The United Benefice of , , Marton cum Grafton and Whixley

with Green Hammerton

Table of Contents

Welcome …………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………… 3

Our New Priest …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5

Our Benefice ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6

Local amenities and activities …………………………………………………………………………………………… 7

Access to the benefice and its surrounding area ……………………………………………………………… 8

The vicarage ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8

Our Ministry Team ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 9

Our ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 10

St Mary the Virgin, Great Ouseburn …………………………………………………………………………………. 10

Holy Trinity, Little Ouseburn ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 12

Christ Church, Marton cum Grafton ………………………………………………………………………………… 14

Church of the Ascension, Whixley with St Thomas’ Chapel of Ease, Green Hammerton . 16

Appendix ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 19

Statistics ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 19

Finance ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 20

Worship Rota ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 21

Useful Links ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 22

2

Welcome

Hello, and thank you for considering becoming our new vicar. As you read through this Brochure we hope you will be attracted to the vacancy, not just because our Benefice is situated in an extremely attractive and accessible part of North , but because you want to be part of our vision to make our piece of God’s own country a piece of his Kingdom on earth. We want to progress in our personal and collective faith journeys and so we are looking for a Vicar who will work with us to focus on mission, pastoral work and spiritual development. In this way, we believe we can together move in the direction God wants us to move.

The five villages in our Benefice sit in four parishes, each village having its own church. A sixth church, located in one of the Benefice’s hamlets, is looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust. Three of the villages have churches dating back to the 12/13th century, while the other two date from the 19th century. All are in good condition and have been, and continue to be improved. Active social programmes complement giving and also ensure that each church’s Share for 2016 was paid. With a recent reduction in our Parish Share obligations, we are quietly confident that an historic Parish Share debt in two of our parishes can be written off over the next three years.

The total population of the Benefice is around 3,000 with a combined electoral roll of 171. Your congregations, like the wider communities, cover the complete socio- economic spectrum but with a strong bias towards the higher groups. The majority of working people commute into nearby major towns like and or cities like Leeds and . There are a number of excellent primary and secondary schools in the area; two local Church of Primary Schools benefit from close ties with the church in the form of Governors and leaders of Collective Worship, while a community primary and large private school also reside within the Benefice

Your supportive ministry team comprises a Self-Supporting Priest, two Readers and two Lay Worship Leaders. A variety of service types are offered, ranging from a monthly BCP Eucharist to recently introduced Café Church and Tots’ Praise services. There is

3 also a part time Administrator, a replacement currently being sought as our present Administrator is due to leave the post at the end of March.

Should singing be your relaxation, two choirs exist in the Benefice, one providing choral music for the Ouseburn churches and the other the churches at Marton cum Grafton, Whixley and Green Hammerton, as well as further afield.

Our Benefice, Great and Little Ouseburn, Marton cum Grafton and Whixley with Green Hammerton, may have one of the longest names in the Anglican Communion but it is also long on talent. Hopefully, as you delve further into this Brochure, you will come to the conclusion that your talents will complement ours, so that together we can make our Benefice the place where God’s presence is made known.

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Our new priest

We would like our new priest to be a good leader and communicator, complementing the skills of the church and wider communities. We see you having a very visible presence in, and being part of, the life of the communities of the Benefice, and thus become well known to all. Above all, however, we would like you to be a spiritual leader, with a strong emphasis in the areas of mission and pastoral care and capable of inspiring and nurturing your parishioners whether they are on, or have yet to start, their Christian journeys. We consider your inspiring and nurturing capabilities as particularly relevant as we seek new members for our ministry team and work to build up lay discipleship.

Our current focus of mission is mainly towards younger people via our association with the local primary schools and we consider it important that support for the children and young families within our congregations is also your focus. We have recently introduced Tots’ Praise for pre- school children and parents/grandparents and Café Church as an informal introduction to worship. We would wish to maintain our efforts in these areas while at the same time using your enthusiasm, knowledge and confidence to expand our efforts into other areas of the community. Similarly, we would like to see pastoral care within our communities build on the lead you provide and become more evident as a church based activity.

The nature of ministry within our multi-parish benefice will require you to be a team player, capable of generating co-operation, fellowship and shared goals with the members of both the church and the wider community.

We have yet to mention the style of your church services and worship but, simply put, we want the services you lead to make attendees glad they were there and eager to come again, hopefully with a friend. We are open to suggestions as how services can be made more relevant to people of the 21st Century, whilst at the same time continuing the traditions which mean so much to many people.

The above has indicated our requirements for our new priest, but what about yours for us? We recognise that being a priest of a multi-parish benefice is no easy task. We will therefore support you as best we are able in all aspects of your incumbency, but particularly recognising your need for time off, whether weekly, for holidays or for spiritual refreshment.

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About the Benefice

The benefice is set in the Vale of York in the lovely rural part of close to Harrogate, Ripon and York. The four parishes have five1 churches in five different villages and are: St Mary the Virgin, Great Ouseburn; Holy Trinity, Little Ouseburn; Christ Church, Marton cum Grafton; and the Church of the Ascension, Whixley with St Thomas’ Chapel of Ease, Green Hammerton. The five villages each have their own individuality and the churches vary in size.

The Benefice is predominately rural with a Location of five main churches and villages mixture of pastoral and arable farming, with five major villages and a number of hamlets. The population of around 3,000 has a number of well- established families, but the majority are relative newcomers, with a significant percentage of retirees and families from the higher socio-economic groups. The population is almost exclusively white and has a very low unemployment rate, with many of the residents of working age commuting into the local towns and cities to work or working from home.

1 There are strictly speaking six churches but one of these - St Martins at Allerton - is a redundant church for which the Churches Conservation Trust has responsibility. This church is in the parish of Whixley with Green Hammerton and is very occasionally used for Pastoral services 6

Local amenities & activities

Each village has, in addition to its church, a village hall, while four have a public house and a shop; three of the shops doubling as Post Offices.

Doctor’s surgeries are located in Green Hammerton and in the nearby town of with hospitals in Harrogate and York. Morrisons supermarkets are located in Boroughbridge and Wetherby, with other supermarkets, including Sainsburys and Waitrose, in and Harrogate, most of which deliver. Harrogate and York provide both out-of-town retail parks and in town shopping.

All the villages have an active social programme organised by either the church or the village hall committee, sometimes jointly. The programme is extremely varied and encompasses regular coffee mornings, plays, concerts, pantomimes, village and church summer fetes, garden parties, open gardens, flower and beer festivals for example. Café Church, Tots' Praise and Coffee and Communion are also run regularly by the church for the whole benefice and address all demographics of the area.

Those of a more active frame of mind can take advantage of cricket, tennis, badminton, Keep Fit, Yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates, Short Mat Bowls, Line or ballroom dance and Karate Classes. Those at the two ends of the age range are catered for by

Playgroups and Rainbows/Brownies and the Over 60’s club,

while Green Hammerton has an active Social Club.

The Benefice is served by three excellent primary schools, those in

Green Hammerton and Marton cum Grafton being schools and that in Great Ouseburn being a Community school. In addition to these primary schools, the area is served by a number of secondary schools; the more popular ones being Boroughbridge High School, St Aidan’s Church of England High School in

7 Harrogate and King James’s School in Knaresborough. There is also a large private school, Queen Ethelburgas, within the Benefice.

Access to the benefice and its surrounding area Road, rail and air links to the rest of the UK and beyond are good. All the villages have a regular bus service to York and Boroughbridge and the A1(M) is nearby. Cattal railway station, just south of the Benefice, provides an hourly service to the mainline stations at York and Leeds and Leeds/Bradford airport is about a 40 minutes drive away with Manchester 90 minutes away. Closer to home are the beautiful Dales, the stunning North Yorkshire Moors and the coast, with its major holiday towns of Scarborough, Bridlington and , as well as a number of picturesque fishing villages.

The Vicarage The picturesque vicarage is situated next to

St. Mary’s Church in Great Ouseburn and is a good sized family home set in a pretty garden. It has five bedrooms and two bathrooms (one en suite), a large sitting room, dining room, office, downstairs lavatory and a big kitchen. It has oil-fired central heating and the benefice gives an annual contribution to the incumbent towards the cost of the oil.

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Our Ministry Team

To support you in your leadership we have an enthusiastic and dedicated team…

Assistant Priest

Revd. Joan Roper

Joan arrived in the benefice in September 2013 and was licensed on 1st November that year. She is a PT Non Stipendiary priest who takes services of Holy Communion, baptisms, weddings and funerals and is a foundation governor at Green Hammerton C of E Primary School. Joan is interested in Mission and has introduced new expressions of church in the benefice e.g.

Tots' Praise which has been running for over 3 years and Café Church which

was set up one year ago.

Diocesan Readers

Nancy Clark Born and educated in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, Nan attended Whitelands Church of England College, Putney before becoming a teacher. She retired early and became one of the first Church School Inspectors whilst at the same time being member of the Diocesan Board of Education for 8 years. She was licensed to these Parishes as a Reader in October 1995 in the historic Diocese of Ripon and has served in all the Benefice Churches, developing and leading the Parish Praise services, taking funerals, teaching Confirmation classes and taking Communion by extension into homes as well as leading the Coffee and

Communion house-group. She now concentrates her efforts in Great and Little Ouseburn.

George Rowden George is a retired industrial chemist who was licensed as a Reader in Durham Diocese in 2000 and moved from the Parish of Middleton St George to Whixley in 2008. George is active in leading Parish Praise services, house and Lent groups and in pastoral work within the parishes of Whixley and Green Hammerton and Marton cum Grafton. George also sings in the

church choir of these parishes.

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Our Parishes

St Mary’s, Great Ouseburn (grade II*)

We are a warm and welcoming congregation here at St Mary’s and enjoy the support of the church community and beyond. Our doors are kept open at all times offering a place of peace, prayer and sanctuary. Weekly services are held jointly with Holy Trinity Church, Little Ouseburn, with the congregation happily moving between the churches. Children and adults share a rota of duties, including reading and interceding and making coffee and biscuits for social time after the services. Carol

Services, a Crib Service and a Good Friday Workshop are enjoyed by all and the older members of our community meet monthly for Coffee and Communion in each other's houses. The churches share a thriving,

20+ strong choir, which works with the incumbent and enhances worship on the first Sunday of each month as well as singing for weddings, funerals and other special occasions throughout the church year. The choir is RSCM affiliated and rehearses each Tuesday evening. Other groups and activities include kneeler-makers, a church cleaning team, flower arrangers and churchyard

maintenance and organising the annual 12 ½ mile walk round the Benefice churches. Our active 'events team' organises a variety of social and fund-raising events on a regular basis and has an excellent relationship

with other village committees; sometimes fund raising together or generally supporting each

others’ social activities. St Mary’s and Holy Trinity

also run well attended weekly lunches throughout

Lent in aid of outside charities; this year we are supporting Dementia Forward and the DEC Yemen Appeal.

In conjunction with the Village Hall & Parish Council, new families will be warmly welcomed into the village with a party to introduce them to representatives of village 10 groups, the school, the church and Parish councillors.

Our financial situation is currently in good order and we have always paid our Diocesan share in full.

Our church building and local community Historically, standing on the highest ground in the village, the Church probably dates from the 12th Century. Within the last twenty years a great deal of work has taken place to bring the church building up to date. A new internal porch was built by a local craftsman, the vestry was converted to provide toilet facilities and the bell tower became the vestry with an adjoining kitchen. The organ was replaced and re-sited and the side chapel, formerly housing the organ pipes, has been fully restored to provide a small, versatile worship and meeting space; dedicated to the Chapel of the Resurrection. An audio system was installed and beautiful hand-made kneelers continue to be made. Within the last 10 years the construction of a ramped access has vastly improved access to the building. An improved lighting system has enhanced the ‘warmth’ of the building and most recently the stone flagged floor has been re-pointed.

The old churchyard, to the rear, is managed for the benefit of wildlife and is now home to an increasing diversity of wild flowers, butterflies, moths and birds. It has a fine collection of trees and offers a peaceful space for reflection and remembrance.

Our parish consists of the village Great Ouseburn along with its close neighbouring hamlet of Branton Green. Great Ouseburn enjoys the facilities of a large village hall and playing field, small children’s playground, shop with post office, as well as hosting a caravan park, a stone carver, and joinery works. There are a number of established and thriving local clubs including cricket, bowls, over 60’s and both pilates and children’s dance classes. The local primary school uses the church for special school services and we have a good relationship with them. There is already a tradition of support through financial giving and hard work for the church, which extends beyond the Sunday congregation, and we strive to keep the church relevant to the wider village community.

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Holy Trinity, Little Ouseburn (grade I)

Regarded by many to be the most picturesque church in the benefice and set in a beautiful setting next to the historic ‘Fishpond Bridge’, Holy Trinity attracts many visitors who are captivated by its charms. It is not perhaps surprising that we receive requests for weddings from casual visitors who have simply stopped by on their journey. It is a very special place and you are assured a very warm welcome at Holy

Trinity at all times.

We share our services with our neighbouring parish of St Mary’s Great Ouseburn and enjoy a very strong and active input from laity in reading, interceding and assisting with the chalice at communion.

Our worship is enhanced by the support of the Ouseburns choir on the first Sunday of each month and at all of the major festivals throughout the church calendar.

We hold a number of events during the year and always try to focus on the social aspects and benefits to the wider parish. Many events are jointly hosted with the village hall committee and include jazz nights, curry evenings, first aid courses and wreath making workshops in the run up to Christmas.

The annual ‘Open Gardens’ is by far our biggest event in the calendar and attracts visitors from far and wide. As well as generating funds for both church and village hall, it engenders a great feeling of community spirit and the homemade lunches and teas are second to none!

We make a great effort to make the main church festivals a key part of the local community. Our patronal festival on Trinity Sunday is celebrated with a picnic in the churchyard (when the weather allows!). Christmas and Easter services are always very well supported and for some, the church never looks better than when it is decorated for harvest. Our harvest supper is always a hugely popular village event.

12 Our church building and local community Holy Trinity church is a Grade 1 listed building set on the edge of the village, surrounded by farm land and sheep, in a landscape still keeping much of the feeling of eighteenth century parkland around Kirby Hall estate.

It is thought that the present building dates from just after the Norman Conquest although much of the tower seems to contain material salvaged from earlier buildings. After modifications by Lancaster architect E G Paley in 1875, there have been subsequent restorations in 1952 and most recently 1998 and the church building remains in a very good state of repair.

The most prominent feature of the churchyard is the mausoleum of the Thompson family. A sandstone rotunda with 13 columns, this grade II listed building is now cared for by the York Conservation Trust and is open at selected times of the year. It is occasionally used by the choir for its wonderful acoustics!

The parish is also very proud of its links with the Bronte society as Anne Bronte worshipped at Holy Trinity whilst a governess at nearby Thorpe Underwood Hall. Her novels and poetry draw on the landscape and her experiences here.

Ouseburn playgroup is an active part of the

village community. Open daily in the village hall, it provides childcare for children of pre- school and a great opportunity to meet new people.

Other organizations include a book club and a ‘kneelers’ group which makes the

beautiful hassocks and cushions used in

church.

Our village pub is very popular for ‘fisherman’s breakfasts’ on Saturday and Sunday morning throughout the angling season. Last year, it was the venue for our village Carols which proved hugely successful and we are already looking forward to Christmas 2017!

13 Christ Church, Marton cum Grafton (grade II)

Marton cum Grafton is a vibrant, special village. There is a strong sense of community with neighbours ‘looking in’ on elderly or infirm residents with friendly, but not intrusive, support. There are many village social events and a communication network second to none, including a residents’ email system and village website (www.marton-cum- grafton.org). New residents are welcomed with a personal visit and a welcome letter, along with an invitation to the next church run coffee morning. Every month the village hall hosts coffee mornings with monies raised going to community projects and charities at home and abroad.

The village is made up of two clusters of dwellings which are separated by a link road and scenic footpaths traversing the cricket pitch, fields and woods. Grafton has a village green hosting the climax of the annual ‘Open Gardens’ fundraiser, whilst Marton has the Punch Bowl pub, village shop/post office, village hall, Church of England VA school and Christ Church itself.

Whilst the majority of residents don’t attend church on a regular basis, Christ Church has a committed congregation which regularly numbers around 30 adults and children and a pro-active PCC with 10 members. Our Parish Praise services on first Sundays are popular with families. Refreshments after this service provide an opportunity to build on our community relationships. We thank God that over the years the school has brought into our congregation families that have a commitment to the Christian faith.

Christ Church’s pews are always full on special occasions and school services. The strong link between the school and church includes weekly communal worship and end of term and leavers’ services, promoting a wonderful opportunity to bring the community together in God’s house.

14 Like many congregations, Christ Church has its octogenarians. Their energy and activity are not to be underestimated and the ‘Remnants Group’ faithfully attend Wednesday morning Holy Communion/Prayers.

A ‘Friends of Christ Church, Marton cum Grafton’ was recently formed as a secular body with the aim of fundraising to ensure that the church and graveyard are preserved for future generations. The Friends are currently focusing on improvements to paths, seating and wildlife preservation in the graveyard. This will allow planned open air services to bless the graves.

Our church building and local community The relationship between church and village is very much a reciprocal one. Church members are active in the tennis club, village walking group, the creation of the children’s play area, the Women’s Institute, the local history group, the pub’s friendship lunches and quizzes and the Parish Council, to name but a few of the village activities. There are villagers with little or no commitment to the Church who give up time to maintain the graveyard, cut grass, clean or provide flowers in the church.

The church is a Victorian neo-Gothic building that

incorporates part of a Norman arch. Christianity has played a part in the life of this village for over a thousand years.

A generous legacy will provide a toilet, kitchenette and level access to the church (subject to the necessary planning consents) to be completed by

2018.

At Christ Church we know that the Christian faith has something to offer all of our villagers in good times as well as bad and we want an incumbent who can be a focal presence in the village as we seek to achieve our mission.

15 Church of the Ascension, Whixley (grade II*) with St Thomas’ Chapel of Ease, Green Hammerton

The villages of Whixley and Green Hammerton sit at the southern end of the Benefice with a combined population of around 1500, the electoral roll numbering 70. Three of the Benefice’s ministry team live in Whixley and are supported by an active PCC and fund raising team. The latter’s events, which have

included quizzes, open gardens, flower festivals, Indian Evening, Harvest Auction, concerts etc are well supported by the village community. Congregations are provided with a variety of joint services in either the church of the Ascension in Whixley or St Thomas’ in Green Hammerton. Willing helpers provide post service

tea or coffee at some services, as well as the other

essential church related activities of flower arranging, cleaning and churchyard maintenance.

In addition to church based services, Whixley village hall is also the venue for two other types of service, Café Church and Tots’ Praise, the latter for pre-school children and their parents/grandparents. Retirees make up the majority of the congregations for Holy Communion services and families with young children being in the ascendancy at the Parish Praise services.

In addition to the regular monthly services, Patronal festivals and Ash Wednesday are celebrated and a Good Friday workshop is held for the children. Other Holy Week services are shared with the rest of the Benefice. Advent and Christmas are busy with Carol, Crib and Christingle services. An open air service on Remembrance Sunday around the village War Memorial in Whixley attracts an increasingly large attendance, with a corresponding in- church service in Green Hammerton.

16 A Sunday school, which is lay led, meets on the first Sunday of the month in Green Hammerton and attracts typically 7 children.

Worship is enhanced by a choir which sings at either Whixley or Green Hammerton and also at Marton cum Grafton on a monthly basis, as well as at weddings, funerals and other special occasions throughout the year. The church choir forms the nucleus of a larger concert choir, Collavoce, which supports fund raising activities.

Whixley also has an active Bell Ringing team, the peal of 6 bells being popular with visiting campanologists.

Our church building and local community A close association is maintained with the Church of England Primary School in Green Hammerton. A member of the ministry team is on the Governing Body, while a church member is also a foundation Governor. Occasional whole school and weekly Collective Worship with 1st/2nd year and 3rd -6th year pupils respectively are provided by the ministry team. Church members also accompany the children on school trips when requested to do so. The school holds end-of-school-year leavers and Christmas services in St Thomas’ and decorates the church for Harvest and Remembrance Sunday

In addition to the above, home communions and a monthly service and community sing- a- long in Tancred Lodge Nursing Home are undertaken by the Benefice Ministry team.

Church members provide some 50% of the workers/supporters at the Age UK lunch club, which is held weekly in Whixley Village Hall. Additional pastoral care within the villages is provided by individual church members.

Reader led house group and annual Lent courses have been a feature of past years, but due to various circumstances did not feature in the church’s activities during 2016. However, the Reader led Lent Course has been reinstated in 2017.

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The church of the Ascension, Whixley sits proudly on a site which has boasted a sacred building since the 11th century. During the 19th century, a Chapel of Ease, now St Thomas’ church at Green Hammerton, was built under the direction of George Gilbert Scott, the renowned Victorian Architect. Both churches are left open during at least daylight hours.

A major restoration of the church of the Ascension took place in the early 1990’s and more recently, the lighting has been updated, with provision for using the system to enhance worship and church based social events. Consecration of an extension to the existing churchyard was undertaken by the Bishop of Knaresborough in 2010. A sophisticated alarm system with 24/7 monitoring of the roof has also been installed, while consideration is currently being given to the provision of toilet and kitchen facilities using funding from the church’s building fund. Refurbishment of some of the stained glass windows in the crossing is currently at an early stage of implementation.

St Thomas’ in Green Hammerton recently undertook

stonework repair and replacement and also partially re- ordered the interior of the church by removing some of the front pews. The space created is used for contemporary worship, social events such as concerts while the provision of simple kitchen facilities is under consideration. A Portaloo toilet has also been installed,

Both churches underwent a Quinquennial inspection in 2016, with no major concerns being identified.

After a number of years of underpayment of its Parish Share, the full amount was paid in 2016. An increase in regular giving following a stewardship appeal in 2016, and a recent reduction in the Parish Share for 2017, should ensure that the Share is paid into the foreseeable future. This achievement will also result in the writing off of the Parish’s historic debt.

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Appendix

Statistics

Marton cum Whixley with Great Little Grafton Ouseburn Ouseburn Green Hammerton

Population (2011 census) 598 264 503 825 & 675

Electoral roll 38 22 41 70

Avg. weekly attendance (2016) 28 + 6 36 + 5 22 + 6 8-20 + 0-12* (adults + children)

Baptisms (2016) 8 2 1 15

Confirmees (2015/17)** 13/5

Weddings (2016) 0 4 0 2

Funerals (2016) 2 3 3 4

*value dependent on type of service ** confirmations are undertaken bi-annually

Patronage

The Rector of Knaresborough Bishop of Leeds. Leeds Diocesan Board of Patronage Master & Fellows of St John’s College, Cambridge.

Governance

Great Ouseburn and Marton cum Grafton have two church wardens each as does Whixley with Green Hammerton. Little Ouseburn has a church warden and an assistant church warden. Each parish has its own PCC which meets four times per year except that of Whixley and Green Hammerton which meets six times per year. Each PCC holds its own APCM.

19 Finance

Marton cum Whixley with Great Ouseburn Little Ouseburn Grafton Green Hammerton

Regular giving (2016) £9,384 £4,439 £10,587** £16,176

Plate giving (2016) £2,900 £3,699 £1,579 £4,793

Average weekly giving £4.75 n/a £4.80 £5.71 per worshipper (2016) (estimate)

Gift aid (2016) 100% 88% 100% 81%

Fund raising (2016) £5,723 £3,605 £3,346 £7,506

Share*

Requested (2016) £15,956 £9,801 £17,064 £22,067

Paid (2016) £15,956 £9,801 £17,064 £22,067

Requested (2015) £15,682 £9,632 £16,771 £21,687

Paid (2015) £15,682 £9,632 £16,789 £17,500

* An historic Parish Share Debt of £80,882 applies to Whixley with Green Hammerton and £5,156-73 to Marton cum Grafton. Marton cum Grafton paid off a small amount of their debt in 2015. A recent change in the calculation of Parish Share has led to a reduction in the Parish Share for all the Parishes in the Benefice for 2017. It is also the case that full payment of the Parish Share for 2017 will result in 1/3rd of any historic Parish Share Debt being written off, with this also applying over the following two years.

** Marton cum Grafton's regular giving figure is their Stewardship figure which includes significant but irregular amounts.

20 Worship Rota

The Benefice churches provide a mixture of worship styles, as shown in the following table, which lists the services held during a typical month. The style of worship within the Benefice reflects various traditions but with a predominance of middle of the road churchmanship.

Day Great Ouseburn Little Ouseburn Marton Whixley Green Hammerton

1st Joint CW HC Parish Praise Joint BCP HC Sunday Gt Ouseburn 1030 hrs 1030 hrs Gn Hamm 0900 hrs Café Church, Whixley Village Hall 1600 hrs 1st Wed CW HC 1000 hrs 2nd Joint CW HC CW HC Joint CW HC Sunday Lt Ouseburn 1030 hrs 1030 hrs Whixley 0900 hrs Joint Parish Praise Whixley 1030 hrs 2nd Tue Tots’ Praise Whixley Village Hall 1400 hrs 2nd Wed CW MP 1000 hrs 3rd Parish Praise Joint CW HC Sunday Gt Ouseburn 1030 hrs Gn Hamm 1030 hrs 3rd Wed CW MP 1000 hrs 4th Joint CW HC CW HC Joint CW HC Sunday Lt Ouseburn 1030 hrs 1030 hrs Whixley 0900 hrs 4th Wed CW MP 1000 hrs 5th Joint Benefice CW HC Sunday One of the Benefice churches on rotation 1030 hrs

Notes: a) The Parish Praise services are Reader/Lay Lead. The location of these services alternate between Whixley and Green Hammerton on a monthly basis. b) The location of all the Gt Ouseburn and Lt Ouseburn services alternate on a 6 monthly basis c) BCP = Book of Common Prayer d) CW HC = Common Worship Holy Communion e) CW MP = Common Worship Morning Prayer

The above list of regular services is complemented within the Benefice by Patronal, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, Crib, Christingle and Carol Services. Carol services occur at both Advent and Christmas and there is a Midnight Service on Christmas Eve as well as services on Christmas Day.

21 Useful Links

Village websites

Great Ouseburn. http://great-ouseburn.org/

Green Hammerton http://www.greenhammerton.org.uk/

Marton cum Grafton http://www.marton-cum-grafton.org/

Whixley http://www.whixley.org/

Local Schools

Great Ouseburn http://www.greatouseburn.n-yorks.dbprimary.com/n- yorks/primary/greatouseburn Community Primary School

Green Hammerton CE Primary School http://www.greenhammerton.n-yorks.sch.uk/

Marton-cum-Grafton CE Primary School http://marton-cum-grafton.n-yorks.sch.uk/

Boroughbridge High School http://www.boroughbridgehigh.com/

King James’ School http://www.king-james.co.uk/

St Aidan’s CE High School http://www.staidans.co.uk/

The United Benefice http://www.theunitedbenefice.co.uk/index.html

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