| Volume 16 No. 10 | Friday 30 January 2026 |
The Friday ThoughtI have the happiest memories of Candlemas celebrations. I can remember, from the days when major festivals were celebrated on the date (not the nearest Sunday), an evening service at St Peter’s with a candlelit procession in the dark. Candlelight is a special kind of light; its alive, it moves and flickers, and is almost vulnerable in the darkness. It is a light we can carry with us; it shows the way ahead, not far, just a few paces as we walk. Lighting a candle can be a way of saying a prayer, and many people come here in the week to remember loved ones or difficult situations as they light a candle. This Sunday we remember the two young parents, Mary and Joseph, bringing their baby to the temple. The old man Simeon, and the old woman Anna had yearned, and prayed that God would redeem his people and set them free, and when they saw the baby, they knew that their hope would be fulfilled. Candlemas comes at the cusp, the divide between the stories of Jesus’ birth, and the stories of his passion and death. Perhaps Luke is telling us: don’t forget that the man who suffered and died for his people, who came to us as a baby, that God’s work was vulnerable from the very beginning. Jesus showed us what it means to live a vulnerable human life. Simeon foresaw it, and said to Mary, ‘A sword shall pierce your side also.’ I have reread a Candlemas sermon that Lucy Winkett preached during the pandemic. This is her paraphrase of Simeon’s words, ‘ I would die in peace now if I died today……. After all these years of showing up, being faithful, keeping going, now I can see the shape of the future; it’s full of suffering but it is shot through with miracles.’
It isn’t easy to keep on hoping and praying and watching for the signs of hope, but there’s a lot to be said for following Simeon and Anna’s example of showing up, being faithful and keeping going, and watching out for the small miracles which do sometimes ambush our ordinary lives. |
Church news & notices Thursday 26 February - Thursday 26 March
Lent Course 2026: To Be A PilgrimFor this year's Lent Course, we'll be reflecting on the experience of pilgrimages, the different forms they can take, and how they can help us to grow in faith. Fr Stuart will take as a starting point for each session, some of his experiences from his pilgrimage last year from the birthplace of St Columba in the north of Ireland to the island of Iona. The groups will meet in the Court House on Wednesday mornings at 10am, and Thursday evenings at 8pm, and each session will last around 60-90 minutes. The course starts on Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th February. Please do speak to Fr Stuart if you'd like to know more. All are welcome. Contact:  Send an email to: Fr Stuart Owen
 01442 879 739
| Sunday 1 February at 9:30 am
CandlemasThis Sunday we celebrate Candlemas, the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. The feast falls on 2 February, which is traditionally the 40th day of and the conclusion of the Christmas-Epiphany season. In our Gospel, we hear the story of the elderly Simeon rejoicing at seeing the Christ child. The "Song of Simeon" is the Nunc Dimittis, canticle we sing at Evensong: "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace..." The choir anthem will be "When to the Temple Mary went" by the German composer Johannes Eccard (1553-1611). | Sunday 8 February at 6:00 pm
Choral EvensongAll are welcome at St Peter's as we worship God through the beauty of music at our next service of Choral Evensong. Responses: Rose
Canticles: Stanford in G
Anthem: My eyes for beauty pine - Herbert Howells | Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme comes to an endOn 22 January 2026, the Government confirmed the end of Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme after 20 years. It will be replaced by the Listed Places of Worship Renewal Fund, a £230 million package to protect and preserve heritage buildings (including listed places of worship). However, this means that from 1 April, listed places of worship will have to pay an additional 20% VAT on repairs, greatly increasing the burden on fundraising for church renovation appeals. You can read more about this on the National Churches Trust website:  www.nationalchurchestrust.org/impact/campaigns
| Rotas updateThe rotas for readers, sidespeople, intercessors and the Friday Thought contributors have all been updated up to Easter. You can check your dates ahead at the web address below, and the information has now been optimised for mobile phone screens. There's also a printable version, for those who like to adorn the fridge door with to-do lists! As always, if you're unable to make a date, do please try to arrange a replacement/swap. Thank you everyone for all that you do to support our communal worship. If anyone would like to play a part in our services, we would especially welcome some additional people to lead intercessions or to assist with chalice duty at the altar. www.stpetersberkhamsted.org.uk/rotas | Pew sheetsApologies for the lack of pew sheets in church. Last week the Parish Office printer ran out of ink and Yodel failed to show up with the delivery of a replacement cartridge. The toner has now been delivered, and pew sheets will be provided on Sunday, with the readings, music and prayers of the day, plus news and events from the town and parish. You are encouraged to take the sheet home with you. | Roof vandals We are sad to report that, just three days after the scaffolding going up, we have had an incursion by teenage boys onto the scaffolding who have left graffiti on the church roof. The alarm went off and neighbours alerted the police. We are aware of photos circulating on social media of the vandals, and these have been passed to the police. The illustrious names of Rev. Johnson, Pearson, Penny and Rew inscribed on the roof are now joined by a rather less illustrious graffiti "tag" (intelligible squiggle).
We thank our neighbours for their vigilance, and ask everyone to keep an eye out for any intruders on the scaffolding or roof. If you see anyone who shouldn't be there, please call 999. For non-emergency police contact, call 101, quoting incident number HC 20 01 2020 0695. We also ask parents to try to be aware of their teens' whereabouts at night. Aside from anything else, the roof is extremely slippery in wet weather and a night on the tiles is strongly discouraged! | Parish Office phoneIt's been a month of malfunctions, but the Parish Office phone and broadband are now working again (many thanks are due to Richard Hackworth for his heroic efforts remonstrating with EE Telecom in their Hemel Hempstead shop). With the restoration of telecoms came 16 voicemail messages. Apologies if your message has gone unanswered, but to respond to a batch of similar enquiries: | Palm CrossesLent is just around the corner and we will mark Ash Wednesday on 18 February. This service will include imposition of ashes as a sign of penitence, and it is our tradition to burn palm crosses that were blessed at the previous year's Palm Sunday to make the ash, symbolising the continuity of our church seasons. If you have palm crosses at home, please bring them to church and leave them in the box at the back of church. | Confirmation of Election of the Archbishop of Canterbury In a special service on Wednesday at St Paul's Cathedral, Bishop Sarah legally became the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury. At the ceremony, a group of senior bishops led by the Archbishop of York handed the legal responsibilities of the role to the Rr Rev and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE. On 25 March, the Installation of the Archbishop will take place at Canterbury Cathedral, marking the start of Archbishop Sarah's public ministry.
www.facebook.com/archbishopofcanterbury/posts | Video streamingWe are very sorry that the live video streaming of our church services has been so unreliable recently. We've had quite a few technical problems since Christmas, not least that we are currently only able to broadcast our worship as a silent movie! We do appreciate that these services are greatly valued by people who are unable to join us in St Peter's in person, and we are looking into ways of improving our (admittedly Heath-Robinson-eque) setup. It is quite time-consuming to fix technical problems, and so we ask you to bear with us while we figure it all out. In the meantime, other live video streams are available on Sunday mornings, offering virtual spiritual sustenance: |
Schools news Victoria School Spiritual Ambassadors visit St Peter’s We had a wonderful visit to St Peter's with our Spiritual Ambassadors. We reflected on the parable of the Mustard Seed and what it meant to use, such as something small can grow into something strong and special. Father Stuart set us a challenge of creating our own parable using the sentence start 'The kingdom of Heaven is like...'. We had interesting ideas including The Kingdom of Heaven is like a shoe as it grows with you and protects, also a shopping trolley as it starts empty but as you go around the shop you start to fill it with lots of different and lovely things. We are also looking forward to our Spiritual Ambassadors sharing their performance with us in worship on Monday. This was something they had asked to do as they wanted to be more involved in our daily worship. Mrs Lisa Freeman
Head of School, Victoria CE Infant and Nursery School |
The Castle Federation is the governing body responsible for our two Church of England schools in Berkhamsted
www.castlefederation.org
More about our schools:
www.stpetersberkhamsted.org.uk/about/schools
 Diocesan news
Cathedral WhalesThis weekend is the last chance to see the sperm whale sculptures at St Albans Cathedral. They can be seen for free during regular visiting hours until Wednesday 4 February. The last of the Whales Lates evening events is on Tuesday evening, when you can see the Whales lit up and accompanied by a mesmerising soundscape (booking required). www.stalbanscathedral.org/Event/whales-lates | Appointing a new Bishop of St AlbansOur Acting Bishop, Bishop Richard, and Archdeacon Dave Middlebrook ask for our prayers in the selection process for a new Bishop of St Albans. Last week, on 20 and 21 January, the Crown Nominations Committee (CNC) interviewed candidates for the post. Following the interviews, the CNC will recommend candidates to the Prime Minister and then to the King. Assuming all goes to plan, an announcement will follow several weeks later, hopefully before Easter, and the formal appointment and arrival of the new bishop will be later in the year. You can find out more about the Vacancy in See process on the Diocesan website: www.stalbansdiocese.org/about-us/vacancy-in-see |  | The Parish of Great Berkhamsted is in the Church of England's Diocese of St Albans |
www.stalbansdiocese.org St Albans Cathedral:
www.stalbanscathedral.org
 Church noticeboard
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Berkhamsted community news & events Sunday 1 February at 4:00 pm
Mozart: a life in lettersBehind the Mirror's first concert of 2026 will be and afternoon of music for string trio and storytelling in the beautiful oak panelled Main Hall of Ashlyns School in Berkhamsted. Works will include Bach preludes and fugues arranged by Mozart, and Mozart's Divertimento in Eb, interspersed with extracts from some of Mozart's most intriguing, funny and heartbreaking letters read by the Scottish actor Mark Bonnar (Guilt, Dept Q). Eva Thorarinsdottir (violin), Nick Bootiman (viola) and Clare O'Connell (cello). Book tickets online: www.behindthemirror.org | Saturday 7 February at 9:30 am
Come and Sing Fauré’s RequiemJoin Berkhamsted Choral Society for a workshop singing the choruses from Fauré's Requiem (Novello edition) and Handel's glorious Coronation Anthem Zadok the Priest, led by Graham Wili and accompanied by pianist Fei Ren. Doors will open at 9:30am for a 10am start, with a free informal concert for friends and family at around 3:30pm and a 4:15pm finish. Music will be available to borrow for the day, although you are welcome to bring your own copy if you prefer. This event is for everyone, from experienced singers to those who would like to give choral singing a go in an informal and friendly atmosphere. You may even be inspired to join the choir! Bring your own lunch. Tea, coffee and cake will be on sale. berkhamstedchoral.com | Wednesday 11 February at 8:00 pm
BLHMS Talk: Berkhamsted in 50 buildings Berkhamsted Local History & Museum Society presents a talk by Paul Rabbitts in the Civic Centre on Berkhamsted High Street. Discover the history of our town and how it developed by way of 50 buildings. Paul has written many books and his latest, Berkhamsted in 50 Buildings, should be available in time for this talk
Non-members are always welcome @ £5 at the door, or join BLHMS on the night. | Berkhamsted Artisan Market Berkhamsted Artisan Market is back in 2026, held on the second Sunday of each month in 2026. The High Street is filled with quirky and creative stalls offering hand-crafted gifts, household items, wellness products, food and drink and more. The first market of 2026 is coming up on Sunday 8 March. Thanks to the tireless organisation by Anne Foster, all the pitch fees from the Market will go towards the Friends of St Peter's (FoSP), the charity dedicated to preserving Berkhamsted's historic sites, St Peter's Church, Rectory Lane Cemetery and the Town Hall. We are so lucky to enjoy such a new creative vibe in our town, so do please support these monthly community events and help the work of the Friends. Follow Berkhamsted Artisan Market on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/BerkoArtyMarket | GP Surgery phone call scam Herts Police have alerted us to an active phone call scam. When you answer the phone, you hear a recorded voice purporting to be from the NHS or your local GP surgery. The message informs you that your details at the surgery are out of date and that unless you update them you will be removed from their list. The message then encourages you to go to a website or to press a number button, where you will be requested to give your personal details. This is a scam. If you receive such a call, put the phone down, and to set your mind at rest, call your surgery to check your details.
To report an incident of cybercrime or fraud and for further information visit the Report Fraud website at: www.reportfraud.police.uk |
Cartoon Church This week's cartoon courtesy of CartoonChurch
Copyright © 2026 Dave Walker
  | Worship with usThis Sunday: 1 February 2026
Candlemas |
9:30am Sung Eucharist
You are invited to join us at our main Sunday service
Next Sunday: 8 February 2026
2nd Sunday before Lent| 9:30am: | Sung Eucharist | | 6:00pm | Choral Evensong |
Music this weekHymns: | Anthem: | When to the Temple Mary went - J. Eccard | | Voluntary: | Prelude & Fugue in d - J. G. Walther |
ReadingsMalachi 3.1-5See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. Then I will draw near to you for judgement; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow, and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. Psalm 24 (vv 1 - 6)1 The earth is the Lord’s and all that fills it, the compass of the world and all who dwell therein.2 For he has founded it upon the seas and set it firm upon the rivers of the deep.Response3 ‘Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord, or who can rise up in his holy place?’4 ‘Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who have not lifted up their soul to an idol, nor sworn an oath to a lie;Response5 ‘They shall receive a blessing from the Lord, a just reward from the God of their salvation.’6 Such is the company of those who seek him, of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.Response Gospel: Luke 2.22-40When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’ Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, ‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’ And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’ There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.
 In our prayers this weekAnglican Cycle of Prayer:The Church of EnglandIntercessions | Diocese | ✚✚Sarah, Archbishop of Canterbury designate ✚Richard, Acting Bishop of St Albans, ✚ Jane, Bishop of Hertford, and Charles, Archdeacon of St Albans | In our
continuing prayers | Christina Billington, Judith Hill, John Malcolm, Denis Beard, Mary Beard, Patricia Cody, Ghullam Mutaheri, Frozan Mutaheri, Nola Frost, Barbara Conway, Yvonne Hart, Clare Wallington, Barbara Fisher | In our
immediate prayers | Peter Kirk, Charlotte Szypryt, Hilary McVitty, Mark Few, Sienna Vallance, David Steadmann, Gwen Roberts, Neata Thomson, Peter Rolfe, Stacy Giles, Graeme Davis | Weddings
(next four weeks) | | Wedding banns
called this Sunday | | Baptisms
(next four weeks) | | | RIP | Brenda Bennett | | Memorial (year's mind) | Philip Thomson | ☩ Funeral noticesThursday 5 February at 1pm: Funeral of Brenda Bennett at Amersham Crematorium. Reception afterwards at Ashridge golf club.
 RotasWe are ever thankful for our team of dedicated clergy and volunteers who support our collective worship every week. If you are new to St Peter's, we encourage you to get involved in our parish life. Listed below are rotas for this coming Sunday and the week after. You can check future rota dates on the parish website at www.stpetersberkhamsted.org.uk/rotas Sunday 1 February 2026 - Candlemas| 8am Eucharist |
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| President | Fr David | | Preacher | Fr David | | Reader | Ruth W. | | 9:30am Eucharist |
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| President | Fr Stuart (Margaret) ((Fr David)) | | Preacher | Fr David | | Sidesperson | Liz Y. | | Sidesperson | Barbara J. | | MC | Will G. | | Acolyte | Libby G. | | Acolyte | Chris C. | | Thurifer | Hayley K. | | Cruficer | Richard C. | | Reader | Sarah D. | | Intercessions | Bev J. | | Eucharistic Minister (Chalice) | Paul J. | | Eucharistic Minister (Chalice) | Hilary E. | | Sunday School | . | | Sound | . | | Friday Thought | Margaret |
Sunday 8 February 2026 - 2nd before Lent (Safeguarding Sunday)| 8am Eucharist |
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| President | Fr Stuart | | Preacher | Fr Stuart | | Reader | Sarah H. | | 9:30am Eucharist |
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| President | Margaret (Helen Rowland) ((Fr Stuart)) | | Preacher | Fr Stuart | | Sidesperson | Cathy I. | | Sidesperson | Carole D. | | MC | Richard C. | | Acolyte | Hayley K. | | Acolyte | Stephen L. | | Thurifer | Emma G. | | Cruficer | . | | Reader | Hilary E. | | Intercessions | Hilary E Below. | | Eucharistic Minister (Chalice) | Helen N. | | Eucharistic Minister (Chalice) | Bev J. | | Sunday School | . | | Sound | . | | Friday Thought | Hilary E & Rachel B |
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