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Vicar of Eaton Bray to retire in March
The Reverend Malcolm Grant, vicar of St Mary's Eaton Bray, has notified the Churchwardens and PCC of his intention to retire from full-time ministry at the end of March 2009, and will be resigning as Vicar of the Parish from that date.
Source: St Mary's Eaton Bray
Desserts and Divas Evening
Macmillan Cancer Support -
St. Mary's Church 2008 Charity
Desserts and Divas Evening
Saturday 19th July 7.30pm
Tickets Price £7.00
A summer gala evening is to be held in South End Lane, Northall to raise funds for this very important charity. We invite you to bring along YOUR favourite dessert/pudding and sample other delicious desserts. Recipes of these to be provided if required. There will be music in the marquee.
We have been very fortunate that most of the members of the 'Just A Cappella' group have agreed to sing for us in two separate performances during the evening.
Price to include all the desserts you can comfortably eat, plus your welcome drink.
Other drinks will be available throughout the evening.
All welcome. Tickets available from Lyn Stubbs 01525 220731.
Source: Focus, June 2008
The Law and Where You get Married
The press recently featured a controversy which has arisen in a village in Surrey over the Rector's insistence that marriages can be conducted in church only where one (or both) of the parties is either resident in the parish or a regular worshipper in the church and on the (church's) Electoral Roll. In this he is simply observing the requirements of English Civil Law, and his bishop has said "You cannot criticize someone for keeping the law".
There have recently been changes in the regulations governing where a civil marriage ceremony can take place, but no change has yet been made in the laws governing church marriages. Changes are proposed which will broaden the qualifying categories, but until the necessary legislation is passed, the requirement remains for a church wedding that at least one party to the marriage must actually live in the parish or be a regular worshipper whose name is on the Electoral Roll. The one exception to this is marriage on the authority of a Special Licence (issued on the authority of the Archbishop), in applying for which an active and long-standing association with the church in question has to be demonstrated.
I hope this clarifies the issue for all parishioners.
-- MALCOLM E. GRANT (Vicar)
Source: Focus, May 2008
Church raises £6,000 for MS Centre
Parishioners from St Mary's, Eaton Bray and Edlesborough, have raised more than £6,000 in eight months for the Chilterns MS Centre at Halton in Bucks.
The centre was the adopted charity for the church in 2007.
Led by vicar and rural dean, the Rev Canon Malcolm Grant, the parish has been supporting charity projects for the past four years and last year's effort is their best yet despite also fund-raising to pay for essential repairs to the medieval church building.
Mr Grant said: "The amount of money raised by people's hard work and generosity has far exceeded what we hoped for. For the past four years, we have had an annual parish project to raise funds for charities and concentrate efforts to make a real difference to people's lives rather than giving lots of little donations. This has been the best effort yet. People have been extremely kind hearted in their giving to others and this is the heart of what Jesus taught."
The Chilterns MS Centre, which is a registered charity, offers treatment and support to people with multiple sclerosis.
A team of professional staff treats 200 people each week at the centre and aims to keep patients as fit as possible, offering high density oxygen therapy, physiotherapy, complimentary therapies, and practical help with wheelchairs and benefits advice. It also offers support to families and carers.
Pictured left to right: Linda Oatley, a trustee of the MS centre, Jan Hunter the centre's manager, MS sufferer, Heather Martin, and the Rev Malcolm Grant.
Get the Leighton Buzzard Observer every Tuesday.
Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 15 January 2008
Santa's already been to Eaton Bray
Eaton Bray's Christmas Fayre raised £1,300 towards St Mary's Church in the village.
Organisers prepared lunches for the visitors and the plentiful stalls kept Christmas shoppers busy.
Many children came along to see Father Christmas.
Spokesperson Katrina Grant said: "It was busier than we've ever seen. We are delighted that local people have supported this event for the church."
Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 4 December 2007
Friends of St Mary's Eaton Bray
The monthly Coffee Mornings continue to prove popular and the October event raised a further £116 towards the cost of preserving our 13th century Church. This brings the total to date to over £350 and our thanks go to all of you for your support.
We hope you agree that the preservation of the St Mary's building is important to the village community, so please do come along to one of our Coffee Mornings (the next is on November 3rd between 10.30 and noon) or to one of our major events whilch will be advertised in future editions of Focus.
-- Your Friends Committee
Friends of St Mary's - Why Another Charity?
What does St Mary's Church, Eaton Bray mean to you? Maybe services on Sunday morning, "churchy people", singing hymns, saying prayers. Nothing to do with you perhaps?.
But wait a minute - there's a wealth of history waiting to be discovered - for example, two large oak and iron thatching hooks, to drag burning thatch from cottages in the days before the Fire Service, a font as old as the church itself, and even, strangely, non-matching pillars!
St Mary's Church, Eaton Bray was built in the early 13th century. Over the years, it's needed some help to stay standing - when it was about 250 years old, it was practically rebuilt - and that was 600 YEARS AGO! The church is built of local stone from Totternhoe. It is a chalk-like stone, which is easy to carve, but when it rains, or is very windy, the stone wears away quite easily.
So what we, the Friends of St Mary's, want to do is encourage people like you to help us make sure it stays standing for many more years - which of course is going to cost money. There are already several charities fund-raising for the church, but most of them involve people who go to church regularly. We are trying to involve people who may rarely visit church, but who like the fact that it's "just there" - which it won't be if we don't look after it.
We're not asking you to give money for nothing - we are organizing a series of events, which we hope will be fun, so you'll really want to come! The first one is going to be a Family Christmas Sing-A-Long at 6.30pm on Friday 21st December - plenty of us love singing Christmas Carols, but not everyone is sure they want to go to a church service too. So here's an alternative - singing and no service - and we'll even throw in a drink and a mince pie!
Look out for posters and ads around the village - you can get tickets from Mrs Stilliard (01525 222283), from Edlesborough Post Office, or on the door as long as there's room! Happy singing!
And for more information about the history of the church, check out the Virtual Tour on this fantastic website! www.stmaryseatonbray.org.uk/About-Our-Church
Source: Focus, November 2007
St Mary's Church Open Afternoon
Our church will be open for visitors, with welcoming stewards, refreshments, and the opportunity to view Parish Records, History and Photos which will be on display.
Sunday 5th August from 2.00-5.00pm.
Christian Aid Concert
A Christian Aid Concert by pupils of Edlesborough School and St Mary's Church young musicians - at St Mary's at 7.00pm on Wednesday 6 June.
Please give this event - and the young performers - your support.
Source: St Mary's, Eaton Bray
Organ Recital
The Friends of St Mary's are promoting a celebrity Organ Recital by Ian Tracey, Organist of Liverpool (Anglican) Cathedral on Saturday (2nd June) at 7.30pm in St Mary's, Eaton Bray.
His programme will be a popular one, but we can expect a virtuoso performance - one not to be missed.
Tickets will be £7 including wine and nibbles. Make sure you are part of this important occasion.
Source: St Mary's, Eaton Bray
Eaton Bray needs £200,000 to finish church repairs
More than £200,000 has already been spent on stonework and the roof of the historic St Mary's Church. A similar sum is needed to finish off the roof and restore the building's Victorian floor tiles.
Peter Bennett, of the St Mary's stewardship committee, said generations of local people had been responsible for the upkeep of the 800-year-old building and it was vital that it continued.
"In the 21st century, it is no less difficult than it was in the 15th century to find the money needed to carry out essential repairs," he said.
The Friends of St Mary's are now hoping that local people will join them in raising funds to preserve an important part of the area's heritage.
Canon Malcolm Grant, the vicar of St Mary's, warmly welcomed the new venture. He said: "We hope to create a network of Friends who will help to preserve this beautiful and historic church which has been at the centre of the community for 800 years."
Anyone wishing to help the campaign should contact The Friends.
Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 22 May 2007
Churches raise cash to help Uganda hospital
Kind-hearted Eaton Bray folk have raised more than £2,000 to help a hospital in Uganda.
Local physiotherapist Rebecca Baldock returned to St Mary's Church as part of her annual holiday to pick up a cheque for the Kagando Hospital.
During 2006 the congregations of St Mary's and All Saints Dagnall collected £5,291 between them.
Rebecca said that because of the support offered by the churches the hospital - close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo - has now been equipped with basic equipment, including a blood pressure monitor.
A path has also been built thanks to donations, which means wheelchairs and patients with crutches can now move between surgical wards and the physiotherapy department.
During her talk Rebecca also highlighted the hope that the hospital brought to local people, and stressed how grateful the community was for the churches' fundraising efforts.
Source: Dunstable Gazette, 14 March 2007
Special welcome for African bishop
Villagers in Eaton Bray played host to Ugandan clergyman Bishop Benezeri Kisembo for a special service in the village church.
The visit was arranged by Anglican missionary group, SOMA (Sharing of Ministries Abroad), whose national director, the Rev Don Brewin, lives in Great Billington.
He arranged for the visit to enable people in churches in Bedfordshire to hear first-hand about what is happening in the Church in Uganda and to allow the bishop to meet with church leaders here on the current situation of the Church in England.
Bishop Kisembo's diocese, Ruwenzori, is in SW Uganda and borders on the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is close to the Kagando Hospital which is being financially supported by parishioners from Eaton Bray and Edlesborough.
Since the start of the year fund-raisers at St Mary's Church have raised more than £2,000 for the hospital.
The money was collected at a series of events held throughout the year around Eaton Bray and Edlesborough, including beetle drives, barn dances and open gardens.
The Kagando Hospital was adopted as the annual parish project thanks to the work of Rebecca Baldock, a local physiotherapist, who is working there as part of the African Inland Mission.
For more information about the hospital in Uganda go to www.stmaryseatonbray.org.uk/Parish-Project/2006/.
To donate money for the project cheques payable to St Mary's PCC can be sent to Canon Malcolm Grant at The Vicarage, High Street, Eaton Bray, Dunstable, LU6 2DN. Please enclose a note explaining what the money is for.
Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 24 October 2006
Ugandan hospital backed by cash boost
A hospital in Uganda is set for a much-needed cash boost thanks to the generosity of parishioners in Eaton Bray and Edlesborough.
Since the start of the year fundraisers at St Mary's Church have been raising money for the Kagando Hospital in the Kasese district in the south-west of the country . To date they have raised more than £2,000.
The money was collected at a series of events held throughout the year around Eaton Bray and Edlesborough, including beetle drives, barn dances and open gardens.
The Kagando Hospital was adopted as the annual parish project thanks to the work of Rebecca Baldock, who used to be a lay-reader at the Priory Church in Dunstable.
Rebecca, a physiotherapist, is working at the hospital as part of the African Inland Mission.
Canon Malcolm Grant, vicar of Eaton Bray, said: "We believe that the church has a responsibility to do what it can to help others, at home and overseas, and we in the developed nations have a particular responsibility to share our prosperity with those who have so little of the world's resources."
The hospital provides a vital service in an area at the heart of the Aids pandemic and torn apart by internal conflict.
Fundraisers at St Mary's are hoping to arrange a visit to the hospital, which is close to the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but no definite plans have been agreed yet.
The fundraising effort is set to continue next month, and half the proceeds from the church's Christmas Fayre on Saturday, November 18 will go toward the Kagando Hospital.
For more information about the hospital in Uganda go to www.stmaryseatonbray.org.uk/Parish-Project/2006/
To donate money for the project cheques payable to St Mary's PCC can be sent to Canon Malcolm Grant at The Vicarage, High Street, Eaton Bray, Dunstable, Beds LU6 2DN. Please enclose a note explaining what the money is for.
Source: Dunstable Today, 13 October 2006
Artistic pirates make their own eye patches
Ahoy, me hearties!
Wee mateys at Northall Village Hall raised the masts, set sail and pretended to be shipwrecked on an island at the 2nd annual 'Churches Together' Summer Club.
The summer club is an ecumenical event with children, aged between five and 11 taking part from all the nearby village churches, including Salvation Army, Methodist, Baptist, Anglican and Roman Catholic.
This year the theme was pirates and more than 20 'crew' attended dressed in appropriate clothing. The children made their own pirate hats and eye patches on the first day to wear during the week.
The message for the week, that Jesus loves everyone, was told through the story of Paul being shipwrecked on Malta.
Children also had fun with games, arts and crafts, and hunting for treasure in the grounds of the village hall.
It was such a success that many are already looking forward to next summer.
Source: St Mary's Church News, September 2006
Follow the history trail
Anyone fascinated by the history of Eaton Bray should make a date to visit the village church this Sunday afternoon.
A talk on the history of the manor of Eaton Bray, covering the period from 1066 until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in the 16th century, is being given as part of the church trail scheme organised by St Mary's.
The talk will include information about Lord of the Manor, Reginald Bray, who was a national figure with connections to St George's Chapel, Windsor.
Afterwards there will be tours of the church to learn more about the building's provenance, at 2.30pm and 4pm.
For more information visit www.stmaryseatonbray.org.uk.
Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 30 May 2006
Pray do it this way
Eaton Bray vicar the Rev Peter Graham caused controversy when he said people could not pray properly with their bodies huddled over their knees.
He said: "The best way to say your prayers is by kneeling with your body bolt upright, or better still, to lie flat on your face."
The vicar also said the true essence of a happy married life was when a man could tell his wife how beautiful she was, and how much he loved her, when at the same time he felt like slamming the door in her face.
Source: Dunstable Gazette, 22 November 1957
Five bob to save church
Bedfordshire's smallest parish church, St Mary's in Eaton Bray, was in danger of falling down.
The church was said to be one of the finest examples of medieval architecture in the country.
But the vicar, the Rev Peter Graham, was having to appeal to every household in the parish to give five shillings a month to save the church.
The chancel had been closed for worship, and there was death watch beetle in the roof, pulpit, screen, nave roof, belfry and organ.
Source: Dunstable Gazette, 19 July 1957
Church faces beetle bill
Death watch beetle had been found at Eaton Bray Parish Church - in the roof, pulpit, screen, the west end of the nave roof, the belfry and the organ.
The Rev P.B. Graham said the restoration of the woodwork would cost a tremendous amount.
He said: "If would not be suprising if we have to raise £3,000 but I am sure it can be done."
Source: Dunstable Gazette, 3 May 1957
Drainage System dug by parishioners
Many hands make light work - and save their parish church money.
When the vicar of Eaton Bray, the Rev Peter Graham, needed a drainage system digging around St Mary's Church, parishioners were only too happy to help out in August 1956.
Here young and old set to work digging a ditch, while, left, volunteer workman Wesley Maunders really gets down to it by digging a manhole. It was hoped to have the work completed before winter set in.
Source: Dunstable Gazette, August 1956