St John the Baptist

St Catherine's, Drayton

Welcome to St Catherine's Church, Drayton....

Our building stands at the very heart of the village (opposite the pub) and is surrounded by its churchyard.

It's a time of transition for us, as we are moving towards being part of a new Benefice with Curry Rivel, Fivehead and Swell, Aller, High Ham with Low Ham and Huish Episcopi cum Langport. The Benefice is currently "in Vacancy" meaning that there is no full time Benefice Rector, but the good news is that the recruitment process is now firmly under way. Even more good news is that, as of Sunday 28th July 2024, Revd Scott Patterson is now licenced to the parish of Drayton as Associate Minister, and we very much look forward to the future under his ministry. We also look forward to welcoming our new Benefice Rector, now likely to be in 2025.

Our normal pattern is that we have our service (usually Holy Communion with hymns) on the second Sunday in each month. Our congregation is rather small, but the welcome is big, and we enjoy our fellowship after services over a cup of coffee (when we can).

Drayton is an active village and church members are involved in many aspects of village life and societies. The monthly Drayton Market (selling local meat, bread and vegetables, as well as local crafts such as pottery - with refreshments available!) is held in the Village Hall and is run on behalf of the PCC. It's an important social and community event, and the income helps to maintain the fabric of the church. Other church events include a "Safari Supper" (always popular and always sold out!), a Harvest Lunch and Christmas events.

We are also involved in a major project to reslate the north roof of the Nave. More on this as time goes on, but if you feel you'd like to support this work with a donation, please just follow the link below.

Holy Trinity

The communities of Long Sutton and Long Load are vibrant communities sharing a church building and church community.

Our church is now open daily during daylight hours and church services have resumed. Please use hand sanitiser on entry and respect the preferences of others. For services here and in the benefice, please look at 'Services and Events' - calendar section.

Before pandemic struck, the style of services varied from an 8.00am BCP Communion service once a month through Evensong and Traditional Language Common Worship to an informal Cafe Praise grouped around tables at the back of church.

The 1st Saturday in the month Coffee Morning & produce stall is a regular item in people's diaries, and money raised is between £400-£700 each month.

The west end of the church is flexible, and social events such as the Harvest Supper are held there.

The church and the school are closely linked and the children worship in church once a month and have special services for church festivals and for Remembrance and Shrove Tuesday (pancakes are popular!)

There is an active 'Friends of Long Sutton Church' (FOLSC) who raise money for the repair of the building when needed. They arrange fund-raising social events through the year.

Long Load have recently dedicated a new War Memorial, replacing the one left in the church as it was too fragile to remove when the church was sold.

Safeguarding:

"The parish of Long Sutton & Long Load is committed to the safeguarding of children, young people and adults. We follow the House of Bishops guidance and policies and have our own Parish Safeguarding Officer(s), PSOs. The Diocese of Bath & Wells’s safeguarding pages contain vital links and information including contacts for the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor (DSA) who advise our PSOs. If you are concerned that a child or adult has been harmed or may be at risk of harm please contact the DSA. If you have immediate concerns about the safety of someone, please contact the police and your local authority Children or Adults Services."

St Peter & St Paul Muchelney

The Parish Church of St Peter & St Paul in the beautiful little village of Muchelney welcomes visitors and is open daily approx 10am to 4pm, weather and daylight permitting.

Initially part of The Levels Arc Benefice, we began a Vacancy in November 2020 but in 2022, the Diocese of Bath and Wells announced some major pastoral re-organisation would be undertaken throughout the Diocese. The result is that our small benefice of Drayton, Long Sutton with Long Load, Pitney and Muchelney is to be split to join bigger neighbouring benefices. It will take time to complete the legal processes but in the meantime from 1 January 2024, the parochial parish of Muchelney will be forming new ties with our neighbour to the south, the parochial parish of Kingsbury Episcopi together with Martock and Ash. We will continue to provide a monthly service of Holy Communion in Muchelney church - please see ACNY calendar for details. For those who already love Muchelney Church, you can now donate online to keep it looking beautiful and open for all visitors, every day - go to 'News & Notices' for more information and a link.

The Church St Peter & St Paul is situated between Muchelney Abbey (English Heritage) and The Priest's House (National Trust), and although the church was never part of the abbey, the Abbot was the patron.

Muchelney is a small and friendly village and is rightly proud of its church and looks after it with diligence. There are not many homes around the church but the village runs south from the church and also encompasses the hamlet of Muchelney Ham. There are a number of working farms in the parish and a celebrated Pottery. Muchelney folk prefer traditional language services and a BCP Matins is most popular with the most senior worshippers! The congregations of Muchelney and Drayton often join together, sometimes led by one of our Lay Worship Leaders.

Muchelney became famous in the floods of 2014, when the village became an island for over 10 weeks! In that time, the church acted as post office, doctors surgery, shop, information hub and an essential cafe for the crew operating the 'ferry boat' link to the mainland. With the vicar arriving by boat, the Sunday services welcomed everyone and were often followed by popular 'flood lunches'. Despite being surrounded my murky flood water, dedicated church members brought all that was needed into the ancient church building including clean drinking water! Hosting lunches in the church has continued since the floods throughout the year, sometimes with a sizzling BBQ in the church porch and it is since then been the intention of the Church Council to improve the basic facilities of the building and in January 2020 full permission for an external WC was granted - the first stage in bringing a new life to the old beautiful building and providing a community space for the village!

SAFEGUARDING: The parish of Muchelney is committed to the safeguarding of children, young people and adults. We follow the House of Bishops guidance and policies and have our own Parish Safeguarding Officer(s), PSOs. The Diocese of Bath & Wells’s safeguarding pages contain vital links and information including contacts for the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor (DSA) who advise our PSOs. If you are concerned that a child or adult has been harmed or may be at risk of harm please contact the DSA. If you have immediate concerns about the safety of someone, please contact the police and your local authority Children or Adults Services.