Welcome
We are the Church of England parish of St Mary’s Shaw cum Donnington – just to the north and east of Newbury.
Our purpose and focus is Knowing Jesus, Sharing God’s Love, Caring for People.
You can read more about it here.
We meet every Sunday at 10am, as well as at other times during the week.
Everyone is welcome to join us.
- Easter 2026
Do come and join us as we celebrate Easter – when Jesus died, and rose again for us.
Word for the Week
- A statement entrance
With the Oscars ceremony two weeks ago, the film and TV awards season came to an end for another year. While the major winners and losers vary year on year and between the different awards ceremonies, there is one constant that everyone attending the ceremony knows about; the importance of making an entrance. Sometimes a statement outfit for the red carpet will get more column inches, and linger longer in the memory, than the actual winners themselves.
In our Gospel reading for this Sunday, the story of Jesus nears its climax. He finally makes his entrance into Jerusalem. There is tremendous excitement: a huge crowd, royal honours, a distinctive carpet, mass interest. But Jesus makes a statement of his own amid the hubbub. By riding in on a donkey’s colt, Jesus highlights the gentleness of his coming reign. Though he is the King of Kings, he rides not a mighty charger, but a borrowed donkey. One day, all nations will serve him, but he has not come as a warrior about to conquer the world. The Easter story we are about to enter into once more is far stranger, and more wonderful, than that.
Ed