Hello everyone

The thought of clocks changing and longer days takes us gladly into Spring, a wonderful time of the year in our village and countryside.  The church is generally quite quiet in February, partly as it between the busier Christmas and Easter festivals, but also because it is so cold, one of the challenges with such an old building.

We are now well into the Vacancy and working with the Hitchin Team of churches to help maintain weekly services.  One of the advantages of the Vacancy is having visiting priests, including welcoming back Revd David Dewey and Revd Tom Purchas in the last few weeks. They will be visiting us again over the next few months and with other local priests who very generously support us.

We are currently advertising for a new vicar, but we have no indication as to how long it will take. There are plenty of other churches also looking, so we have to be realistic and be prepared for this taking a while.  During this period the Hitchin parish office*(details at the end) will be the main point of contact for arranging baptisms, funerals and weddings.

In April we have our Annual Parish Church Meeting, when we review what has happened over the year. Thinking about it makes me realise and be thankful for the considerable amount of support we receive, but also being realistic as to what can we can do.  I know much of this support comes from a few people who are as equally involved in other village societies.  It would be a pity to see fewer things happening in the village, so if you feel able to offer a few a hours or be contacted to support activities then please to do let us know – this could be as simple as handing out these monthly Parish Magazines or the Christmas card (only once a year!) to your street. The more adventurous might be like to arrange flowers in memory of someone.  Thankfully the village parish council contributes half of the cost of cutting the church grass, the churchyard is a wonderful space that many people visit during the week, so keeping it maintained is important.

At All Saints’ we have recently revived the Church Preservation Trust to raise money for the considerable amount of Fabric work that needs to take place, my thanks to those involved. If you feel able to support and be involved please do get in contact, we will be putting more details into the Parish Magazine over the next few months.

All the best

Tim

* Church House, Churchyard, Hitchin, SG5 1HP. Tel. 01462 452758