Friends of St. Peter's

The first move towards the formation of The Friends occurred, more or less, in April 2002 at a meeting chaired by our last Rector, Guy Buckler. Margaret Staddon agreed to act as Chairman while others volunteered to be fund-raisers, the main purpose of the scheme being to help the church raise funds specifically for meeting the costs of the care and restoration of this Bedford landmark.

Companies within the parish and people with links to St. Peter's were approached inviting them to become Friends, as individuals, families or corporately, either for life or on an annually renewable basis.

Since 2004 members have, once a year, been sent a newsletter listing forthcoming events and enclosing an article wither on one of the features of this ancient church, or outlining its historical background. St. Peter's has the advantage of great age on its side in one respect – that it is this which attracted both single visitors and groups from the Retirement Education Centre, the Beds. and Herts. Historic Churches Trust and the Bedford Archaeological and Local History society.

Informative contact with representatives of Albion Archaeology at St. Mary's Church and Bedford Museum has stimulated interest here, resulting in marvellous photographs of St. Peter's taking their place amongst the display at the Saxon Gold, Gods and Kings Exhibition held locally in partnership with the British Museum in 2007. Articles on St. Peter's have appeared articles on St. Peter's have appeared in the newsletters of the Bedfordshire Local History Association and the Friends of St. Thomas a Becket Church in Clapham.

Pleased with our contributions to Art'icle, the editor of the Bedford Arts Forum magazine selected St. Peter's to be the host church for the recent Bedford Jersey Arts Festival. Singers and speakers flew from the island to entertain audiences with music and its story.

In May some half dozen members of our congregation accepted the invitation of the Friends of Merton Priory in Wimbledon to attend a rare service at St. Mary's Hardmead, like St. Peter's a Merton Priory church but redundant and able only to have a service every fifth Sunday in the month…

To date there has been discouragingly limited return from tours, talks and Open Days despite obvious goodwill from the wider community. A Friends leaflet has been delivered to all residents of the combined parishes of St. Peter's and St. Cuthbert's; even for non-church goers it is never too late to respond, by stepping over the threshold and becoming a friend, making a donation or leaving a legacy ensuring that, during these hard times, the fabric of St. Peter's gets the attention it deserves.

Repair work is now in hand on the stonework of the west gables and porch of St. Peter's as well as part of the tower and battlements over the south aisle which have to be replaced. This work, costing more than £30,000, should be finished by the middle of 2010.

Worship has taken place on this site for over a thousand years, although the church may have been in ruins before restoration in the 13th century. History must not be allowed to repeat itself – so we must be prepared, with money in reserve for recommendations made at the next Quinquennial Inspection. The greater the number of supporters, the greater the possibility of a variety of activities for The Friends.

Please join!

 

Click here to see a detailed description of all of the services at our church in Bedford.

For a full calendar of the events at St Peters Church Bedford click here