St Peter's Church Stanley

Dear Friends,

Well, it is finally happening! Next month, a moving van will arrive to take Mother Jo and I to our new home in Batley, and a new start for me as priest-in-charge of four churches: All Saints’ Batley, St Thomas’ Batley, St Andrew’s Purlwell and St Paul’s Hanging Heaton. It will be a big change and a big challenge. We have been blessed to get to know so many people in our six years in Outwood and Wrenthorpe. You have welcomed us into your homes and shared your lives with us, and we have been so grateful for the love and hospitality you have shown us.

There are two things that I think make for a healthy church: taking what we do seriously and also being serious about the people we do it for. I believe in a welcoming church which expects and plans for people of all ages and backgrounds to come along, as well as in a church which is faithful to the traditions that have shaped us as Christians and which we hope to pass on to the next generation. That is the kind of ministry I have tried to have in St Mary Magdalene’s, St Anne’s and the wider North Wakefield Team, and which I hope to carry to Batley. The challenge is a big one: all four of my new churches are small, with an average of only around 80 or 90 people going to church across the team. The team covers a diverse area, with many families who trace their roots to India and Pakistan, but there are healthy interfaith links and lots of community work going on.

One of the things which encourages me most about the North Wakefield Team as I leave it is that there is so much good which has been done in the last year, and a great deal of it has been led by the people of our churches, rather than the clergy. Whether its the Youth Drop in at St Anne’s, the Drop-In and Lunch Club in St Mary Magdalene’s, the reopened Ark in St Peter’s or the Warm Spaces initiative in St Paul’s, there is so much going on which comes about because of the hard work of parishioners. I hope and pray all these things carry on and grow in the coming years – it was very encouraging to discover the Gardening Club in St Mary Magdalene’s had been awarded a large grant from the Bishops’ Development Fund to continue its work.

Of course, the clergy DO have a role to play, and I shall miss the company and fellowship of Glenn, David and Stuart, as well as all the lay ministers. I have learned a lot in my time with you all and I wish you all every blessing in the months and years to come.

So it’s farewell from me, good luck for the future, and the blessing of God almighty go always with us.

Father Jonathan Bish is priest of Outwood and Wrenthorpe churches in the North Wakefield Benefice

This month we launch our North Wakefield Benefice newsletter, this letter from Glenn was from the inaugural edition.

Dear Friends,  It is lovely to welcome you to the first edition of our very own North Wakefield Benefice monthly magazine.  Many thanks to Ellie at St Peter’s, Stanley who has found time in her busy schedule to put together this edition and for those who have contributed articles from each of the four churches. The benefice magazine will of course evolve over time so please pass onto Ellie or myself any comments and feedback on this edition and future ones.

It is hoped that our benefice magazine will help us stay in contact with each other by allowing us to share our lives, events, stories and prayers and in doing so encourage each other in our own Christian journey.  The magazine is very much a shop window for each church to share their events and activities and what is encouraging and blessing them at the present time.  You will see when you read these pages that across the four churches there is a great number of activities taking place and we are all thankful to those who contribute to church life in any way.  Do have a read and consider supporting an event or activity in another church in the benefice.

It is now reckoned that around three quarters of the churches in the Church of  England are in some form of a benefice or team.  In each case there is no set formula for how a benefice should organise itself but at the heart is a requirement for good relationships, trust and a common vision.  Creativity is very much the name of the game and  listening, supporting and praying together will help guide us into the future.

To help us grow together these are some of the areas the benefice is working on:

1. Our church wardens had their first joint meeting with the clergy in June and another one is arranged for early October.  These meetings allow church wardens and clergy to share together common themes across the churches and encourage one another.

2. The quarterly meetings between clergy and Readers are continuing and at these meetings service planning takes place and we support one another.

3. David Payne at St Anne’s is heading up a benefice prayer meeting and the next meeting is Saturday 24th September from 10am—11.30am at St Paul’s.

4. On Saturday 29th October at St Mary’s, Outwood, we shall be holding an open meeting from 9:30am until around 12 noon.   The meeting will help congregations have an opportunity to hear what is taking place across the benefice and will include worship, tea/coffee and each church will have an opportunity to share news and there will be input about the life of the benefice and possible group work.

5. We are also thankful to Dave Florence who has arranged our benefice logo, which we hope builds up our common life together.

Take care and God Bless, Glenn

Rev Glenn Coggins, Vicar of  the United Benefice of Stanley, Outwood and Wrenthorpe and Alverthorpe.