All Saints’ Church, South Oxhey and Carpenders Park, is marking the 25th Anniversary of its current building this November with a vibrant and inclusive event titled Saints Alive!. The initiative has brought together local schools, community groups, and parishioners to celebrate both historical and modern-day saints through art, storytelling and reflection.
Vik Davies, a member of the church’s PCC and Chair of its Community and Outreach Sub-Committee, explained the inspiration behind the event:
“We couldn’t celebrate our 20th anniversary due to COVID, so this year we wanted to do something special — something that would bring the community into the building and show that we’re a church, even if from the outside it looks more like a community space.
“It’s helping the relationships that we are continuing to build with schools over time — inviting them to be part of something, like decorating angels at Christmas or joining in with Saints Alive! this week.”
The church invited local schools to take part by creating artwork of traditional saints alongside a modern ‘saint’ of the school’s choosing. Among the figures chosen are PCSOs, school caretakers, and members of Electric Umbrella — a local inclusive Arts organisation.
The traditional saints chosen reflect the church’s heritage and connections, including St Alban, St Amphibalus, St Matthew, St Columba, St Joseph, and St Alphege — the latter linked to the church’s origins on the neighbouring estate.
As part of the exhibition in church, each pairing of traditional and new saint is paired with a themed activity. For example, peace cranes and doves in honour of St Alphege. These will be used in the church’s Remembrance Sunday service this weekend.
Wynette Turner, a teacher from St Joseph’s School, South Oxhey, shared:
“This event is fantastic as it’s bringing all the local schools together and highlighting all our local saints in the community.”
The event builds on existing relationships with schools. The Revd Deborah Snowball from All Saints’, visits all the schools to lead assemblies, and a number of the schools visit the church for seasonal services and educational tours. She added:
“The creativity shown by the schools is amazing. We are delighted that all the schools have chosen to take part. We are looking forward to welcoming them all here, as well as other from the community. Everyone really is welcome here – of whatever age and artistic ability!”
Exhibition open to all
The exhibition is running from Sunday 2 – Saturday 8 November, 9am-5pm. The fantastic images of saints have been created by school children in the parish. The exhibition is open to all and free to visit: All Saints Church, Gosforth Lane, Watford WD19 7AX.