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| Article by Jim Richardson, M.B.E, Photo by Terry Rice, 2007 |
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The Rushden Mission "Golden Oldies!"
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During the years of World War 2 and the decade beyond, the Mission Church in Wellingborough Road
was a great place for children and young people to grow up in. |
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The Church had a large Sunday School with the ground floor and balcony packed with children every Sunday. It had a thriving group of young people in the Young People's Christian Endeavour and the social life was great too! Our own tennis courts on the 'Mission Field' in Irchester Road, a cricket team, a Sunday School Pantomime and an Operatic Society for the older ones plus the Mission Band, still going strong to-day. All these activities, spiritual and social, blended to give a firm grounding, both in faith and fellowship, and friendships that have remained over the years.
When my wife, Shirley, and I celebrated our Ruby Wedding in that year we had an 'open house' and many of those friends shared it with us. Later that year the daughter of another member of the group was married and that occasion also brought a group of us together again and proved to be another time of happy re-union, so much so that we all said that we should continue to meet up. We found a wonderful venue in Brownsover Hall, near Rugby, geographically central for us all and a very hospitable hotel with lovely grounds and providing an excellent Sunday lunch with our own private room where we could leisurely enjoy the meal and chat together recalling the happy days of our childhood and youth together - and our life now in retirement! That first meeting was in September 1995 and we have continued to meet there regularly ever since, in fact November 2007 saw our 33rd lunch together at Brownsover! Our early conversations at Brownsover centred around our days together at the Mission and, in particular, the years between 1948 and 1952 when Rev David Murray was minister there. His ministry greatly influenced each one of us and contributed much to the growth of this group of young people through their 'turbulent teens!' By 1995 David and his wife Betty were living in retirement in Eastbourne and we thought it would be great if we could make contact with them to let them know that we were still meeting together after all those years and hopefully be able to meet up with them again - after 43 years! Again, we found a small hotel in Eastbourne, not far from David and Betty's home, who could provide a short break for us there, and have the hotel virtually to ourselves. We made our first visit there in October 1996 and we were able to welcome David and Betty to join us and enjoy an evening meal together, the hotel setting out the dining room 'banqueting style' for us. It was a wonderful evening, a time of nostalgia and thanksgiving for us all, and particularly for David and Betty as we were able to express our love and thanks to them both. That first visit was in 1996 and this year we were back again for our 13th, now annual, visit! Sadly David and Betty are no longer with us, although we were able to provide a 90th birthday party for David, albeit from his hospital bed in Eastbourne, and our group was privileged to share, and take part in the funeral services for them both, thanking God for their lives and witness and for the important role they played in the lives of those young people of the 1940s and 1950s who remain close friends together still today. So, 'The Mission Golden Oldies' are still together and thriving - a testimony to the work and witness of the Mission Church and the ministry of David Murray.
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