As we enter Passiontide and look forward to Easter please see below for the services which will be held at St Helen's: Palm Sunday (29th March) – Procession at St Helen's 11am followed by Family Communion Good Friday (3rd April) – a reflective Good Friday Liturgy service (10h00), followed by Coffee and Hot Cross Buns at Meadow Croft Easter Day (5th April) – Easter Day Family Communion Service (11h00) with Easter Egg hunt in the churchyard!
If you are new to the village, you may not know about our lovely churchyard.Do come up when you have a few spare minutes and admire the snowdrops - they are just opening!
Welcome to Choral EvensongOn Sunday 25 January 2026 our quarterly Benefice Choral Evensong will be held at St Mary's Church, Chalgrove, starting at 16h00. The service will start at 4 pm and will last for approximately an hour, followed by refreshments.O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, bow down before him, his glory proclaim. (J.S.B. Monsell)The service of Evensong is a quintessentially Anglican Service! It was compiled by Archbishop Cranmer in the sixteenth century, from much earlier monastic services of evening prayer and night prayer (Compline), which is why it contains canticles (The Magnificat, The Nunc Dimittis) from both services. An interesting article describing Evensong can be found here.The beauty of Evensong is its simplicity: solemn worship is offered to God, with all the resources and creativity at our disposal. This is our core purpose as God’s creatures, and points, as does our building, to our belief in the centrality of God in the life of every community, including Chalgrove and Berrick Salome.The essence of this service is praise: the words of the Psalms, inspired by God, carry our minds and hearts into the worship of God. Readings from Scripture direct us to our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. And The Blessed Virgin Mary’s great song of triumph, The Magnificat, points us to the new relationship with God which he brings about. The prayers and responses commit us to the life of service to which Christians are called.We live in a busy world; it is our prayer that this act of worship may both glorify God and provide an opportunity for the recharging of spiritual batteries.
Walking Nativity in Berrick Salome - Saturday 20 December 2025 - 10h30 at The ChequersCalling would-be angels, shepherds, kings, stars, sheep (maybe even camels)...The Walking Nativity will be taking place this Saturday 20th in the carpark of The Chequers, where we will see if there is any room at the Inn...Basil the ponkey will be there and will enjoy meeting all the children before the Nativity procession begins.As last year, he will very likely join us inside the church also, to munch on his hay-net, whilst all the children dress up to form a Nativity tableau with Christmas songs and story.No need to dress up as nativity costumes will be provided when we get to the church.Hot chocolate with marshmallows, and other refreshments, will be provided for afterwards.Everyone welcome!Christmas Eve Carol ServiceOn Wednesday 24 December 2025 -18h30 - at St Helen's Church. This year we continue with our traditional service of Carols by Candlelight including the Blessing of the Crib. We invite you to:· walk up the candle-lit Church Lane (limited parking is available)· gather in the candle-lit church· sing some lovely well-known carols (from a service sheet), each linked by a line of the Christmas Story· hear the children singing around the crib.The service will last about 60 minutes. Everyone is welcome! This year’s collection will be donated to The Chiltern Centre, which provides specialist care for 16 - 30 year olds with disabilities, so please give generously, by cash, or online . Christmas Day Holy CommunionOn Thursday 25 December 2025 from 11h00 to 11h45 we will be holding our traditional Service of Holy Communion for Christmas Day in St Helen's Church.We do hope you can join us at one or more of these festive events!
