Here's the latest news from our town's iconic St Mary's Church in the heart of Hitchin

A Churchwarden writes - May weddings, Moorhen news and plans for The Queen's Platinum Jubilee

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May …" according to the 'Bard of Avon', and the beautiful blossoms in the Churchyard have certainly been blowing around like confetti in the spring weather these past few weeks.

But it is fitting, as this season begins a succession of weddings each weekend which continues for most of the summer - we merely ask for biodegradable confetti.

Customers enjoying Hitchin's pavement café culture are treated to a procession of festive arrivals most weeks, one of the benefits of having a town centre church.

As well as being a wonderful place to be married, weekends in summer also bring a musical feasts to St Mary's, as local orchestras and choirs return to their schedules of events, making the most of our space and acoustics.

There can sometimes be a very quick turnaround - as wedding parties leave through the south porch to have photos taken by the river, musicians arrive with their instruments and equipment through the North door to start setting up.

This changing of scenery, better than any theatre, was accomplished by Hitchin Symphony Orchestra in just 20 minutes on Saturday, and they had started rehearsing before the bridesmaids popped back to get flowers to take to the reception. Next time we should make a time-lapse film! 

St Mary's Moorhens

On the subject of young people settling down, the Moorhens have finally moved into their luxurious new home floating on the River Hiz beside the east end. After building a precarious structure of twigs around the fountain, ignoring their specially provided floating house, the couple finally decided to move in and abandoned their watery nest last week. The rangers have been able to clean up the fountain just in time for the Jubilee, when the town must look it's best. 

Plans for The Queen's Platinum Jubilee

Despite the 'rough winds' blowing through so many lives at the moment, we can still look forward to the celebrations at the Queen's Platinum Jubilee when the bells will ring out and a service of celebration is held here on June 5.

St Mary's will be open to visitors throughout the extended Bank holiday weekend, and on Thursday evening (June 2), our bellringers will stage another 'tour de force', maybe a quarter peal at 945pm before beacon is lit in the market square.

Prayers for Ukraine

Our prayers for Ukraine will continue in Trinity Chapel, where candles can be lit, and we also have envelopes available in Church now to donate to Christian Aid Week which runs until May 21 (you can donate until the end of May.)

The aim is to work with people living in poverty, regardless of religion, race or gender to 'Help turn hunger into hope'.

LIVESTREAMED Services on Sundays are available to watch live at 10 am, 6.30 pm or anytime afterwards on our Youtube channel available on this link: https://www.youtube.com/c/stmaryshitchin

Further updated details of our services, opening times and events are found on our public Facebook page @StMarysChurchHitchin    .

Further information is found on our website:

https://www.stmaryshitchin.co.uk/

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