THE FUTURE IS TITCHMARSH

A DISCOVERY

On Bank Holiday Monday 2024 my wife Linda and I were coming down from a fascinating and intense weekend at the Greenbelt Festival, https://www.greenbelt.org.uk.   We were driving through the surprisingly beautiful Northamptonshire countryside towards the ancient market town of Thrapston, when I suddenly suggested we look at a church whose mediaeval tower was just visible to our left.  I thought we would see a standard village church with nice architecture. That is not what happened.

At the gate there was an A-frame board advertising Monday Morning Cafe – 9.30 – 11.     I thought there would be three or four older people gathered in a corner.  I was not expecting twenty-two people sitting either side of long table chatting animatedly. We were given a warm welcome by churchwarden Julia and Jackie (church treasurer), and we found out some of the remarkable vision that has created the buzz.

FROM DEATH TO RESURRECTION 

The church is indeed lovely, built in the 12^th to 16^th centuries, and updated by the Victorians in the late 19^th century.  But in the mid-nineties, the congregation of St Mary the Virgin faced a crisis.  The Sunday congregation was tiny, often less than twelve.  The village population was small, about 600.  There was no vicar for the then benefice group of four churches.  And the roof leaked terribly.  Congregation members convened a village meeting which had to decide between two options: either to close the church; or to raise around £40,000 (equivalent to roughly twice that amount in today’s money) to start to reverse structural decay.  

The meeting decided to raise the money.  Many village people took out standing orders for £10 or so a month (some for much more), and, with that behind them, church member Ewan Harper wrote to various charitable trusts and raised more money.  The church was saved!  But not just saved for church services.  It was saved to be a resource for the whole village.  

Major structural repairs continued through the 1990s and in 2002 money was raised to install warm air heaters – absolutely essential in winter.  In 2006 the chancel was re-roofed (the last major element of structural repair), and between January 2011 and December 2012 the whole church was re-ordered.  The pews were taken out and replaced with comfortable and movable chairs, and toilets and a servery were installed.  2016-17 saw the restoration of the church’s TC Lewis organ, and in 2021-22 the church gained a modern audio-visual system and a high-capacity internet connection!  Over the 30 year period most of the church’s stained glass windows have been repaired and restored.  

Whilst two Rectors lent valuable support during their tenures, an active PCC ensured that fundraising (including grant applications), scheme development, and execution continued throughout three long periods of vacancy.   

MONDAY MORNING COFFEE

If you go on the Titchmarsh website, Titchmarsh.info, you will see the important role the church plays in village life – including the Monday Morning Cafe.  It is one of the places where people chat, exchange news, support each other during crises, and welcome newcomers to the village.  It plays this part along with the village shop, pub, playing fields, clubroom, bakery, and primary school.  And, as we found out, welcoming strangers is just part of the village DNA.

WORSHIP AND IMAGINATION

Sunday morning services mostly take place in the chancel, the nave being used for festival services and community events.  There are now some fifteen to twenty-five in the regular Sunday congregation, which enjoys communion from one of the locally retired clergy twice a month.  Throughout the covid crisis, weekly Sunday services were moved online, and were joined by people from as far away as New Zealand!  

The Harvest Festival service is non-eucharistic, helping all villagers to feel at home, and is followed by a proper Harvest Home with lots of food and of course a bar.  International Women’s Day is also celebrated on the 8^th March each year as a community event led by the church, with a screening of a film focused on women’s empowerment, such as ‘Calendar Girls’. Popcorn, sweets, ice creams and a licensed bar are available. All proceeds from the event are donated to a charity such as Bombay Teen Challenge or Women for Women International.  

A quiet service of Compline or Night Prayer is held at 6.00pm once a month, regularly attracting a congregation of twenty or so, perhaps because it strikes a note in people who want a time for reflection, short, with prayer and without preaching.  Similarly, ‘Tea, Cake and Worship’ is held at 4.00pm on one Sunday each month- which would certainly attract me.  

It all seems a really good model in these tough times for churches.  Maybe the future really is Titchmarsh?