St Peter's Church Stanley

Dear Friends, On Sunday 17th July at 3pm we will gather on the field at St Peter’s Church for our second Pet Thanksgiving Service. I have been involved in Pet blessing services for many years and have always found them a real opportunity to give thanks to God for our animal companions and the joy and friendship they bring to our lives.  Pet services can have their moments though and for several years whilst I was at St Michael’s, East Ardsley we had Morley Exotic Animal Rescue with us. At one of the visits we ended up with a Komodo dragon  joining us along with some tarantulas.  I think it was one of the quietest services ever as all the dogs and cats looked on as if to say “What on earth is that walking around?  We don’t normally see one of these on our daily walk or in our garden!”

Our friends Dave and Marion at St Peter’s are currently training Esme the Labrador to be a Guide Dog.  It is quite a considerable undertaking but we all know what a valuable help and companion a guide dog can be to a blind or partially sighted person. The dog will help their owners remain mobile, independent, safe and secure.

It goes without saying that animals can be very therapeutic and help us in many ways in our own daily lives.  I know of a man who after various sad events in his life, retreated very much to his house and lost all interest in going out and engaging with the wider world. Family and friends were very concerned about his mental health until somebody suggested getting a dog. Well, to say it transformed his life is an understatement.  After several weeks his mood had changed; he now had a   focus to his life and on his daily walks he made several friends with other dog walkers and enjoyed chatting away to them.     

In our service we will say this prayer together which will also remind us of our great responsibility to look after God’s creation:

Generous God, whose own self-giving is reflected in the love and devotion of these animal companions; bless them with your Spirit, and make us mindful of the great responsibility we bear for all creatures dependent upon us for their welfare; help us to use our power over them for their own benefit and never selfishly for our own gain.  Amen. 

So dear friends, do consider joining us on Sunday 17th July at 3pm on the field for our special pet blessing service. We will also be joined by the Leeds, Wakefield and District RSPCA who will have an information stall.  I look forward to seeing you there or at any other service or event we are holding over the summer months – take care, God bless and hope you have a good summer.

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

I am sure like me you have days which are etched in the memory. One such day for me is Saturday 1st July 1995 when I was ordained a deacon in Salisbury Cathedral. My family had travelled down from York-shire for the service in a mini bus with a poster in the window which read “We are with Glenn and so is God!”. It was a most marvellous occasion and there were well over 1,000 people in the cathedral along with 12 of us being ordained. Before the service we had gathered in the Bishop’s chapel and sat around in a circle for us swear two particular oaths. The registrar was present to make sure everything was done according to Canon law and to make sure each of us actually swore the two allegiances – one to the Bishop and one to Queen Elizabeth II and her heirs and successors.

The Oath of Allegiance was introduced in the 1580s at a period of national crisis, when there was a succession of political plots to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I. Some clergy in the Church of England were involved in these schemes therefore this Oath was introduced to prevent clergy from undermining the crown and also the Church – can you believe it!

Looking back to that afternoon in July 1995, I never had any qualms about swearing allegiance to our Queen. She has shown over the past 70 years of public life her clear sense of vocation to serve ‘with her whole heart’ and in doing so has served God and all the people with humility and good character. For Christians this is fully seen in the kingship of Jesus who came not to be served but to serve.

As a nation will shall be celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee over four days from Thursday 2nd June until Sunday 5th June when there are various national events taking place as well as several across the village of Stanley. At St Peter’s we shall be holding a special service of thanksgiving at 10am on Sunday 5th June to which you are most warmly invited. In the meantime as we approach the Queen’s Platinum celebration I leave you with this prayer for your own personal devotions.

Gracious God, we give you thanks for the reign of your servant Elizabeth our Queen, and for the example of loving and faithful service which she has shown among us. Help us to follow her example of dedication and to commit our lives to you and to one another, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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

Dear Friends,          

I am sure like me it was a joy to hear the news that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and  Anoosheh Ashoori had been released from Iran after several years of captivity. It was wonderful to see photos of  Nazanin holding her daughter and being reunited with her husband Richard who had fought tirelessly since her capture for her release. Sadly this was a brief moment of light on the world stage on what has been a very difficult and painful month as we have witnessed the invasion of Ukraine. Who would have thought that on mainland Europe in the 21st century such horrors would be on our doorstep?

Many years ago I went to hear Terry Waite speak about his 1,763 days held in captivity by Hezbollah.  There were some lighter moments in his talk such as when he asked for English books to read, he was  finally handed one by a kind guard with the title ‘A Mother’s Guide to Breast-feeding’ – not exactly what he had in mind but it was a start.  He talked about what had supported him in those dark days and one was the thought that people were remembering him in their daily prayers.  He also would save a morsel of bread and some water and have a holy communion service in his cell – he could remember the entire service and that gave him comfort as it brought home the presence of Jesus in his midst and the wider church family.  One very surprising comment was that when he was  finally given a copy of the Bible, he expected its words to offer him great comfort but it also reminded him of ‘man’s inhumanity to man’. The Bible is a very real and honest book that brings home the pain and sadness of how we have turned our backs on God and gone our own way.

Thankfully it also tells the story of God’s redeeming love in action throughout history calling us home to be part of his family. The extent of God’s love is seen primarily in the life and ministry of Jesus and the events of Holy Week. On Good Friday we stand at the foot of the cross and pause in deep sadness as Jesus is crucified and all hope is lost for those early disciples.  The wonderful news of course is that  Jesus dying on the cross is not the end of the story, rather three days later Jesus is resurrected and offers new life to those who put their trust in him. There’s no limit the God’s love for us – we just need to accept that he loves us and to share in our lives – the miracle of Easter.

As we journey into the events of Holy Week, let us continue to pray for those affected by the war in Ukraine and look at ways we can help those caught up in this terrible tragedy. May they know we are there for them in solidarity and that hope, love and joy of the resurrected Christ will in time replace the darkness and pain of their Good Friday experience.  

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