Holme Valley Churches: Member Churches

Good news! A new vicar will shortly be coming to serve in the Upper Holme Valley Team. Nick Heaton, currently a Team Vicar in the Morley Team, will join us here at the beginning of September and will have particular responsibility for Holmbridge and Netherthong. Nick is married to Carol and they have two children. Though Nick will not have responsibility for Upperthong he will be living in the vicarage there, where Geoff Banks used to live. (In fact Upperthong will continue to be in the care of Di Ellerton but she will no longer be termed ‘curate’ but will be a self-supporting Team Vicar.) Both Nick and Di will be licensed to the Team on Thursday 2nd September at 7.30pm at Holmfirth Parish Church and it is hoped that all the members of our parish and congregation who can possibly manage to be there will be.

The appointment of Nick comes as good news particularly to me personally. I have now served at Holmbridge (and elsewhere from time to time in the Team) for eleven years and have found it a great joy and privilege to have been able to do this since my retirement from teaching. I have, however, found the last eighteen months (since Geoff Banks left us) increasingly demanding as my energy (and I fear sometimes my efficiency!) has lessened. The spirit remains willing but sadly the flesh... well you know what I mean. I shall continue to do some of the pastoral work in the parish but will reduce the number of services I take. From October (I’m away for part of September) I shall probably take one main Sunday morning service at St David’s each month and alternate with Nick for the Wednesday morning Eucharists. Roger Nelson who has kindly continued to take a number of services during the vacancy will now concentrate his energies elsewhere in the diocese.

I spoke above of ‘joy and privilege’ and I think that sums up what my experience has been. I enjoyed my work as a school teacher right up to the last day but once I had left I felt it was the end of what had been a long phase in my life. I had intended to offer myself for ordination immediately but discovered that under the then current regime I was already too old. But with the arrival of Nigel McCulloch as Bishop of Wakefield things changed and I was no longer too old! Such are the eccentricities of the CofE. I had in the meantime trained as a Lay Reader – a valuable and enriching experience under the tutelage of Canon Margaret Bradnum – and after receiving the support and encouragement of the PCC I offered myself for ordination and was accepted for training and so became first deacon and then priest.

‘Support and encouragement’ is what I have continued to receive over these past eleven years. Without it we could not together have achieved together what I think it is fair to say has been achieved. Many of those to whom my thanks are due have passed beyond this life but their memory is honoured by the continuing enthusiasm and dedication of so many here. I’m sure that Nick will receive similar support in the years ahead – and if you are not (or are not any longer) a member of our congregation I hope you will consider joining us (again) and help to further the spread of the love of Jesus which is what we are all about.

August is the quietest month of the year in most churches – because most people are on holiday. If you are one of those setting off this month you might like to consider the following question:

If so, please may we ask you a favour? Please could you have a good look round, and try and bring back an example of ‘something they do well’. Perhaps it will be a notice-board laid out in an attractive way. If so, why not photograph it, to show us? Perhaps it will be a well-kept church porch, or churchyard. Perhaps the church you visit has an interesting church guide. Whatever it is, please photograph it, if you are allowed, or bring back a sample publication. If we get enough, we will display them at the back of the church, for people to think about how we might perhaps adapt the idea for use in our church.

When children write to their minister:

“Dear Mr Minister...

- I know God loves everybody but then he never met my sister. Yours sincerely, Arnold. Age 8.

- Please say in your sermon that Peter Peterson has been a good boy all week. I am Peter Peterson. Sincerely, Pete. Age 9.

- My father should be a minister too. Every day he gives me a sermon about something. Robert Anderson, age 11.

- I'm sorry I can't leave more money in the plate, but my father didn't give me a raise in my allowance. Could you have a sermon about a raise in my allowance? Love, Patty. Age 10.

- My mother is very religious. She goes to play bingo at church every week even if she has a cold. Yours truly, Annette. Age 9.

- I would like to go to heaven someday because I know my brother won't be there. Stephen. Age 8.

- I think a lot more people would come to your church if you moved it to Disneyland. Loreen. Age 9.

- I liked your sermon where you said that good health is more important than money but I still want a raise in my allowance. Sincerely, Eleanor. Age 12.

Bugs breed in wheelie bins!

This summer, are you tending to give your wheelie bin a wide birth? You are probably right to do so – especially if it is emptied only once every two weeks.

Dangerous levels of bacteria can build up in wheelie bins. Swabs taken from 10 bins in Britain found levels of bacteria, including strains that cause salmonella and even the plague, multiplied by six times during a fortnight between bin collections. Fungal spores that cause respiratory problems were also soaring in number.

One microbiologist said: “The levels of disease-causing bacteria found in the bins are at a level that I would consider to be dangerous, especially to those with a weakened immune system.”

But a spokesman from Wrap, the Government’s waste quango, said: “The key thing is for householders to ...observe basic hygiene precautions, such as always washing hands after handling waste...”

Download and print a Sudoku Puzzle here

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Baptisms
11th July:
Archie Rowan Ford, the son of Judith and Richard of Broadfield Park
Libby Harriet Farnell, the daughter of Sophie and Robert of Brownhill

What a good idea!
On one Sunday last month when there were two Baptisms at St. David's, one family held their reception in the West End room and the other held theirs in the Parish Hall (with a bouncy castle!)

If you're planning a Baptism sometime, why not consider holding your reception afterwards here at Holmbridge?

The Upper Holme Valley Team comprises eight churches, but can you recall the last time you worshipped outside of your own parish on a regular Sunday morning? This summer there will be a slimmed-down number of services on the three middle Sundays of August. In this period of the year when a lot of people will be taking holidays, here is an opportunity to visit one of the other team churches. Alternatively, you may like to consider attending a service in another church in the deanery or a visit to Wakefield Cathedral. The schedule of services within the Team is set out below, all of them being Eucharists. Why not have a word with some others at your church to plan where you might go together and share transport? If you have any questions, please speak with any of the team clergy or churchwardens.

After the Bible, John Bunyan’s wonderful Christian allegory, the Pilgrim’s Progress, is one of the most celebrated and widely-read books in the English language. It has been translated into more than one hundred languages around the world and keeps its place as a Christian classic.

Names of people and places from its pages have been commonplace wherever English is spoken. We need only re-call Mr Great-Heart, Mr Valiant-for-Truth, Giant Despair, Madame Bubble, the Slough of Despond, Vanity Fair, the Delectable Mountains, the Hill Difficulty and the Celestial City.

Bunyan was born on 28 November 1628, at Elstow, near Bedford, England, of a poor family. He had little formal education and his father taught him to be a metal worker. His first wife died young. His second wife, Elizabeth, helped him considerably with his blossoming literary career. His conversion was the result of reading the Bible, and the witness of local Christians. From that time the Bible became the great inspiration of his life. He wrote more than fifty books on Christianity. A Baptist by conviction, he had little time for the Established Church.

Bunyan became a popular preacher, but because of his opposition to the Established Church and because he did not have a Church of England preaching licence, he was imprisoned in 1661. It was in prison that he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress. It was not only Bunyan’s greatest book but was destined to become one of the most popular Christian books in the world.

Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory, using the names of people and places from the Bible to teach spiritual lessons. The vivid and unforgettable imagery in the Pilgrim’s Progress covers the whole Christian gospel from sin and condemnation all the way through faith, repentance, grace, justification, sanctification, and perseverance to heaven itself.

Bunyan died on 31 August 1688. His portrayal of the death of Mr Valiant For Truth is Bunyan at his allegorical best. This brave old soldier of Jesus Christ has received his summons to ‘go home.’ Calling his friends together he says, ‘My sword I give to him who shall succeed me in my pilgrimage … My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me, that I have fought His battles, Who will now be my rewarder.’ … So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side

Carole, Nathan, Joel and I firstly want to thank you all for the warm welcome we have received as we have gradually met people from the Upper Holme Valley Team. We look forward to serving God alongside you all and to seeing Him do great things amongst us all.

I was born and grew up in Leeds, unfortunately this led to me growing up as and remaining a Leeds United supporter through good and bad times for the club. I grew up with a love for sport, particularly cricket, playing for my school and local club throughout my teens. I also grew up with a love for the guitar, and I love to play when I get the time to practice! On leaving school I trained as a teacher and taught in South Leeds for nine years, coordinating IT, PE and Maths and being head of juniors for 5 years.

I became a Christian half way through University at the age of 20, initially worshipping in the Pentecostal church before finding my home in the Church of England. It was about this time that Carole and I met and we were married on 14th August 1993 at St. George’s in Leeds. For several years we were part of a church plant for St. George’s in inner city Leeds and it was here my calling to ordination was first tested.

Carole is originally from Leyland, Lancashire and still continues her missionary work amongst us Yorkshire folk! She works 30 hours per week as an accountant for United Utilities on the edge of Leeds. We have two boys, Nathan who is 8 and Joel who was 3 in July. You will know Joel by his curly blonde locks and his unquenchable thirst for mischief! Nathan is looking forward to joining a local cricket club next summer. After quite a few moves over the last seventeen years we are so much looking forward to putting down some roots as a family.

I began exploring ordination as long ago as 1993 but by 2001 the call was too strong to ignore and I left school teaching for the adventure of Christian leadership. After training and ordination I have served in Middlesbrough and latterly in Morley over the last six years and have been privileged to see God at work in so many ways: lives changed, hope where there was little and purpose where there was none.

We serve a great and powerful God who can do more than we could ever imagine and who calls every single human being into right relationship with him. It’s what we were born for. Living this way, Jesus calls ‘abundant’ or ‘eternal’ life. I am so looking forward to sharing the life of Christ in our Team and with all the people of the Upper Holme Valley!

What to cook when someone turns up unexpectedly and you have nothing prepared? Late home from day out with the children/grandchildren? This is a well tried and tested recipe that my children loved and grandchildren still do love! Made from store cupboard ingredients.

Quick Pizza
(taken from cookbook devised by members of St Leonard’s Church, Deal, c1985).

8oz S.R. flour
1 level tsp salt
6 tbls cooking oil - (yes! but this recipe really works well)
6 tbls hot water
1 tin tomatoes plus small amount of tomato paste
1 small onion (and garlic too, if liked)
pinch dried mixed herbs, salt and pepper
3 oz grated cheese.

Place tomatoes, onion, herbs, salt and pepper in saucepan and cook uncovered until it has thickened.

Mix flour, salt, oil and water into stiff dough. Roll out on greased baking sheet into circle, or spread with hand into greased swiss roll tin. Should be about ¼ “ thick.

Alternatively a scone base… made with 2 oz margarine, 8 oz S.R. flour, ½ tsp salt, milk to mix. Will also fit a Swiss Roll tin.

I drove into the Holme Valley for the first time on a damp Saturday in May 1976. As we drove down into Holmfirth with three small, tired children in the car, I felt as if I had come home – because the Holme Valley reminded me so much of the valley in South Wales where I was born and brought up. And I’ve been here ever since!

We had decided to make a real effort to go to church when we moved here and as St John’s was just down the road that was where we made our spiritual home.

The people of St John’s in particular and also those of other churches in the valley have been a huge influence on me and my family and I am deeply grateful to all those who have loved and supported us over the years.

A nursing career in the field of Sexually Transmitted Diseases may not sound as if it sits well with being a priest, but one of my patients remarked that he could tell people that he was going to see the vicar instead of telling them that he was coming to the clinic!

I retired from my nursing job some years ago and have continued to be a sessional chaplain at HRI and St Luke’s, a job which I will continue to do whist acting as Team Vicar (SSM) with responsibility for St John’s.

I look forward to working with Nick in the Uppernetherbridge cluster ( to quote Geoff Banks! ) and with the rest of the Team to further God’s Kingdom in this beautiful place.

Ever ridden on a rollercoaster? If you have, I’m sure you will agree it can be both scary and thrilling in equal measure. One minute you are scaling massive heights and things are speeding along and then, in what seem like a split second, you are plumbing the depths with your heart in your mouth. The analogy of the rollercoaster fits well with what it can be like to be involved in full time ministry. Sometimes God seems to move things along at a frenetic pace with you having to hang on His coat tails, with opportunities constantly presenting themselves. At others, He can seem to withdraw into the background, doors that you thought He would open close, and it seems as if you are just treading water.

Ploughing a lonely furrow is another characteristic of full time ministry and is often the preserve of the evangelist, as we tend to live in this odd twilight world that has one foot inside the church and another firmly planted outside of it, with those who we encounter on both sides not always understanding who we are and what our purpose really is. Often I find that when I speak with those who don’t profess a faith and introduce myself as a Christian minister that it leads to them to automatically assuming that I’m a priest and has them insisting on calling me ‘reverend’ or referring to me as ‘that vicar bloke’. This is especially noticeable among the young people that I have contact with and is quite understandable as most of them are several generations away from having any idea of the church and its formal structures. Equally though, people inside the church often don’t understand why the evangelist has this inbuilt need to want to connect to those outside the institution and sometimes struggle to comprehend the evangelists enthusiasm in encouraging others to do the same.

As you can see from the above mine can be a difficult role. It is often like being on a rollercoaster and, at times, can be a very isolated place to inhabit. Despite this, God has used my ministry to influence people in the two years that I’ve been on attachment to the Upper Holme Valley Team. I hope during the three that are left before my contract expires that He will continue to build on the good work He has already begun.

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

Assistant Priest and Parish Administrator

Priest with permission to officiate

Churchwardens

Lay Pastoral Assistant

P C C Secretary

P C C Treasurer

Organist

Parish Hall Caretaker

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