Ever since I was a small girl, Christmas has been for me a time for ‘stock taking’. In my mind I make an inventory of things that have changed during the year; it may be something as basic as a new carpet in the sitting room, or something as devastating as the death or illness of a loved one. This year, as we approach the season of Advent and Christmas, my mind is very much occupied by our production earlier this year of the first of Tony Harrison’s Mystery plays ‘The Nativity’.

Of course, as I write, we are already working on the second play in the cycle, ‘The Passion’ to be produced next year in March, just before Passion Sunday. My mind is still taken, though, by the visual impact of ‘seeing’ the incarnation of Christ and realising in village terms how life changing that was. It was all so simple, a group of people we know well, dressed for the most part in ordinary clothes, congregated round a young woman with a baby doll on her lap, candles in hand and singing the beautiful song ‘Lay me Low’. And yet it was so profound. Whatever it was that inspired people to offer to take part in the play, the effect was amazing, suddenly, in our midst there was God. He was discussed in rehearsals in church. In homes, in the shops – and perhaps most of all in the pub – as we wrestled with the meaning of medieval English, and for some, obscure points of theology. A lasting legacy, amongst other things, has been two more valued members of our church choir and a greater understanding of what Christmas is really about.

Christ’s presence among us is always life changing – if and when we allow that presence through the clutter. Already we are bombarded with adverts telling us that Christmas is here – and it will be enhanced if we spend all our money in one or other of the large high street stores. They are wrong on two counts. Christmas is not here until 25^th December, until then we have a time called Advent – a time of waiting and getting ready – a time for a good ‘stock-taking’ of our lives to see if we are ready to welcome Christ at his birth, and the complication of spending too much money in seeking the perfect gift that will bring real happiness can never be achieved in a high street store. It can only be achieved in acknowledging the free but priceless gift of the Word made flesh -the simple fact of God, born as a baby, in an obscure town in the Middle East, to be among the people whom he loves - the ordinary people that we see day after day, in ordinary clothes, in our homes, in the street, in the shops, and in the pub.

I wish you all a happy and blessed Christmas

Jo Spray.

The Christingle Service in aid of the Children’s Society will take place on Sunday 10^th December at 11.00am. We have not had collecting boxes this year so we do hope you will be able to give generously to the collection for this worthy cause. What are Christingles? Christingle means Christ Light. Christingle takes place in many churches at Christmas to celebrate the coming of Christ, the light, into the world. The ceremony is very old, though no one knows how far back it goes. However, in recent years the service has been revived in Britain by the Church of England Children’s Society. The money raised is given to families in need. What do the different parts of the Christingle represent? The orange represents the world. The candle represents the light that Jesus brings to the world. The red band represents the blood that Christ shed for us. The four cocktail sticks represent the four seasons. The nuts and fruit represent the fruits of the earth.

Rod Petty still has some Christmas cards for sale 881619. These are in bundles of 10 (£3.50) and have the detail of All Saints Church Nativity window. These are lovely inexpensive cards and all proceeds will go to FAST. The cards will also be on sale at the Xmas Market on Saturday 2^nd December.

If you would like to be on the Intercessor rota for 2007 (not as scary as it seems) please contact Cindy Woods 888849. We are hoping that we will have enough volunteers to cover all morning services, Communion, Matins and Family services.

Saturday 9^th December Cantamus at Christmas in All Saints Church at 7:30 pm. You can get tickets at the Central Stores or Corner stores or by calling Rod Petty on 881619. All proceed to go to FAST so please support us.

From the middle of December there will be a table at the back of Church for you to exchange Christmas cards with other members of the congregation, should you wish to do so. Please do not leave cards there for people in the village who do not come to church as they will not be delivered.

We hope to start a lunch club for the seniors of Turvey in the New Year. If you would like to be involved in this exciting venture, please contact Laraine Coney 713079 or have a word with the Rev Jo Spray.

We are holding this annual event on Saturday 2^nd December starting at 10:30 with lunch to follow. Items to be taken to the Village hall on Friday December 1^st from 6:00pm. Contact Pat 881281 or Gill 720615.

This year we are having carols on Lancelots piece on Thursday 14^th December at 6:00 pm followed by sausage rolls and mince pies by kind invitation of the Three Cranes we hope you will come and support us.

Last month’s coffee morning raised £153 towards church funds. Many thanks to Laraine Coney for hosting it and to everyone who helped with and supported the event. There is no coffee morning in December, but they will resume again on January 13^th at The Grange, by kind permission of Colin and Keeley Bootman. We are now planning next years programme of coffee mornings. If you would like to host one of these please contact Anne Claypole White 881661 or Gill Betts 720615.

The situation in the Middle East, remembering especially the land of Jesus birth.

Christians in places where they may be persecuted for observing Our Lord’s incarnation

The nuns at Turvey Abbey as they celebrate twenty five years in the village

I have received a letter telling us that we have been nominated to receive an award at the Vision for Action Celebration in St Alban’s Abbey next year for our production of The Nativity. We have already been invited to perform some extracts from the production as part of the celebration, which is to be hosted by Diane Louise Jordan of television fame. The event takes place on Saturday, 24^th February from 11.00am – 1.00pm. Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis, so if you are interested in seeing members of your church perform in St Alban’s Abbey let me know soon!

Jo Spray.

The church will be decorated for Christmas on Saturday 23^rd December, although some of the stands will not be moved into place until after the Family Eucharist on the 24^th. If you would like to help with the decorations please call Anne Claypole White 881661. Contributions of Christmas foliage, especially holly and ivy would be very welcome!

David Betts was born and brought up in Carlton and has lived his whole life in the same village, very unusual these days. His father also a local boy was a farmer, and his mother, who was born in Harrold was in service until she married. David said his parents courted for a good few years before they married in the early 30’s by which time his mother was 34 years old and went on to have five children in the space of ten years. Girl, boy, girl, boy, girl. The children all attended the local Carlton and Harrold schools and David left at fifteen years old to start work on a local farm. His only brother now lives in Wales but his three sisters all live locally and two attend Turvey Church. The family were brought up in a very strict household and had to attend Baptist church three times on a Sunday! David says his parents were simple country people with very little money but as a family he cannot remember them lacking for anything, even during the war years. His father rented a piece of land from the local vicar and they had crops, chickens, eggs, geese, ducks, pigs and sheep.

David met Gill at the young farmers club in Bedford when Gill was nineteen. Gill came to Bedford from Sussex in 1962 to work as a dental therapist. She joined the young farmers club to meet people, as she was new to the area. David and Gill married in 1966, the day England won the world cup and bought a house in Carlton as David had to be near his work in Pavenham. Amazingly they still live in the same house. After working on farms for several years and then on to become farm manager an opportunity arose for David and his brother-in-law to set up for themselves in the haulage business. He and his brother in-law bought a lorry and started delivering animal feed then bricks for the London Brick company. They also bought Sharnbrook mill and converted the warehouse into industrial units and sold off the house. David worked in the haulage business until he was able to sell off his shares to take early retirement at the age of 58.

Holidays during David’s working life were rare but in 1974 he and Gill bought a caravan and started to go to the Lake District for two weeks holiday every year. They both love walking and bought Alfred Wainrights books, meticulously detailed with many diagrams and maps of all the Lake district, and have walked all the peaks, some several times over.

It was not until the year 2001 that David and Gill, no longer having the responsibility of ageing parents, that they dared to take their first aeroplane journey. They decided to go with David’s sister Winifred to Washington in America. Since that trip there has been no stopping them. They went to Canada for a winter holiday in 2002 and travelled the Rockies, went snow shoeing and snow sledding and went with the huskies across a lake. In 2003 they went to Morocco bird watching and in 2004 they went to Carmague in France and Spain on other bird watching holidays. In 2006 they ventured to New Zealand and this year they went to South Africa. They tell me that they have already booked a musical cruise for next year to celebrate Mozart. The world is now their oyster and they are trying to decide on future venues.

I asked David how he came to be attending All Saints Turvey, He says after a sad time in his personal life he was unhappy with religion and did not go to church for several years. When he decided to go back he did not like the vicar at Carlton and he and Gill attended a church in Bedford for a while. In 1974 they attended a concert at All Saints and the next day came back for the Sunday service and they have attended All Saints ever since. David served on the PCC for many years from the early 90’s and became church warden in 2000 after the death of Gordon Elliott, a post he held for six years.

Going back to when David was in his last year at school, the careers service had just started and David wanted to be an apprentice organ builder. The only place to do this at that time was in Durham, needless to say his parents would not allow him to go, so he took it up as a hobby.

David has always had a love of woodwork and started wood turning for Robert Shaftoe in Pavenham and has worked with him now for many years. They have been busy rebuilding organs (11 to date) no mean feat and they are both presently working on the organ in Melchbourne. David built a lovely organ, now in his home, that took him fours year to build (1981-1985). He has also made some wonderful oak furniture for his house, such skill and craftsmanship for someone self taught. You ought to be very proud David.