When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

Diocese	✚✚Sarah, Archbishop of Canterbury, ✚Andrew, Bishop Designate of St Albans, ✚ Jane, Bishop of Hertford, and Charles, Archdeacon of St Albans
In our continuing prayers	Mary Beard, Christina Billington, Patricia Cody, Nola Frost, Yvonne Hart, Judith Hill, John Malcolm, Ghullam Mutaheri, Frozan Mutaheri, Clare Wallington, Stacy Giles, Liz Wright
In our immediate prayers	Alan Conway, Graeme Davis, Mark Few, Barbara Fisher, Peter Kirk, David Labbett, Gwen Roberts, Fr Chris Rogers, Peter Rolfe, David Steadmann, Charlotte Szypryt, Neata Thomson, Ken Organ, Barbara McKenna, Sienna Vallance
Weddings (next four weeks)
Wedding banns called this Sunday
Baptisms (next four weeks)
RIP	Denis Beard
Memorial (year's mind)

Saturday 23 May - Thursday 28 May: Sponsored walk for Hector’s House

Over the course of 6 days, Fr Stuart will be making a 180-mile sponsored walk from Berkhamsted to Manchester, for the local suicide prevention charity Hector's House. You can find out more about the work of Hector's House at the link below. If you would like to sponsor Fr Stuart, you can do that on his JustGiving page.

Sponsor Fr Stuart:

www.justgiving.com/page/stuart-owen-10

www.justgiving.com/page

Sunday 24 May at 12:30 pm: Ecumenical Picnic

 Members of local Berkhamsted churches are gathering together for a picnic at Berkhamsted Castle on Sunday 24th May from 12.30pm. All are welcome.

Sunday 14 June: Choral Evensong for RSCM Music Sunday

Our choir worked incredibly hard last week to provide a truly glorious choral evensong in St Peter's. The music included the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis by Charles Villiers Stanford, an awe-inspiring setting of the evening canticles. We are so fortunate to have wonderful cathedral-style worship in our parish church, so do please support these services.

For your diaries, the next evensong will be sung on Sunday 14 June, and the music will be fantastic. This will be RSCM Music Sunday, when we will join with choirs all over the UK in celebrating the work of our church musicians who enrich our worship with music.

Responses: Ayleward
Canticles: Noble in B minor
Anthem: Let all the world - Vaughan Williams
Organ voluntary: Psalm Prelude No 1 Set 1 - Herbert Howells

Don't stay at home - you can catch up with Antiques Roadshow on iPlayer afterwards!

Prayer Adventure for Kids

This year, the St Peter's Sunday School team are encouraging children and their families to get involved with the Thy Kingdom Come - 11-day Kids' Prayer Adventure. Thy Kingdom Come is a global ecumenical prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray for more people to come to know Jesus. It takes place during the period from Ascension Day until Pentecost. We invite children and their families to join us in participating in the 2026 Prayer Adventure for Kids. This is an exciting resource to encourage the prayer lives of children for the 11 days from Ascension to Pentecost. For each day there is a video, reflection, prayer and activity. Please follow the link below to access the resource:

www.thykingdomcome.global/sites

Church of England news

Diocesan news

Tuesday 14 July: Reception for young adults

Fr Stuart Owen     fr.stuart@gmail.com     01442 879 739

Hertfordshire County Show is being held at the Hertfordshire County Showground on Dunstable Road, Redbourn, AL3 7PT. The weekend will feature livestock displays, quad bike stunt displays, pony racing, sheepdogs, falconry, vintage tractors, wedding shows, children's entertainments, plus live music and food stalls. Advance day tickets £27, concessions & family tickets available. 

There's another Floating Market event coming up on the Grand Union Canal on the May bank holiday weekend. The Fishery Wharf Café in Boxmoor will host a weekend of live Blues, Folk and Roots music, food and drink. Come and browse the narrowboat stalls for handmade gifts and crafts.

Berkhamsted will be holding another Great Big Green Week, with events all over town - walks, talks, family activities, quizzes and gardening events. On Saturday 6 June there will be the popular Berkhamsted Eco Fair in the Civic Centre.

Bridgewater Sinfonia is back at St Peter's this summer for a performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, and they welcome soloist Michael Foyle to the concert stage. The programme will also feature Britten's Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, making this an ideal concert for young people (under-18s' tickets are free!), followed by Shostakovich's famous Symphony N° 5 in D Minor. Advance tickets are available from Ashtons Estate Agents (next to Tesco) and online for £20, or £22 on the door.

On Thursday, the Berkhamsted Food Hub Community Shop opened in part of the former Open Door premises at 360-362 High street. The Food Hub is responding to a growing need for food support for many families in the community and this project aims to offer an affordable shopping solution and a helping hand for all. A large number of items will be available to purchase with a maximum spend of £5 per visit. The shop will open twice a week on a Monday from 9.30-12.30pm and on a Thursday from 4-7pm and will be entirely run by a team of volunteers. There will also be times to drop donations off at the shop. Should anyone need support with food, please contact: