Parish News

 

April and May 2025

The Parish of Hodder Valley

 

Church Officers

 

Rector:

Revd Karen Herschell

01200 871254

07891 915671

 

Churchwardens:

Stuart Beattie 01200446630

Allan Carr 01200 448634

John Cowking 01200 423855

William Leeming 01200 448100

 

Deanery Synod:

Margaret Brenchley

Wendy Leeming

 

Vice-Chairman:           Secretary:

    John Cowking            Janet Haigh

 

      Treasurer:                   Electoral Roll:

David Taylor                 Eileen Joy

 

                Safeguarding:            Wedding Co-Ordinator:

  Margaret Brenchley          Wendy Leeming

                                                          01200 448100

 

Additional Members of the

Parochial Church Council:

John Alpe                 Mary Beattie

Anthea Hodson        Marjorie Pinder

Helen Wallbank       John Whitaker

 

Rector’s Reflections

We have now settled in and enjoying living in this beautiful part of the world and I’m already busy with ministry across the Hodder Valley Parish and in my role as Diocesan Rural Renewal Officer.

I have been reflecting a lot recently on church growth and this will be a priority for our parish, especially through encouraging our children, young people and families in ways that are engaging for them.

I recently, as part of my weekly visit to Brennands school for Collective Worship, asked the children for their thoughts and ideas on what would make church a great place to be for them. I am still compiling their many responses! These they drew or wrote down on colourful ‘fig leaves’ illustrating the story of the fig tree that Jesus told in Luke’s gospel. The fig tree hadn’t produced fruit in 3 years and was about to be destroyed when the gardener said, ‘no, let me fertilise it and leave it another year to see if it produces figs’.

Now we have planted some fruit trees in the Rectory garden and we are eagerly watching their budding, and will look forward in anticipation to leaves unfurling and we hope at least one or two fruit later in the year!

Our churches are like the fig tree, they need attention, some good ’muck’ and mulch to feed and protect; and water and light – they need the right conditions to grow. My focus for the Hodder Valley Parish is on Growth in our faith, discipleship, numbers, finances and our relationship with one another and the wonderful communities which we are planted in and which we serve.

All things though start with prayer and I would like to ask you to join in with our prayer for growth which is printed below. And please feel free to come along to any of our church services or Morning Prayer on Monday’s which are advertised in this newsletter I would love to see you and get to know you.

With Blessings

Rev’d Karen

 

RIBBLE VALLEY MUSIC FESTIVAL RAISING

FUNDS FOR SLAIDBURN PARISH CHURCH

 

We have been fortunate once again to be included in the Ribble Valley Music Festival’s series of concerts and we will host a trio of players from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra during the afternoon of Sunday 11th May 2025 at Slaidburn Village Hall. They will play a programme of light music that will appeal to everyone and tickets for the event will cost £10.00 including refreshments and can be obtained by calling 01254 384893. Do come and join us for an afternoon’s enjoyable music and raise funds for our parish church.

 

Please note – tickets for these concerts sell quickly and are only from the above telephone number.

 

 

 

CHRISTIAN AID WEEK

Sunday 11th to Saturday 17th May

 

In 1945 British and Irish Churches founded Christian Aid to help the many thousands of refugees following the Second World War. Eighty years later it still raises funds to assist in poverty-stricken countries, natural disasters and campaigns for the less fortunate throughout the world.  The parish will be supporting Christian Aid Week this year through collections at services and donation envelopes. Please help if you can.  

 

 

From the Registers:

 

Funerals:

14th March – William Mason

at Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn

18th March – Barbara Simpson

at Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn

 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

 

Official Notice

 

Please take note that the Hodder Valley Parochial Church Council is seeking to remove all kerbstones surrounding graves in the “1922” section of Saint Andrew’s churchyard (the eastern section) at Slaidburn and level grave mounds where appropriate. This will facilitate easier mowing of the churchyard which is becoming an onerous task. The relevant graves will be marked with an official notice and any surviving family members of those interred can request for kerbstones to be retained but must arrange for them to be sunk into the ground to allow a mower to pass over. Grave mounds will be removed automatically as they are not permitted by Diocesan regulations.

If no objections are received, then the work will be carried out after the notice period which begins on April 1st 2025 and ends on 31st May 2025.

All enquiries relating to this notice should be sent to John Cowking – tel: 01200 423855 or email: johncowking@gmail.com

 

The kerbstones when removed will be used in the new Millenium graveyard to mark out a new area for the burial of cremated remains as the present area is nearly full.

 

 

 

St James the Least of All

On how to run your Diary for 2025

 

The Rectory

St James the Least

 

My dear Nephew John

 

So, you have just attended a course on ‘Diary Management’, to get you prepared for another year. If you had visited me, I could have told you all you need to know in half the time. Allow me to provide you with useful information which was probably not provided in your conference hand-outs.

 

First, buy the smallest diary you can find. Large blank pages only encourage you to fill them with too many appointments; the smaller the page, the easier it can be made to appear that your days are fully booked.

 

Second, make sure that it is of a size that will conveniently fit into any pocket. When dates are being arranged for subsequent meetings, you can theatrically start going through jacket, trouser and overcoat pockets. By the time you discover it was in your briefcase all along, all the dates will have been fixed, and no one will notice you never got any of them.

 

Third, adopt your own private code for bookings. This means that any parishioner looking over your shoulder and seeing ‘1.30pm PLS’ or ‘7.30pm WTD’ will assume you are attending important church meetings. The fact that they mean ‘Post Lunch Sleep’ and ‘Walk The Dog’ will be known to you alone – although do have alternative possibilities for your acronyms should you ever be challenged. My congregation know I am assiduous in attending the ‘Pauline Letters Seminars’ and my membership of the ‘World Theology Directorate’ is of many years standing.

 

Fourth, record everything in pencil so that once you return home, you can rub most of it out and can then deny you knew anything about those meetings you were supposed to attend – and to prove it, you can show the blank page in your diary.

 

Fifth, put someone else’s address inside your diary. Should you ever have to resort to the ultimate act and need to lose it, you do not want some Good Samaritan returning it to you from the churchyard compost heap.

 

So, you see, your day of flip charts and group discussions were quite wasted – and I would gladly have presented my course for half their price.

 

 Your loving uncle, Eustace 

 

Services in the Parish of Hodder Valley during April and May

 

We have had to use the centre pages of this edition to display all our services during the next two months! May we bring to your attention some additions to our normal patterns of worship, and as always you are most welcome to join us at any of the services.

Our Rector is now saying Morning Prayer every Monday morning at Saint Andrew’s Church, commencing at 9.00 am.

Holy Week commences with Palm Sunday worship and on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of that week we will hold the evening service of Compline at three of our churches. This is a quiet, reflective service before rest at the close of the day. Maundy Thursday is observed with a said service of Holy Communion at Slaidburn. Tosside and Slaidburn will host services of readings, reflections and prayers on Good Friday. The great festival of Easter is celebrated at Slaidburn and Whitewell.

During May Saint Andrew’s at Slaidburn hosts the annual May Queen service on Sunday 18th and at the end of the month our meetings to elect churchwardens and annual meetings take place at Whitewell after their service on Sunday 25th May.   

 

Every Monday

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.00 am – a said service of Morning Prayer

 

Sunday 6th April – Passion Sunday

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A service of Holy Communion

 

Sunday 13th April – Palm Sunday

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A service of Morning Prayer with distribution of Palm Crosses

Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 11.15 am

A service of the Eucharist with distribution of Palm Crosses

 

Monday 14th April – Monday of Holy Week

Saint Bartholomew’s Church, Tosside – 7.00 pm

A service of Compline

 

Tuesday 15th April – Tuesday of Holy Week

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 7.00 pm

A service of Compline

 

Wednesday 16th April – Wednesday of Holy Week

Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 7.00 pm

A service of Compline

 

Thursday 17th April – Maundy Thursday

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 7.00 pm

A service of Holy Communion  

 

Friday 18th April – Good Friday

Saint Bartholomew’s Church, Tosside – 12 noon

A service of Readings and Reflections

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 3.00 pm

A service for the Last Hour

 

Sunday 20th April – Easter Day

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A service of Holy Communion

Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 11.15 am

A service of the Eucharist

 

Sunday 27th April – Easter 2

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A service of Morning Prayer with Baptism

Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 11.15 am

A service of the Eucharist

 

Sunday 4th May – Easter 3

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A service of Holy Communion

Saint Bartholomew’s Church, Tosside – 7.00 pm

A service of Evening Prayer

 

Sunday 11th May – Easter 4

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A service of Morning Prayer

Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 11.15 am

A service of the Eucharist

 

Sunday 18th May – Easter 5

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A said service of Holy Communion

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 12.30 pm

The May Queen Festival Service

 

Sunday 25th May – Rogationtide

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A service of Morning Prayer

Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 11.15 am

A service of the Eucharist followed by the Annual Parochial Church Meetings