Hello Everyone I wonder if you saw the Northern lights display on Friday night? Sadly, I didn't. I was absorbed working at the computer with the curtains closed and didn't pick up my phone in time to see our neighbour's message.. are you awake, come outside! And what a sight I missed. Just 45 minutes too late, sadly. Then, Facebook lit up with so many views from across the country, Toddington, Barton, Renhold and Dorset.. all with stunning pictures of beautiful dancing pink lights filling the skies with people saying they never thought they would see the Northern Lights! It has been a dream of mine to head off North to see the Northern Lights.. and here I was, shut away behind the curtains when there was the most beautiful light show on our doorsteps. Maybe it will return later.. or tomorrow. I hope so. I wonder what it was like on Ascension Day all those years ago when Jesus Ascended into Heaven?! That must have been the most incredible light show too! Last Thursday, Ascension Day was remembered in the Church Calendar. Many years ago, this day was so important, schools would attend a morning Ascension Day church service and then have a half day holiday to remember Jesus. Now, many people will not have heard of Ascension Day and will not know its significance. Ascension Day falls 40 days after Jesus' resurrection at Easter. During this time, Jesus lived on earth for 40 days and met with over 500 people. He walked with his disciples, talked with them, ate with them, cooked fish for them by the Sea of Galilee, reassured them and prepared them for his departure. In the Church Calendar we now look forward from Ascension Day to the Day of Pentecost. This is the time when the disciples waited patiently for the gift of the Holy Spirit.. the Counsellor, the Comforter, who Jesus promised would come to guide us, so we would not be alone, after He had ascended into Heaven. Pentecost Sunday is in on May 19th. As a church, there is a worldwide calling to pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit to refresh the people and the land. Last Monday and Tuesday, Nigel and I attended the Leadership Conference at the Royal Albert Hall, with visiting speakers from across the world. It was a coming together of leaders from many different nations, with wonderfully rousing worship and testimonies of what God has done in people's lives, bringing healing, and a desire to tell others about Jesus.. particularly among Generation Z - young people aged between about 15 to 25 years of age, who are experiencing an incredible wave of healings and spiritual hunger, combined with prayerful dedication to Jesus. (See attached article from Peter Greig who has seen many of these events). College campuses in America have been swiftly organising conferences to meet the demand from students to learn more about Jesus. Students on these campuses are praying and worshipping for hours and there have been so many baptisms the leader reported that they are still baptising well past midnight..as young people want to dedicate their lives to Jesus. This is happening in France and many other countries and also in England. The word 'revival' was mentioned many times and at the Conference and we leaders were also called to repent and to pray. and the Albert Hall became a wonderful place of prayer. The movements to prayer begin with a time of repentance and confession.. saying sorry to God for those things that have separated folks from Him. Then cleansed, and in many cases, newly baptised, there has come an energy and a hunger to know more.. a sense of not wanting to miss the moment, of needing to open the curtains not to miss the light show, and to tell others so they don't miss it either! Here is a link to the Church's call to join the global call to prayer for 'Thy Kingdom to Come' Lord. The Church of England 5 May at 16:47 · Thy Kingdom Come is a global wave of prayer that takes place between Ascension and Pentecost. Find various ways you can journey through all 11 days of prayer at cofe.io/ThyKingdomCome. At a time of such suffering, sickness and need, with wars and turbulent times.. let us join together in prayer for our young people, our children, our families, friends and colleagues, and for the world; that all people may know the love of Jesus. May crime and wars cease, may drug and people trafficking and addictions cease, may abuse and violence cease, and may we all live in peace together, filled and guided by the Holy Spirit. We heard so many stories of inspirational change, and of miracles at the Conference. The Alpha course has changed so many lives. The Light of Christ is real and the energy of the light show is tangible. Be encouraged! Please pray.. 'thy KIngdom come, O Lord'. This Sunday's Services: May 12th 9.30 am Holy Communion, Chalgrave Church (followed by this year's APCM meeting, with cuppas and cake!) Do join us! 11.00 am Morning Worship, Toddington Church - led by Malcolm Other upcoming events and services: Monday 13th May 9.30 am Morning Prayer, Toddington Church Tuesday 14th May 10.30 am Knitting Group, Wilkinson Hall 5.45 pm Youth Group, Wilkinson Hall Wednesday 15th May 9.30 am working party for Church grounds, Toddington Church? (Dee to confirm) 7.00 pm Toddington Annual Parochial Church Meeting, Toddington Church Thursday 16th May 2.00 pm St George's Fellowship, Wilkinson Hall Friday 17th May 10.30 am Painting for Pleasure Group, Wilkinson Hall Sunday 19th May 9.30 am Holy Communion, Chalgrave Church 11.00 am Holy Communion, Toddington Church 6.00 pm Evensong, Toddington Church I have attached a copy of What's On in May with information about other upcoming events to pop in your diaries. If you would be willing to open your garden this year for Open Gardens Weekend in July, please contact Sue Ballinger, Dee or Fran. Tickets for the Garden Party also available from them as per attached poster. Thank you so much for all your love, prayer and support. God bless Linda Rector Toddington and Chalgrave
Hello Everyone At last we have had some sunshine today. How welcome it was after so many days of rain. I hope it continues for this bank holiday weekend and beyond... we could certainly do with the sunshine and warmth. The restoration work at Chalgrave Church is still underway in the Chancel and thankfully, the diocese have quickly given permission for work to proceed on the recently discovered decaying beam, which means it can be addressed while the scaffolding is still in place. Toddington Youth Group and Ploughman's lunch went well and thank you so much to all who helped for these events. It was wonderful to have Bishop Richard and his wife Helen with us last week for both Chalgrave and Toddington services and especially for the Confirmation service at Toddington, which he kindly offered to lead, despite having another big Confirmation service in Dunstable later that day. Folks very much appreciated their visit and the conversations after the service over a cuppa, and It was lovely to share in the special moment of Confirmation of three members of the congregation at Toddington This week is a little calmer (I hope!) although Nigel and I are off to London for the Leadership Conference at the Albert Hall which will be rather busy.. but hopefully also fun. This Sunday's Services: 9.30 am Holy Communion Service, Chalgrave Church 11.00 am Holy Communion Service, Toddington Church This Week's Events: Monday 6th May - Bank holiday (no church services or events) Tuesday 7th May : Knitting Group at 10.30am Wilkinson Hall Wednesday 8th May: Toddington Church Cleaning - more information from Dee Thursday 9th May: Afternoon with Friends 2pm Wilkinson Hall Thursday 9th May: Evening Alpha 6.30pm at the Rectory: This week's topic: How Can I Resist Evil? Friday 10th May: Painting for Pleasure group 10.30am Wilkinson Hall Saturday 11th May: Coffee Morning, Wilkinson Hall, Toddington Saturday 11th May: Alpha Holy Spirit Awareness Day, 10.30 - 3.30pm, The Rectory. Sunday 12th May: 9.30 am Holy Communion Service, Chalgrave Church, followed by Annual Parochial Church Meeting 11.00 am Service, Toddington Church Wednesday 15th May Toddington Annual Parochial Church Meeting, Toddington Church, 7.00 pm Please continue to hold young Harrison and his family in your prayers. There is a recent update about his condition on gofundme uk Harrison Blanchflower. Harrison is still extremely poorly. Please pray for his healing. Have a special weekend Best wishes Linda Rector, Toddington and Chalgrave
Hello EveryoneIt has been a very busy week with lots of planned special events...and several unplanned events, like gas leaks in the churchyard and leaky boilers in church, which changed the whole nature of my week.The Pop Up Tea Room was a highlight in the week of Chalgrave church, with a wonderful gathering at Tebworth Memorial Hall. It is such a special community event, with plants, books and other stalls selling goods, plus the wonderfully tasty and high quality cakes and savouries provided by church members. Lots of smiling faces this week!Last weekend at Toddington Church we celebrated St George's Day with a special Gift Week End. The church was decorated with St George and the dragon and the window sills were enlivened with representations of the life of the church, with additional history, flower and art displays so kindly presented (see photos). On Tuesday, the Friends of St George's put on a wonderful Afternoon Tea with beautiful cakes, scones and tasty sandwiches, tea and company. So special and very much enjoyed by all who attended. The Friends afternoon Tea raised an amazing £500 and the church Gift Weekend for Church raised just over £2,000. Both such amazing achievements! I send a most sincere and grateful thank you to all involved and to all who supported in any way. Your financial donations are precious to maintain the church in good order for many generations to come. They also provide wonderful times of hospitality and fellowship, food parcels, Alpha, Messy Church, Youth Group and so much more for families and people in the village. We cannot do this without you. Volunteers at church give so much time and effort each week in so many ways. It is immeasurable.. so much goes unseen, but it really is appreciated. Time, effort, cleaning, decorating, cooking, generosity, kindness, care and creative ideas, all enable us to reach out to be a living church within the community, and a living developing parish church. Thank you!On Friday Messy Church focused on St George - making decorated biscuits, St George and the dragon models in clay and paper, and then we sat down to a tea of sausages, fish fingers, peas, chips, ice cream and cake. Very yummy. Youth group's recent session focused on the local church environment and made a bug house.. do look out for it when you walk by. Thank you Bridget for bug houses, dragons, crafts and so many wonderful ideas. Thank you also to Tom and Bridget for hours spent decorating Wilkinson Hall improving decor and conditions for which we are very grateful. It looks so much better.Our Alpha course entered its seventh week this Thursday and is moving on so quickly. Friendships and bonds have been formed and this week we discussed how does God guide us. Have you ever noticed one of those strange 'coincidences' and wondered how something happened and then looked back and thought... how did that happen? Maybe God was alongside you.. guiding you. God is with us and yet we don't always recognise him. Food for thought!Tomorrow we welcome Bishop Richard to both Chalgrave and Toddington Churches to lead the morning services and we very much look forward to his visit. At Chalgrave he will preach and celebrate Communion and catch up with the people, and the church restoration work. The last time he visited was for our 800 years celebrations during Covid restrictions when we all gathered, carefully spaced apart, sitting in the fresh air in the beautiful church grounds reflecting on 800 years of the life of the church. This time we will be indoors in the Lady Chapel, glad to be back indoors, but very conscious of all that lays ahead with the continued restoration work. This week, we received permission to proceed with the next stage of work and the new oak has been ordered by the builder ready to restore the rotted support beams. When this is all completed, we look forward to a celebration service.Tomorrow at Toddington Church, we have a special service of Confirmation, with three confirmation candidates stepping forward to confirm their faith in Jesus. The bishop will lay his hands on them and bless them as he says a prayer of Confirmation. Do come and support if you are able. It promises to be a very special service, and a memorable time not only for the candidates as they step forward in faith, but also because it is rare to be able to have a confirmation service in our home church. All rather special! Do come if you can.This week's services:Sunday 28th April - Fifth Sunday of Easter9.30am Holy Communion service, Chalgrave Church - lead by Bishop Richard, Bishop of Bedford11am Confirmation Service with Holy Communion, Toddington Church led by Bishop Richard, Bishop of BedfordMonday 29 April9.30am Morning Prayer, Toddington Church2pm Chalgrave PCC meeting at the CaldersTuesday 30 April10.30am Knitting Group, Wilkinson Hall, Toddington5.45pm Youth Group, Wilkinson Hall, ToddingtonThursday 2nd May 12 noon, Ploughman's Lunch, Wilkinson Hall, Toddington6.30pm Alpha Course, The Rectory, Topic: 'How Can I Make the Most of the Rest of My Life'Friday 3rd May10.30am Painting for Pleasure Group, Wilkinson HallHopefully, next week will be a little calmer. I spent three full days at church this week, liaising and monitoring Cadent as they worked in the churchyard and the vestry. It is a relief that the source of the external gas leak has been sorted. So much work behind the scenes, linking with the diocese for permission for work to take place in the churchyard and the church building.. but we feel rather safer this week, knowing that the leak has been sorted. I wonder what next week has in stall?!!I wish you all a calm, peaceful week.God blessLindaRector, Toddington and Chalgraverevdtoddington@gmail.comrevdchalgrave@gmail.com07715 603557
Hello EveryoneI do hope the sunshine lasts into this weekend.. and the promise of higher temperatures is right. It has been pretty chilly this week in the evenings.. and so very wet at times. But today the sun is shining again!Just a short email to let you know about this weekend's special St George of England events at Toddington Church - see attached poster. We have wonderful window ledge displays of the life of the church, a dragon and St George, beautiful flowers, and art and history displays, children's fun activities, refreshments and a 3.00 pm concert in church on Saturday afternoon organised by Toddington Music Society. Just what is needed to blow away the winter cobwebs as we gather together and have fun. On Tuesday afternoon there is a special St George of England afternoon tea in Wilkinson Hall. Tickets are available from Dee or Fran.This Sunday, Chalgrave church will be open and up and running again for our 9.30 am morning service. Praise the Lord! We will meet in the Lady Chapel as the Chancel is still full of scaffolding but it will be so lovely to be back.Key upcoming events this week and next:6.30 pm Alpha week 6 - 'How and Why Should I read the Bible', at the RectoryFriday 19th April10.00 am, Confirmation course, the RectorySaturday 20th April10.00 am – 5.00 pm Gift weekend events, Toddington Church and Wilkinson Hall3.00 pm Music Society concert in Church (Please note 3pm, not 2pm as given in some earlier publicity)Sunday 21st April9.30 am Holy Communion Service, Chalgrave Church11.00 am St George's Patronal Festival Holy Communion Service, St George's Church.2.00 - 5.00 pm Gift Weekend event6.00 pm Evensong, Toddington ChurchTuesday 23rd April2.00pm St George's special afternoon Tea, Wilkinson HallWednesday 24th April11.00 am Pop Up Tea Room, Tebworth Hall Thursday 25th AprilAlpha week 7 - 'How Does God Guide Us' - The Rectory 6.30pmFriday 26th April10.00 am Confirmation Course - The Rectory3.30 pm Messy ChurchSunday 28th April9.30 am Holy Communion Service, Chalgrave Church led by Bishop Richard, Bishop of Bedford (and currently the acting Bishop of St Albans)11.00 am Confirmation and Communion Service, Toddington Church - led by Bishop Richard, Bishop of BedfordHave a good week. I look forward to seeing you at some of the upcoming events.Wishing you every blessingLinda Rector of Toddington and Chalgrave
