February and March 2026

The Parish of Hodder Valley

 

Church Officers

 

Rector:

Revd Karen Herschell

01200 871254

07891 915671

 

Churchwardens:

Stuart Beattie 01200 446630

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

Co-opted onto PCC:  David Mehers

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Rector’s Reflections

It has been my privledge to have been asked by the Diocese again to write a reflection for their Lent Devotion book which will be available to pick up in our churches or can be found on the Diocese’s Fruitful App. The title of my reflection is  “Take Courage” because these were the words spoken by the Lord to St Paul when he was being interrogated by the Council; that he was to take courage to go and tell the good news of Jesus Christ in Rome. The words ‘Take courage’ can be found in many other places in the Bible and were also the words in the passage that I had been given to write about for the Advent Devotional, coincidence? or God-incidence? Maybe this is something that the Lord is saying to us, as individuals and as a church, as a Parish. 

I say this because on the 9th February I celebrate my first annivesary here as Rector and as the Diocesan Rural Renewal Officer and what a year it has been! There has been much to get my head around, to learn, and people to get to know; it has been a very busy time, but what a wonderful one. I could not image being anywhere else. The Lord has indeed been blessing us as we have stepped out in faith and taken courage. So as I reflect on the last 12 months:

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Let’s give thanks for:

Firstly, the new pattern of Sunday Services which seem to be going well with an increase in services at St Bartholomew’s Tosside quickly needed because of the desire to worship more regularly. Our ‘ big’ celebrations of the year such as the Harvest Festivals and the Carol Services across all four of our churches have been very well supported and we are seeing signs of numerical growth starting to shoot up.

Secondly, to encourage us in our faith, we now have Morning Prayer every Monday at St Andrew’s Slaidburn; a quiet, informal, peaceful time praying for the needs of the parish and the world. Please do come and join us if you can, it’s a wonderful way to spend half and hour at the beginning of the week.

It has also been so encouraging that we now have Home Group that meets every 2nd and 4th Tuesday at 2pm at the Rectory, here we read the Bible, learn more about the Christian faith and share fellowship with one other… and there’s usually homemade biscuits too!

Our PCC now meet regulary every other month with the Standing Committee meeting in the months inbetween. With the Parish being on the Renewal Programme the Leading Your Chruch into Growth teaching is really helping us to intentionally pray for growth, be more missionally focused and to grow in faith and confidence. We are already seeing many encouragements. 

People have been encouraged to use the Diocese Advent and Lent devotions and a special Whats App group has been set up as we read together a chosen Devotional book where we can share our thoughts, comments and ask questions. Do contact me if you want to join in. On Bible Sunday last year, we gave out a free copies of The Gospel of John to encourage us to read our Bibles, copies were also left in our churches for people to pick up.

One of my favourite weekly events is Collective Worship with our wonderful Brennands School, it is great to welcome the children, teachers and staff into St Andrew’s as we learn more about Jesus, sing and pray; what a joy and pleasure.

 

Looking ahead…

I just want to take this opportunity to thank you. To thank all of you who do so much, volunteer in many different ways in our churches, who support the Parish in hard work, prayer and financially – this is what being the Body of Christ is and should be about. It is this that enables us to remain a Christian presence in this place, for today and for future generations to come, as we also honour the past dedication, courage and foresight of previous generations.

So, as we have begun a new year there is so much more to do. As we move through the Renewal Programme an annual plan for growth will be developed and we will be working on our Vision for the priorities in pastoral care, ministry and mission for the Parish for the next 3 years. We would love for you to come and join us and join in, for this exciting time for the Hodder Valley, I am praying that the Lord will send more workers for His fields for the Harvest is plentiful. (Matthew 9.38).

And finally, my prayer is simply for all to come and encounter the Lord Jesus Christ. To meet Jesus changes lives, I myself am testament to that. If you want to know more, if you are curious or have questions let me know, I am here to help. I am also hoping to run an Enquirers / Seekers course later in the year as a safe space for people to come and find out more about the Christian faith. Or simply pop in to one of our services, you will be warmly welcomed.

Maybe this year is a time for us all to Take Courage…to not be afriad but to be bold, and to place our trust in Him who died for us, forgives us and offers us the gift of eternal life now. May you know the hope, joy and love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Every blessing to you and yours for 2026.

Rev’d Karen

 

 

 

From the Registers:

 

Funerals:

21st January – Hilda Peel

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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“Amendment to Standing Order 122”

 

The governing body of the Church of England, the General Synod, meets at Church House in London from the 9th to the 13th of February. The amendment above has an interesting connection to our parish as it will allow William Leeming, churchwarden at Saint Michael’s, to attend Synod as one of the representatives of the Church of England Youth Council. The C of E is keen to encourage participation in its work from the younger generation, and we are rather proud that William is one of those chosen to be involved. Along with his colleagues on the Youth Council he will be able to attend all Synod sessions, observe and join in debates, but not be allowed to vote. (At least, not yet!)

The new members of the Synod will also be meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace for tea!

Services in the Parish of Hodder Valley during February and March

 

Every Monday

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

 

Sunday 1st February – The Presentation of Christ and Candlemas

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 8th February – 2nd Sunday before Lent (Sexagesima)

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A service of Morning Prayer

Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 7.30 pm

A service of the Eucharist

 

Sunday 15th February – Sunday before Lent (Quinquagesima)

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A service of Holy Communion with the Archdeacon of Blackburn

 

Wednesday 18th February – Ash Wednesday

Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 7.00 pm

A service of the Eucharist with imposition of ashes

 

Sunday 22nd February – 1st Sunday of Lent

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A service of Morning Prayer (Revd Noel Colley)

Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 11.15 am

A service of the Eucharist (Revd Noel Colley)

 

Sunday 1st March – 2nd Sunday of Lent

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A service of Holy Communion

Saint Bartholomew’s Church, Tosside – 7.00 pm

A service of Holy Communion

 

Sunday 8th March – 3rd Sunday of Lent

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

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Sunday 15th March – Mothering Sunday/4th Sunday of Lent

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A service for Mothering Sunday

Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 11.15am

A service of the Eucharist for Mothering Sunday

 

Sunday 22nd March – Passiontide/5th Sunday of Lent

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.45 am

A service of Holy Communion

 

Sunday 29th March – Palm Sunday

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 9.30/9.45am – to be confirmed

Procession of Palms and Service

Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 11.15 am

A service of the Eucharist

 

Holy Week Services:

Monday 30th March

Saint Bartholomew’s Church, Tosside – 7.00 pm

A service of Compline

Tuesday 31st March

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Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 7.00 pm

A service of Compline

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Wednesday 1st April

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 7.00 pm

A service of Compline

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Thursday 2nd April – Maundy Thursday

Saint Andrew’s Church, Slaidburn – 7.00 pm

A service of Holy Communion

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Friday 3rd April – Good Friday

Saint Bartholomew’s Church – 12 noon

A service of Reflection

Saint Michael’s Church, Whitewell – 3.00 pm

A service of Reflection

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Sunday 5th 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

Saint Bartholmew’s, Tosside – 7.00 pm

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A service of Easter Praise

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Confirmation - Date for Your Diary!

We are delighted to announce that the first Hodder Valley Parish Confirmation Service will be on Wednesday 10th June 2026 at 6.30pm at St Andrew’s Church Slaidburn with the Rt Rev. Dr Joe Kennedy, Bishop of Burnley.

Confirmation is an important part of a lifetime journey of faith as a follower of Jesus Christ and is a chance to affirm the promises made at baptism, to deepen faith, and to receive prayer for the strengthening of the Holy Spirit.

If you are an adult who has not yet been confirmed or a young person who is in year 6 or above, or if you are simply curious to find out more, do speak with the Rector, Rev’d Karen, she can be contacted on

Tel: 01200 871254 or Email: revdkarenherschell@gmail.com

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Saint Michael’s Church – Temporary Closure

 

Work is to commence on repairs to the ceiling and roof at Saint Michael’s Church and will involve the temporary closure of the building.

 

After the Easter Day service the interior of the church will be cleared and on the following Monday work will commence to remove the ceiling panels. Repairs to the roof and replacement of the ceiling panels will then be done and the building handed back to the Parochial Church Council.

 

During the closure the church services will be held in the Social Hall at Whitewell and the Bishop of Blackburn has approved the use of the Hall for worship during April and May whilst the work is carried out. 

 

Saint Andrew’s Church – Extension to the Cremated Remains Area

 

The PCC is also beginning work to extend the area for the interment of ashes in the graveyard at Slaidburn. It is proposed to continue the plots along the east wall of the churchyard (the 1922 section) following on from the present plots against the school wall. The necessary applications to allow this work have begun with the Diocese of Blackburn and legal notices will be published at Saint Andrew’s before work commences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

LENT

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday 18th February 2026 and is a 40-day season, echoing the time Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness and facing the temptations of the devil. As Christians we take time during Lent to reflect, pray, deepen our faith and journey with Jesus towards the mystery of Holy Week and celebrate the light of Easter.

To help us travel together there are many resources available which we can use to aide us on our journey.  The Diocese’s Lent Devotion book God’s Story – Your Story can be picked up from any one of our churches for free and together with Bishop Philip’s Lent Course Knowing Jesus, both can be found on the Diocese’s Fruitful App.

Our parish Home Group will also be using Knowing Jesus and there will also be a Lent WhatsApp Group who will be reading Lent and Easter for Everyone: From Wilderness to Glory by Tom Wright.  

If you want to know more about Home Group or the Lent WhatsApp group please contact the Rector.

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Letter from St James the Least of All – he’s back after a Christmas break!  

Historically, the Church of England has had its share of eccentric clergy. Even nowadays, hiding away in remote parishes, there are still some colourful clergy about. Clergy such as the elderly, Anglo-Catholic Uncle Eustace, who is incumbent in the small parish of St James-the-Least-of All, somewhere in Very Rural England. Eustace despairs of his nephew, Darren, who has become an Evangelical curate in a busy urban parish… and so he writes letters, to try and properly ‘educate’ John in parish life.

On the art of drinking well

 

The Rectory

St James the Least of All

My dear Nephew John,

You closed your last letter with the remark that it was time to retire to bed with a cup of cocoa. That may be all very well for the pious intensity of a theological college - although a stiff whisky was always acceptable in my day - but it is not a style to continue once in the parish. I do feel obliged to give you a few hints about what should and should not be drunk in public as a parish priest.

Morning visits are to be discouraged, but if one is unavoidable, and you are invited to have a drink, then it has to be coffee. It is the only time of day when a mug is acceptable - provided, of course, that it is bone china or porcelain. In the afternoons one changes to tea, but only from cups. Blended varieties may be all very well for Curates in their first year, but it should be Darjeeling for an incumbent. And fruit teas are for Quakers only.

If an inappropriate vessel is offered, then the drink should be accepted, but left untouched. Since the visit will be discussed in the finest detail throughout the parish the moment you have left, your host will soon learn why and not make the same error a second time. It is for the same reason that if you ever want to circulate a piece of news round the parish as quickly as possible, never put it in the parish magazine, just mention it casually during one of your visits. Everyone will know by teatime.

Alcoholic drinks must be carefully judged. A sherry - dry, naturally - is probably best if you are invited to lunch. In the early evening, a gin and tonic would be the drink of choice. To ask for whisky would indicate that you are about to go over to Rome, and a mineral water that you have your roots in non-conformity. Beer is never, ever drunk in someone’s house unless you suffer from some personal tragedy, such as being the diocesan youth chaplain.

However, an occasional beer in the pub with the bell-ringers (who will be real ale fanatics to a man) or after choir practice - which seems to be the real purpose of holding practices anyway - or as a treat for the sacristan, will show you are a man of the people. It is some years since I visited the pub.

Understanding wine should be taught at every theological college as an essential part of the ministry. Develop a taste for claret, dear boy, and you will be starting your journey towards high office.

And perhaps you should give that tin of cocoa to the verger.

Your loving uncle,

Eustace

On Wednesday 25th March the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally will be enthroned as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury in a service and ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral. 

 

Most people know that she had been Bishop of London for several years, and that she is the first woman to ever become Archbishop of Canterbury.  But what else do you know about her?

 

She was born in Woking in 1962, and is one of four children, with two sisters and one brother.

 

She worked as a nurse in the National Health Service, which she has described as "an opportunity to reflect the love of God". She specialised as a cancer nurse and became a ward sister at Westminster Hospital, before being made Director of Nursing at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

 

In 1999, at the age of 37, she was appointed the Government's Chief Nursing Officer for England in the Department of Health. She was the youngest person ever to be appointed to the post. Bishop Sarah was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2005 in recognition of her outstanding contribution to nursing.  

 

She had become a Christian at the age of 16. While working as the Chief Nursing Officer for England, she discerned a call to ordination and entered training ministry at the South East Institute for Theological Education.

 

She was ordained in 2001 and served her curacy in St Saviour’s Battersea Fields, initially as a self-supporting minister. In 2012 she was installed as Canon Treasurer at Salisbury Cathedral and three years later took the role as Suffragan Bishop of Crediton in the Diocese of Exeter, the fourth woman to become a Bishop in the Church of England.

 

On 12th May 2018, Bishop Sarah was installed as the 133rd Bishop of London at St Paul’s Cathedral, the first woman to hold the role.   

 

As Bishop of London, she led the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith process from 2020 to 2023. This included the formative stages of discernment and decision making which saw the introduction of the Prayers of Love and Faith for same-sex couples. She has served on the Church’s National Safeguarding Steering Group and is also Lead Bishop for Health and Social Care issues.

 

Archbishop Sarah is married to Eamonn, an Irish-born IT and Enterprise Architect who enjoys beekeeping and volunteering as a London tourist guide. The couple have two grown-up children, Liam and Grace.

 

She is Chair of Christian Aid.

 

She has spoken openly about her dyslexia, describing her difficulties with writing and reading.

 

In her spare time, she loves cooking, walking and pottery.  

Some More Dates For Your Diaries!

 

Besides our usual pattern of services we have some additional dates for events taking place in the parish and beyond our boundaries:

 

Sunday 26th April – the first of our fund-raisers with the Ribble Valley Music Festival when the Hayley Sisters will perform at Slaidburn Village Hall during the afternoon.

 

Saturday 16th May – “The Big Day Out In Blackpool.” As part of the Diocesan Centenary Celebrations we are invited to an event in Blackpool when all the parishes in the Blackburn Diocese unite in a day of unity, enjoyment and worship.

 

Sunday 21st June

the parish is on duty at Dunsop Bridge Village Hall providing refreshments for parishioners and visitors plus raising funds for the parish.

 

Sunday 16th August 

the second Ribble Valley Music Festival concert at Slaidburn Village Hall when the singing group “Trovatori” will provide entertainment.

 

There will be more details about these events published nearer the time.

 

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