Coming up in 2017:
HERITAGE OPEN DAYS
Date: Saturday 9 September 2017
Venue: United Reformed Church, Gainsborough
Gainsborough’s John Robinson Memorial Church will be open for Heritage Open Days, featuring an exhibition about Gainsborough’s Separatist heritage, including the key figures John Robinson and John Smyth.
REFORMATION 500 COMMEMORATION: MUSIC WORKSHOP & SERVICE
Date: Saturday 14th October 2017,
Music Workshop: 9.30am – 5.30pm
Service: 7pm
Venue: St. Saviour’s Church, Welham Road, Retford, DN22 6QW
Between 9.30am and 5.30pm Andy Watts of The Carnival Band will help participants explore the musical heritage of Martin Luther and the Reformation, and ways in which it developed in England, particularly the West Gallery music as performed today by Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band. The number of places for singers and instrumentalists is limited to 50 (£10 including lunch).
Places can be booked at http://www.eventbrite.co.uk: search for Luther 500 Applications, or http://www.trinitycircuit.net/events).
The workshop will be followed by a REFORMATION 500 COMMEMORATION SERVICE at 7pm in St Saviour’s Church to which everyone is invited. The music and songs rehearsed during the day will be included and the preacher will be the Rev Paulina Hlawiczka, the Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Nottingham.
ILLUMINATE 2017
Retford: Tuesday 21 November 2017
Gainsborough: Wednesday 22 November 2017
Boston: Thursday 23 November 2017
Details tbc. This year’s Pilgrims Festival starts on Saturday and Sunday 18th & 19th November with a Pilgrims inspired Art Exhibition at Babworth, followed by a range of events in Austerfield and Bawtry on Sunday 19th November; Retford on Tuesday 21st November; and Gainsborough on Wednesday 22nd November. A Thanksgiving Day Dinner is planned at Spencer’s on the Square in Retford on Thursday 23rd November and a concert by Doncaster Waites at Scrooby Village Hall on Friday 24th November. The Christmas Tree Festival at St Swithun’s and the Star Festival at the Grove will start on Saturday 25th November and the Christmas lights will be switched on in Bawtry and Retford on Sunday 26th November.
Past events
2017
CHURCH HERITAGE AS MISSION OPPORTUNITY
Date: Sunday 16th July 2017, 1 – 4pm
Venue: Grove Street Methodist Church, Union Street, DN22 6LB
Dr Jill Barber will lead a Seminar on using the Heritage of Churches for Christian Mission.
Dr Jill Barber, is a past Vice-President of the Methodist Conference & Project Director of Engelsea Brook Chapel & Museum of Primitive Methodism.
The seminar will help churches think about how they use their history to tell the gospel story today.
Starts with buffet lunch (booked attendees only). To book please email di.welchman@trinitycircuit.net or ring and leave a message on 01777 702786 by Wednesday 12th July.
OPEN CHURCHES WEEKEND
Dates: Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th July 2017
Venues: Churches across Bassetlaw
Visit churches across the Bassetlaw & Bawtry deanery this July. Find out more in the official brochure.
ANNUAL RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE CONFERENCE
Date: Saturday 11th March 2017, 9.30am – 1.00pm
Venue: The Well, Hospital Road, Retford, DN22 7BD
Professor John Coffey (University of Leicester) heads the programme at this year’s Retford Annual Religious Tolerance Conference at the Well on March 11th.
John Coffey is Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Leicester. He will give an historical approach to the ideas of persecution and tolerance in religion, politics and ideas through the 17th and 18th centuries. He has written extensively on this subject, and is the author of four books including Persecution and Toleration in Protestant England, 1558-1689 (2000) and Exodus and Liberation: Deliverance Politics from John Calvin to Martin Luther King Jr(2014). He was the co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Puritanism (2008).
Rev Canon Tony Walker, Area Team Rector, Retford Area Team Ministry will interview Imam Bakhtyar Pirzada, Deputy Principal, Eaton Hall, on Islamic teachings and debates on tolerance.
Andrew Haigh, CCO, International Christian Consulate will give a modern-day perspective on religious tolerance through the subject of Christian refugees in the Middle East.
The event will be introduced by Cllr Jim Anderson, Chairman of Bassetlaw District Council, with a concluding summary and reflections from John Mann MP and Cllr Jo White, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Bassetlaw District Council.
Following on from our successful event in March 2016, when we commemorated the anniversary of the death of Thomas Helwys, supported by Baroness Berridge and Rev Tony Peck, we are now making this an annual event to focus on the subject of religious tolerance. Last year’s event resulted in a Radio 4 Sunday Worship broadcast live from The Well in October 2016, on the same subject.
We are very grateful to Bassetlaw District Council and Churches Together in Retford for their continuing support.
Free event – everyone welcome.
ANNUAL CHRISTIAN HERITAGE CONFERENCE
Date: Friday 10th March 2017, 10.30am – 4.00pm
Venue: The Well, Hospital Road, Retford, DN22 7BD
This year’s BCH Christian Heritage Conference features delegates from across the UK to explore issues surrounding faith-based heritage, tourism and education. The conference is now fully booked. For further information, please contact us.
SNOWDROP WEEKEND AT BABWORTH
Date: Saturday 11th February, 10am-4pm & Sunday 12th February 2017, 12-4pm
Venue: All Saints’ Church, Babworth
Talk: ‘Richard Clifton’ by tour guide Maggy Watkins – Saturday 11th February, 11am
The snowdrops surrounding All Saints’ Church at Babworth provide a wonderful display of nature showing the first beginnings of a new year of growth. The setting of the church deserves its title of ‘The Church in the Woodland’. Part of the Mayflower Pilgrims exhibition will also be on display in the church throughout the weekend.
Take a walk along the Snowdrop Trail to get your appetite for a cup of tea and a cake inside the church. Look around at some of the features of the Pilgrims’ church itself – can you find all of the “Mousies”? Buy some produce and plants – but be early, they go quickly.
Toilet and disabled facilities; car park. Entry is free, everyone welcome.
2016
REBELS & RELIGION EXHIBITION
Dates: Wednesday 30 November – Sunday 4 December 2016
Venue: Worksop Priory
Worksop Priory Church’s annual Christmas Tree Festival, including for the first time an exhibition on the Separatists and Mayflower Pilgrims.
ILLUMINATE 2016
RETFORD PILGRIMS’ FESTIVAL
2016 Programme
Dates: Friday 18 November – Sunday 27 November 2016
Venue: Various venues in and around Retford, Nottinghamshire
Hosted by: Bassetlaw District Council & Bassetlaw Christian Heritage
Art Exhibition & Talk
Dates: Saturday 19 November, 10am-4pm; Sunday 20 November, 12-4pm
Venue: All Saints’ Church, Babworth
Featuring arts and crafts inspired by the stories of the Mayflower Pilgrims, Separatists and Puritans. Open to all artists – works will be accepted on the afternoon of Friday 18 November at Babworth Church from 12pm-4pm. Exhibitors wishing to book space please contact 01777 703996 or peterswinscoe@tiscali.co.uk
Adrian Gray, local author and historian, is giving a talk at 11am, Saturday 19 November, at the Church on “How Nottinghamshire Changed the World”.
Heritage Exhibition: ‘Rebels and Religion’
Dates: Tuesday 22 November – Friday 25 November, 10am-4pm (except Thursday: 10am-1pm)
Venue: Ballroom, Retford Town Hall
Featuring stories about life in our area 400 years ago and why some people – the Separatists – decided they had to escape to Holland, and later became Pilgrims on the Mayflower. Others made the choice to stay.
Free entry, complimentary refreshments will be served.
Bassetlaw Christian Heritage are very grateful for the ongoing support of Bassetlaw District Council, which has made this event possible.
Lunctime Heritage Talks
Dates: Tuesday 22nd, Wednesday 23rd and Friday 25th November – 12.30pm each day
Venue: Ballroom, Retford Town Hall
A series of talks on the Mayflower Pilgrims and subjects related to their times and stories.
Americana Evening at Spencer’s on The Square
Date: Tuesday 22 November, 6.30pm for 7.30pm
Venue: Spencer’s on The Square, Retford Market Square
An opportunity to celebrate the “special relationship”: enjoy a two-course meal accompanied by American classics of the 1950s and 1960s provided by Jessica Mary Brett and Max Bowker.
Tickets £25 from Spencer’s and The Hub.
Pilgrims Food
Dates: Thursday 24 November – Saturday 26 November
Venue: Opera Tea Rooms, off the Market Square, Retford
Authentic seventeenth century cuisine, in the style that the Mayflower Pilgrims would have known, will be added to the Opera Tea Rooms’ menu, including Pilgrim Specials like Hodgepot.
Candle-lighting Services – Thanksgiving Day
Date: Thursday 24 November
Venues:the Pilgrim Churches:
- Gainsborough United Reformed Church, 9.15am
- Sturton-le-Steeple Church, 10am
- Austerfield Church, 11am
- Scrooby Church, 12pm
- Babworth Church, 4pm.
A warm welcome is extended to everyone, of all faiths and none.
Civic Service
Date: Thursday 24 November, 6pm
Venue: St Swithun’s Church, Retford
Our Illuminate service is inspired by this year’s heritage theme, ‘Rebels and Religion’, and a quote from leading Pilgrim William Bradford, who wrote that ‘as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled has shone unto many’.
This event has been made possible with the support of Bassetlaw District Council and St Swithun’s Church.
If you want to get involved in this year’s Illuminate or find out more, please get in touch by contacting us at contact@bassetlawchristianheritage.com.
BBC RADIO 4’s SUNDAY WORSHIP
Date: Sunday 30 October, 7.30am
Venue: The Well, Retford
The Well hosted BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Worship, led by Baroness Berridge and Rev. Brewster, reflecting on the life and writings of Thomas Helwys on religious tolerance. Find out more at: A Declaration of Freedom.
HERITAGE OPEN DAY
Date: Saturday 10 September, 10am-4pm
Venues: Exhibitions on Mayflower Pilgrims heritage were held at:
- All Saints’ Church, Babworth: Clifton 400 – 400 years since the death of Richard Clifton, preacher at Babworth
- St Swithun’s Church, Retford: Turvin & Retford – the one who stayed behind…
- United Reformed Church, Gainsborough: Robinson & Smyth – inspiring the Pilgrims
These exhibitions were sponsored by Bassetlaw District Council.
Talk on Why the Pilgrims matter to us at Babworth Church, 1pm.
RETFORD ARTS FESTIVAL
Date: Saturday 28 May – Monday 30 May 2016
Venue: All Saints’ Church, Babworth, near Retford
BCH contributed to events during the Retford Arts Festival weekend, including a talk on Clifton and the Mayflower Pilgrims.
THOMAS HELWYS COMMEMORATION
Date: Saturday 12th March 2016, 10.30am – 12.00pm
Venue: The Well, Hospital Road, Retford, DN22 7BD
A special event to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the death of THOMAS HELWYS, Founder of the Baptist denomination, Pioneer of Religious Liberty for All.
Keynote speeches by Baroness Elizabeth Berridge and Rev Tony Peck on the life of Thomas Helwys and its importance today, plus a short film about Thomas Helwys.
The talks took place from 10.30am to 12.00 noon, followed by a buffet lunch and optional tour of local churches relevant to the Helwys story.
Free event – everyone welcome.
Thomas Helwys was from a North Nottinghamshire family and was born at Askham, near Retford. He became a friend of the puritan and separatist, John Smyth, and helped finance the escape of the Pilgrim Separatists to the Netherlands in 1608. There, Smyth and Helwys became Baptists.
Thomas Helwys is of global significance because:
- Helwys was the first Englishman to explicitly state that people of any religion – Christian, Jew or Muslim – should be free to exercise their faith without government interference;
- He founded the English-speaking Baptist denomination – the largest single Christian group in the USA and with nearly 50 million Baptists worldwide;
- In an age dominated by strict Calvinists, he preached that God’s love was available for all.
BCH are very grateful to Bassetlaw District Council for their support for this event.
VOCATIONS DAY
Date: Saturday 5 March 2016, 10am-2pm
Venue: Ranskill Church
BCH hosted a stall at Vocations Day in the church at Ranskill.
SNOWDROPS AT BABWORTH
Date: Saturday 13 – Sunday 14 February 2016, 10am-4pm
Venue: All Saints’ Church, Babworth
Part of the Bassetlaw District Council/Bassetlaw Christian Heritage Mayflower Pilgrims’ Illuminate exhibition on show at Babworth during their snowdrop weekend.
2015
The Illuminate events launched Bassetlaw’s countdown to the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower in 2020, and beginning to tell the story of the Mayflower Pilgrims and how the area is connected to the story.
ILLUMINATE 400 EXHIBITION
Date: Saturday 28 November 2015, 10am-4pm
Venue: The Crossing, Worksop
Exhibition exploring the story of the Mayflower Pilgrims and Bassetlaw’s Christian heritage.
ILLUMINATE 400 – RETFORD 2015
Date: Thursday 26 November 2015, 10am-4pm
Venue: Retford Town Hall
‘Illuminate 400: Retford 2015‘, a full day of free events, including:
- A pop-up exhibition on America’s Thanksgiving Day, telling the story of the Mayflower Pilgrims and Bassetlaw’s wider Christian heritage;
- Workshops with schools, with lantern-making and woodcut printing;
- Performances by TaleGate Theatre of their new play Chronicles of the Mayflower Pilgrims;
- Talk by local historian Adrian Gray on Why did it happen here?
ILLUMINATE 400 CIVIC SERVICE
Date: Thursday 26 November 2015, 7pm
Venue: St. Swithun’s Church, Retford
A civic service to commemorate the five year countdown to the Mayflower 400 anniversary in 2015, with an address by the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham and newly commissioned performances by drama students from the Post-16 Centre in Retford, followed by a reception hosted by Bassetlaw District Council in Retford Town Hall.
