Dart and Avon Mission Community
Please click on the pictures of the churches for larger images
Please note that the map does not indicate the parish boundaries, only the church locations.
DARTMOOR NATIONAL PARK
Website last updated on 18th September 2020
THE DART AND AVON MISSION COMMUNITY, formed in November 2018, consists of 7 Church of England churches in or near the Dart Valley and the Avon Valley in South Devon, (see map below).
We serve the two larger communities of Buckfastleigh (with St Luke's Church) and South Brent (with St Petroc's Church), together with the smaller communities of Dean Prior (St George the Martyr Church), Landscove (St Matthew's Church), Littlehempston (St John the Baptist Church), Rattery (Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary) and Staverton
(St Paul de Leon Church).
We work together, seeking to bear witness to Jesus as Saviour and Lord and to provide centres of worship, love and service for our local communities.
We aim to provide a warm welcome to all who come to our churches, and we hope this website will give all the information you need, whether you are resident in this area or a visitor from further afield.
SAFEGUARDING
If you have a concern about the safety of someone or the actions of someone working with children or vulnerable adults, please speak to the appropriate Parish Safeguarding Representative, as listed on the bottom of the Contact page.
Alternatively, you can make contact with the Exeter Diocesan Safeguarding Team at https://exeter.anglican.org/resources/safeguarding/safeguarding-team/
If you are a young person and you feel unhappy about something happening to you, you can call Childline on 0800 11 11
DURING THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
Public worship services are now running in our churches, (though mostly once a month in the smaller churches) and in addition our churches are open at certain times for private prayer - please use the tabs above to see the individual church pages, which will be updated as more details become known. Public services will not include singing hymns (though music including recorded hymns/songs may be used), and strict social distancing will apply.
Online Sunday services etc. - a service will be uploaded from St Luke's Church, Buckfastleigh each Sunday for you to join in with at home. Also a weekly YouTube Bible study and a night prayer; also a Thursday morning Zoom coffee morning at 10am. For details, please go to the News and Diary page of the St Luke's website - here - and the YouTube page here.
And from St Petroc's Church, South Brent and St Mary's Rattery there will be a 9.30am Morning Service via Zoom, a 10.30 Children's service by Zoom and an 11.15am Morning Service via telephone. Also a Tuesday morning Thought for the Week Bible study by Zoom 10-11am, a Wednesday Zoom coffee morning 10.30 to 11.30, and a Friday Morning Service by Zoom from 9-9.30am. For details please go to the Worship page of the South Brent and Rattery website - here - and poster here
Some suggestions for prayer - please pray for our staff team of Tom Benson and Laura McAdam (based at Buckfastleigh) and Gina Radford (based at South Brent). For more details and for resources for wider prayer please click here.
Worship at home - there are some very good resources on the Church of England website - click here
Support and care - care for those in our parishes continues to be a priority, both for those who are church members and for those who aren't. So do get in touch via the details on the Contact page.
Funerals - sadly deaths are occurring, whether from Covid-19 or from other causes. Only very limited numbers of mourners are allowed to attend the funeral service, and of course contact with clergy prior to the service has to be by phone, not by a home visit. But various arrangements are in place and funeral services are still being held. Contact Rev Tom Benson on 07730575312 (Buckfastleigh, Dean Prior, Staverton, Landscove & Littlehempston) or Rev Gina Radford (South Brent and Rattery) on 07903400480 for support and help in your time of loss.
Weddings - there are still stringent regulations regarding numbers attending, but weddings are resuming once more, so do talk with the clergy about what is possible.
Financial support for our churches and for Devon Historic Churches Trust - the pandemic has hit the finances of all our churches hard and we would value any support you can give. Some of the church pages include opportunity to give online. You might also like to look at a video from Devon Historic Churches Trust here.
Stories for children
A weekly children's story - Tom's Telling Tales - click here
Later stories can be accessed by clicking on curate Laura's picture