St. Michael and All Angels Parish Church - Billington

As I write this piece it is 22 May and Julia Boothby and her husband David are in the process of moving into St Michael's Vicarage on Billington Park. We sincerely hope that Julia and all her family will be very happy here in the Ouzel Valley Team. We are looking forward eagerly to welcoming them into the community. Lots of people have worked and contributed towards making the house spic and span and we are grateful for that.

A few people from Billington attended St Barnabas Linslade for the licensing of Fr Bernard Minton. Bernard and his family were well and truly welcomed by many people from St Barnabas and other town churches. We join with all the members of the team in wishing him a long and fruitful ministry now that the parish has been brought into the St Albans Diocese.

Attending the May Fayre on Bank Holiday Monday made one realise the huge amount of activity, much to do with charitable organisations, that goes on in Leighton Buzzard. Everyone who came had a super day as the sunshine attracted crowds well outnumbering those in previous years.

Our WI group held its birthday party on 8 May. We missed our president Tina Thompson on this occasion. She and David were away in Japan visiting their son Jonathan who is working in that far away country for two years. Mary Metcalfe and Alice Poprovski ably led the meeting in her absence and after a very enjoyable supper provided by the committee we discussed the WI resolutions. It may seem strange that in a village, about as far from the sea as you could get in the UK, we were deciding whether we agreed with trawling the ocean floors for fish, an environmentally damaging exercise. The subject engendered a lively debate and we voted that this destructive type of fishing should be discontinued.

May 17 was cold and grey but nothing could dim the radiance of Gill Grant who was married that day to Colin Bradley. Gill and Colin's wedding took place at St Mary's Bletchley, partly because that is Colin's home church and partly due to the small size of St Michael's Billington. The many, many, friends and family who came to celebrate with the couple would have found it impossible to fit into our little church. However, after their honeymoon Gill and Colin returned to the village and attended the church on 25 May to celebrate with the St Michael's congregation. We wish them every blessing in their life together. Gill will be working with World Vision in Milton Keynes - a job to which she brings her vast experience of working in Africa and the Philippines.