Bowland Benefice Pews News 1 February 2026 Presentation of Christ in the Temple or Candlemas - Collect Almighty and ever-living God, clothed in majesty, whose beloved Son was this day presented in the Temple, in substance of our flesh: grant that we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts, by your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. This week in the Benefice Sunday 1 February 10.30am Family Service in Upton Snodsbury 11.00am Holy Communion in Peopleton 6.00pm Songs of Praise in White Ladies Aston Friday 6 February 7.00pm to 7.30pm Mice in a Matchbox in The Parish Room, White Ladies Aston Sunday 8 February 10.30am Holy Communion with Baptism in Upton Snodsbury 10.30am Morning Worship in White Ladies Aston Monday 9 February 12 noon Lunch in The Parish Room We welcome Revd Rob Farmer to St Nicholas at Candlemas to take the Communion Service. Rob has recently received his PTO (permission to officiate) from the Diocese and we look forward to him joining us on Sunday. Rob is no stranger to the Bowland Benefice as he has been part of our worshipping community for a few months now. Songs of Praise offers an opportunity to sing hymns chosen by the congregation and later to socialise with a glass of wine or juice.  There are a very few tickets left for Mice in a Matchbox on Friday February. Cost is £10 to include food. Please ring Margaret (01905 345371) to reserve your seat. If you would like lunch on Monday 9 February in The Parish Room – 2 courses for £5 – please ring Margaret (phone number above). This week we commemorate The Presentation of Christ in the Temple – traditionally called Candlemas, the festival which commemorates the occasion when Joseph and Mary take the baby Jesus to the temple. According to Jewish law, a woman who had given birth, before rejoining temple or synagogue worship, needed to be ritually purified. For a long time this was also the tradition in the Anglican Communion – a woman went to be ‘churched’. A rite of passage – of purification so that she could rejoin her church community and to say thank you that she survived the ordeal of child-birth. The Church of England now offers a simple Service of Thanksgiving for the Birth of a Child. It is a joyful, non-sacramental ceremony allowing parents to thank God for a new baby or adopted child and to pray for them. So going back two thousand years or so, that's basically what Mary did too. The Law demanded also that a first-born son was consecrated to the Lord and a sacrifice of a pair of turtle doves or young pigeons made. In the temple, the day Mary and Joesph went up to Jerusalem, happened to be two devout people both with the gift of prophecy, Simeon and Anna. As a result of this meeting we, in the Christian church are left with some of the most beautiful and simple words of prayer there are, spoken by the elderly Simeon. Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation; Which thou hast prepared : before the face of all people; To be a light to lighten the Gentiles: and to be the glory of thy people Israel. The name Candlemas comes from the tradition that on this Sunday, inspired by Simeon’s theme of light, all the candles to be used in church for the coming year and those in homes were taken into church for a blessing symbolising Christ as the light of the world. In prayer our Church remembered last Tuesday Holocaust Memorial Day. Eternal God, we come before You to remember the victims of the Holocaust. We lament the loss of six million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust, the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution, and victims of all genocides. As we remember and lament all those whose lives have been lost, help us to work for a better future today. We pray for a day when all shall be free to live in peace, unity and love. Amen.