Welcome

                       Photo large of St Johns Church

 

 

Please click on the link below to watch an aerial video of the church and listen to our bells.

Drone photography courtesy of https://www.upaerial.co.uk

 

Welcome, and thank you for visiting our website.

Our church is situated in the picturesque village of Lemsford, close to Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City and opposite Brocket Hall

We warmly welcome all visitors to our church and we would love you to come to one of our services or events.  We hope that you find what you are looking for in these pages, but if you have any questions and would like to speak to someone about the church, please do contact one of the team members listed in the Who's Who and Contacts page.

We look forward to seeing you.

 
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WHAT'S ON AT ST JOHN'S IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS AT A GLANCE

   

  
  • Thursday 30th July
    • 10am - No Morning Prayer - paused until September
       
  • Sunday 2nd August
    • 8am - Quiet Communion (BCP)
    • 11am - All Together Worship*
       
  • Thursday 6th August
    • 10am - No Morning Prayer - paused until September
       
  • Sunday 9th August
    • 11am - Holy Communion
       
  • Tuesday 11th August
    • 2:30-4pm Friendship Tea
       
  • Thursday13th August
    • 10am - No Morning Prayer - paused until September
* Children are welcome at all our services, but these services and events are especially suitable for families and children (as well as people of all other ages!)
       
  •  

Readings 

      Ninth Sunday after Trinity 

                 First Reading: Acts 11:1-18 - to read click here (opens in new window or new tab) or Romans 8:26-end  to read click here (opens in new window or new tab)

Gospel: John 13:31-35  - to read click here (opens in new window or new tab)

  
CAR PARKING

Because car parking at the church is becoming difficult, we are  opening up the school playground on Sunday mornings for everyone to use.  The playground is at the back of the school, and is large enough to accommodate about 30 cars.  Please do use this area to park in, but take extra care when exiting into the street as cars do tend to speed up and down the hill.


This Sunday (2nd August) at 8am we have our Quiet Communion (BCP) service, and even though it's the holiday season, our 11am All-Together Worship is very much still on!

Join us for this welcoming, more informal service, in which all ages worship God together. 
Look forward to seeing you there.


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CELEBRATION SERVICE - when we welcomed Revd Dan as our new curate

 
Photos from the Celebration Service and Bring and Share Lunch at St Johns together with St Michaels

What a day!
St John’s and St Michael’s came together to welcome - and hear from - Revd Dan on his first Sunday as our curate.
It was a service full to the brim of warmth, joy, and welcome.
Our theme? God has come close to us in Jesus — so how do we respond? A great question to explore as two parishes, walking together in faith.
Wonderful to have friends from across the wider community join us as well, including our local MP.
Welcome, Dan! So glad you’re here. 🙏




 

A Message from Rev Dan

As I come to the end of my first few weeks at St. John's, I have already had the pleasure of meeting so many of you. Thank you for the kindness, encouragement, and warm welcome you have shown me as I begin this new chapter of ministry. Being newly ordained, these first weeks have been full of new experiences, and I feel incredibly grateful to be serving in a parish where I have been made to feel so at home. I'm looking forward to getting to know you all better over the months and years ahead - sharing in the joys and challenges of life, worshipping together, and discovering more of what God is doing in and through our church and community. Please do come and say hello if we haven't yet had the chance to meet, I'd love to get to know you!




  Friendship Tea is still taking place on Tuesday 11th - 2:30-4pm.
 


August/September Parish Magazine

 
Here it is - the August/September edition.

Look out for printed copies in Church this Sunday (2nd). As usual you can also, or alternatively, download a pdf copy by clicking here - the pdf is in full colour and the link is safe to click.

There are the usual great articles from Revd Kathryn, Andy Chapman (Lemsford local history group), Michelle, Boylan (Head of St John's School),  Geoffrey Hollis (Nature Notes) and Jo Brooks (Children and Families).  But now we start with a column from Dan Ide our new curate.

In addition look out for the article by Faye on St John's new school playground equipment, it's amazing.



 

THE YEAR OF SPIRITUAL RENEWAL AND WELLBEING
This year, St Albans Diocese invites us all to embark on a journey of reconnecting with our faith and discovering the renewing life of the Holy Spirit. There’s a wonderful new website full of opportunities, including retreats, quiet days (some specially for churchwardens), pilgrimage walks, talks, online accompanied prayer weeks, courses, and a special summer Cathedral celebration.

You’ll also find resources for prayer, as well as helpful guidance to care for your own wellbeing.

Why not take a look? You can book events directly, but if something catches your eye and you’d like some company, let us know, and we can see if others would like to join in too.

Visit: year.stalbansdiocese.org


 

'IOO CLUB' JULY DRAW WINNERS

The winning numbers of the July '100 Club' Draw were:

1st prize:  Number 110  £91.80
2nd prize:  Number 35  £55.08
3rd prize:  Number 85  £36.72

To join the 100 Club please contact Nigel.


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FOOD BANK

Our local Food Bank at the New Zion Christian Fellowship church would appreciate receiving donations of food and other things from us now and all year round. It would be wonderful if you could support them by bringing various things in on Sunday mornings, and placing them in the big plastic box which will be placed in the porch. The sort of things the Food Bank would like to receive are:
  • All food with good sell by dates (tins of fruit and veg, jams, packets of cereal, coffee, tea, long life milk and so on)
  • Toiletries such as shampoo and conditioner and toilet rolls
  • Cleaning products (kitchen and bathroom cleaners etc)

We are asked not to donate clothes.

Nigel will arrange to take our offerings to the New Zion church every Wednesday morning.




COULD YOU BE A ST JOHN'S SCHOOL FOUNDATION GOVERNOR?

St John’s school currently has a vacancy for a Foundation Governor. Foundation Governors are nominated by the PCC, represent the Church of England on the Board, and help ensure that the Christian ethos of the school is maintained.
 
Please pray and think about whether you - or someone you know - would make a great governor. They don’t need to be a member of St John’s church, but would need to be able to fulfil the role description above.

As a governor myself, I promise you that it’s an extremely rewarding (and often fun) role, and is manageable alongside other responsibilities.

Please contact me if you’re interested.

Rev Kathryn





CHURCH GIVING

We greatly value, and desperately need, your financial support to help with the running of St John's Church.  We are always delighted to receive weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual or ad hoc donations, and these can be made in the following  different ways:

  • By bank transfer or Standing Order.  Our church bank account details are:  HSBC Bank, sort code 40-46-08, account number 51431609.
  • By cash into the church plate during services.
  • By using the contactless card machine near the main door of the church.
  • By using the link from this QR code:

This code is also printed into many of our church service leaflets.
  • By using our Quick donation page via this link
CLICK HERE

  • By text.  Just text the word LEMSFORD followed by a space and then an amount that you wish to give, to 70085, e.g. to give £10 type LEMSFORD 10, and send to 70085.
  • By using the Parish Giving Scheme, which is a direct debit scheme.  Please ask the Treasurer or a Church Warden for more information.

MANY THANKS INDEED




 HOME INSURANCE

If you need to take out, or renew, a home insurance policy, please think of using Ecclesiastical Insurance as they will donate £130 to the church through their Trust 130 Promotion.  All you need to do is to say that the donation is to go to St John's Church, Lemsford.  Find out more at www.ecclesiastical.com/trust130 or call their team on 0800 783 0130 and quote Trust 130.

 



Please sign up for a spot in the Cleaning Rota or to help with refreshments after our Sunday services


More volunteers are needed to help us. All the materials you'll need for church cleaning are provided. All that we need is your time.

Please contact the churchwardens if you would like to take a turn with either cleaning or by helping with refreshments 
You can choose dates that suit you.




 

2026 PCC meeting dates


2nd February 2026 at 7.15 pm

20th April at 7.15 pm

APCM - 10th May at 12 noon

16th May 2026 Away morning at Codicite Church at 9.30 am

14th July 2026 at 7.15 pm

29th September 2026 at 7.15 pm

 


  


    

 

  

 

To email us either click the button below or go to the Who's who and Contacts page and click on the person you would like to contact.  Alternatively please use the form at the bottom of the Who's who and Contacts page.