St Michael & All Angels Enmore

St Michael's and All Angels church is currently open every day from 11am to 3pm for private prayer and contemplation. 

Our Church  

        

Services and Congregation

We consider ourselves to be in the central Anglican tradition. Most of our services use Common Worship with seasonal variations (and we have leaflets for the various church seasons to take advantage of the rich variety of liturgical material). The principal hymnal in current use is the Complete Anglican Hymns Old & New. We are fortunate to have a regular organist who is a member of the congregation. 

Services are held at 11am each Sunday morning and are led by our incumbent Revd Eleanor King or other members of the clergy team. Generally, we alternate Holy Communion and a Service of the Word. Details of particular Sunday services can be found on the front page of the benefice website, on our weekly benefice news, the church notice board and in the Enmore and Goathurst Magazine. 

The service pattern may vary at Christmas, Easter and other special times. After Covid we have been able to hold a Crib Service early on Christmas Eve followed by a 10pm ‘First Communion of Christmas’ service.

We have also begun to hold some Saturday evening services celebrating the seasons, such as Easter/Spring and Advent. For these we are supported by a small choir.

Occasional Offices

Enmore is a popular church for weddings and baptisms as well as holding funerals for many who have connections with the community of Enmore. The church yard remains open for burials and internment of ashes.

The baptism of the twin granddaughters of one of our congregation.

Church buildings

St Michael and All Angels, originally a Norman church but with some Victorian additions and stained glass, has been much restored and is generally well cared for, as is the churchyard. The church has electric light and under-pew heating, a traditional organ, an electronic keyboard and a piano, and also floodlighting. We also have a peal of bells rung from time to time by visiting bell ringers. 

Somewhere between 1100 and 1135 the Norman church was built. The beautiful south door wall with its Norman Door tooth moulding is all that remains.

Activities

The Church also enjoys strong support from the local community with many non churchgoers giving support to the fabric fund and to fund-raising events in general. A monthly book-swap group which meets on the first Saturday of every month has recently been launched. Do come along for a drink, chat and to lend/borrow books. 

In co-operation with the Village Hall Committee, quarterly quiz night social evenings (with a fish and chip supper) raise money for both church and village hall.  

Children

Children are always welcome at St Michael's Church, whether that is for a service or during the week when they are welcome to make use of the toys and books we have available to play with.

Our Community

Enmore is a small village (population approximately 250) at the foot of the Quantock Hills. The village is spread out along a busy road between Bridgwater and the hills, without an obvious centre. In addition to the church there are two public houses, a golf club, and a village hall (the "Memorial Hall"), which houses many village activities (Garden Club, art club, fitness classes, a woman’s group and a sewing group. The church and a group of houses are on a quiet loop road off of the main road through Enmore. The population is fairly static, including a high proportion of retired people. Apart from farming, there is virtually no employment or industry in the village, so many people commute to either Bridgwater or Taunton, and a handful work in Bristol or London. The majority of people fall into occupational classes ranging from skilled workmen to professional (or retired from such work) encompassing a wide range of skills. There is no social housing in Enmore.

School

Enmore Church of England School was the first free school in England and was established by a former Rector, Revd John Poole, in 1810. He also bult School Cottages in Enmore for habitation by poor families with children who attended the school. The school now has academy status. In January 2023 the school was rated as outstanding by Ofsted. Children from Enmore, Goathurst and surrounding areas attend this popular school.

School services are held in the church on a regular basis. Members of the benefice lead regular Open the Book collective worship sessions and clergy lead other acts of worship. We value the relationship between the church and the school and would like to strengthen this further.

Missionary and Charity Support

Collections from some specific services are given to charity. At Christmas donations form our services were given to Children’s Hospice South West. We have held retiring collections for times of major tragedy such as the DEC collections for Ukraine and for Turkey and Syria. Harvest gifts from church and school are given to The Salvation Army for distribution.