Hampsthwaite & Killinghall and Birstwith
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
St Thomas á Becket Church, Hampsthwaite Felliscliffe Chapel of Ease Joint Benefice of Hampsthwaite & Killinghall and Birstwith Brochure St Thomas the Apostle Church, Killinghall St James’ Church, Birstwith Contents Foreword ...................................................................................................................................................... 3 Section 1: Summary of the Brochure ....................................................................................................... 4 Section 2: Our New Priest ..................................................................................................................... 7 Section 3: Our Diocese .............................................................................................................................. 6 Section 4: About the Benefice ................................................................................................................... 7 Section 5: The Churches and their People ....................................................................................... 15 Section 6: The Wider Context ............................................................................................................. 25 Foreword We thank you for your interest in our benefice at this time; you are most welcome and we warmly invite you to learn more about us through our brochure. We are blessed to live and worship in beautiful Nidderdale here in North Yorkshire. Our three churches and associated Chapel of Ease join together and provide support to our rural and provincial communities. As well as offering a strong and comforting physical presence, they are places that everyone can visit or reach out to if they need help, advice, assistance or perhaps just friendship. The populations of our two parishes are increasing and, as a benefice, we are keen to welcome all into our family. It is a exciting time of growth; we live in a special place and appreciate this and we know that we have the faith and strength to move forward together. Please join us if you can. If you need further information or have any specific questions, please let us know and we will gladly provide the answers. With blessings, Judith Charlesworth Louise Garnett Robbie Walker Churchwarden (Hampsthwaite) Churchwarden (Birstwith) Verger (Killinghall) Section 1: Summary of the Brochure Joint benefice mission statement: Join a welcoming family worshipping God together, joyfully serving and caring for all our villages and wider communities. Websites: http://stthomasabeckethampsthwaite.org.uk/ http://birstwithchurch.co.uk/ http://stthomaskillinghall.co.uk/ Do please check out our church websites to get a flavour of what we’re all about. COVID 19 – PUTTING GOD’S LOVE INTO ACTION HOW WE HAVE CARED FOR OUR BENEFICE AND VILLAGE COMMUNITIES The benefice has adapted to the circumstances brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic to enable worship, prayer and care for our communities to continue during lockdown. A daily prayer and reflection email has been circulated to many people across the benefice courtesy of the Parish of Bilton St John & St Luke, for which we are very grateful. A Sunday service has been held each week via Zoom (hosted by Rev Ian Johnston) which has proved popular and now has 40+ attendees, many of whom are couples, together with some children. The whole service especially Rev Johnston’s homily, the readings, intercessions and sharing of the peace is much appreciated and allows us all to come together to worship as a benefice church. The monthly Benefice Newsletter is now sent weekly (over 100 hundred subscribers) which includes details of all streamed services in the Deanery, intercessions written by trained lay members, and a challenging 5-question bible quiz. Individually each church has played a significant part in the everyday lives of villagers during lockdown. At the start, all three churches communicated with their villages by notices giving out the contact details of the Churchwardens and Vergers. Mothering Sunday fell at the start of lockdown and the churches ensured their flowers were given safely to the local community by leaving them in a public place for people to take together with a message of love. In Hampsthwaite, candles were also left in the centre of the village to enable people to light a candle to demonstrate unity and peace. Birstwith’s surplus flowers were donated to Birstwith in Bloom. At Easter, Killinghall erected their cross of flowers outside the church as usual and it provided a lovely sight for people walking past on their daily exercise. At Birstwith, the churchwardens, secretary and PCC have maintained effective communication to mitigate the effects of the pandemic upon the parish. The PCC prior to lockdown divided between them a contact list of elderly, lone and vulnerable people to ensure that regular phone contact at least is maintained. Since lockdown the vicarage and church have been regularly checked. The weekly Benefice News is also sent to a wider number of recipients in Birstwith and tailored to include messages from individuals and families within the village (at their request). Feedback shows this has really brought the church into the community. The churchwarden is the “Friends of Birstwith Village COVID-19 Coordinator” working alongside the Parish Council, school, medical practice and statutory bodies. The village Facebook page has been updated to make residents aware of the support on offer together with key contact numbers. This was also contained in a maildrop to the whole village during the first week of lockdown. 65 village volunteers (Friends) have been providing a support network to those in lockdown including delivering shopping from the village shop, delivering meals from the village pub, picking up prescriptions from the medical practice and taking items to the post office. Due to the age profile of the village and the number of people medically “shielded” the positive impact of the “Friends” cannot be underestimated. As Birstwith church is unable to support the Harrogate Homeless Project food bank with food donated by the congregation on a Sunday, the PCC agreed a monthly Standing Order of £40. Hampsthwaite’s Churchwarden, as part of the Hampsthwaite Emergency Committee, has been party to ensuring that all vulnerable, elderly and isolated residents have been identified and contacted to understand particular needs, and each person now has a “friend” who telephones them on a regular basis to ensure that they are coping and that their needs are being met. At Killinghall, this role was taken early on by a group of volunteers who divided areas of the village between them and offered their support in shopping, collecting prescriptions and providing a listening ear. All three villages had a huge show of support for VE75 day with residents coming together to celebrate (at a safe distance) and in Hampsthwaite, 70 residents received afternoon tea courtesy of the village. At Killinghall, further investigations have taken place into the movement of the church flagstones with the QI Surveyor continuing discussions with the insurers about a possible claim and grounds maintenance has continued at a safe (and less costly) level in order to keep the grounds tidy. Section 2: Our New Priest We would like our new priest to be a warm and friendly person with a good sense of humour, who enjoys village life and being a part of the community. Kindness, good communication skills and an ability to relate to people of all ages are essential. It is also essential that the incumbent has the people skills to become a visible and engaging presence in our community. We need someone who will work with us to grow the congregations, support the churches in coming to a common vision for working more closely together. We have a mix of ages in our congregations and a respect for tradition is important to us but so too is the need to bring younger people into the church. We’d like someone who will involve children and young people in services, develop Sunday Schools and musical groups and continue to build relationships with local schools. New housing in the villages mean lots of new families moving into the benefice so an important skill will be the ability to identify and respond to opportunities for mission, engage with families and explore ways to encourage more people to come to church perhaps by introducing more innovative/contemporary forms of worship whilst recognising the place of traditional services. We have plenty of talent and enthusiasm amongst our laity so our next priest will need to draw out their skills and use them in worship and for mission in the community. In addition, the vicar needs to have a deep faith as well as an ability to engage with the congregation, involving them where appropriate in decision making and enthusing others alongside whom he or she will be working. Demonstrable pastoral skills will be needed in order to carry out visiting and to lead excellent pastoral care across the benefice. With a benefice of three churches and a Chapel of Ease, we recognise that the incumbent’s life is a very busy one and our new priest will need to possess good time management skills. However, their health and wellbeing is important to us and we would expect them to take proper holidays and have a regular day off per week including the preceding evening. We will support them in their training and personal development. Section 3: Our Diocese The Diocese of Leeds comprises five Episcopal Areas, each coterminous with