest in charge would share this vision. We do also engage a team of like-minded priests in this ministry who will continue to conduct many of these weddings, 80% of which are on weekdays.
We are always open!
Community & Church Life
Our agenda is to serve our community as well as hold services. Our community is a close-knit group of 25 homes who look out for and care for each other. Every month we host a coffee morning that is well attended and warm. Every two weeks we host a home group that also draws in people from Frome. We are also introducing a contemplation group. We reach out to villagers by holding a Village Pub in the church each quarter that is attended by nearly everyone in the village. At other times in the year we hold music evenings and history evenings. Our ‘mayor’, the owners of Orchardleigh Estate and Mike Wilsher, churchwarden meet every month for a beer. Our agenda is to strengthen relationships between Orchardleigh and Lullington. The community is involved in flowers for the church, maintaining and making our churchyards wilder. The church collaborates closely with the Parish council, regularly arranging meetings to follow each other.
Church Building
The original Norman church of All Saints’, Lullington was built around 1160. The church was added to four times before being restored in 1862.
St Mary’s Orchardleigh is set on a golf course surrounded by a moat in a wonderful unique setting and attracts many visitors throughout the year.