St Stephen’s Church, Mundham

News on 8 February 2026

St Leodegar's Church

Revd John-Henry Bowden gave a powerful and engaging sermon on How Much God Loves Us… and gives us hope in a world where many have turned their back on him.

St Stephen's Church

Canon Keith Richards talked about Getting Ready for Lent. What is it that we need to do in preparing for Lent? “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God” from today’s Gospel reading. The image of God is within us. God made us, values us and wants us to be more faithful disciples.

Today is also the Church of England’s Racial Justice Sunday and Revd Anne Holderness said a prayer.

Bishop Martin announced his retirement

The Bishop of Chichester, The Right Revd Marin Warner, announced that he will retire from the end of May. You can read more in this announcement.

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Our services on 1 February 2026

St Stephen's Church

Canon David Nason, from Chichester Cathedral, led today’s Holy Communion Service. He shared many anecdotes and illuminated Candlemas very well.

  • Candles remind us of Jesus Christ, Light of the World.

  • Traditionally all the candles to be used in church were blessed on this day, hence the name Candlemas.

  • Snowdrops, reminding us that Spring is near, are known as Candlemas Bells..

  • The Greek word for Thanksgiving is Eucharist. Our Eucharist or Holy Communion embodies the spirit of thanksgiving.

Canon David also shared a link with the writer of one of worship songs “Lord Jesus Christ”, Patrick Appleford to the Chichester Cathedral. Revd Patrick studied ministry at the Cathedral at the time that Canon David was also residing there.

The Sunday School prepared for Valentine’s day today. They coloured hearts, made gift boxes containing various coupons in lieu of service and decorated heart-shaped biscuits.

During Holy Communion, Revd Nason knelt down with each child and blessed them by name.

St Leodegar's Church

Today Revd Ann lead a lovely morning praise service at St Leodegar’s, reminding us of Candlemas (also known as the Feast of the Presentation). This marks the end of the 40-day Christmas and Epiphany season, with us celebrating Jesus’ presentation in the Temple. It centres on the biblical story in Luke 2, where Simeon calls Jesus “a light to lighten the Gentiles,” focusing on themes of light, prophecy, and the fulfilment of Christmas. We even sung Joy to the World, which although known as a Christmas carol, truly fits with this theme.

Jo Hutchinson gave us an engaging talk on the meaning of piety (sourced from Ely diocese), which linked in with today’s readings.

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Support St Stephen’s Church

St Stephen’s Church is providing more than just church services in our villages. See the Activities page for more information on the services we provide.

We would really appreciate your financial support in continuing to make this possible.

Use our Give a Little Platform (below) to make a donation.

If you have Parish Giving Scheme account (or would like to create one), use the link below by clicking on the button.

St Stephen's Church Parish Giving Scheme
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