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 29th May
    • 9am - No School Collective Worship* - Half Term
    • 10am - No Morning Prayer
    • 6:30pm – Taizé Service for Ascension Day at St Michael’s Church - see above for details
       
  • Sunday 1st June
    • 8am - BCP Holy Communion
    • 11am -  Holy Communion
       
  • Thursday 5th June
    • 9am - School Collective Worship*
    • 10am - Morning Prayer
       
  • Saturday 7th June
    • 7:30pm - Confirmation (and baptism) Service - St Albans Cathedral - see above for details
       
  • Sunday 8th June
    • 8am - BCP Morning Prayer
    • 11am -  All Together Worship for Pentecost*
    • 4pm - Summer Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance - see above for details
       
  • Tuesday 10th June
    • 2:30-4pm - Friendship Tea
       
  • Wednesday 11th June
    • 12:30pm - Memorial Service for John Marks - at St John’s Church (Lemsford) - see above for details
       
  • Thursday 12th June
    • 9am - School Collective Worship*
    • 10am - Morning Prayer

* 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!)
 
* 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 for the seventh Sunday of Easter

     
  First Reading: Acts 16.16-34 - to read click here (opens in new window or new tab), or

Gospel:  John 17.20-26  - 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.

TAIZE SERVICE FOR ASCENSION DAY AT ST MICHAEL'S CHURCH - THURSDAY 29th MAY AT 6.30pm

A peaceful, reflective service to mark Ascension Day.
With simple chants from the Taizé tradition, space for silence and reflection, and the informal sharing of Communion, this is a chance to pause and be renewed.
You don’t need to be familiar with Taizé music to join in — just come as you are. All are warmly welcome to this Hatfield Team service.




CONFIRMATION (AND BAPTISM) SERVICE - 7th JUNE, 7.30 pm, St ALBANS CATHEDRAL   
Thinking about confirmation? It’s a chance to affirm your faith, be prayed for by the Bishop, and take the next step on your journey with God. 
Open to anyone aged 10 and above – speak to Rev Kathryn to find out more.



   SUNDAY 8TH JUNE AT 11AM - PENTECOST ALL   

                        TOGETHER WORSHIP 

 
🎂 It’s the Church’s Birthday! 🎉

At Pentecost, God gave us the Holy Spirit—and brought all kinds of people together to begin the Church.

That same Spirit is still at work today, building the wonderful community of St John’s.

Join us for an all-age celebration with:

✨ Joyful worship for all ages
 🎂 A reminder that everyone has as a place in God’s family, and in the St John’s community!

Look forward to seeing you there.






 SUMMER SERVICE OF THANKSGIVING AND REMEMBRANCE

Please do come to our Summer Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance on Sunday 8th June at 4pm. If the weather is kind, we’ll gather outside in the Garden of Remembrance.

This short, reflective service offers us a gentle space to give thanks for the lives of those we have loved and lost—whether recently or many years ago.

After the service, everyone is warmly invited to stay for tea and cake.

To help us with preparations, it would be really helpful if you could let us know if you’ll be joining us—and roughly how many others might come with you. Just reply to this email with a simple ‘yes’ and an idea of numbers.

If you’d prefer not to receive emails about these services in future, do let me know and I’ll ensure your details are removed. My apologies if you’ve already requested this; we’ve recently updated our administrative system.

Please do feel free to forward this invitation to friends or family members who might find this service helpful.  



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A Memorial Service for John Marks

A memorial service for our dear friend John Marks will take place at 12:30pm on Wednesday 11th June at St John’s Church.  Ruth and all of John’s family warmly invite you to come and remember him, and to give thanks for his life.



 
THE JUNE/JULY PARISH MAGAZINE


It's time for the new June/July 25 Parish Magazine.  This one is a bumper one containing articles from Paul Butler (Fete), Gina Butler (Pilgrimage to St Albans) Rev Kathryn (Quite a different pilgrimage), Michelle Boylan (St John's School), Jo Brooks (Young People), Kevin Earl (Tower Clock), Andy Chapman (Lemsford History), the late John Marks (becoming a King's Chorister), Geoffrey Hollis (Nature notes) and the editor.  There are photos too and more.    Huge thanks to everyone who contributed.  

And the Falcon on the cover? Well you'll just have to read the magazine to find out more.

The magazine will be in church for you to collect, or you can download the web version by clicking here.  As usual the directory page is not available in the web version, but it is in full colour.


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' APRIL DRAW WINNERS

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

1st prize:  Number 33   £101.70
2nd prize:  Number 16   £61.02
3rd prize:  Number 41   £40.68

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

Many of us are happiest giving cash rather than scanning QR codes or tapping payment cards or smartphones.
 But, if you like the QR Code, you can point your Smartphone’s camera or QR app at it, and it will let you give, or from your PC/Mac you can just click this link: https://givealittle.co/campaigns/10cd954f-25f7-46d9-8813-634634729bfa.    You can also give via the new (easy to use) card payment device – both at the back of the church - these donations go to St Johns funds.  We are planning to make the QR Codes easily accessible from the pews too



Please sign up for a spot in the Cleaning Rota
Still slots to fill!

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

Let's spread this load between us all!! Please contact the churchwardens if you would like to take a turn with cleaning. 
You can choose a date that suits you!
 

 


We continue to think of Ukraine:


Bishop Alan says we can pray, and practically we also have an option to donate to the Red Cross Appeal.

To see their appeal details, please copy and paste this link into your browser: https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-crisis-appeal.  You may donate any amount you wish, and your cash will go towards helping people who are being affected by the crisis, by supplying them with food, water, first aid, medicines, warm clothes and shelter.  Donations may be made direct to the Red Cross appeal, or alternatively, you may care to donate using the QR code below.  The QR code will also be displayed in church.

If you don't do QR Codes then clicking this link on your computer goes to the same "give-a-litte" link: https://givealittle.co/campaigns/753bbfac-510a-47d8-86cf-f6a707ddc585
 

 

 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.

 


 

2025 PCC meeting dates


29th January at 7.00 pm

11th February at 7.30 pm by Zoom

APCM  2nd March at 12 noon

17th March at 7.15 pm

7th April at 7.15 pm

13th May at 7.15 pm

22nd July at 7.15 pm

27th September (away day)

18th November at 7.15 pm

 


  


    

 

 


PLEASE CAN YOU HELP

 

WE COULD REALLY DO WITH YOUR FINANCIAL HELP IN THIS DIFFICULT TIME.

PLEASE CONSIDER GIVING IF YOU CAN TO SUPPORT OUR CHURCH AND OUR WORK IN THE COMMUNITY.

EITHER

CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR QUICK DONATION PAGE

CLICK HERE


   OR

ALTERNATIVELY WE CAN NOW RECEIVE DONATIONS VIA TEXT MESSAGE BY TEXTING THE WORD LEMSFORD FOLLOWED BY A SPACE AND THEN AN AMOUNT OF YOUR DONATION, TO 70085.  FOR EXAMPLE, TO GIVE £5 TYPE LEMSFORD 5, TO GIVE £10 TYPE LEMSFORD 10.  THEN SIMPLY SEND YOUR TEXT TO 70085.  TEXTS WILL COST YOUR DONATION AMOUNT PLUS ONE STANDARD RATE MESSAGE.

MANY THANKS

 

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IMPORTANT REQUEST TO REGULAR GIVERS FROM THE FINANCE COMMITTEE

 

If regular givers would prefer to make their payments by bank transfer, the bank details of the church are:

HSBC Bank.  Sort Code: 40-46-08 A/C No: 51431609

Many thanks

 

 

 

Choir practice every Sunday at 9.45 am 

Bell ringing practice every Monday evening at 7.30 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.