For the past two years Christmas has started for me with the Carol Service at St Mary’s Church, Chilton, which took place yesterday afternoon.
There is no electricity in the church and so heating has to be provided with a generator. Lighting is supplied by candles. However all was very much brighter yesterday due to the fact that the grimy old polycarbonate windows are currently being replaced with beautiful steel and glass ones. It was a frosty but sunny afternoon and as a result the church was flooded with sunlight. The church really feels part of the countryside now as it is now possible to see the trees outside.
The dimensions and aspect of the interior of the church now look very different. The work is not yet quite complete and the replacement window in the vestry, when installed shortly, is expected to be very impressive.
Three services a year have been held at St. Mary’s in recent times at Rogation, Harvest and Christmas. It is hoped, under the auspices of the new rector of Sudbury, to hold a few more than this in 2009. There are a number of very interesting memorials in the church and the services there have a great atmosphere, possibly because people from Chilton and beyond want to see the church kept alive even though in theory it is ‘redundant’. I will try to give advance notice of some of the services on the blog next year so you can come along and see for yourselves.
