THE PARISH OF HODDER VALLEY
Diocese of Blackburn
The Parish Churches of Saint Andrew, Slaidburn and
Saint Michael, Whitewell, with the chapels-of-ease at
Saint Bartholomew, Tosside and Saint James, Dalehead.
Rector: Revd Karen Herschell
Parish News
October & November 2026
Church Officers
Rector:
Revd Karen Herschell
01200 871254
07891 915671
Churchwardens:
Stuart Beattie (Whitewell) 01200 446630
John Cowking (Slaidburn) 01200 423855
Rosalind Hope (Slaidburn) 07796 174994
William Leeming (Whitewell) 01200 448100
Deanery Synod:
Wendy Leeming
Helen Owen
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:
Mary Beattie Allan Carr
David Mehers Marjorie Pinder
Helen Wallbank John Whitaker
Rector’s Reflections
As I look out of my study window early this morning, the mist whch was higher up on the fells has now descended down into the valley and I am reminded of that vivid picture in the book of Exodus of how God led His people out of slavery in Egypt; “The LORD went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” (Exodus 13:21-22) What a wonderful and comforting image that gives us of the presence of God being with His people; giving them light, safety, security and leading them with hope into the future plans He has for them. We too can experience today, not by pillars of cloud and fire, but by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, His divine presence, living in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is the comforter, the advocate, the teacher, leading us in knowledge and understanding of the revelation of God in Jesus; the Spirit of wisdom, truth and grace.
And, I pray, as we look ahead to what is the busiest time in the church calendar that the Lord will lead us and sustain us. We have just finished across the Diocese the most amazing weekend of mission, with hundred’s of parishes putting on many different kinds of msssion events and services to share the good news of Jesus Christ. I personally, and also on behalf of Bishop Philip, want to thank the Hodder Valley Show enabling us as a Parish to be a presence at the Show. It was fantastic to be able to be there and to meet and chat with so many people and to invite them to our celebration Eucharist at St Michael’s, Whitewell on the Sunday morning and for our Hymns and Pimms service in the afternoon at St Andrew’s, Slaidburn…we had fabulous time and are hoping we can do the same next year!
But for now, we will be celebrating Harvest across our four churches and with Brennands School, giving thanks for God’s provision. We then swiftly move into the season of Remembrance, Advent and then, dare I say it, Christmas…there is a lot happening, as well as our new All Together Worship Service at St Andrew’s on the fourth Sunday of every month at 9.45am – we look forward to welcoming school and as many families as we can . Please do keep an eye out on the Parish of Hodder Valley facebook page and in the parish news / pew sheets for more information.
So as we have definitely now entered the “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness…” (To Autumn by John Keats) I pray that we will experience an abundant harvest following a year of sowing, may we reap the blessings of God in our lives, our villages and communities and in our churches. And know that “the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1.9) Amen.
Blessings
Revd Karen
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From the Registers:
Interment of Ashes:
9th August – Patricia Lynne Walker
at Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn
Funeral Services:
10th August – Edward Michael (Mick) Slinger
at Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn
28th August – Sheila Mason
at Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn
23rd September – Annie Brenda Hoyle
at Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn
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If you or someone you know would like a visit from Rev’d Karen
please let her know by telephoning 01200 871254
or email: revdkarenherschell@gmail.com
Please note that Rev’d Karen’s rest day is Saturday
and her usual Parish Days are Sunday to Tuesday.
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The Parish Home Group will meet on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month at the Rectory from 2.00 pm for approximately an hour to an hour and a half. The aim is that we can come together in fellowship, to grow in faith through prayer, studying the Bible and exploring different aspects of the Christian faith so that we can deepen our love for God and for one another. You are all warmly invited. Please let Rev Karen know if you are interested in coming along.
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Services in the Parish of Hodder Valley during October and November
Sunday 4th October – Trinity 18
Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am
Harvest Service followed by Parish Lunch
Saint Bartholmew’s, Tosside – 7.00 pm
A service of Holy Communion
Sunday 11th October – Trinity 19
Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 11.15 am
A service of the Eucharist
Saint James’ Church – Dalehead – 2.00 pm
Harvest Service followed by “Jacob’s Join” at Tosside
(no morning service at Slaidburn)
Sunday 18th October – Saint Luke
Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am
A service of Holy Communion
Saint Bartholomew’s Church, Tosside – 7.00 pm
Harvest Service followed by refreshments
Sunday 25th October – Bible Sunday
Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am
“All Together Worship” with Slaidburn School
Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 11.15 am
A service of the Eucharist
Sunday 1st November – All Saints
Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am
A service of Morning Prayer
Saint Bartholomew’s Church, Tosside – 7.00 pm
A service of Holy Communion
Sunday 8th November – Remembrance Sunday
Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 10.00 am
A service of Remembrance
Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 10.50 am
A service of the Eucharist for Remembrance Sunday
Sunday 15th November – 2nd Sunday before Advent
Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am
A service of Holy Communion
Sunday 22nd November – Christ The King
Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am
“All Together Worship” with Slaidburn School
Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 11.15 am
A service of the Eucharist
Sunday 29th November – Advent Sunday and Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am
A service of Holy Communion
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The Harvest Season Is Here!
Our series of Harvest Thanksgiving Services in the parish will commence at the end of September and run on into October.
Saint Michael’s Church at Whitewell begins the celebrations on Sunday 27th September with a service at 11.15 am, coinciding with their Patronal Festival.
Refreshments are served in church after the service
Saint Andrew’s Church at Slaidburn has a service on Sunday 4th October at 9.45 am, followed by a parish lunch in Slaidburn Village Hall.
On Sunday 11th October Saint James’ Church at Dalehead will hold their service at 2.00 pm, followed by a “Jacob’s Join” at Tosside Community Hall.
The final harvest service takes place at Saint Bartholomew’s Church at Tosside on Sunday 18th October at 7.00 pm with refreshments in church after the service.
We will be accepting donations of non-perishable goods
to be donated to Clitheroe Food Bank
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Would you like to become the Parish’s “Eco Champion?” As part of our ongoing development we would like to ask if anyone would be willing to oversee the Ecochurch project on our four buildings. The Blackburn Diocese has a designated officer who would assist in setting up the scheme and helping us to gain accreditation. If you would like more information then please have a word with John Cowking.
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A New Monthly Service in our Parish!
Following discussions between Saint Andrew’s Church and Slaidburn Brennands Endowed School it has been decided that we will collaborate on a service at Saint Andrew’s Church on the fourth Sunday of the month. We are inviting parishioners, parents and children to join us for a more relaxed and informal style of worship with input and involvement from the young people, and the more senior too!
We are still working on the project, to be called “All Together Worship,” and we hope that everyone will be encouraged to come along, take part in the service, and experience the presence of God with us.
The first service will take place on Sunday 27th September at Saint Andrew’s Church, commencing at 9.45 am. Keep a lookout for more information via the School and Church, and do come along to join us!
Many people agree to ‘help out’ with a variety of jobs/ministries at church. Their service will not go unnoticed. These quotes may encourage them to get started – or to keep going!
When you try and do God’s work
We do the works, but God works in us the doing of the works. - St Augustine of Hippo
He who labours as he prays, lifts up his heart to God with his hands. - St Bernard of Clairvaux
Instead of letting a mob of hoodlum tasks surround and trample me to death, I force them into a single file and handle them one at a time. - D Mallough
The real mark of a saint is that he or she makes it easier for others to believe in God. - Anon
The Parish of Hodder Valley
presents
“AN AUCTION OF PROMISES”
On the evening of Saturday 10th October
in Newton in Bowland Village Hall at 7.00 pm
the Parish is holding a fund-raising
“Auction of Promises.”
We are hoping that parishioners and friends might contribute gifts of time, talent, products or anything that will help us to raise funds for our parish and create a fun-filled evening of enlivening entertainment!
It might be offers of gardening, cleaning, meals, car valeting, holidays, washing, ironing, new car, decorating, baby-sitting, tickets for a show,
walking the dog, boxes of chocolates, tins of biscuits, photography, in fact anything you can think of that folk could bid for that evening.
William Leeming is co-ordinating the event and if anyone wishes to contribute something towards the auction then please get in touch with William (wjhleeming@hotmail.com) who will gratefully accept your contribution. Thank you in advance!
Doors and Bar open at 6.30 pm with free entry.
A Pie & Peas supper is available at £10.00 – pay on the night.
Remembrance Sunday In The Parish
Our Parish will observe Remembrance Sunday on the 8th November with the usual services and ceremonies at our two Parish Churches:
Saint Andrew’s at Slaidburn will have a Remembrance Service commencing at 10.00 am followed by a procession to the War Memorial for the two-minute silence and wreath-laying at 11.00 am.
Saint Michael’s at Whitewell holds a service of the Eucharist for Remembrance Sunday beginning at 10.50 am with the laying of the wreath and silence in church at 11.00 am.
Please note that both services begin at different times to the normal pattern.
In addition to the two services in church, there are ceremonies at the War Memorials in Dunsop Bridge, Newton in Bowland and Tosside during the day.
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Confirmations in the Parish
The Parish of Hodder Valley has been offered dates in late June and early July of 2027 for a Confirmation Service to be held in the Parish conducted by one of our three Bishops in the Diocese of Blackburn.
If there are any young people or adults considering or wishing to be confirmed and would like to know more details about this important stage in Christian life then please contact our Rector, Revd Karen Herschel, who will be happy to talk to you about what is involved.
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POSADA
Welcome Mary, Joseph and the donkey into your home!
There’s a way to welcome Mary, Joseph and the donkey into your home during Advent through a lovely tradition originating in Mexico. Posada (Spanish for “inn”) is an activity lasting through Advent when small figures of Mary, Joseph and the donkey travel around different households in the community and stay there for a night. Lots of people find it’s a great way to be involved in the Christmas story.
The Parish is reviving the tradition and invites families in the Hodder Valley to get in touch to offer a place for the figures which were made for the Parish some years ago by pupils at the then Riversmead School near Grindleton.
The journey will begin at Slaidburn on Advent Sunday, 29th November, and end on Christmas Eve back at Slaidburn.
If you would like to be part of this journey, or want to know more details, then please contact John Cowking (johncowking@gmail.com) who will be glad to assist. We will appoint a Posada co-ordinator who will plan a timetable for the journey and liaise with householders nearer the time.
A Page For Our Younger Readers
Letter from St James the Least of All
Happily, the Church of England still retains some singular parish clergy. Take the parish of St James-the-Least for example. Here the elderly Anglo-Catholic vicar, Eustace, continues his correspondence to John, his nephew, a low-church curate recently ordained.
On how long a sermon should last
The Rectory
St James the Least of All
My dear Nephew John
I am afraid we will never agree about the appropriate length of sermons. Your 50-minute exposition on the theology of St Paul concerning women wearing hats in church is, I am sure, of real interest to you. But as your sermon slowly unfolds, I suspect it will prompt quite a different concern among your congregation. Have they set the oven timer to come on too early?
Whenever I even hint that a matter of theological importance may be about to appear in one of my sermons, an expression of benign incomprehension comes over my congregation. You know the look – you see it on golden Labradors whenever they try and work out what their owners are telling them.
There are certain sure signs that should warn you when you have preached for long enough. One is when members of the congregation reach for their prayer books to try to work out for the umpteenth time how the date for Easter is calculated. The organist turning on the blower when you say “and finally” is another.
Most members of the congregation will count the number of dead flies on the windowsills during your sermon. But when you can see members of the congregation counting the numbers in the congregation counting the numbers of dead flies, that is absolute proof that it is time to stop.
There has only been one occasion when I preached for longer than my standard eight minutes. Our former organist was in the habit of taking his dog for a walk during the sermon. I knew I had to carry on preaching until I heard the latch on the vestry door for the second time. That meant he was back, and ready to play the last hymn. Unfortunately, one Sunday, his dog ran away.
While he searched for it over every field in the parish, I spent the intervening two hours reading the greater part of Leviticus, discussing the food laws set forth in Deuteronomy, and arguing for a Deutero-Isaiah. I was headed for the Babylonian exile when we all heard the vestry door re-open.
After the Service, the congregation left looking as though they had just been rescued from a major shipwreck. And at the next church council meeting, we unanimously voted to buy our organist a stronger lead.
Your loving uncle,
