Notices for Sunday 15 February
THE TRANSFIGURATION
10am Order of service – https://stpetersleck.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Sundays-before-Lent-2026.pdf
Readings
Exodus 24.12-end; 2 Peter 1.16-end; Matthew 17.1-9
Collect
Holy God, you know the disorder of our sinful lives: set straight our crooked hearts, and bend our wills to love your goodness and your glory in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
MORNING PRAYER
Morning Prayer and is live-streamed at 9am each morning (Mon-Thu) from www.stpetersleck.org or www.facebook.com/southcheltenham
You can also join in person as follows:
- Mon – Pip & Jim’s,
- Tue – St. Christopher’s
- Wed – Emmanuel
- Thu – St. Peter’s
There is no Morning Prayer next week. This will return on Mon 23rd Feb.
Live Streams
www.stpetersleck.org or www.facebook.com/stpetersleckhampton
CALENDAR of events
Click here to see upcoming events
OFFERTORY
We do not take a collection at St. Peter’s during the service, but you can make a donation using the card machine, which is facing you as you come in, or by using the basket if cash. You can also make a donation online.
REST IN PEACE
Please let Revd Gary or Revd Jade know if there is anyone who has died recently so that prayers can be said for them and their families.
PRAYERS
Please let Revd Gary know of anyone who has died recently or who needs prayer at this time. See church website also:
https://stpetersleck.org/for-our-prayers/
PRAYER FOR THE HOMELESS
We pray that those of us with warm houses not be lulled into complacency and forgetfulness. Jesus, help us to see your face in the eyes of every homeless person we meet so that we may be empowered through word and deed, and through all the means we have, to bring justice and peace to those who are homeless. Amen.
Go to the www.stpetersleck.org/homeless-awareness for more information and resources. See also Woolly Hat Day (below)
PRAYERS FOR PEACE
Please pray for peace and an end to war in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and Iran.
DAILY BIBLE STUDY APP
Everyday Faith is a series of reflections, prayers and stories. It will provide you with daily reflections, which you can read and/or listen to, including selected Bible readings, a simple prayer to prepare you for the day ahead, and thoughts based on that week’s theme.
Download the free app from the App Store or from Google Play.
DAILY PRAYER APP
The Daily Prayer has the services and readings for the day.
If you have a mobile, then you may wish to download the Daily Prayer app (available from ), which will have the services and readings for the day.
Download the app from Church House Publishing – there is a subscription charge.
JUNIOR CHURCH
Children – pre-schoolers and juniors – There are things to do in the children’s area each Sunday.
The next First Sunday Special is Lent Temptations at 10am on 1st March.
Please see the Junior Church webpages for information and online activities: https://stpetersleck.org/mesmerize/groups-at-st-peters/junior-church/
LITTLEPEBBLES
Little Pebbles is taking a break for half term, but will resume at 10am on Tues 3rd March.
LENT ACTIVITIES/RESOURCES
The Lent icon is now available on the Home page of the website www.stpetersleck.org
CCP LENT APPEAL
For the Lent appeal for CCP, the idea is that during the run up to Easter instead of giving something up for Lent an item of food is donated to CCP for each day. The response to this in previous years has been very positive, so if you are able, please join in again this year. I am more than happy to collect from your home, just drop me an email to gilly_whittingham@btinternet.com
Many thanks, Gilly Whittingham.
CRAFT GROUP
Every Wednesday, 10-12 in the Cottages
All are welcome to join, even if just for a ‘cuppa’ and a chat.
CHURCH CLEANING
* * SAVE THE DATE * *
Sat 21st March, 9.30-11am
Please make a note of the date and come along to help Spring Clean the church in time for Easter. To be followed by coffee and cake in the cottages! Sally Marlow
ECO CHURCH NOTICES
Click here for further eco tips and green news
Leckhampton Litter Pick
Sat 7th March, 10am at Burrows Field
To take part, text or call Councillor Chan Mistry on 07881 551713.
Gloucestershire Garden Bird Survey
28th Dec – 28th Feb
The Garden Bird Survey has been running since 1993 and is an important long-term study on how bird populations and habits have changed over time in Gloucestershire.
For details on how to take part, go to
www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk and search for “bird survey”.
Lent Carbon Fast
See climatestewards.org/resources/carbon-fast-for-lent for details of how to take part.
GREEN Calendar
See the Green Calendar of events at www.stpetersleck.org/green-calendar
If you have any items to add to the calendar, please send details to the Parish Office.
WOOLLY HAT DAY
Weds 25th February
Woolly Hat Day is an easy, inclusive way to support people experiencing homelessness. All it takes is a woolly hat, a small donation, and a willingness to start conversations about an issue that affects 1 in 200 people across the UK. Put on your hat. Make a donation. Be part of something that makes a real difference. For more information, go to: www.churchhomelesscharity.org.uk/woolly-hat-day-2026
CHURCH ROAD PEDESTRIAN CROSSING
Leckhampton Primary School and other local groups are supporting a project to create a pedestrian crossing on Church Road. To contribute towards the local community funding and to read more information, go to: www.gofundme.com/f/churchroadcrossing
TEAM
ASH WEDNESDAY
Weds 18th Feb, 7.30pm @ P&J
There will be a team service with ashing at P&J at the above date time, do come along to mark the start of the season of Lent.
There will also be a service with ashing at St Peter’s at 10.30am on Ash Wednesday
LENT TALK 2026
Thursday 26th February, 7.30pm at St. Peter’s Church
This year’s Team Lent Talk will be given by Revd Catherine Lomas on the ‘Icons of Lent’. Catherine is an ordained Anglican priest who now works as an iconographer. She will be speaking about icons as a source of light in the darkness and how they invite us into the presence of Christ, made real in our midst.
https://www.catherinemaryicons.uk/
Do come along! Rev Gary
SOUTH CHELTENHAM YOUTH
See stpetersleck.org/noticeboard/#SCY-midweek
Contact Abbie, our Youth Worker, at abbie@southcheltyouth.org.uk for more info.
ORDINARY TIME
What is it?
At this time of year we move into a short season (between Epiphany and Lent) of what the church calls ‘Ordinary Time’ when the colours in our churches turn ‘green’.
If you read the English definition of ‘ordinary’ you could be forgiven for thinking that these weeks and, later in the year, months were less
important, but nothing could be further from the truth!
Ordinary Time is called such because the weeks are numbered. The Latin word ordinalis, which refers to ‘numbers in a series’, stems from the Latin word ordo, from which we get the English word order.
Therefore, Ordinary Time is in fact ‘Ordered Time’ and refers to the ordered life of the Church outside of the great seasons of Incarnation (Advent, Christmas and Epiphany) and Resurrection (Lent, Easter and Pentecost).
This period of time is often referred to as the season of Creation, when we can reflect on ‘growth’, both in our lives and in the world around us; perhaps at this time, to prepare for Lent and how this might ‘change’ our lives.
As human beings we are different from all other creatures and living things in the natural world. But as much as that is true, we are also fundamentally part of the natural world. All creatures and living things were made by our loving God; they were blessed by God; and they were given into our care. Humans and the natural world live and move together.
However, there seems to be an ever growing rift between us and the rest of creation. Our world is hurting because collectively we are making choices that place our environment under huge stress; part of which is producing and consuming at a rate that is unsustainable and unhealthy.
Slowly but surely, we are becoming alienated from our beautiful Eden, Mother Earth.
This country is, by far, not the worst contributor to this unfolding global catastrophe, but this should not lead us into complacency or stop us from making a collective difference.
Humanity and the natural world live and move together and have their being in God. When we stop caring for our world, we stop caring for one another.
This is far from an Ordinary Time in which we live! Rev Gary.