It's been announced that Deiniol will be leaving Holy Trinity, Prestwood and St Mary Magdalene, Great Hampden after 17 years as our Rector.

His final service will be on Sunday 20th July, the Feast of Mary Magdalene, in Great Hampden.

You can read the full announcement here: Holy Trinity, Prestwood - Announcement from the Rector.

There's a lot of special events happening in the next two months. Here are some dates for the diary:

Our service for Trinity Sunday will be at 10.30am, and we are delighted to welcome the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft as we conclude our 175th Anniversary celebration. We celebrate 175 of ministry and mission in this place, give thanks for the work we are currently doing and look ahead to the next 175 years. 

Following the service we will continue our 175th Anniversary celebrations with a parish lunch. There is no charge, but donations will encouraged on the day. Everyone is invited! In order to help with catering, please let us know you are coming—you can do that online here www.htprestwood.org.uk/lunch or via the sign up sheet in church.

SEARCH will be doing the bulk of the catering for this, and have asked for contributions if able. There is a sign up sheet at the back of the church for offers of dishes. 

Would you believe that it has been 10 years since the refurbishment at HTP? That was also probably the last time the church had a massive clean. As we celebrate our 175th Anniversary, and prepare for the Flower Festival and our Patronal Festival, we have scheduled a BIG CLEAN!! And we need your help. 

Saturday 7th June, 10am. 

Refreshments provided. 

Bring yourselves, your whole family, and any helpful tools along and help us brighten up the place. 

Jobs that need doing include: dusting the ceiling and rafters, cleaning the walls and skirting boards, and much more. There's something for everyone, of skills, abilities and ages. 

If you're able to help, please sign up either in church or here: www.htprestwood.org.uk/bigclean. 

This year the Feast of the Ascension is Thursday 29th May. That day when we celebrate Jesus' ascension to sit at the right hand of the Father, 40 days after rising from the tomb. We will gather under the Ascension window in the Chancel of St Mary Magdalene, Great Hampden at 7pm for this Eucharist. Please do join us. 

Following his time with us for Trinity Sunday, Bishop Steven will be joining our friends at Beyond Difference for the next in their Interfaith events. Reflections on Faith & Leadership: navigating the complexities of fulfilling my mandate. Taking place at Chesham Town Hall, doors open at 1.45pm for a 2.00pm start. More information can be found on their website: beyonddifference.org.  

Saturday 15^th June 10am–5pm, Sunday 16^th June 1-5pm

Please come and join us for our 175^th Anniversary Patronal Flower Festival as our anniversary year draws to a close. A beautiful selection of floral arrangements will be on display in the church, some sponsored by genrerous local businesses and arranged by our very talented community of volunteers. £2.50 entry, under 16s free. 

Help us create a Paper Flower Arch

All Children are invited to help us make a Paper Flower Arch for the Flower Festival taking place on the 14th & 15th of June. If you would like to contribute and have your flowers displayed, please submit them into the collection box at the back of Church by Sunday the 1st June. 

Volunteers Needed for Saturday

We are seeking volunteers to staff the welcome desk at the main entrance to the church. A sign up sheet is available with timeslots. 

All details: htprestwood.org.uk/175. 

Prestwood Picnic takes place on Saturday 21st June 2025 and Holy Trinity will be having a stall.

https://prestwoodcommunity.uk/prestwood-big-week/

On the stall we will be promoting everything we do in the community and also raising funds to support that work. 

We will be holding a bottle tombola, if you have any bottles you would like to donate, please leave these at the back of church. 

We will also need some volunteers to help us out on the day. If you are able to help, please speak to Barbara or Kayleigh. 

Also, please come along on the day to support this event. 

Thank you to all those who have attended or supported our why sessions so far. As we are halfway through, we thought it would be a great time to gather some feedback and also think about what comes next. Next year's programme will be worked on during the Summer. Whether or not you have attended a session you are invited to complete the below feedback form. Those of you who have attended, this will be your opportunity to feed back on the sessions and suggest improvements. For those who haven't, this is your opportunity to tell us why - perhaps there is something we can do to make this possible for you.

https://www.htprestwood.org.uk/why#feedback. 

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to our Lent Appeal. We raised over £5,100 for BURPS, the charity dedicated to making a difference for families on the Stoke Mandeville Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, St Matthew's Burnley and Siyabulela pre-school in Proteadorp, South Africa. This is an amazing total to have achieved!

St Mary Magdalene's PCC is committed to working together to find the best way of worshipping in the new space we have created in the church, and working through the implications of the Vision Statement that we put together in 2019 to guide our project.
To that end we quickly arranged a ‘Welcome and Worship Workshop’ for the PCC, facilitated by Asa Humphries, the Parish Development Advisor before Easter. Out of that workshop, and the PCC meeting that followed it, we have put together Great Hampden Welcome and Worship which outlines where we have got to. Everyone is invited to read and reflect on this short document, copies of which are available in church as well.