Service Times

View the February 2010 Calendar

Assistant Priest and Parish Administrator

Revd Geoffrey Bamford  11 Flushouse  Holmbridge  HD9 2QY  (682532)

Priest with permission to officiate

Revd Roger Nelson  26 Meal Hill Road   Holme   HD9 2QQ   (680309)

Churchwardens

B Swift  26 Brownhill Lane   Holmbridge   HD9 2QW   (07903 947968)

Ian Gold, 14 Laithe Bank Drive, Holmbridge, HD9 2PL (685956)

Lay Pastoral Assistant

Mrs C Burley  ‘Tweed Brae’ 6 Yew Tree Lane Holmbridge HD9 2AG   (07808 258265)

P C C Secretary

Mrs T Nelson  26 Meal Hill Road   Holme   HD9 2QQ   (680309)

P C C Treasurer

Helen Milner,  20 Meal Hill Road, Holmfirth   HD9 2QQ   (681371)

Organist

'Position vacant'

Parish Hall Caretaker

'Position vacant'

Broadcast Editors

Geoff Bamford  (682532)  Ian Gold  (685956) Thelma Nelson (680309)

Click to view a map of the area

from the assistant priest ...

‘Get a life!’ ‘You want to get out more.’

It’s usually said sarcastically but with some seriousness when someone is considered to have too limited a vision of things, or perhaps whose lifestyle is notably different from the speaker’s.

Certainly during last month many experienced the wish to ‘get out more’ being forced into hibernation by the unusually severe weather and by the local authorities’ lack of sufficient supplies of grit. This perhaps made those of us who are usually active and able to get about easily to begin to understand the privations of those who because of age or ill-health are often confined to their homes for long periods of time. (Incidentally my apologies for my comment at the end of my letter last month – ‘we don’t get as much snow as we used to’ – a remark which must have seemed well out of place when your magazine arrived probably late, delayed by the snow!)

In the Book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament, Moses tells the people of Israel to ‘choose life… loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him’ and as we now approach the season of Lent there is perhaps a particular opportunity for us to consider the way we live our lives. Do we ‘choose life’? - or do we allow circumstances to mould us into passive dullness, more inclined to complain about things rather than acknowledging how much our reliance on others is seldom seriously let down? Our griping about the weather and the roads was put into stark perspective by news of the horrors of Haiti, wasn’t it?

Lent has not always been a part of Christian tradition – and certainly the keeping of fast during Lent didn’t develop until well after the Church became a reality – it’s not until the fourth century that there is any reference to a 40-day period of penitence and that was only for new converts preparing for Baptism at Easter. But it can be an important season – whether in the old tradition of deciding to go without something in a spirit of self-denial, or more positively a time when we determine to undertake something good we don’t normally do – such as the daily reading of scripture, or attending a weekly Lent course, or making sure we are in church every Sunday of Lent and perhaps during the week as well; or perhaps visiting one of our neighbours who simply ‘can’t get out more’ and would welcome seeing us. My ideal would be that each Lent we should determine on some good course of action, continue throughout Lent, but not give up after Lent but instead make it part of our daily life and so over the years improve our Christian witness by the way we live.

We have in the past had some well attended Lent courses here at Holmbridge and at the time of writing a course for this year is being discussed. The five-week course will run on Thursday evenings from 7.30 till 9 each week from the 25th February – and in the meantime, for those of you who come to church, on the Sunday before Lent we’re going to give everyone a leaflet with some very definite suggestions for each day of Lent. I hope they’ll prove not only thought-provoking but fruitful. (And if you don’t come to church give me a ring and I’ll let you have a copy.)

Using the leaflet won’t in itself be enough unless we along with it determine to examine ourselves and the way we live and consider just how well we respond to Moses’ advice: ‘choose life … loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him’.

      Have a good Lent!

Geoff Bamford

PEOPLE

Baptism
20th December: Sophie Isabelle Robinson, daughter of Janet and Michael of Yew Tree Lane.

Funerals
27th December: Jack Kaye of Dobb Top Road, who died on 20th December 2009.

21st January: at Birks funeral home: Shirley Beever of Shaw Lane who died on the 12th January aged 66 years.

22nd January: at Holme Sunday School: Sheila Robinson of Water Row, New Mill who died on 13th January, aged 79 years.

Reader
Martin Woodhead has resigned from his position as Reader in the Upper Holme Valley Team..

Want Some Snow???

Living where I do, the first fall of snow each year rather fills me with dread because I know how difficult it will be to safely negotiate the cobbled square (the Village) in Holme with a car. Even though I managed to obtain a yellow salt container via the Parish Council last year this has always been empty – the salt and grit stolen by others just when the village needed it most.

Its not all bad news though – neighbours have helped neighbours and we have shovelled snow “for England” to make tracks for cars to get along and we have seen more people to actually talk to, as they have not been driving quickly past.

Most of the children who attend Holme School do not live in the village but the ones who do have had a great time, playing out, as children always used to do. Here are some of the things they have had to say about the big freeze of 2010.

“These are my best friends – Molly and Fearney the dogs are my best friends too” Emma Milner

“It has been snowing in Holme! We’ve been sledging, digging, building snowman (and rabbits) and having fun!” Adam Milner

It was like a scene from a Christmas card.
Snowy hills, metre long icicles, and snow gently falling from the sky.
Children running here and there with big coats and 3 pairs of socks on all togged up for sledging in the fields.
Building 6ft snowmen, with their carrot noses and button eyes -
taking pictures of the scenery, the snowy landscape that goes far out into the distance,
and did I mention the giant icicles, looking like they were ready to pounce at any minute
to shatter into a thousand pieces on the cold, hard ground.
Making snow angels on the crisp, freshly fallen snow -
people and cars skidding on the ice.
And running out of grit………
Schools closing!
Erin Kelly

From David Plumstead

I would like to thank the Parochial Church Council for placing a plaque in church to recognise Geoffrey Barber’s 57 years as church treasurer. It is a fitting memorial to his years of dedication and the many hours spent doing the books and sorting out the church’s finances.

It is not an easy job, as you will have read in the article by Helen Milner in last month’s Broadcast.

I was thinking in all those years how much progress the church has made in the financing of projects and paying our Parish Share (our contribution towards the ministry and running the Diocese). The Share continues to increase year on year and as far as I can remember, with one exception, Geoffrey always managed to pay the amount in full.

The fabric of the church has improved beyond recognition. Before my time here the graveyard was cleared of brambles and undergrowth. The car park was being laid with tarmac in stages as funds allowed.

In my memory the following improvements have also been made: -

The West End room was made out of vestries and part of the church where pews were removed. At the time this was to make a worship room for winter services instead of having to meet in the Parish Hall.

Gas heating and a sound system were later installed to improve the church experience.

The petrol mowers previously kept in the church foyer were removed to a new “tin hut” in the churchyard, and the cupboard in the entrance porch was boxed in.

The balcony was cleared of rubbish and the office and storage rooms were built.

A new kitchen and a disabled toilet were built in the West End room, and a ramp made at the main entrance for wheelchair access.

The choir/vicar’s vestry replaced the old kitchen at the East End, and was refurnished with large cupboards.

Over the years many improvements were also made at the Parish Hall, with the toilets being upgraded to meet disability regulations, and a ramp built for wheelchair access. In recent days a new kitchen has been fitted.

All of these things took a lot of time and loads of money. People have been generous with both, and appeals to the church and community brought in extra finance from the “supporters’ club”, for which we are all very grateful.

Geoffrey and all the other people who have gone before us have done a wonderful job, and we must keep up the good work for the benefit of everyone in the future.

Best wishes,

David

Ed. The plaque will be dedicated at the Parish Eucharist on 14th February.

Glynnis and George – Return trip to Kenya

We would like to thank everyone from St David’s who donated clothes, shoes and money for the children and youths in Kenya. We were 25 kilos over weight when we got to the airport, so rather than pay 250 pounds for excess baggage we paid 150 pounds extra each and went premier class where we were allowed the extra weight. This was nice – luxury!

We landed in Kenya on 8th December and spent the first four days wrapping Christmas presents for the children of two orphanages. Each child received pens, pencils, crayons, sweets, 3 balloons, hair bands, rubber, pencil sharpener and a rubber ball, with a 50 shilling note wrapped round it all.

We visited the first orphanage a week later in Mtwapa where we were introduced to all the children and gave them their presents, and lots of cloths and shoes. There are three albinos there so we gave them sunglasses each and a big tub of skin cream. Their teacher had a discussion with the children on what to do with their money that they had never had before. It was decided they would all buy a wrist watch. We also donated money towards their school books.

The second orphanage was 40 minutes away from Shanzu in Kimbeni. It is run by Jane, a very jolly large lady who you can’t help liking the minute you meet her. She started off with 2 children, then people got to know about her and she now has 42, including 3 babies. Glynnis had Caleb, 6 months old, on her lap. He was beautiful and she didn’t ant to give him up. The children all have the same surname Zion and most of them don’t know their birthdays. The children took their presents but kept them to open on Christmas Day. When Jane saw the bagfuls of clothes and shoes she raised her hands and thanked God for answering her prayers, then burst into song singing one of her favourite hymns “How great thou art”. So we all joined in, including the taxi driver who had a couple of children on his lap. We also gave Jane money and left a very happy house.

On our way back we stopped at a very large home for youths, between the ages of 16 and 23, who for a variety of reasons have no family or home. We gave them all the clothes we had left and some presents too. All was gratefully received, and they were learning to play the drums when we left.

On Christmas Eve we went for a walk down a country lane with a carrier bag of the presents we had left, and every time we saw children we stopped and gave them gifts. It didn’t take long before our bag was empty. It was an entirely different Christmas for us this year and we thoroughly enjoyed it, but I think we missed our family too much to do it again at Christmas – maybe some other time!  

News from the Front

The further adventures of Captain Mike...

Extra Mature Moments...

One of the more established pieces of work I’m involved with will be expanding as we head into the New Year. 2010 sees ‘Senior Moments’, the work with older people at Holmfirth Parish Church, which began way back in 2007 as a summer project while I was still in training, heading into its third year. Due to the group’s continued popularity, which regularly sees it attracting between 25-35 people, it has been decided to expand the meetings to run every month (in previous years it was run in three monthly blocks with a month off in between).

Also in the early planning stages is another Holy Week church trail. Following on from the good reception last year’s trail received, it has been decided to re-visit the idea for Holy Week this year, but with a slightly different emphasis. Last time the different installations in the various team churches had strong links with the theme of Jesus’ last week. This year the theme of the trail will be based around the ‘I Am’ sayings of Jesus in John’s gospel. How the different churches will interpret the various sayings has yet to be worked out, but if last year is anything to go by the trail should be both thought-provoking and provide people with a significant opportunity for reflection and prayer during this important time in the Christian calendar.

The ‘mission road show’ will also be another new development in 2010. Members of the Team Mission Group and I will be touring various churches throughout the year and sharing a bit more about the specifics of my role whilst hopefully helping people to think a bit more about mission and evangelism and why it is such an important aspect of church life.

Finally, the Friday Night Project continues to go well and attract support throughout the valley. We have recently received several donations of supplies and another very generous financial gift towards the ongoing work.

SHARING FAITH THROUGH WORDS AND ACTION

Many thanks for your support.  More News from the Front in the next insert... If you would like further information about supporting Mike in his ministry, please contact:- m.smithers@churcharmy.org.uk Tel: 680162 Mob: 07742292310