Read the latest comings and goings at Hitchin's iconic St Mary's Church with our regular Nub News column A Churchwarden Writes...

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A Churchwarden writes …'The show must go on' and what does St Mary's mean to you?

Bollywood comes to Hitchin

The big screen is coming to St Mary's this week, in more ways than one.

Hitchin has been a popular location for TV and film companies including drama productions like 'Dr Foster', which used the Church as a base during the shoot (we still dream about the location catering……)

But in an exciting new departure a few days ago Bollywood came to town.

A call came into the Church Office, which ended up the very next day with a large film crew, a fleet of vans and a generator to power the lighting rig arriving in the Churchyard.

The producers wanted to film a few scenes in a typically English Church and, after making sure that the script was ok, St Mary's was chosen as the best location.

The film's working title is 'John Kennedy' (not the President) and it's intended for release in four of the languages of India. The Director, R S Vimal is an award winner with Malayalam Movies, the lead actor is Prabhu Deva, a famous choreographer and dancer.

We hope to eventually have a copy of the film!

Silent Night

Of course, St Mary's is gearing up for it's own cinema offer on Saturday, when our Silent Film night returns after a two year break.

With a giant screen put up in the nave, the evening features live improvised music performed by the 'House' Organist at the Odeon Leicester Square, virtuoso player Donald MacKenzie. He has appeared for numerous star-studded film premieres and Royal film screenings.

Donald is also a Silent Film expert, and has curated our previous shows which included the classics 'Nosferatu', 'Metropolis', and 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'.

St Mary's contains the largest, and arguably the finest organ in the locality, the 'three manual' instrument was built in 1871 by the firm of J W Walker & Sons and rebuilt in 2009.

It produces an impressive soundtrack to accompany the show, giving a unique taste of what movie goers enjoyed in the golden age, a hundred years ago now!

This time we present comedy genius Harold Lloyd's 1923 masterpiece, 'Safety Last'.

It created one of the most famous images from the era: Lloyd clutching the hands of a large clock as he dangles from the outside of a skyscraper above moving traffic.

The film was highly successful and critically hailed, cementing Lloyd's status in early motion pictures. It is still popular, and is viewed today as one of the great film comedies.

Sunday

On Sunday, calm will be restored, and after the morning's traditional service at 10 am, our once per month 'Early Evening' service at 5 pm takes the theme 'After Valentine's', with thoughts and music about expressing Love.

If anyone would like to play a favourite piece of music or read a poem, then come and join us.

The great variety of roles which St Mary's can perform in our community is clear and as we emerge from winter, we're taking some time to reflect and consider the Church's place within the town, and to develop a new vision with which to serve Hitchin.

St Mary's is at the centre of the town, and seeks to be a blessing for the whole town.

To do this really well, we need to hear perspectives from across our amazing home - so we're launching a wide consultation with as many people as we can reach.

We want to know what St Mary's means to you, what we could do better and where we should act.

Could you take some time to answer a few questions to help us?

Visit this link https://forms.office.com/r/GqjBuK3BYg – it should take about 15 minutes to complete.

We would like your responses by the end of February, next week, please - and do share far and wide so we hear from as many people as possible!

Paper copies of this questionnaire are available in St Mary's Church, or if you contact us we can put one in the post!

Next week

Next week …it is ofcourse, the start of Lent, and we will explore the meaning of it then, but before Lenten promises comes Shrove Tuesday, and yet another excuse for pancakes.

Sadly, the pancake races are not being held this year, but we hope they will return to the Churchyard next year.

You can taste great pancakes from the Rotary in the Market Place on Saturday.

Further details of our services and events are found on our public Facebook page @StMarysChurchHitchin