St Neots Parish Church

Debussy String Quartet in G minor Op. 10

Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasilieras No.6

Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor Op. 115

An Evening of Chamber Music performed by

Violins: Gwen Owen Richer and Victoria Anderson

Viola: Andrew Ware

Cello: Veronica Henderson

Flute: Hugh Robinson

Clarinet: Sarah Bowden

SATURDAY 18 SEPTEMBER at 7.30pm

Church of St Mary the Virgin, St Neots

Tickets: £10.00 (£8.00 students, O.A.P.s & children)

Purchase at the door

St Neots’ own Rave in the Nave. On Saturday 12 December we held our first ever Fun-Day in church organised by Linda Browne and a team of helpers. There was a bouncy castle, crafts, face-painting, Wii games projected onto the big screen and free burgers and drinks. Here are some pictures of the fun in full swing.

On Sunday 22 November, St Mary’s Youth Group led our evening worship with a production based on Christ’s parable of The Good Samaritan. Using the whole floor area at the front of the church, they set the story in St Neots Market Square at 11pm on a Saturday night. A fight between rival gangs breaks out and a young man is left for dead. Ignored by a lawyer on her way home after a late night at the office, and by two policeman going off shift, the boy is helped by an unlikely looking Samaritan in the form of a teenage hoodie who summons the paramedics on a borrowed mobile.

Thanks to all the members of SMYG and leader, Linda Browne for making us think afresh about this well-known story and for making us think about who are the stereotypical outcasts in our own time.

We’ve described this Eucharist as a service of celebration and a thanksgiving for Tim’s life – and what a colossal amount there is to celebrate and to thank God for. In her tribute to Tim, Catherina acknowledges that she’s had to leave out a great deal, and also that there’s a great deal more that all of you here could contribute to Tim’s story – all the many and various ways in which the path of Tim’s life criss-crossed with your paths as you shared his zest for one or more of his many areas of activity. We’re thankful for his friendship, his love of family, his generosity, his sense of fun, his seriousness of purpose, his passion for justice and his compassion for the world’s poor and marginalized, his willingness to help with anything practical, his concern and care for this church, perhaps especially for what goes on many feet above us – the bells, the clock, the flags. Reading what Catherina wrote, it seems incredible; it seems positively indecent that all of this could be accomplished by one man in one lifetime. Was there nothing that Tim couldn’t do? Tim’s capacity for learning new skills, and not just learning them, but mastering them seems almost downright greedy. Greedy that is, until we remember that having mastered them, Tim was just as eager to make those skills, those many gifts available to anyone who needed them. And alongside all those practical gifts, the greatest gift that Tim shared with so many, was the gift of himself, the gift of friendship, the gift of love. That there are so many here this afternoon is an eloquent testimony to the quality of Tim’s friendship, and to his special integrity as a person.

We will be holding a special service on Sunday 10 May at 3.00pm for those who have recently suffered the death of a loved one, or who would like to have the opportunity to remember those whom we have loved and lost from years past.

The death of someone to whom we are very close is one of the greatest traumas that we ever experience. The loss of a partner or spouse, a parent or a child, a friend or colleague, at any age, can leave us feeling devastated and causes a great deal of suffering. It is often a long time before we begin to come to terms with that bereavement. In some cases, feelings lie buried for several years before rising to the surface.

The Church recognises that people have an ongoing need for pastoral support and care long after the funeral service itself has taken place, and we think it is important for us to provide opportunities for those who have lost loved ones to acknowledge their feelings and be given space to remember and to give thanks to god for the gift of life itself.

The Service of Remembering and Thanksgiving will a simple act of worship in which we will hear appropriate readings, join in prayers and well-known hymns, and have an opportunity to light a candle in memory of those we come to remember. The service will be followed by refreshments in church and an opportunity to talk to members of the clergy and St Mary’s Bereavement Visiting team.

This service is open to everyone and we would like to extend a warm invitation to anyone who feels that they would like to, to come along. It doesn’t matter if you belong to another church, or have no religious background at all. You will be warmly welcomed.

High in the roof of the church, an amazing collection of creatures is carved in the ancient woodwork. Rarely seen close-up, we had an opportunity to examine them recently due to scaffolding erected for repainting work.

Here are some of the finds:

It was announced this morning that following the Petertide ordinations in June, Sarah Gower will be joining us to continue her training as our curate.

Sarah is currently studying at Westcott House in Cambridge; her husband David is deputy head at Chigwell School.

This morning it was announced that Margaret Marshall, who has served us as curate for many years, is to be appointed as Priest-in-Charge of the Riversmeet Benefice in St Albans diocese, comprising the parishes of Blunham, Great Barford, Roxton and Tempsford with Little Barford.

The church was home to 89 bears and a wide selection of clothing this morning, all knitted by members of the congregation. They were en rout

Following the work at the singing workshop last week, primary school children from Eynesbury, Bushmead, Gt Paxton