Before Christmas we announced that we have a new member of the team arriving in the Summer – Emma Wilkinson. Emma’s ordination will be on Saturday 2nd July at Wakefield Cathedral.
Emma says:
I am very excited to have been announced as your Curate in Girlington, Heaton and Manningham, I will be coming to join you in the summer after finishing my training in Cambridge.
Bradford might just be my favourite place in the whole world, I grew up here, became a Christian whilst at secondary school and then after my A-levels worked for a Church on my council estate for a year. I then went to do a degree in Theology at Durham, followed by two years of training at Ridley Hall in Cambridge where I am in my final year trying to complete a Masters! So after moving around for a few years, I am looking forward to coming home.
I really love the Church of England, helping people meet with God in worship and making theology accessible.
I don’t like tea or coffee but love a hot chocolate! You might often find me listening to music, musing about who might be the next Doctor Who, editing a video or playing my guitar who I affectionately call George.
Ordination has felt like a long time coming and I’m so excited to get to spend my first few years ordained learning from and with you all in Girlington, Heaton and Manningham.
Please do keep me in your prayers as I prepare to be ordained and to join you all, be assured that I am praying for you too.
(This is a photo of me excitedly posting my acceptance letter to say I’d really like to be the Curate here to the Bishop of Leeds!)
On Sunday it is JUICY again. This is a service when we meet together to start with for the Reading, but then choose from a variety of options of how we engage with the story. Perhaps some quiet meditation, perhaps some teaching, maybe a bit of craft, some may want to talk about it. The Choice is Yours!
This week the topic is The Family on the Road again – Fleeing Herod
COVID-19 hasn’t gone away! Please remember your mask and keep up the handwashing and distancing!
Sunday 23rd January 2022 – is the week for Christian Unity. In the past we met all together with churches from across our area for a United Service. This year due to COVID it is scaled back so our service will be continuing as normal. Some of you may want to go and support this great event with Churches Together – the full notice is below:
Girlington, Heaton and Manningham Churches Together
United Service 10.30am January 23 2022
“We saw His Star in the East”
Westgate Baptist Church, 107 Carlisle Road, BD8 8BY, is willing to host our annual United Service in the Week of Prayer for ChristianUnity this January (18-25) for those of us willing and able to come. We feel it is important to keep our GHM Churches network alive in these uncertain times. The Church is large and airy so we can be reasonably spaced out.
Sadly, due to covid, we will not be able to meet for lunch afterwards but Westgate is willing to provide drinks and light refreshments for those wishing to stay.
Sadly, also due to covid, we will not be able to provide any separate activities for children.
This year the service has been prepared by the Middle East Council of Churches and is based on the story of the Journey of the Magi “We saw his star in the East”.
So we have invited the Rev Stephen Griffith, a retired Minister from York, who has worked with Embrace in the Middle East, to come and tell us something about the situation of the Churches in the Middle East and the work of Embrace alongside them. Those of you who have used the Bethlehem Carol Sheets will already know something of the medical and educational work of Embrace (Embrace the Middle East – previously known as Biblelands). Our offertory will go to Embrace.
On 5th December 2021 we held a Parish Forum – below is a report of our discussion as we look at the way forward. This report has been delayed so we didn’t lose it in all the Christmas information. We have another Parish Forum booked in for 6th February but we are delaying it a week to 13th February 2022 after the Church service at St Paul’s.
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Parish Forum Purpose
There has been a lot of change in the parish. A key aspect of this has been our gathering as one church as on a Sunday. Having sufficiently emerged from COVID to run a few months of primarily in person services, the leadership team wanted to hear how these were landing with people across the parish.
Focus
The chief aim of the Parish Forum was a listening exercise to create a number of ways for people to express their views and opinions.
The key focus was the new roster of services that had been trialled across October and November.
Summary of discussions
Following post it notes, table discussions, group sharing, and anonymous feedback the following summary briefly represents the main ideas emerging at the forum:
What have you enjoyed? What has surprised you?
Increased attendance of children. Something positive being done for families with children
Bringing people together from all four churches
Variety of the services and contributors
Juicy
What would you change? What has been missing?
Length of services – keep it shorter
Live music/worship – reflective time of worship, sense of transcendence
Deeper Bible teaching
Building and lay out of church
Less variety – 3 or 2 different styles
Eucharist/traditional service
Catering for older people
Feeling of school assembly/primary school
Had enough change/want familiarity
The words ‘proper’ or ‘real’ were used a number of times in different contexts.
Have the changes helped you think differently about who we are as a parish and what a church can look like?
Helped understand that we are one parish – Widened understanding of who is in our parish
The scale and complexity of the challenge is more apparent
The need for deeper relationships/getting to know one another has been shown
What one thing would you change?
A number of things were listed here, but only two occurred on more than one list:
Bible teaching
More/better worship and reflection
To fully view the contents of the table discussions which have been summarised above, please click here.
Initial reflections
While the discussion highlighted several tensions, there are a couple of key themes coming out of these discussions. These could be summarised most succinctly and teaching and music. There seemed to be an appreciation and a celebration of children, those on the fringes and those new to church being able to participate in church. This was held alongside wanting something geared more towards those who are historically part of those four churches and have been part of the Church for many years.
Outcomes
The leadership is committing to creating an additional space that meets the desires expressed at the forum for this teaching and music. It is likely that this will occupy a Sunday Evening slot with many of the other details to be decided.
The creation and detail of this space will form the topic for February’s Parish Forum, looking at what this space for worship, teaching, prayer and discipleship can look like.
There were many other important issues raised as to how we continue with our Sunday morning worship, some of which will hopefully be reflected in the services themselves over time. There are then some more complex issues which will continue to be reflected upon by the leadership and inform our thinking.
Pastoral implications
We want to recognise that what we are doing in this parish is new for all of us. We are really grateful for your openness to the journey we are all on. A key part of that is to remember that we need to know how you feel, so that we can include that in our decision making. And if ever you have questions as to why a service or mid-week space looks or feels a certain way, please ask and Chris, Ben and Clare are always more than happy to chat with you.
If ever you wish to raise anything anonymously, or simply chat something through, Daniel, who ran the discussion, is happy to chat with you or for you to email him: danielfurlong88@gmail.com
On Sunday we will have Breakfast Church. This service is particularly designed to be ‘non churchy’ – so please think about who you could bring with you! We will eat and worship all at the same time. We are continuing our series “On the Road with Jesus” This week it is Anna and Simeon at the temple – a pause on the road
We will begin serving food at 10.30am – so come before then to be sure of a seat! We usually pray an hour before our services begin so we will pray at 9.30am. On Sunday our prayer time will include a short informal communion service as well.
Notices
Livestreaming – we don’t plan to stream Breakfast Church. It doesn’t lend itself to YouTube.
COVID-19 hasn’t gone away! Please remember your mask and keep up the handwashing!
Christmas Food
This year over the 2 weeks we distributed 316 shops and Christmas boxes. This means we have impacted 1263 people – 699 adults and 552 children. We also fed 94 people their Christmas day dinner! Many thanks to Clare and Michelle and the many many volunteers who made that happen!
We will have tea and coffee very carefully after the service!
Notices
Global Justice Bradford share the good news that Bradford Council are now backing the call for the West Yorkshire Pension Fund to invest in the local economy instead of fossil fuels. This makes good financial sense so will have to happen sometime, but we are still doing a weekly vigil in the hope of hurrying the process for the sake of the planet.
It is from 12 to 1pm every Friday outside the West Yorkshire Pension Fund offices on the corner of Godwin Street and Sunbridge Road – don’t hesitate to join us!
This lovely 2 minute film was made by Phil Moody about the Bradford Climate Emergency Walk, and calls on Bradford council to speed the divestment of West Yorkshire Pension Fund from fossil fuels.
From – www.toonpool.com – click image to see their page
On Sunday it is JUICY again. This is an experimental service when we meet to start with, but then choose from a variety of options of how we engage with the story. This week the topic is The End of the Road – No Room in the Inn
COVID-19 hasn’t gone away! Please remember your mask and keep up the handwashing and distancing!
Boxing Day is a Sunday! We will have a short Communion service on 26th December at St Martin’s Church at 10.30am. There will be no Wednesday Communion on 29th December at St Barnabas. Normal service patterns resume in the New Year
Christmas Food
This year we have had 2 big grants for feeding people – so if you want to give to the disadvantaged this year what about warm socks and underwear. If you buy while you shop and bring them to a service we will very easily hand it all out!
Christmas Box – we are selling a £5 Christmas box – it will contain all the ingredients for a Christmas day. If you want to buy one and donate to someone you know that would be a lovely Christmas gesture – please Contact us if you do!
Help! On 23rd December we are preparing a LOT of Christmas Dinners at St Paul’s Church. Please come and help us with it! Many hands make light work….. Work starts at 10.30am – so please come for an hour or so if you can.
Also on the 24th December it is Friday so we are open at noon as usual for Drop in Café. Some of our regular volunteers are away – so help serving and chatting with those who come in is greatly needed.
We are offering a free Christmas Day dinner after our All Age Service on Christmas Day – if you know of anyone who is alone please invite them. It will be a fun event!
On Sunday we will have Breakfast Church. This service is particularly designed to be ‘non churchy’ – so please think about who you could bring with you! We will eat and worship all at the same time. We are continuing our series “On the Road with Jesus” This week it is The Shepherds on the Road
We will begin serving food at 10.30am – so come before then to be sure of a seat! We usually pray an hour before our services begin so we will pray at 9.30am. On Sunday our prayer time will include a short informal communion service as well.
Notices
Livestreaming – we don’t plan to stream Breakfast Church. It doesn’t lend itself to YouTube.
COVID-19 hasn’t gone away! Please remember your mask and keep up the handwashing!
On Sunday afternoon at 3pm St Barnabas Church is hosting the choir “Chordiality” – tickets are £8 and still some available.
Thank you for all your feedback and comments at the Parish Forum. We’ve collated all the data and issues raised. We’ll publish it early January so it doesn’t get lost in the Christmas focus.
Christmas Food
This year we have had 2 big grants for feeding people – so if you want to give to the disadvantaged this year what about warm socks and underwear. If you buy while you shop and bring them to a service we will very easily hand it all out!
Christmas Box – we are selling a £5 Christmas box – it will contain all the ingredients for a Christmas day. If you want to buy one and donate to someone you know that would be a lovely Christmas gesture – please Contact us if you do!
Help! On 23rd December in the Afternoon we are preparing a LOT of Christmas Dinners at St Paul’s Church. Please come and help us with it! Many hands make light work….. Also on the 24th December it is Friday so we are open at noon as usual for Drop in Café. Some of our regular volunteers are away – so help serving and chatting with those who come in is greatly needed.
We are offering a free Christmas Day dinner after our All Age Service on Christmas Day – if you know of anyone who is alone please invite them. It will be a fun event!
Carols around the Parish
Our Christmas service pattern is going to look like this. In the coming week we have carols every day at our places of welcome. Please come along if you haven’t before – we need the help and the extra voices – it is a good Christmas event to bring someone along to to encounter the diversity of our community in the Parish.
On Sunday – 5th December – is our 3rd Parish Forum looking at the future and how we can adapt and change to how the world looks Post – COVID. Please come along to this really important event. We’ll have a light lunch after the All Age Service.
On Sunday we have a ‘Traditional Sunday’ with younger Christians going out for their own classes while the older Christians stay in church. We continue with our series “On the Road with Jesus” looking at a journey Jesus took before his birth!
We meet to pray beforehand at 9.30 and the service is at – St Paul’s Manningham at 10.30am
It was great to welcome Ben and his family to our Parish on Tuesday night – he’ll be preaching this Sunday, so please come and welcome them again!
Next Sunday – 5th December – is our 3rd Parish Forum looking at the future and how we can adapt and change to how the world looks Post – COVID. Please come along to this really important event. We’ll have a light lunch after the All Age Service.
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On Sunday we will have Breakfast Church. This service is particularly designed to be ‘non churchy’ – so please think about who you could bring with you! We will eat and worship all at the same time. We are continuing our series “On the Road with Jesus” This week it is The Shepherds on the Road
