70 Years Young!

St Anne’s was dedicated back on 2nd April 1938 by the then Bishop of St Albans. The foundation stone had been laid on 17th July 1937 by Miss Green, JP, and at that time the new building was technically a Chapel of Ease and was within what was then the Parish of St Mary’s. The area was growing even then, and the building was to be considered as dual-purpose, being community hall midweek and a place of worship on Sundays. Over the next 40 years Luton grew so rapidly that the area was to become a parish in its own right and on 30th November 1978 the Revd Dudley Gummer was instituted as the Vicar. On 2nd April 1980 it was formally declared to be the “Parish Centre of Worship for the Parish of Luton St Anne’s Bedfordshire”, with the legal processes only being completed on 1st April 1984. The Bishop of St Albans formally consecrated the building as the Parish Church. Boundaries changed on 1st June 2006 as the parish was merged with that of St Christopher’s Round Green, and the new Parish of Luton St Anne with St Christopher now has the unusual distinction of being a parish with two equal-standing parish churches. The present Vicar, Revd Peter C Budgell, who arrived in 1988, thus has responsibility for the two districts. And time marches on and life of St Anne’s moves on. It is the wish of the Parochial Church Council that St Anne’s be a centre and resource for spiritual life for the community, where all can feel welcomed. Whether coming for social and community reasons, for worship or for quiet personal time to sit, be still and pray, we hope that all will experience God’s love and sense his presence of God.