Officially the Vicar of the Benefice

The Institution, Induction and Installation of Rev’d Dr Sarah Forrest as Vicar of the Benefice

Saturday 22nd March marked a very special day. After four and a half years as Priest in Charge, Rev’d Sarah was officially made Vicar of the Benefice!

It was a really lovely service led by The Rt Rev’d Dr Jane Mainwaring, Bishop of Hertford, and The Venerable Janet Mackenzie, Archdeacon of Hertford, with assistance from Rev’d Canon Mark Dunstan, Rural Dean. With over 100 people in attendance, the church was filled and united in celebration as the Institution, Induction and Installation of Rev’d Sarah took place.

Members of the Benefice family, including Churchwardens Richard Mellor, Margaret Mellor and Peter Melrose; Assistant Churchwarden Martin Vaughan; Readers Lynne Griffiths and Rachael Melrose with Ministry Team member Anne Pulford, took part in the service in various roles. We also had John Hookway as Patron’s Representative for CPAS, along with Master Eugene du Toit and Jonathan Trower as Patron’s Representatives for Haileybury College in attendance.

We asked members of the local community to be part of The Welcome. Helen Payne (1st Stanstead Abbotts Brownies), Will Drury (Stanstead Abbotts Scout Group), Councillor Tom Foy (Great Amwell Parish Council), Councillor Michael Dormon (Stanstead Abbotts Parish Council), Michael Speed (Headteacher at St Andrew’s Primary School), Lydia Hunt (Headteacher of St John the Baptist Primary School) and Clare Jackson (Representing of All Nations Christian College) kindly came along to officially welcome Rev’d Sarah.

Prayers of Dedication and Intercession were led by Richard Mellor, Mary Salter (Deanery Lay Chairperson) and our Headteachers, Lydia Hunt and Michael Speed.

Lynne Griffiths also played the organ and performed a triumphant trumpet voluntary at the end of the service to lead us all out to the refreshments. And what a marvellous spread it was! Everyone had really pulled together to prepare a lovely buffet for us all to enjoy, and those in the kitchen did a stellar job making sure we were all well fed and watered.

Thank you to everyone involved in the planning, preparation and running of the event. It was really wonderful to be all together and to celebrate Rev’d Sarah taking up the permanent role of Vicar to our Benefice Family.

Anna Bond

[Images courtesy of Richard Mellor and Anna Bond]

The Bishop of St Albans’ Visit

Bishop Alan, the Rt Rev’d the Lord Bishop of St Albans, who has been visiting all the churches in the diocese over the time of his episcopacy, came to St John the Baptist, Great Amwell on Sunday 19th January to lead and preach at the 9am Eucharist Service.

It was wonderful to celebrate Communion with Bishop Alan in our beautiful church, with the church family and the wider community. He even got involved with some bell-ringing, which has been a passion since he was a teenager. As many of you will know, we have a historic set of six bells (with the earliest dating from sixteenth century, called ‘Come all ye faithful’) all hung with wheels so they can be rung full circle.

Churchwarden, Richard Mellor said, ‘The Bishop’s visit to St John’s was welcomed by the congregation. He gave an amusing yet powerful sermon and he left us with much to consider. He joined us for refreshments after the service and chatted to everyone, who enjoyed the opportunity to meet him and talk to him.’

Rev’d Sarah said, ‘It was a joy to have Bishop Alan visit us in these last few months of before his retirement, and to receive a handwritten note from him following his visit in which he expressed a real pleasure at being with us. Please remember Bishop Aan in your prayers as he prepares for retirement.’

Bishop Alan, the Rt Rev’d the Lord Bishop of St Albans (image courtesy: Richard Mellor)
The Bishop and Rev’d Sarah (image courtesy: Richard Mellor)
The Bishop and Rev’d Sarah with Margaret and Richard Mellor (image courtesy: Richard Mellor)
The Bishop with Rev’d Sarah and the Churchwardens and their assistants (Martin and Sue Vaughan, and Bryan Brace) (image courtesy: Richard Mellor)
The Bishop being shown the ropes (image courtesy: Rev’d Sarah)
Bell-ringing with The Bishop (image courtesy: Rev’d Sarah)

The Christmas Journey 2024

Every year we see the numbers who attend ‘The Christmas Journey: The Nativity Story Reimagined’ increase and there is quite a buzz in the local community in the lead up! We had a fantastic 180 children and adults (not to mention dogs) gathering together at St Margarets Train Station to make the journey to meet baby Jesus in the manger (at St Andrew’s Church).

As our numbers swell, we are even more conscious of the need for road safety.  As such, we had a greater number of helpers in hi-vis jackets marshalling everyone safely on our journey. Thank you so much to everyone who helped.

We visited inns along the way and, as always, love to see the engagement with the general public as we sing and share the nativity story. Special thanks to The Jolly Fisherman, The Oak and The Red Lion for taking part again this year. We were amazed to see our Innkeeper at The Red Lion dressed for the part – that was an extra treat!

We are really pleased that this special service continues to go from strength to strength and has become a Christmas tradition for local families.

Christmas Tree Festival 2024

Once again this year, we held a Christmas Tree Festival at St Mary’s Church, St Margarets. We were so pleased that the community got involved again, including some new tree holders this year.

Despite the storms, we had 90 visitors over the weekend who came along to enjoy the beautiful trees. We also had some seasonal refreshments, some craft items for sale, a tombola and activities for the children.

Thank you to everyone who braved the weather to come along and support this weekend. We raised a gross total of £403.78, which will go towards the work and upkeep of the church.

Thank you to all our amazing tree holders and to everyone who came along to help over the weekend.

Our Memory Tree, provided and decorated by The Walled Garden
The wonderful nativity, made by Mary Youngman and on loan from Hertford Baptist Church
Our gift tree, kindly donated by Powell
A look down the church at the beautiful trees on the left side
A look down the church at the beautiful trees on the right side

Advent Carols 2024

On Sunday 1st December, a special Advent Carols service was held at the beautiful and historic church of St James. The church looked stunning, bathed in candlelight, and was full of people. The Priory Choir were wonderful too.

As many of you will know, St James’ old church is the former parish church of Stanstead Abbotts. When St Andrew’s Church was built in the village in the 1880s, St James’ became redundant, although it still hosts five services a year.

Now owned by the Churches Conservation Trust, and managed by the Friends of St James’ Church, this delightful building also hosts a number of cultural events, whether musical or theatrical. You can find out more about the work the Friends of St James’ Church undertake here: stjamesoldchurch.org.uk.

Thank you to everyone for your hard work making this service so special.

(Images courtesy of Vanessa Murphy)

Remembrance Sunday Fundraising 2024

Remembrance fundraising at St Andrew’s

Our Remembrance Sunday Services on 10th November were, once again, wonderfully attended.

The collection at St Andrew’s Church on Remembrance Sunday was £226.11 and there as also £43.58 in the poppy collecting tin that was in the church beforehand.  The total for the village was £5402.22, which was really good.

The money raised by The Poppy Appeal helps those who have served to cope with trauma and live the full and rewarding lives they deserve.

Thank you everyone for your generosity.

Find out more about the significance of the poppy for Remembrance by visiting The Royal British Legion’s website here: https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/remembrance/about-remembrance/the-poppy.

Cups on a String: a TLG/Riding Lights Performance

On Wednesday 16th October, we were delighted to host the Transforming Lives for Good (TLG) / Riding Lights Theatre Company production, ‘Cups on a String’, created to mark 25 years of TLG bringing hope and a future to struggling children across the UK.

Here at The 3 Churches Benefice we are passionate about the charity TLG and the important work they do. We are actively involved with Make Lunch (running Make Lunch Club on Mondays and Fridays during the school holidays) and Early Intervention (with a number of Early Intervention Coaches in our Benefice, who mentor children once a week in school). With this in mind, we wanted to support the national tour of ‘Cups on a String’ and host a performance.

‘Cups on a String’ is a warm-hearted and moving new play, developed from remarkable true stories. Challenging, surprising and beautifully hopeful, ‘Cups on a String’ takes you into the heart of the friendship between Heather and Joe, and the profound impact it has on them both.

St Andrew’s Church was a hive of activity on Wednesday afternoon as the stage was set. The doors opened at 7.30pm and we had an audience of 65 strong. The performance was really good and it was a great evening.

Thank you to those who hosted the performers and for everyone who helped on the evening with tasks like ushering, refreshments and car park duty.

News from St John the Baptist

South African Braii
In August, in the lovely summer sunshine, we had a South African braai in the churchyard of St John the Baptist, organised kindly by parishioners Graeme and Paola McSorley. We enjoyed boerewors followed by melktert, washed down with fabulous South African wine.

Visitors come to St John the Baptist
St John’s church has been blessed this year with visitors from overseas. Recently, we have had visitors from America, who can trace
their ancestry to Richard and Elizabeth Warren who were married in the church in 1610. Richard being one of the Pilgrim Fathers on Mayflower 10 years later.

In September, came Sue and Tom Dietrich from Arizona, followed on 3rd October by well-known authoress Jodie Picoult and her husband, Tim Warren Van Leer from New Hampshire. On the same day, Eric Nye, a visiting professor at Cambridge and related to the Warrens, joined us. It was great to welcome them to St John’s and show them round the church and the churchyard.

Professor Eric Nye and Rev’d Sarah
Tim Warren Van Leer, Jodie Picoult and Professor Eric Nye
Front: Tim Van Leer, Jodie Picoult, Rev’d Sarah and Eric Nye;
      Back: Martin Vaughan, Margaret Mellor and Sue Vaughan
Sue and Tom Dietrich

Benefice Harvest Festival 2024

Sunday 22nd September was the date of this year’s Benefice Harvest Festival. We had a lovely service at the Old Parish Church of St James, with a brilliant turn out of people. Once again, the church was beautifully decorated with seasonal displays, for which special thanks go to:

  • The Friends of St James’s Church
  • Stanstead Abbotts Scouts – Forest Beaver Colony and Oak Squirrel Drey
  • Stort Valley Organics, Stanstead Abbotts
  • Joe and Mo from the High Street Allotments
  • The Easneye Estate
  • Hill House
  • Kate Green (overall mastermind)

After the service, there was a very special lunch in the Haybarn at Stanstead Bury Farm, Stanstead Abbotts, organised by Antonia Trower and supported by helpers from the Friends of St James’s. Locally produced food and drink was provided in the barn, and there was a real community feel. Thanks go to the local food and drink producers:

  • Temple Farm, Roydon
  • Stanstead Bury Farm
  • Stort Valley Organics, Stanstead Abbotts
  • New River Brewery, Hoddesdon
  • Brick Lock, Roydon
  • Four Acre Estate, Little Hadham
  • Hazel End, Bishop’s Stortford

Thank you to everyone for all the hard work that was put into making this such fantastic event.

Benefice Celebration Service for Elizabeth and Martin Goldsmith

On Sunday 30th June, we held a very special Benefice Celebration Service for Elizabeth and Martin Goldsmith at St Andrew’s Church. The service was followed by a ‘bring & share’ lunch in The Wilshere Hall.

During the Celebration Service we heard about their backgrounds: Elizabeth being a 4th generation missionary and Martin from a secular Jewish family. Martin came to faith as a teenager and they met while training for missionary work. We listened to their stories of life and work across the globe, including decades of international ministry.

Rev’d Dr Bob Hunt preached on Acts 1: 6–11, which includes Jesus’s call to ‘be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’

The ‘bring & share’ lunch was a lovely time of fellowship together.

Thank you to everyone involved in organising this special service.

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