Early in 2024 John Bence, St Mary de Castro’s Organist and Choir Master for over 50 years sadly passed away.
As mentioned in John’s Obituary, he was an extraordinary man who was fundamental in continuing the great choral tradition at St Mary de Castro Church.
However, in later years the choir membership has fallen and we are no longer able to hold Evensong and many full choral services.
As a lasting tribute to John we are delighted to announce the formation of the John Bence Memorial Fund.
The aim of the fund is to recruit a Musical Director who will be tasked with rebuilding the choir.
The John Bence Memorial Fund will open on Sunday 29th December at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
There has been tremendous support from friends and family of John and friends of St Mary de Castro Church, both past and present. A a choir of 38 Voices has been created for the service – the De Castro Christmas Choir with Willard Welsford as Conductor and Nicholas Friedersdorff as the Organist.
All are welcome to join us for the Choral Service and to join us afterwards for refreshments and to launch the John Bence Memorial Fund.
If you would like to donate via our JustGiving page, please click the link below
We have a full month of services, concerts and during December and January. We will also somehow manage to fit in the Christmas Lunch!
De Montfort Chamber Choir, Leicester University Chamber Choir and the Leicestershire Chorale will all be joining us to celebrate over Advent, Christmas and Epiphany.
We also have our usual Sunday and Wednesday Mass at 11am.
All are invited to join us at this special time of year.
Sunday 1st December 11am – Mass (1st Sunday in Advent)
Sunday 1st December 6pm – Advent Carol Service with De Montfort Chamber Choir
Saturday 7th December 7.30pm – Leicester University Chamber Choir Christmas Concert – Tickets will be available on the door
Sunday 8th December – 11am – Mass (2nd Sunday in Advent)
As we draw close to the end of this academic year, we will briefly say goodbye the Leicester University Chamber Choir. St Mary de Castro Church has been used by the choir for rehearsals and we have very much enjoyed their concerts and special services over the past year.
They are a group of amazing musicians, and we think they are wonderful, adding so much to our worship. It looks like the feeling is mutual. We received an enormous card from them earlier this month.
We are delighted that the Choir has confirmed that they will be joining us again after the summer holidays and will continue to sing at some more services at St Mary de Castro during the next academic year. We will also be treated to a concert in December!
More information will be available later in the year.
Thank you to Leicester University Chamber choir and we look forward to you joining us again in September.
Summer is here! Although the weather has not confirmed this yet.
There are a number of events at St Mary de Castro over the next few months for music lovers, history buffs and people who are curious and want to see a little more of their local area and the church.
In addition to our services on Wednesdays and Sundays we are open to the public at the following times. (Subject to volunteer availability):
Monday: 11am – 12.30pm
Tuesday: 12 noon – 2pm
Wednesday: 10.30am – 10.55am; 11.30am – 12 noon
Thursday: 12 noon – 2pm
Friday and Saturday: 12 noon – 4pm
Sunday: 10am – 10.55am; 12.15pm – 1pm
If you are part of a large group wishing to visit us, please contact us by email (stmarydecastroleicester@gmail.com) to let us know when you are coming.
On the last Sunday of May, June, July, August and October we are open for Heritage Sundays. To download a copy of the Heritage Sunday leaflet please click here. You can also book onto 1 hour guided tours from local history experts. Tickets: £6 adults, £5 concessions (over 60s, students/children).
We are looking for volunteer Welcomers to welcome visitors to our beautiful historic church.
The Welcomer should be someone who likes and gets on with people no matter who they are; is pleasant, open, polite, kind and personable.
Our visitors are the general public who are local, national and international, and from all walks of life. People will come in to look at the building – its architecture and history, or they might just come in to be quiet in a sacred place.
No previous experience is required; you will be shown what to do.
Hours of opening can be found on our ‘Home page’.
If you are interested, please contact our Church Wardens – details below.
It is with great sadness that we learnt last week of the passing of John Bence, organist and choirmaster at St Mary’s for over 50 years, following a three-year battle with Alzheimer’s. John was a remarkable man in so many ways and his contribution to the music at St Mary’s and further afield will never be forgotten. He established a fine choral tradition over many years which was enhanced each Christmas when he invited other singers to join the choir for the carol service – always on the first Sunday after Christmas and with John’s own individual style always evident.
John had always had an interest in Early Music and in 1989 established the Leicester Early Music Festival. Initially this started as a three-day event over the late May Bank Holiday weekend with most events being held at St Mary’s. The festival soon became a great success and ran for thirty years, quickly expanding to a three-week event and attracted some of the leading exponents of Early Music including Emma Kirkby, The Sixteen and Michela Petri. As the festival expanded, further venues were used including Leicester Cathedral, The Guildhall, St Nicholas Church, the old costume museum and even some hostelries! Events also became more wide ranging including wine and whisky tastings and festival dinners. John also ran an annual come and sing choral workshop on the late May Bank Holiday morning at St Mary’s. This involved an intensive morning’s rehearsal followed by singing what had been learnt at the lunchtime mass. The amount of work involved in arranging the festival each year was phenomenal and is testament to John’s unfailing dedication and work ethic.
John also founded the Longslade Consort in 1979 – this was initially a group of ex pupils from Longslade School Birstall where he was Head of Music who wanted to carry on their music making under him after they had left. This gradually developed into an Early Music group and ran for almost forty years giving concerts across the country and bringing Early Music to people who wouldn’t otherwise have heard it.
There is so much more that could be said. John was a fine organist, teacher, instrument builder, tuner and repairer. (He single handily kept the increasingly failing organ at St Mary’s in working order). An excellent cook, dinner companion and someone who could put their hand to almost any DIY task! Most importantly a friend to so many and someone who has touched the lives of so many. RIP John- we will miss you.
This is the text from the article just in case you are not able to open the link.
In the heart of the city centre, a charity is on a mission to give homeless people and rough sleepers a voice in their local community. SoundCafe Choir uses the power of music and song to instil confidence and purpose in the city’s most vulnerable groups.
Soundcafe was piloted in 2014 by Reverend Helen Hayes before being formally recognised as a charity the following year. Although the foundation initially started as just a singing group, it has since teamed up with other organisations such as Leicester City in the Community and Leicester Samaritans to host other beneficial sessions throughout the week including creative writing, health and fitness and arts and crafts.
The charity meets three times a week at St Mary de Castro Church, just a stone’s throw away from De Montfort University. Choir director Trounson said that the charity and its volunteers are fighting to help homeless people in Leicester “find their voice”.
She said: “It’s been proven that singing has both physical and mental health benefits. The guests often have diverse needs and issues regarding both of those things, and I think singing is one of the best things you can do to alleviate stress.
“It transports you away from the troubles and hardships of life. You can leave those at the door temporarily, and just let yourself go and that is the kind of environment I try to create for the guests when they come to SoundCafe.”
“Being a part of a team gives them a sense of belonging and purpose.”
Emma has drawn upon her own professional music experience to be able to teach the choir members about the technical skills of singing. She said: “We look at how our guests can use, warm up and look after their voices.
“The guests want to produce something to the highest quality that they can and having performances to work towards makes them feel more committed. A lot of our guests are encouraged by other organisations to get back into work, so we are teaching them transferable skills such as communication and confidence, which is important if they are going into a work situation.”
Leicestershire Live visited the choir to hear about its impact on its members. 66-year-old Barbara Wilson said: “I’ve loved meeting people and coming to the choir and singing.
“I’d never sung before joining SoundCafe, and initially I was nervous to sing in front of people, but everyone here is so lovely and welcoming, so that put me at ease. I really look forward to coming to rehearsals every week.
Michelle Townsend, 35, said: “I’ve only been coming for a year, but we have a lot of fun, a lot of laughs, and I’ve made a lot of friends. I don’t have a favourite singer or song, but I’ve enjoyed all the songs we have sung so far.”
Deborah Connolly has been a member of the choir since its inception and said that her favourite song to sing is Somewhere Over the Rainbow. She added: “I’ve made a lot of friends since coming here. We’d really love to see more and more volunteers coming to help us out.”
55-year-old Helen Roweth joined the choir four years ago. She said: “It’s all about building friendships and coming together to sing and put on concerts. I enjoy singing solo parts because it enables me to make my voice heard and I love it when the audience participates and sings along.
“I like rehearsing in the church too because it’s very echoey. I’ve been in a church choir before but it’s different here.”
Jason Newcombe, 51, was first introduced to the choir in 2014 whilst he was living on the streets. He said: “I heard about the choir through some of my friends who had already joined. They brought me along to one of the sessions, and I’ve not looked back since.
“I like singing in the choir, especially when it comes to performing at concerts. We’ve done loads of performances in the city centre and I’ve made loads of friends. I even help some of the other members at the SoundCafe too.”
If you would like to volunteer or join the SoundCafe choir, visit the SoundCafe website.
This Christmas the Servers were performing their duties in their new cassocks and surplices. And very fetching they looked too!
Stephen, one of the Servers, was happy to provide a list of duties that they perform as part of the service at St Mary de Castro.
Stephen says “Serving in the Church is very important. You are serving are Lord.”
There are many things that a Server can do.
At the start of the service, the entrance procession is lead by the thurifer carrying a thurible containing burning incense, a crucifer carrying the processional cross and flanked on each side by acolytes carrying lighted candles.
The Servers attend to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helping bring up the gifts, and bringing up the liturgical books, among other things.
The Servers were also proudly wearing their Guild of Servants of the Sanctuary medals. The Guild supports Altar Servers and arranges special services for worship and fellowship.
If you would like to know anymore about the Servers at St Mary de Castro or the Guild of Servants of the Sanctuary, please stay after the service and ask one of the servers. They are very easy to spot and will be happy to speak to you.
Latvian Lutherans are in full Communion with the Church of England and therefore with the whole Anglican Communion. For the last couple of years, St Mary de Castro have hosted our Latvian Lutherian brothers and sisters for their monthly celebration of the Eucharist.
Latvian Lutheran Eucharist
This year’s Christmas Eve service made the news in Latvia and a video of interviews with Daira Vavere, Dean of the Latvian Lutherans in England, and some of the congregation was shown on television this week!
The video is of course in Latvian, but I hope you will enjoy it. An extract of the video can be found on our Facebook page. Click the link below to see the full news report.
A Google translation of text from the website is below. Please forgive the grammar and translation error. Google cannot accurately translate, but has a very good try!
British Latvians gather for Christmas service
Authors: Ilze Kalve (author of Latvian Television and LSM.lv in Great Britain)
In Britain, compatriots have gathered for Christmas services in several places in both London and Central England. At one time, religion was one of the unifying factors of exiled Latvians, which has lost its importance today, however, pastors in the diaspora are honored and respected, and services are still held.
In the church built in 1107, the name of which translates as St. Mary’s Church near the palace, King Richard III himself once prayed, but nowadays the Latvian congregation is also welcome in the repeatedly rebuilt premises.
Daira Vāvere, a spokeswoman for the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in the UK (LELBL), said: “It would be 916 Christmases here, and for our, the Latvian congregation, it is the second Christmas that we celebrate here in this church. But in Leicester, Latvians have been gathered since the founding of the church, here in the UK, when the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Great Britain was formed in 1948.”
The Central England congregation is led by a pair of pastors – Viesturs Vāvere and Daira Vāvere, who a year ago became the first woman in history to serve as presiding officer of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Great Britain.
“The basic task of the clergyman and pastor is to gather compatriots around the word of God, around the sacrament in the church, which is also our main task. And, of course, to ensure that continuity,” she explained.
In the sermon, everyone was called to become a carrier of light and goodness, because only in this way can one live in peace and harmony in these insecure times.
Brunis Vishnyakov, a parishioner of Central England, admitted: “We come with joy, with gratitude. Of course, with our repentance, as we sinners are. But we come with the hope that we will worship here, and we will unite with Christ, and receive Christ’s blessing for us, in our families, in our nations.”
For her part, parishioner Agnese Stepāne said: “We are very happy to have such a pastor and Daira who gives us everything we need, and peace and harmony in the family. And a blessing in this world! Such a terrible time that something is happening everywhere…”
Interestingly, there are a large number of gentlemen in the parish of Central England.
Maris Randers, a parishioner, said: “I believe and I hope more girls will come, that there are so many gentlemen already. The right place to meet, not in a pub! It’s better to be here.”
As mentioned in John’s Obituary, he was an extraordinary man who was fundamental in continuing the great choral tradition at St Mary de Castro Church.
