News for the Pews – Widford Church

VE Day 80th Anniversary

A 1940s soldier and lady in front of the union flag.

We’re delighted to be able to celebrate with the whole village the 80th Anniversary of VE Day by hosting an event from 4:30pm on 8th May 2025. The programme of events is as follows:

4.30pm Unveiling of the Widford Remembrance Poppy Display.
4.30-6.30pm Widford on the Home Front exhibition. Afternoon tea will be served.
6.30pm Church bells will ring out in celebration along with bells across the country.
6.50pm Act of Remembrance.
7.l0pm Lighting of the Beacon.
7.15pm Celebration of Peace BBQ.

RSVP helpful for catering but not essential – please contact Kerry on 07789 556016.

Villagers, friends and family are all welcome!

New Year News

Happy New Year to you all!

2025 has started well and I am hopeful it will be a good year, albeit with some challenges along the way, no doubt! Here’s just a brief note with a couple of highlights for you to consider.

Epiphany

On 5th January (officially Twelfth Night, not Epiphany, but close enough), we held a special service in the church. It was dark outside at 4pm, so it was wonderful to see the candles lit again, showing off our beautiful building amidst the creative floral presentations that had been prepared before Christmas. Our thanks to everyone who was involved in decorating the church for the festive season.

A congregation, gathered from all three villages of the benefice, sang traditional Epiphany Carols and were led in a new Christmas/Epiphany hymn which was well received, too. (New being 20 years old rather than 120 years old.) The children carefully placed the Wise Men in the crib while parents watched on nervously lest tiny hands were to drop the fragile models (they didn’t). We learned about the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh given to Jesus and we heard about some of the special gifts that congregation members had received at Christmas, including a battery-powered chainsaw and car which transforms into a dinosaur (what will they think of next?!). Above all, we heard about the most precious gift of all – the Lord Jesus himself – given by a loving God to the whole world. With home-made cakes as part of the refreshments and the opportunity to meet and greet friends, this was a delightful way to spend a dark and cold Sunday afternoon. We look forward to the next special service and hope many more will join us.

Building Project

We are hopeful that by the time 2025 is over, our project to adapt the vestry and tower and to re-order the west end of the church will be complete. It is such an exciting project and so important for the future of the church and community. Our Community Lunches and Widford Talks events already started will be greatly enhanced by the new facility, and we will also be able to host more concerts and other events, as well as having a more flexible and comfortable space for a wide range of community activities. There’s a new page on our website, here, which will contain progress reports so that interested parties can keep up to date with what’s happening. We will also soon be publishing a new events programme (including dates for lunches and talks). Do sign up here to be kept in the loop. An important date for your diary is Saturday 22nd February (2pm), when Widford’s own Mitchell Farquharson will be coming home and putting on an organ recital in the church to raise funds for this project. Tickets will be on sale shortly.

Finally, do spare a thought (and a prayer if you will) for those who are pursuing the plans and raising funds – it’s hard work, and we are extremely grateful to them.

Other Matters

At the start of the New Year, a lot of people determine to make changes in their lives or to take up new activities. Perhaps now is a good time for you to reflect on life, its meaning and where true hope can be found. I plan to host a three-session discussion series called “Hope Explored” beginning at the end of January. If you are interested in joining, please drop me a line.

As I write, I have just heard that the Bishop of St Albans has announced his retirement (he will retire on 31st May). This is unlikely to have any noticeable impact on Widford Church in the short term, but the process of finding his replacement will involve the giving of time and energy from a lot of people across the diocese. From May onwards, I expect, as Rural Dean, to be called upon to carry some additional burdens (usually carried by those more senior to me while they carry burdens usually carried by those more senior to them – including some of the Diocesan Bishop’s responsibilities in his absence).

With a new Archbishop to be found and a new Diocesan Bishop to be found, a building project to undertake and a string of new special events to enjoy, 2025 is going to be an interesting year for Widford Church.

Yours, in the service of Christ
Mark Dunstan

Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay

Christmas 2024

Christmas is a wonderful celebration. Accordingly, many of us will be gathering with family – some of us will go away, others of us will host. (Before you ask, I will be staying at home for Christmas – it sort of comes with the job!) There will be presents and special food and drink and films and games and general jollity and joy. I hope that there will also be a moment for each of us to reflect upon the reason for the season. What actually is Christmas celebrating? It would be a real shame to overlook this.

In the church we have a range of different events and services over the Christmas period to help us celebrate and reflect as a community. We’d be delighted to welcome everyone to any of them. If you’re not aware of them, following our Facebook page, facebook.com/widfordchurch, would be a good start. We will be circulating more information as the events approach. But note well … the first event is TONIGHT!

Here’s a list of all the events:

20th December

We’re delighted to welcome the Salvation Army Band once more. Join us at 7:30pm at Daintrees (new venue this year) to sing some of the best known carols. Soup and rolls will be served from 7pm.

22nd December

We are hosting Carols by Candlelight at Widford Church at 6:30pm.

Hunsdon Church is holding their usual service of Carols Old and New in St Dunstan’s church building at 11am.

24th December

The benefice Midnight Service will take place in St Dunstan’s church, Hunsdon, at 11:00pm this year. It will be a service of Holy Communion.

25th December

We are holding the benefice Christmas Morning Celebration in our church building at 10:30am. There will be a short service of Holy Communion afterwards.

29th December

As usual, Wareside Church will be hosting the service on the first Sunday after Christmas. This year it is at 10:30am and will be a service of Holy Communion. All are welcome.

5th January

At 4pm, we’re coming together from all the villages for a special service for Epiphany (officially 6th Jan) with traditional Epiphany Carols and an interactive “Show and Tell” session.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas, and hope to see you at one or more of these gatherings over the coming days.

Revd Mark Dunstan

An Exciting Project

Over the weekend of 13th – 15th September we will be sharing our plans to modernise part of the church building, to be able to host some new community groups for the village, as well as resurrect some that have been lost over the years. Plans include creating a community café for simply catching up with friends or meeting up with bereavement groups, youth groups, and mothers and toddlers, to name just a few. We plan to offer a permanent home for the incredible village Archive, currently being stored in somebody’s loft, to enable this fascinating collection of historical documents to become more accessible to all ages. Other plans include creating a History Society, a Music & Arts Society, Widford Talks (that have already started), and perhaps Widford Walks too. All in all, lots of new possibilities and events for every age group.

This is the biggest project Widford church has undertaken since 1868, and there’s a good reason. If we don’t act now, within the next 10 years the congregation and regular donors simply won’t be able to keep up the church’s annual running costs. Therefore it’s really important that we act now to ensure our beautiful, historical church is still here, in every capacity, for future generations to enjoy too.

We are organising several events at the church over the weekend of Friday 13th – Sunday 15th September, and hope that one or more of them will be appealing, and provide the opportunity to hear more about this next phase in our church’s history and collaboration with the local community.

Friday 13th September – 7 p.m. for 7.30 p.m.
Presentation on ‘Plans to Secure the Future of Widford Church’, with light refreshments provided.

Saturday 14th September – 9.30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
A chance to look at development plans in more details with the architect.
At 10.30 a.m. informal talk on the history of the church.
Refreshments provided.

Sunday 15th September – 3 p.m. onwards.
A bell-ringing spectacle with opportunities to ring the ancient bells.
A cream tea will be served, hopefully in the tranquil grounds of the church.
At 4 p.m. the handbell ringers will perform.
At 4.30 p.m. there will be another information talk on the history of the church.
A family BBQ from 5 p.m. will finish the weekend’s celebrations!

An idea of numbers on each day will be helpful (but not essential). Please register via our Box Office (open until 11th Sept) or contact Kerry Holt, Dinah Findlay or Jill Buck (details in the Village Magazine).

Updated since first publication – updates shown in blue.

A Community Lunch

Following the success of the Open Day / Autumn Fair in September and the inaugural “Widford Talks” event in October (report here), Kerry Holt and her team brought us a Community Lunch in November.

The food was delicious and hot, and catered for both meat-eaters and vegetarians, and what a joy it was to sit in comfort with friends and neighbours in a church decorated for Remembrance Day – a wonderful cornucopia of poppies, leaves and seed heads.

Over thirty lunches were served. Friends were simply asked to give what they could afford, and a profit of £190 was donated to church funds. Only two days earlier, I attended Michael McAdam’s funeral at St Andrew’s Church, Much Hadham, where the caterers there were busy setting out the “funereal feast” of tea, coffee, wine and food within the church itself, and where once again we were able to share food and memories in the company of our friends and neighbours. It would seem we are not the only village combining our religious and secular requirements to the benefit of all.

Eyes and ears open now to catch mention of the next Community Event at our glorious village church, as we bid a warm welcome to 2024.*

Frances Luck
This is an edited and abbreviated version of an article which appears in the Widford Magazine.

*Before 2023 is out, we have Carols by Candlelight (Sunday 17th at 6:30pm in church), Carols on the Green (Friday 22nd at 7:30pm with the Salvation Army Band) and our Christmas Day Celebration (10:30am in church). All are welcome!

The Inaugural Widford Talk

With no village shop, Public House or village clubs there are few occasions when people can meet and enjoy good company whilst welcoming newcomers. The Coronation Party was a splendid example of how much pleasure such events can spread, but Coronations do not occur very often. The Church is seeking to create more opportunities for socialising by offering Open Days and Community lunches and a series of interesting talks by local experts.

On Friday October 27^th our Honorary Archivist, Frances Luck, a long-term resident in the village, gave the inaugural talk, not only about the history of the village and the church, but a little of her own family history. She has lived in this village since the 1960s. She recalled a village with little car traffic, a village shop, a garage, a sweet shop, a school and three Public Houses. Oddly, even in those quiet days there was a less-frequent bus service than our present one! She walked us, in our mind’s eye, slowly through the village, pointing out houses of interest and buildings which have changed beyond recognition, and she told us of worthy citizens and long-gone pastimes such as the Garden Club, the Young Wives Club, the Youth Club and village dances. Do you know how many Land Army girls were billeted in the village? How many ex-prisoners of war decided to marry local girls and remain in England? Or to which hill the villagers all flocked in the snow to go sledging?

It was a truly fascinating presentation. Before the talk, the audience (of some forty people) enjoyed a box supper with either tea, coffee or a warming alcoholic drink. The church was beautifully decorated with autumn foliage and despite it being a rather chilly evening, a good time was had by all.

Do watch out for the next talk…

With thanks to JB and the Widford Magazine for the article.

A Different Harvest

A priest once told me that their suggestions for the Harvest Festival service they had been asked to lead (in a church without their own priest) had been dismissed out of hand with the phrase, “No, we have always done this.” He had then gently reminded the parish that the thing they had “always done” was something he had introduced there only three years earlier! It’s true that traditions take remarkably little time to develop, and that development tends to be accompanied with a fast-growing reluctance to change. Many people tend to live by the motto “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” but this fails to accept that further improvement might be possible.

This year’s Harvest Supper perhaps illustrates this well. The event has been part of Widford’s social calendar for years and has seen little change; its tried and tested format has proven very successful in terms of gathering and entertaining a crowd and raising funds for the church. However, this year, the event underwent a thorough examination and by separating the critical ingredients from the detail, new possibilities presented themselves. The undisputed requirements were good food, the opportunity for conversation and the provision of some kind of entertainment. The details – what food should be served and what kind of entertainment should be put on – were carefully reviewed. And some changes were made.

And what a good night was had by all. There was still a raffle (many thanks to all those who had contributed gifts) and the singing of parts of the traditional Harvest Hymns, but the menu included pulled pork and corn on the cob for the first time. In another first, the seating arrangements were also modified so that the side room was used for tables – largely to facilitate conversation (which can be harder in the large main hall because of the noise) – and the main hall set out with a wide open space for dancing.

A barn dance had been advertised, but in the end, the provider recommended that line dancing would suit our event better (it’s more inclusive for singles and those whose partners don’t like to dance). It was loads of fun. We learned three dances and a whole load of new terminology (most of which I’ve now forgotten). It was a little bit like dipping our toes in the shallows of what is the deep and wide lake of line dancing – we were all very grateful that our instructor didn’t play the fastest music she kept threatening!

Thanks go to all who played their part in rethinking the event and producing such a wonderful evening for the village. If you didn’t come this year, do make a plan to come next. It won’t be the same, but you can guarantee that the essential ingredients will be in place – the best of the traditional core with a flexible fringe so that it remains fresh and continues to help build up the common life of our changing community.

Do keep an eye out for other events on the calendar like the new “Widford Talks” and our upcoming Community Lunch – you can sign up for news updates here.

Images from Facebook posts, incl. stills from videos – thanks to those who shared.

Open Day 2023

It was one of the hottest days of the year, but very pleasant in the shade and inside the cool church for this special event in the church grounds. There were lunches, teas, coffee, cake, Pimm’s and much more to be enjoyed, stalls to browse overlooking the Ash Valley, and face-painting, duck-catching and other amusements for the children. Handbells were rung by a shortened team inside the church at 2pm and at 4pm the new tower bell ropes and sallies were dedicated in a brief service and all six bells rang out in celebration.

As with many of Widford’s community events, it was wonderful to see people of all ages gathering together, and it was very special not only to be able to welcome and make the acquaintance of new villagers for the first time, but also to provide the opportunity for families who have been in the village a little longer to meet one another for the first time.

Thanks go to all involved for organising such a delightful day, overseeing provisions, giving tours and ringing bells (including those who set up the day before and cleared up the day after!).

Thanks to GD, whose article in the Village Magazine has been extensively plagiarised for this post.
Photo: Open Church by Mark Dunstan.

A Celebration of Service

When children are learning to speak, one of the first things they are taught to say is “Thank you.” They forget, of course. Frequently. But one hopes that eventually, expressions of gratitude will come quickly and freely. In life, there are countless situations in which other people will do or say something kind to us; honouring those precious gifts with thanks is the very least we can do.

This year for our “Patronal Festival”*, we are saying, “Thank you”. As a community, we benefit from the extraordinary gift made centuries ago to the village of the church building. As a community, we benefit from the time and talents, finances and labour of our neighbours who maintain it, its grounds and its ministry in many different ways. Not long ago, it was estimated that almost 20% of village residents were giving time each year to support this beautiful place and to ensure it would remain beautiful into the next generation.

So we are saying, “Thank you.” To those who unlock the church door each day so visitors can enter (and who lock it again at night for safekeeping). To those who sweep and dust and clean and polish, especially in light of the extra work they did in the pandemic’s worst period. To those whose creativity with flowers brings additional beauty week by week but especially at festival celebrations. To those who provide music for our worship – organists, choir and bellringers – and at other times for concerts and special occasions. To those who prepare refreshments Sunday by Sunday, and more food and drink at Christmas, Harvest and, of course, the Safari Supper. To the contractors and volunteers who tend the churchyards, their grassed areas, hedges and trees. To the organisers, administrators and trustees who manage the events and ensure the premises are safe and accessible. To all the people who attend our services and events, building relationships with one another and nurturing community spirit. To all those who have made financial donations which enable the PCC to maintain the premises and proclaim the good news of Jesus afresh to every generation. And to God, who has given us the hope of eternal life, even though we so often let him down.

Our service is on 25th June and starts at 4pm. Everyone is welcome, including children. It will include some well known hymns so we can have a really good sing together (a great, if somewhat neglected community activity). We will praise God for the blessings he has given us and pray to God that he would bless all of our wonderful volunteers and our community as a whole. (And worry not – nobody will be asked to stand at the front or speak!) There will be a short talk helping us to consider what Jesus said about service. Afterwards, we will share refreshments and conversation. We do hope that many people would come so that together we can say the biggest “Thank you!”

* Patronal Festival: Our church bears the name of St John the Baptist.
We celebrate each year on the Sunday nearest his feast day – 24th June.

Harvest Challenge 2022

As we gear up for our Harvest Celebration in support of the Bishop’s Harvest Appeal this year, I thought it would be good to hear from TEARFund, whose project in Mozambique we will be supporting. When I contacted them, they invited me to run a week-long challenge within the church in the run up to our Harvest Service. It’s called the “Changing the Climate Challenge.” I figured it was something worthwhile we could do, so here below is a video to explain a little about what I hope you will be doing over the next six days.

Let's Change the Climate Promo Film.mp4 from Tearfund on Vimeo.

The video and more information about the challenge can be found on the TEARFund website at this link, including the daily challenges and Bible reflections.

I hope you will consider joining me in prayer and action over the coming week and look forward to seeing many of you at the Harvest Supper on Saturday and the Festival Service on Sunday.

Mark Dunstan