Luton All Saints Church of England (C of E) held a special service commemorating its centenary celebrations. Serving and touching people’s lives for 100 years is a tremendous achievement and a significant milestone.
Many of the past and present Vicars and church members joined in this service. This included Revd Jemima Prasadam who spoke movingly about her experiences of building relationships with Muslim communities many years ago when she was the Vicar at All Saints. “Those relationships are still there”, she said, pointing to Muslim friends who had come to see her.
A Church member Jenny Lyans spoke of All Saints being her home where she has always been loved, she has felt safe, and a place where she has made amazing memories. She said, “I am proud to see my church still serving the community. The world may have changed but the love, care, and compassion given by those serving here remain the same and I am confident this will continue in the years to come.”
Mr Chris Davidson, Headteacher of Beech Hill Primary School, said a member of staff who has worked at the school for over 20 years could not remember a time when the school and the church had not worked closely together. He acknowledged the role played by the church Vicar Revd Canon David Kesterton, not only in sharing Christian beliefs and the features and symbols of a church with the school pupils but also strengthening the links between people of different faiths and beliefs in the neighbourhood.
He said, “The Church has definitely served its community. The school, its staff, children and I are always in the thoughts and prayers of the All Saints Church congregation and this personally gives me great comfort.”
Words of a great hymn sung at the service were so precise in expressing the sentiments of the Church:
“Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided, urged and inspired us, cheered us on our way,
sought us and saved us, pardoned and provided: Lord of the years, we bring our thanks today.”
Congratulations to All Saints Church! May it become in the years to come, a beacon of hope and healing, of joy and of abundance, of reconciliation and of peace-making.
At its Centenary Celebrations, the past and present Vicars of C of E All Saints Church Luton were joined by The Rt Revd Dr. Alan Gregory Clayton Smith, the Lord Bishop of St Albans, and also by the members of different faiths and ministers of different church denominations.