Articles from the Parish (Blog)
most recent first … includes posts that relate to past events
Guide to St Nicholas’ Churchyard, Harpenden
Click the curly arrows in the PDF below to see all 5 pages.
(more…)Request for Clergy Reference Form
Applications to St George’s School – Parish of Harpenden Clergy References (‘Church Forms’)
St George’s School Harpenden requires those applying for places (under the ‘Church Attendance’ category) to obtain a Clergy Reference to meet the school’s admissions requirements. The process for requesting these references is set out below.
The Parish of Harpenden (St Nicholas, St Mary’s, All Saints Churches) does not set the requirements and we have no involvement in the Admissions Process, but we are happy to supply references confirming applicants’ involvement in Church life.
These are based on the ‘Passport’ – the family-held record of your attendance at services over the past 24 months. You are responsible for this passport as we have no other records of attendance.
Please note:
· St George’s School Governors set the admissions policy, not the Church. Queries about the policy or the process, or about your child’s application, should be addressed to the admissions team at the School.
· The School requires church attendance at least once per calendar month for each of the 24 months prior to the date of application for a school place.
· It is parents’ responsibility to check the admissions requirements and ensure they meet them
To help us deal with requests for clergy references efficiently, we ask parents/guardians to send the following documents by email to the parish office by Wednesday 1 October 2025:
· A completed ‘Request for Clergy Reference’ Form (available at the back of each church, via the Parish website or from the parish office by email; ) and
· A scanned colour copy of your child’s completed record of church attendance (‘Passport’).
Completed clergy references may be collected from the Parish Office by parents/guardians on Saturday 11 October 2025 between 10am and 12.00noon.
Please contact the parish office by email at office@parishofharpenden.org or by phone (01582 765524) if you have queries or difficulties.
Bon voyage Dennis!
Over forty parishioners from Harpenden attended the ‘Service of Licensing’ for Dennis Stamps as Associate Vicar of the Shill Valley and Broadshire Benefice, at St Peter’s Church, Filkins, on Tuesday 23rd July 2024. This followed Dennis’ retirement as our very popular Rector and the marvellous send-off for him at St. Nicholas’ on June 9th.
The service at St. Peter’s took place on a warm and sunny evening. Both the church and the village of Filkins looked glorious, in their Cotswold-style, and we were made to feel most welcome by our hosts. Members of our choir attended and, led by Marie Price, sang ‘We Praise Thee O God (Te Deum)’ by CV Stanford. The service was led by the Bishop of Dorchester.
We offer our prayers and best wishes to Dennis and Helen as they settle in to their new Parish in the Diocese of Oxford.
Prayers of Love and Faith for same-sex couples
The Parish of Harpenden (All Saints’, St Mary’s, and St Nicholas’) is pleased to welcome the Prayers of Love and Faith for same-sex couples. All the clergy in our parish are happy to provide such prayers within a service upon request. The PCC has unanimously endorsed this decision of the clergy and the use of the newly commended Prayers for Love and Faith. As a parish we are committed to being an inclusive church, called to be caring, loving and welcoming to all. Please contact the Parish Office (01582 765524) if we can assist.
Farewell to Dennis
Sunday 9th June 2024 was a marvellous celebration of Dennis’ time as our Rector. The Parish came together to create a memorable send-off and so many people came and contributed to the special day. It was a fitting tribute to Dennis’ wonderful leadership with us. The morning joint All-Parish Service at St. Nicholas’ Church was exceptional, and weaved together so many different styles of worship. The Church was full, the volume high and the warmth palpable. The afternoon Farewell Tea Party was very well attended, with cream teas, cakes, tea, music, crafts and presentations of cards, gifts and many warm words of thanks to Dennis and Helen.
(more…)Planting a dead hedge
Having taken advice from local experts, Alex Melson and Tim Hill, as part of St Mary’s Eco Church initiative, a dead hedge has been started next to the wild flower area and the bug church. Rustic Sweet Chestnut stakes were kindly donated by the Tarmac company for this purpose.
Dead hedges are piles of branches and twigs arranged to form a barrier. They provide hiding places and nesting habitats for all sorts of creatures, as well as food for insects. As the hedge rots down, the nutrients are recycled back into the earth below, meaning garden ‘waste’ needn’t go into garden bins or bonfires.
Faith and Light Tea
Tables ready for a lovely tea, provided by St Marys team after the Faith and Light service, at St Johns Harpenden.
Our Parish now Supports Azalea
Azalea means beautiful and dignified in ancient Greek and its mission is to empower and facilitate sustainable transformation in the lives of the men, women and neighbourhoods impacted by sex trafficking through several different projects. Sex trafficking is when an individual is coerced, forced, or manipulated into providing sexual access or services to a ‘punter’ often through threats of, or acts of, violence from a perpetrator. So what work does Azalea do?
(more…)St Mary’s Bug Church
St Marys bug church was filled up with twigs, leaves and other materials at our outdoor Simply Worship service. We found some caterpillars, and moved one into the bug church complete with his favourite leaves!
We added the Please and Thank you prayers to the prayer board in church. We are proud to have received our Eco Church silver award.
British Humanitarian Aid Newsletter
BHA-Newsletter-March.9-2023Download