| Volume 16 No. 38 | Friday 14 August 2026 |
Church news & notices Saturday 5 September
St Peter’s Market StallWe are running another stall on Berkhamsted High Street Market, and we need some volunteers to help. This will involve chatting to members of the public and telling them what a fabulous place St Peter's is. There will be leaflets to give out, and it will be another opportunity for us to extend a welcome to the wider community and to enhance the church's presence in the town. Some help will be needed first thing in the morning and at lunchtime with setting up/breaking down. You only need to do a 1-hour stint, so it won't take up too much of your Saturday! Please put your name down for a slot on the signup sheet at the back of church on Sunday. | Saturday 12 September
Bike ‘n’ Hike 2026The Beds & Herts Historic Churches Trust is holding its annual Bike 'n' Hike event. If you'd like to take part yourself, you plan a challenging but achievable route to visit as many churches as you can, and find sponsors who will donate an amount per church you visit. All the information and resources you'll need are on the BHHCT website. Our ever-hardy Rector, Fr Stuart, is taking part by walking 50 miles overnight on the Three Bishops Way, leaving Bedford on Friday evening, getting to Hertford on Saturday morning, and skipping into St Albans around Saturday lunchtime for a pint, or two. Do please sponsor Stuart - last year, St Peter's sponsorship total was the highest in the two counties, so let's try to keep that record going!
| Sunday 13 September
Blessing of the Backpacks (and a picnic)On Sunday 13th September as part of our regular 9.30am Sunday Service we'll be inviting the schoolchildren of the parish to come forward to have their school backpacks/satchels blessed to mark the start of the new school year. All are very welcome to join us. After the service there will be a picnic at The Rectory (Rectory Lane, HP4 2DH) to which everyone is very welcome (weather permitting!). You can read more about backpack blessing here: | Thursday 17 September at 6:30 pm
A Service of Thanksgiving for VolunteersFrom Fr Stuart: Week in and week out, I'm conscious of how dependent I am on the contribution of volunteers to keep St Peter's church going. It's not just St Peter's, across our community and across the country our lives are hugely enriched by the work of volunteers. A 2025 report by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport estimated the financial benefit of volunteering in the UK to be around £25 billion. At St Peter's we would like to say thank you to all those who make this town a better place to live in through volunteering their time. On Thursday 17th September at 6.30pm we will be holding a short 'Service of Thanksgiving for our Community's Volunteers', and this will be followed by a drinks reception. I hope that many of our St Peter's volunteers will be able to come along to be part of that celebration. To help us with refreshments we'd invite you to complete this Google form to let us know if you'll be joining.
| Friends of St Peter’s – Treasurer The Friends of St Peter's charity (FoSP), which raises funds for work on the church building and the cemetery, is in need of a new Treasurer. Ideally, we would like to recruit someone from outside the church community itself. Please do put your thinking caps on, and if you know of anyone in the town or local area who might be suitable do please point them in my direction. You can download a Role Description from the FoSP website:
Contact:Fr Stuart Owen  01442 879 739 | Fr ChrisThank you to everyone who assisted at Fr Chris's funeral, and to all who came to pay their respects and to give thanks for Chris's life. We will all miss Fr Chris terribly, but it is good that we came together as a community to give him a fitting send-off. We continue to hold all who loved him in our prayers, and together we pray that Chris may rest in peace and rise in glory. "Love is not changed by death and nothing is lost, and all in the end is harvest."
- Maggie O'Farrell
| Car parkingJust a reminder of our parking arrangements with our neighbours: the car park next to St Peter's Church does not actually belong to the church but to the owners of Carmenta Life, next to the Court House. We do have the use of two spaces at the end of the Court House for church users and Court House hirers. Other than that, we have an agreement with Carmenta Life that church users can use the car park evenings and weekends, but the parking is reserved for Carmenta Life staff at all other times. More info: |
 Diocesan news
Saturday 19 September at 2:00 pm
Installation of the Bishop of St Albans A limited number of tickets are still available for the installation of the Rt Rev Dr Andrew Rumsey as the new Bishop of St Albans - book online on the Cathedral website. The service will also be live-streamed, and a video link will be sent out in September so that you can watch online.
| Diocesan job vacanciesThe Diocese of St Albans is currently advertising the following roles: For details and application forms, visit the Diocesan website: |  | 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 Friday 14 August - Sunday 16 August
Latimer Music FestivalThe Latimer Music Festival is a weekend of concerts and recitals in St Mary Magdalene Church, Latimer in Buckinghamshire, just a 20-minute drive south from Berkhamsted. Highlights include a multi-pianist recital, a Celebration of English Composers (including On Wenlock Edge), Elgar's Piano Quintet, chamber music by Mozart, Schumann, Lyadov and Britten, and more. Book online via the Latimer website: | Sunday 16 August
August Farmers’ MarketThe next Farmers' Market is on Berkhamsted High Street, offering a range of local produce, tempting street food, beers and wines, delicatessen and fine cheeses, plus hand-crafted gifts, herbalist therapies and much more. Farmers' Markets are held on the 3rd Sunday of every month. | Sunday 23 August
Sunnyside Allotment Open DayAs part of National Allotments Week, Sunnyside Allotments are holding an open day. Visit the site on Ivy House Lane (near Sunnyside Church) and browse the sale of produce, plants, preserves and garden tools. There will also be refreshments on sale and a charity raffle. Cash preferred! 11:30am-3:30pm. | Saturday 12 September at 7:00 pm
Mozart – Missa BrevisBerkhamsted and Chorleywood Choral Societies join forces to perform a concert in St Peter's. They'll be singing Mozart's Missa Brevis in D minor, and a selection of choral classics including Zadok the Priest by Handel, Fauré's Cantique de Jean Racine, and Lotti's Crucifixus. Tickets: £22 on the door and £20 in advance, £10 for 18-25-year-olds, and free if you are under 18. Book now! | Wednesday 23 September at 7:00 pm
The People’s Emergency BriefingEcoBerko are holding a special community screening of The People's Emergency Briefing, a 50-minute film that brings together nine leading UK scientists and experts to explore the impacts of climate change on our lives. The film also has appearances from Chris Packham, Deborah Meaden, and a range of voices from across the UK. After the film, there will be an open discussion about what it means for our community and what we can do locally. Seats are FREE but limited so please book in advance if possible: | Friday 2 October - Thursday 22 October
Little Missenden FestivalLooking ahead to October, this gem of cultural life in the Chilterns returns to St John the Baptist Church in Little Missenden, just 7 miles (10km) south of Berkhamsted. There's a varied programme of string quartets, piano recitals, jazz and choral. The line-up includes the Alex Clarke Quintet, the Kleio Quartet, St Martin's Voices, with poetry read by BBC Radio 4's Zeb Soanes and a lecture on the portraits of Jan van Eyck by National Gallery curator Nicholas Flory. Booking opens 24 August. | Saturday 31 October at 7:00 pm
The Berkhamsted BallBerkhamsted Castle Trust are holding a fundraising Black Tie Berkhamsted Ball at Nash Hall in Berkhamsted Girls' School, Kings Road. Tickets are £75 each and include a welcome drink, a three-course dinner, and live music and dancing with The X Tones. There will also be a Gala Charity Auction with John Bly and Eric Knowles, with the chance to bid on some fabulous items, including a private plane flight, golf sessions and holiday home stays. Bookings for couples or individuals are welcome, or get friends together and book a table of 8! Don't miss this glittering occasion - all proceeds will go to the Castle Fields Appeal, saving a historic battlefield site next to Berkhamsted Castle. Book now: | EclipseMillions of people across Europe stood outside to experience the solar eclipse on Wednesday. Here in Berkhamsted, crowds gathered in St Peter's Churchyard, Castle Fields, Butts Meadow and Velvet Lawn to watch the event, armed with solar glasses and colanders! The internet is awash with eclipse photography, but perhaps one of the most breathtaking shots from Britain is this image taken at Halnaker Windmill in West Sussex by Jakub Bors Photography: |
Cartoon Church This week's cartoon courtesy of CartoonChurch
Copyright © 2026 Dave Walker
  | Worship with usThis Sunday: 16 August 2026
11th Sunday after Trinity |
9:30am Sung Eucharist
You are invited to join us at our main Sunday service
Next Sunday: 23 August 2026
12th Sunday after TrinityMusic this weekSt Peter's Church choir is normally on holiday during August, and will return to the choir stalls in September. Hymns: ReadingsIsaiah 56.1, 6-8Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered. Gospel: Matthew 15.[10-20] 21-28[ Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.’ Then the disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took offence when they heard what you said?’ He answered, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’ Then he said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.’] Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.
 In our prayers this weekAnglican Cycle of Prayer:Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru/The Church in WalesIntercessions | Diocese | ✚✚Sarah, Archbishop of Canterbury, ✚Andrew, Bishop of St Albans, ✚ Jane, Bishop of Hertford, and Charles, Archdeacon of St Albans | In our
continuing prayers | Mary Beard, Christina Billington, Stacy Giles, Yvonne Hart, Judith Hill, Ghullam Mutaheri, Frozan Mutaheri, Ken Organ, Neata Thomson, Clare Wallington, Liz Wright | In our
immediate prayers | Patricia Cody, Graeme Davis, Mark Few, Barbara Fisher, Peter Kirk, Gwen Roberts, Peter Rolfe, Charlotte Szypryt, Barbara McKenna, Sienna Vallance, Doug Billinton | Weddings
(next four weeks) | | Wedding banns
called this Sunday | | Baptisms
(next four weeks) | | | RIP | Susannah Prinz | | Memorial (year's mind) | |
 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 16 August 2026 - Trinity 11| 8am Eucharist |
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| President | Fr Stuart | | Preacher | Fr Stuart | | Reader | Sarah H. | | 9:30am Eucharist |
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| President | Fr Stuart (Helen) | | Preacher | Fr Stuart | | Sidesperson | Liz Y. | | Sidesperson | Barbara J. | | MC | Richard C. | | Acolyte | Stephen L. | | Acolyte | Hayley K. | | Thurifer | Tilly A. | | Cruficer | . | | Reader | Lea W. | | Intercessions | James O. | | Eucharistic Minister (Chalice) | Helen N. | | Eucharistic Minister (Chalice) | Bev J. | | Sunday School | . | | Sound | Jeremy D. | | Friday Thought | |
Sunday 23 August 2026 - Trinity 12| 8am Eucharist |
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| President | Margaret | | Preacher | Margaret | | Reader | Mike H. | | 9:30am Eucharist |
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| President | Fr David (Margaret) | | Preacher | Margaret | | Sidesperson | Kate H. | | Sidesperson | Carole D. | | MC | Libby G. | | Acolyte | Will G. | | Acolyte | Richard C. | | Thurifer | Tilly A. | | Cruficer | . | | Reader | Will G. | | Intercessions | Richard H. | | Eucharistic Minister (Chalice) | Kate H. | | Eucharistic Minister (Chalice) | Pru M. | | Sunday School | . | | Sound | Jeremy G. | | Friday Thought | |
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