July 2025 Letter

  How are we doing?  Please let us know, we’d love to hear from you 
  I find it hard to believe that I have been the Priest of this Benefice of High Wych and Gilston with Eastwick for nearly 3 years. I am wondering if you could help us think through what we need to be doing to meet our communities’ needs from January 2026.    

So far, we have put in a few things that you may be finding useful and fun:- 
Jimmy’s Baby and Toddler Group 
Jim’s café (for Yr 7 youth) 
Wednesday Welcome – to meet the needs of some of our more elderly in the community. 
Our churches now offer new Family Services  (with breakfast at St James)– very family friendly 
Messy Church at St James – again, very family friendly 
Community dog walks across the four villages (let us never forget Allens Green). 
Lots of fun, community events, both free and fundraising opportunities and opportunities to work with the school in High Wych. 
Members of our church are committed to the Pop-Up Shop and we have a drop off box in St James, High Wych for the community to use.    

Our churches are growing, with more baptisms, more weddings, more people at all our services, Alpha courses, confirmation courses, and we are getting to know many new people, and we are currently looking at different ways of heating our building at St James that will be better for the environment.  it is all absolutely wonderful.    

As churches we are called by the Church of England to reflect the five marks of Mission:- 
1          Proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
  2          Teach, Baptise and Nurture new believers 
3          Respond to human need by loving service 
4          Transform unjust structures of society 
5          Strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth.    

We would like feedback to see if there is anything you think our communities’ need that your local church could offer. 
All three villages have different needs, and I have to say that I seem to spend a lot of time with Gilston and Eastwick talking to the Diocese of St Albans and the developers and the Neighbourhood planning Group about the future, that is moving towards us, when 10,000 homes will start to be built.  It is moving more slowly that I first thought it would, but Taylor Wimpey are saying that houses should start to appear by 2027 (Village 7), Places 4 People are saying 2028 (Village 1), again only 2/3 years away.  We as a Benefice are thinking about what we need to do to our churches in those villages to make them useful spaces for the new communities’ they will be surrounded by, to be a church for the existing people and the people who have not yet arrived.  So, lots of things to think about over the next few years.  I am loving being part of the three communities and getting to know you and spend time with you.    

Please help us by having a think by filling out this form with any ideas you may have,  and dropping it in to the box you will find at the back of St James, High Wych or St Mary’s, Gilston(both churches normally open during daylight hours).               Some of the things I have thought about would be a Men’s group (Men in sheds) sort of thing, a community choir, A ‘meet the Vicar’ in the Coffee Lounge or in one of the pubs, I am taking some Mental health first aid training, in case this will be useful, but I am not sure if this would be what our community would want.
  I think our community needs ……………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 
I think it would be a good idea if…………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 
Contact details (only if you would like to talk about this further)……………………..………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 
Or you can e-mail me at revajacksonhwge@outlook.com or Tel 0783 366 7707 or01279 790145 God calls us to serve and not to be served (Mark 10:45) and Jesus has shown us the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6), all our churches embrace these scriptures. 
Thank you. Your Priest Alison