The 20th Hitchin Christmas Tree Festival was a huge success, and we were delighted to welcome around 2,500 visitors to view the fifty beautiful and imaginative trees. We’re grateful to Tim & Stella Farr for judging the trees in five categories, and in addition visitors were invited to vote for their favourite tree.
Inner Glass Doors Project
We’re delighted to announce that the appeal has achieved its target. The sum collected amounted to £16,510, and all this money will be applied to the project.
The work is largely complete, but we are still awaiting delivery of the second set of handles which will be fitted to the north doors in place of the temporary ones. The handles have been specially designed for Holy Saviour Church by our church architect, Michael Dales, and so have had to be specially manufactured.
Many thanks to all who have so generously supported the appeal!
Our lovely new glass doors have now been installed inside the north and the main south doors. For the first time at the service on Palm Sunday, we were able to open the wooden doors so that the inner doors could let in plenty of light but still keep out the draughts. The stainless steel handles on the south doors were designed especially for Holy Saviour Church by our architect, Michael Dales, and have been much admired. A similar set is being made for the north doors and will be fitted as soon as they are finished.
The doors are being paid for partly by bequests and partly by a special appeal. Our target of £15,000 is now within reach. Will you help us by making a donation? If you click here, it will take you to the Holy Saviour Church Just Giving page.
Click here for details of all our services in Holy Week and on Easter Sunday. All are welcome!
The Friends of Holy Saviour Church have launched a quiz of 75 questions to test your knowledge of Hitchin and its history. You have all Summer to ferret out obscure and fascinating crumbs of local information, before the quiz is judged in September. A prize will be awarded for the most complete and accurate response!
Copies are available, price £1, at the back of the church, and also in the Hitchin Initiative office in Churchyard, Hitchin Town Centre.
The first picture shows the altar frontal positioned on the nave altar for the rededication by the Bishop of St Albans on Sunday 17 May. The second picture shows the frontal on the high altar at the Ascension Day service (Thursday 14 May).
The historic “Alleluia” altar frontal has been carefully packed and sent to a specialist workshop for full restoration. It is hoped it will be completed in time for the church’s 150th celebrations on Ascension Day, Thursday 14 May. The money for the restoration was raised by a special appeal launched in July 2014.
The frontal was embroidered in 1895 specially for Holy Saviour Church by Sister Elizabeth of The Anglican Sisters of St Margaret, East Grinstead. The Sisters ran a school and workshop of Ecclesiastical Embroidery in Bloomsbury which produced highly esteemed work. Sister Elizabeth had been sent to run the orphanage opposite this church. 
The United Society, the Anglican (worldwide) Mission agency, to which we send contributions for the work of the five Anglican dioceses in Zimbabwe, has acknowledged recent gifts from Holy Saviour amounting to £505.22.
The US was the chosen charity for the donations made at the funeral of Marjorie Barrow on May 9th, and earmarked for the training of Anglican priests in Zimbabwe. The total given then (including gift aided donations) was £355.22.
Other donations at fund raising events and individual gifts amounted to £150 making the total £505.22. This will clearly help the church struggling to repair damage to churches and give help to the poor in times of poor harvests.
The letter from US also underlines new work (with US a prime mover) in launching a pioneering national initiative called ‘PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV STIGMA INDEX ( PLHIV) This helps in equipping local church volunteers with the skills they need to tackle that stigma. The letter from US thanks us at Holy Saviour for helping to enable this effective service.
(It is easy to think that US stands for United States! It is in fact the newest name for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel which was founded in 1701 and is now called the United Society)
Jenny Nicholson
Food Bank – Continued thanks for contributions from Holy Saviour. The current shortages are for toothpaste and shower gel/cream. If you are passing the relevant counter, any contribution is welcome.
Our Alleluia Altar Frontal Needs ‘a Stitch in Time’!
The STITCHES making up this lovely Alleluia Altar Frontal were skilfully sewn by Sister Elizabeth specifically for Holy Saviour Church. She had already made other altar frontals, super-frontals and vestments for the church.
Her TIME in Hitchin was from 1873 till her death in 1898. The Anglican Sisters of St Margaret, East Grinstead, sent her to run the orphanage opposite this church. The Sisters ran a school and workshop of Ecclesiastical Embroidery in Bloomsbury which produced highly esteemed work.
Some of the STITCHES have worn thin since 1895 from almost 120 years of use.
NOW is THE TIME TO SAVE the frontal with expert cleaning, the repair of lost and worn stitches, and conservation of fragile areas so it can continue to be used for many years.
How many stitches can YOU save?
The church needs your financial help to ensure this beautiful part of our church worship and history can continue to be enjoyed for decades to come.
The Church Council has accepted the proposal from the Janie Lightfoot Studio in London to work on the frontal.
As it has historical significance we must have a Faculty approved at Westminster before work can start. The overall cost is expected to be in the region of £5,000 and the work expected to take approximately three months.
PLEASE GIVE A DONATION to support this conservation project.
Download the Appeal Leaflet for payment details.
Thank you for your support!