Saturday 9th August at 10am at St Ippolyts Churchyard.
This is a short service in the churchyard (whatever the weather) where we celebrate Saint Hippolytus, to whom the church was dedicated, by blessing the horses who are brought here.
Please do bring your horses and pass the word.
Everyone welcome, with or without a horse!!
Refreshments will be provided and a collection taken to support our local branch of ‘Riding for the Disabled’
JUNE SERVICES
Service times vary and may be in any of our three churches so please check the time and venue carefully.
Sunday 1St June
8.00am - BCP Holy Communion - St Ippolyts Church
9.15am - Breakfast Service - St Ippolyts Church
This is a 30 minute lively and informal service suitable for all ages.
Breakfast is served afterwards and all are welcome.
11.00am - Holy Communion - Iris Court Residential Home, Gosmore The service lasts about 25 minutes and is followed by coffee and cake.
Open to everyone.
Sunday 8th June - Pentecost
9.15am - Holy Communion - St Ippolyts Church
11.00am - Holy Communion - St Mary's Church, Great Wymondley
Sunday 15th June
9.15am - Parish Praise - St Ippolyts Church
11.00am - Holy Communion - St Mary's Church, Little Wymondley
5.00pm - Evensong - St Ippolyts Church
Sunday 22nd June
9.15am - Holy Communion - St Ippolyts Church
11.00am - Parish Praise - St Mary's Church, Great Wymondley
Sunday 29th June
9.15am - Benefice Holy Communion - St Ippolyts Church
*NEW WEEKLY SERVICE*
Every Wednesday
6.00pm - Compline - St Mary's Church, Great Wymondley This is a gentle service of prayer and reflection lasting about 20-25 minutes. A beautiful way to wind down and refocus after a busy day.
Dear Friends
Over seventy years ago two small boys often played together in a rambling country rectory garden near Gloucester. It was idyllic and they had a lot of fun together - until one day it all ended. The mother of one of them was stopped from his going to the rectory on pain of her excommunication I wonder what happened to him; we never met again.
How times have changed - for the better! I was fortunate in being a theology student in the 1960's. We normally associate that era with flower power, the mini-skirt and Vespa scooter, sexual liberation and all the rest of it. But it was also an exhilarating time in the Church. New versions of the Bible, new forms of worship, new theological thinking, even different clergy dress (I used to wear a suit and clerical collar everywhere except in bed and on days off but this became less formal!).
Perhaps above all the possibility of Christian unity was in the air, and I became (and remain) a fervent disciple of it. We met together, we wanted to work together, we really believed that it was possible at last to bury our differences and become one. Then for various reasons we drew back and now unity seems just a dream. But not all has been lost.
At least spiritually the small boy might now be able to play at the rectory in a way that he had been forbidden (though the house is now a hotel and the village is now a vast housing overspill). And while the other boy has become an ecclesiastical fossil, the denominations are spiritually closer than they have been since the sixties. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity may be less prominent, but its spirit moves on, and by God's grace it will continue to increase and grow.
Instead of the usual summer column about Whitsun and Trinity I write with deep sadness of the death of His Holiness Pope Francis on Easter Monday, but rejoice at the election of Pope Leo XIV, with every prayer for him and our friends in the Roman Catholic Church. Would that the enthusiasm of the future appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury be greeted with the same universal acclamation of His Holiness' election, but I fear that it won't. I would mischievously love to see white smoke rising from a chimney of Lambeth Palace to mark Anglicanism's equivalent, but even if it did, nobody would take any notice. But that is another matter.
The last act of Pope Francis was to give his Easter blessing and then pass through the thousands outside the Vatican before leaving us. Apart from
deeply moving it was also truly symbolic. Easter 2025 spoke (as always) of life, of hope, of God's power over the entire world. The ministry of his successor represents and remains that message - and more. The role of the Church is that of mission and ministry, of prayer and worship, of loving and serving others. We must pray together for new life in God's Church. For an awareness of who we are and what we exist to do, to try to extend our own tiny corner of God's Kingdom and help to breathe ever more life into it. It is the task of all God's people and we must work together to that end, to bury our differences and spiritually to be one.
Perhaps on reflection those heady years ago represented an ideal which was too optimistic and unrealistic; it tried to achieve too much too quickly, and so we are as we are now, pursuing a different path towards the tortuous path to Christian unity. In doing so we need to remember and acknowledge the difference between unity and uniformity. Organic unity will not come in our lifetime; it may never happen because people have different beliefs and interpretations of the truth. What is important is that we recognize and respect the beliefs of those of other denominations and work together in the service of God, rejoicing in our differences and drawing from each other. This lies beyond practical issues. It is God's will for His Church and for the whole of humanity; it represents the mission and aspirations of all of us, regardless of which part of God's Church we belong to.
So, I welcome with open arms the ministry of the new Pope, and I pray that he and the whole Roman Catholic Church may flourish and work with Christians of all denominations to extend God's Kingdom on earth.
And may small boys continue to play together regardless of what they believe and which mythical garden they are in - as one!
With my love and best wishes,
Paul
Revd. Paul Lanham
We are delighted to announce that St Ippolyts Church will be holding a Flower Festival in August this year. If anyone or indeed any local club would like to make an arrangement for the display please contact Mary Hooper on 01462 457350. The theme this year is music.
Every Wednesdayfrom 30th April onwards
6.00pm – Compline – St Mary’s Church, Great Wymondley
This is a gentle service of prayer and reflection lasting about 20-25 minutes. A beautiful way to wind down and refocus after a busy day
Service times vary and may be in any of our three churches so please check the time and venue carefully.
Sunday 4th May
8.00am – BCP Holy Communion – St Ippolyts Church
9.15am – Breakfast Service – St Ippolyts Church
This is a 30 minute lively and informal service suitable for all ages. Breakfast is served afterwards and all are welcome.
11.00am – Holy Communion – Iris Court Residential Home, Gosmore
The service lasts about 25 minutes and is followed by coffee and cake. Open to everyone.
Sunday 11th May
9.15am – Holy Communion – St Ippolyts Church
11.00am - Holy Communion – St Mary’s Church, Great Wymondley
Sunday 18th May
9.15am – Parish Praise – St Ippolyts Church
11.00am – Holy Communion – St Mary’s Church, Little Wymondley
5.00pm – Evensong – St Ippolyts Church
Sunday 25th May
9.15am – Holy Communion – St Ippolyts Church
11.00am – Parish Praise – St Mary’s Church, Great Wymondley
*NEW WEEKLY SERVICE*
Every Wednesdayfrom 30th April onwards
6.00pm – Compline – St Mary’s Church, Great Wymondley
This is a gentle service of prayer and reflection lasting about 20-25 minutes. A beautiful way to wind down and refocus after a busy day
APRIL SERVICES
Service times vary and may be in any of our three churches so please check the time and venue carefully.
Sunday 6th April
8.00am – BCP Holy Communion – St Ippolyts Church
9.15am – Breakfast Service – St Ippolyts Church
11.00am – Holy Communion – Iris Court Residential Home, Gosmore
All are welcome. The service lasts about 25 minutes and is followed by coffee and cake.
Holy Week Services
Sunday 13th April – Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem
9.15am – Holy Communion – St Ippolyts Church
11.00am – Holy Communion – St Mary’s Church, Great Wymondley
Monday 14th April
7.30pm – Compline (night prayer) – St Mary’s Church, Great Wymondley
Compline, or night prayer, is a quiet, prayerful service lasting around 25 minutes. It is a beautiful way to step out of life’s busy-ness and spend some time with God before the day ends.
Tuesday 15th April
7.30pm – Compline – St Mary’s Church, Great Wymondley
Wednesday 16th April
7.30pm – Compline – St Mary’s Church, Great Wymondley
Thursday 17th April – Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Last Supper
11.00am – Chrism Eucharist – St Albans Cathedral – all welcome
Friday 18th April – Good Friday, a day of solemn remembrance of Jesus’ crucifixion
2.00pm – The Way of the Cross – St Ippolyts Church
This is a quiet service of music and readings as we reflect on Jesus’ crucifixion
Saturday 19th April – Holy Saturday, a day of quiet reflection and remembrance before the celebration of Easter Sunday
7.00pm – Easter Vigil – St Mary’s Church, Great Wymondley
We gather around the fire and mark the end of the emptiness of Holy Saturday as we lead into the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. This is a service of readings and hymns and lasts around 35 minutes.
Sunday 20th April – Easter Day, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ
9.15am – Easter Holy Communion – St Ippolyts Church
11.00am – Easter Holy Communion – St Mary’s Church, Little Wymondley
NO EVENSONG TODAY
Sunday 27th April
9.15am – Parish Praise – St Ippolyts Church
11.00am – Parish Praise – St Mary’s Church, Great Wymon
Form 4A
(Rule 6.2)
Public Notice
(general form)
In the Consistory Court of the Diocese of St Albans
In the parish of St Ippolyts
Church of St Ippolyts, St Ippolyts
NOTICE IS GIVEN that we are applying to the Consistory Court of the diocese
for permission to carry out the following:
(Describe the works or other proposals in the same way as in the faculty petition)
The installation of a plaque on a choir stall in memory of Howell Davies.
Copies of the relevant plans and documents may be examined at St Ippolyts
Church and on a publicly accessible website at https://www.stippolytschurch.org.
uk/
(If changes to a church are proposed, a copy of the petition and of any designs,
plans, photographs and other documents that were submitted with it must be
displayed in the church or at another place where they may be conveniently
inspected by the public. If the petition is submitted through an online system,
those documents must also be publicly available for inspection online.)
Petitioners:
(Each petitioner to give name and office held in block capitals)
1. REVD PATRICIA REED - MINISTER
2. REVD GINNI DEAR - MINISTER
3. MS JANE VEASEY - CHURCHWARDEN
Date 05/01/2025
If you wish to object to any of the works or proposals you should
send a letter or email stating the grounds of your objection to
The Diocesan Registrar at St Albans Diocesan Registry, Winckworth
Sherwood LLP, Arbor, 255 Blackfriars Road, LONDON, SE1 9AX or by email
to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
so that your letter reaches the registrar not later than Tuesday 04
February 2025 A letter of objection must include your name and
address and state whether you live in the parish and/or your
name is entered on the church electoral roll of the parish or any
other basis on which you have an interest in the matter.
Directions to petitioners
You must display this public notice (or a copy of it) for a continuous period of
not less than 30 days, not counting the day on which it is put up or the day on
which it is taken down, (or for such other period as the Court may direct) in each
of the following places:
1. on a notice board or in some other prominent position inside the church; and
2. on a notice board outside the church or in some other prominent position
(whether on the outside of the church door or elsewhere) so that it can be read by
the public.
Today we welcome – The Venerable Charles Hudson to our church
Today we welcome
Revd Charmaine Sabey-Corkindale to St Ippolyts
and
Revd Jeni McQuaid to Little Wymondley
MEMORIES OF SYDNEY CARTER
As some of you will already know, back in the dark ages in another life, Christine and I were very involved with a religious drama group that travelled around the country in the early days of using religious drama in churches within the context of worship. On occasion we worked with a number of then well-known names, one of whom was Sydney Carter.
Although perhaps best known for his hymns ‘Lord of the dance’ and ‘One more step along the world I go,’ (both of which have made it into mainstream worship), he penned many other works as well, and was never happier than when having a gentle dig at the status quo or commenting on life’s little anomalies.
On one occasion we were all involved at a very large weekend-long clergy conference on worship in Holborn. The days were taken up with serious seminars looking at new ideas in worship and how they could be used in services. Saturday evening however was billed as an entertainment, with those who had been involved in presenting the seminars being asked to join forces to stage it.
Imagine the scene: a largish hall full of rather staid clergy, all in clerical dress, waiting to be ‘entertained.’ Sydney decided to liven things up by performing a song that he had just written called ‘The Vicar is a Beatnik’ !!!
(Whilst most readers will probably be aware of what a Beatnik was, here is the dictionary definition for any readers of more tender years who don’t remember those times. ‘’A person in the 1950’s or 1960’s who rejected the normal attitudes of established society, e.g. by unconventional behaviour or dress).’’
The words of the song are as follows:
THE VICAR IS A BEATNIK
(by Sydney Carter)
“Good morning,” said the vicar, a banjo round his neck.
“We’re digging up the crypt,” he said, “to make a discotheque.”
So we’re writing to the bishop to say that we are shocked,
The vicar is a beatnik, he ought to be unfrocked.
The vicar is a beatnik, he ought to be unfrocked.
At early morning services he plays a mandolin
I’ve never been to hear him, but I know it is a sin
So we’re writing to the bishop to say that we are shocked,
The vicar is a beatnik, he ought to be unfrocked.
The vicar is a beatnik, he ought to be unfrocked.
We love the merry organ and the bells across the snow.
We love the Church of England, although we never go,
And we love the dear old Bible, with “Jehovah” and “begat,”
It’s not that we believe in it or anything like that.
It’s not that we believe in it or anything like that.
Just marry us and bury us the way you used to do
With a blast upon your organ and not on your kazoo,
So we’re writing to the bishop to say that we are shocked,
The vicar is a beatnik, he ought to be unfrocked.
The vicar is a beatnik, he ought to be unfrocked.
We love the merry organ and the bells across the snow.
We love the Church of England, although we never go,
So we’re writing to the bishop to say that we are shocked,
The vicar is a beatnik, he ought to be unfrocked.
The vicar is a beatnik, he ought to be unfrocked.
The problem came in verse 3, when Sydney brandished a set of sleigh bells with such vigour, that all of the little round bells became detached from the handle and rolled under the audience’s chairs.
We shall never forget the sight of Sydney Carter on all-fours, scrabbling about under the legs of all those startled vicars, trying to retrieve them.
It does (and will) live long in the memory.
Arthur Sibun
We need your help please. We'd like to contact as many people as possible whose loved ones' remains are in any of our churchyards. If you visit, maintain, or bring flowers to a grave or ashes memorial, or simply have a family member or friend buried in one of our benefice churchyards, please would you contact Revd Tricia Reed with details of which church, which grave or memorial, and your relationship to them. We will hold and use your contact details only in relation to churchyard matters. Please pass on this request to anyone you know who may also be able to help with information and contact details.
Revd Tricia Reed, Curate for this Benefice
CHURCHYARDS IN ST IPPOLYTS, GREAT WYMONDLEY AND LITTLE WYMONDLEY.
We need your help please. We'd like to contact as many people as possible whose loved ones' remains are in any of our churchyards. If you visit, maintain, or bring flowers to a grave or ashes memorial, or simply have a family member or friend buried in one of our benefice churchyards, please would you contact Revd Tricia Reed with details of which church, which grave or memorial, and your relationship to them. We will hold and use your contact details only in relation to churchyard matters. Please pass on this request to anyone you know who may also be able to help with information and contact details.
Revd Tricia Reed, Curate for this Benefice
ST IPPOLYTS PARISH COUNCIL
At the last meeting Peter Webber was co-opted. The next meeting will take place on Monday 9th September at 7.30pm. Copies of the Agenda and Approved Minutes are displayed on the council notice boards and website.
There is always an agenda item for Public Participation where residents can ask questions and raise issues. Please contact Susan Mears on 01462-421409 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Members of the public are most welcome.
Pam Skeggs
Members meeting to be held at the home of Joan Pinkstone, Little Almshoe 10.30am for refreshments to start the meeting at 11.00 am on Tuesday 1st October. All are welcome to join us.
Frances Williams, Carol Scott, Joan Pinkstone
Revd Ginni is taking a sabbatical
Ginni will be away from parish ministry from 2nd September until 10th December. Our worship will continue to take place as usual, and our notice boards display the times. During Revd Ginni's sabbatical the parishes will be in the capable hands of our churchwardens. Ginni will not be able to reply to emails or phone calls. Please join us in praying that Revd Ginni finds rest and inspiration in her time of study and relaxation, and that the churchwardens feel well supported and trusted, and we look forward to being all together again just before Christmas!
Revd Tricia Reed
Dear Friends
'Can you remember where you were this or that happened? The death of Princess Diana for example (I heard it on the news when getting up). Challenger exploding (a yell from a small daughter). The death of the late Queen (going out to the garage to work in the garden)..Apollo 11 taking off (at a youth group). Add your own, depending on your age!
Then the only event remembered for its specific date – Nine-Eleven. Bizarrely I was idly checking the stock market prices on television when it came up as a news flash, seeing an aircraft flying straight into a huge building, then an enormous explosion and ball of flame. I watched as something beyond my comprehension was played out, an atrocity the like of which there had never been before. The fourfold event will always be remembered by its date, not where it took place. Nine Eleven, September 11th 2001. To quote the words of the late President Franklin D Roosevelt about Pearl Harbour, 'A Day of Infamy' unique in history and hopefully never to be repeated.
Since then there have been innumerable books and articles. The scenes have been repeated over and over again, there has even been a film about it. It is accepted that the perpetrators were Islamist extremists, a group of fanatics within that great religion. Their action led to the massacre of almost three thousand innocent people whose only 'crime' was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This in turn has led directly or indirectly to the killing and suffering of many other people over the past twenty years, with continual tension in many parts of the world, especially the Middle East.
Extremism has always been a part of society. Groups and nations have sought to impose their beliefs and philosophies on others who have suffered as a result. We may think of the persecution of Christianity in Roman times, the persecution throughout history of the Jews (notably the Holocaust), periods of ethnic cleansing all over the world, and so on. There has been so much hatred, so much fanaticism, so much suffering of the innocent. The world is stained with blood and will continue to do so because while man was made in the image of God, it has fallen on occasions in a very brutal and horrible way. The very words 'Nine Eleven' echo this.
Those who know me are aware that I am both a religious humanitarian and an orthodox Anglican Christian – the two to me are inseparable and complementary. I look at God as man with arms outstretched at Golgotha, suffering for a world with outstretched arms, drawing them in love towards Himself. Suffering for those who after twenty-three years are still mourning those they lost on Nine Eleven. Haunted by the scenes they saw, the experiences they had. They represent the innocent who down the ages have suffered because man has failed to live up to the divine image in which he was made. If we are to commemorate once again the events of that day (as we must) it must represent sharing the grief of the lost. It must also mean challenging extremism of every possible type, be it any nationalist, religious, political or idealistic cause. Perhaps above all, it must recognise the importance of seeing the world as one, a common humanity where all are loved and respected, and that people work together for the good of humanity and not to one group above any other. If we do this then we are more fully being inspired and may be empowered by God's Spirit, whether we are religious or not. This must be our watchword. To quote the words of John Donne which are my philosophy of life, 'Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee'. The bell tolls for the victims of Nine Eleven; it tolls for fallen humanity. It represents one of humanity's greatest challenges and aspirations, to be fully a part of what is meant by being human
With my love and best wishes,
Paul Lanham
**NEW WEEKLY SERVICE**
MORNING PRAYER – Every Wednesday at 8.00am in St Ippolyts Church
Everyone is welcome to join us for this said service of Morning Prayer which lasts around 20 minutes. Don’t worry if you’ve not been before, we’ll make sure we guide you through it.
|
Horse Blessing Service |
|
Saturday 10th August at 10am |
St Ippolyts Churchyard
This is a short service in the churchyard (whatever the weather) where we celebrate the patron saint of horses, Saint Hippolytus, and to whom the church was dedicated to, by blessing the horses who are brought here.
Please do bring your horses and pass the word
Everyone welcome, with or without a horse!!
Refreshments will be provided and a collection taken to support our local branch of ‘Riding for the Disabled’
We sold out quickly last year so make sure you reserve a table from either Jane Veasey 01462 434254 or Mary Hooper This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
