Helmdon Church Plans on Display

St Mary Magdalene Church, Helmdon, has had an incredibly generous offer from one of our congregation members to replace the current bulky pipe organ with a modern electric instrument capable of filling the building with glorious sound.

Removing the organ also gives us a great opportunity to look at ways we can develop the existing children’s church, which meets in the cramped room under the bell tower. We plan to re-use the released space to make a meeting room that will also be much better for children’s activities.

We have been thinking about seating in the main body of the church. Several of the pews are in poor condition, and all are uncomfortable when we hold events and concerts musical concerts lasting for an hour or two. Solid upholstered chairs would allow us more scope to create a different space when Christmas and Easter come around. A new way to explore the Christian story through plays put on by the school, or a flexible approach to fundraising events. We would like the area close to the kitchen to be a more welcoming place to sit with refreshments after services and discuss the latest sermon!

Our architect has come up with some imaginative feasibility plans to show how a new organ could be best placed, with glass screens (and a new door in what is now just an opening) to provide some soundproofing to the re-ordered vestry. These changes would complement the glass and wood wall at the west end of the building.

Those plans are on display in church, and we have a Comments Book for anyone to use. We hope that you will come up and take a look, then let us know what you think. It is important that the Diocesan authorities know what our community feel about the plans. We have a lot of formal consultations to undertake with expert bodies, but churches are there for local people and your views matter to us all.

Cliff Netten and Paul Stothard, Churchwardens. [Rev Hugh White, Rector.]
July 2025