On Good Friday 2022 we held four short services in each of our churches. Then we set off to meet each other. Drawing lines between our churches makes the shape of a cross so we finished our service all together at the centre of the cross. We finished our service with the words:
If you have ever believed that God has abandoned us, this day says He hasn’t!
If you have ever believed that God can’t save us, this day says he can!
Last night we welcomed Rev Ben Care and his family to our Parish. Bishop Toby led the service and we were joined by Archdeacon Andy Jolley , our Area Dean Rev John Bavington as well as others from around the city. Many friends of the family travelled great distances for the occasion and we’re so grateful to all who did!
Scroll down for some more pictures as well as the livestream if you want to relive the whole service.
Last week we met to talk about the future as a single Parish. All four churches were represented and we ensured mixed tables for a well balanced discussion. Below is a selection of the comments made both during feedback and written on the table notes. Hopefully for those who were unable to come this will give a flavour of how this event unfolded.
How can we be a Church that reaches young people, families and non churched people?
Simple Language
More participation
Small groups for deeper discussion
Balance of formal and Informal
School work to reach Parents
Food is always a good way for relationship to form
Clubs – film club, revision club etc
An audit – who/where/why are the young people
Try ideas again – just because it didn’t work once doesn’t mean it was a bad idea
Participate – if we agree or not we need to try things to give honest feedback.
Are we willing to give of ourselves?
We mustn’t ignore the older folk. Harvest/Remembrance etc
We need the doors open – not just on Sunday
If we only cater for those who come now who will fill church offices (Wardens PCC etc) in the future?
Advertising? Are services accessible? Do the right people know about them?
Can we have a Mission field to those who haven’t been to church for 70 years?
We need Stepping stones – don’t make the gaps too big for people to easily make the next step.
Listen to those on the ‘wavelength’ of those outside church
Buy a Minibus?
Gardening and other activities that may attract those living in the area
What are you anxious about?
If churches aren’t open we lose the congregation
The Traditional Communion service is not on Sunday
We are a missionary movement – why no Mission to Muslims?
That there will be no church in 30 years
Few people but many jobs
Dwindling numbers – closing churches
What are you Hopeful about?
During Plagues and pestilence – God’s people must overcome
Energized by numbers
Energized by feeding the community in the week
Coffee outside at St Barnabas
Young people and their climate challenge
God knows our fears, he loves us – we should trust him
This Parish Forum is proof people are willing to meet together.
The Revd Ben Care, currently Assistant Curate at Burton St Chad & Stretton with Claymills in the Lichfield Diocese is to become Associate Vicar of Girlington, Heaton & Manningham in the Bradford Episcopal
Area. Ben will be licensed on 23rd November 2021 at 7pm at St Paul’s Church, Manningham by Bishop Toby Howarth.
Ben introduces himself below….
I am delighted to have been appointed as the new Associate Minister for the parish of Girlington, Manningham and Heaton.
A little about me: I became a Christian aged 20 whilst at Warwick university and it transformed my life. Helen and I met and married on a Christian year out course in 2001 and have been trying to follow where Jesus leads ever since. Along the way I have worked and volunteered for mission organisations and I have long had a heart to see people of different faiths and backgrounds come to know Christ. Eventually the twists and turns of this journey led to being ordained in 2017 and serving my curacy in two churches in Burton upon Trent, in the Midlands. The things that I am passionate about are seeing God’s church become more fully what it can be; for us to be growing as disciples, living out His call on our lives wherever that finds us and being a people committed to His word and grappling with it. My hope is that as we grow and change more into His likeness this will spill over into the lives of those around us.
I will be coming with my family; my wife, Helen, and our daughters Anna (aged 11) and Lyla (aged 6). We love spending time outdoors, walking and exploring the countryside and nature so we’re really looking forward to getting to know the area. I am a board game geek, bookworm and coffee connoisseur.
I am excited to be joining you as we seek to serve Christ in this parish together.
On June 20 2021 we had a joyous occasion as we held baptisms! Many had been waiting most of the pandemic for this moment. So it was especially meaningful.
You can find the livestream available here. If you came to the service and couldn’t see the baptism well – then a very special close up view is worth watching.
We did manage to go outside to say a proper farewell to Sue – here is a short montage of pictures and a bit of video of her parting words.
Thanks to the many of you who attended our APCM on 30th May 2021. It came around quickly this time since our last one was in November 2020.
As well as the formal meeting and administration there was a video recap of the year, a parable and some group discussion about our vision for the future. For those of you who couldn’t attend or if you want to attend again…..!
You can watch the recap of 2020 here:
You can hear the Parable of the Two Luncheon Clubs and the meaning explained on this video:
The Community Pantry is at St Philip’s church on Tuesday afternoons between 12 and 1pm.
By joining the scheme, your £5 will stretch further, getting you 16 items of mainly fresh food. £1 of this can be put into a savings account with Credit Union.
How does this work?
Each week there will also be a changing selection of fridge items (perhaps milk, eggs, cheese, meat items etc) and a good stock of cupboard staples
The cost is £5 each time you visit, you don’t need any referral – just turn up.
For your £5 you will then be able to choose what you would like. The choice will change each week but there will always be a selection of fresh fruit, vegetables and bakery items.
We will also save £1 of each payment in your own credit union account if you would like. We can help you open an account so don’t worry. This is then your account and your savings – to which you can add more or withdraw it as you need.
You will need bring your own bags and register a few basic details with us.
We receive food from Storehouse. They have partners who donate food that is ‘unwanted’, which could be because they have over-ordered / over-produced, or because the food is nearing or past its best before date. All of the food is safe and of excellent quality, merely surplus to somebody else’s requirements.
Their food partners include supermarkets, wholesalers, local markets and other local traders.
Since Storehouse started, they have intercepted over 600 tonnes of food that would have otherwise gone to landfill!
Time: 12-1pm – every Tuesday
Cost: £5
For more information call: 07434627013
Where: St Philips Church, Thorn Street, Girlington, BD8 9QW
Happy Christmas to you all! Thanks to community cooperation from Morrison’s, Girlington All Over Taxis and publicity from the Telegraph & Argus we managed to meet together to sing and worship in a COVID-19 friendly way on Christmas Morning.
Scroll down for videos and pictures of a very 2020 type of event.
This year we will produce 24 readings about angels as a countdown to Christmas. If you are already subscribed to our YouTube Channel you will get notifications of each new video daily. If you aren’t subscribed and you’d like to be click here.
Although in the Bible Angels generally appear when you least expect it, our angels will be appearing in your phone or inbox at 8am sharp each morning of Advent.
We will be working through the past 3-4000 years of recorded history and hearing stories of Angels and what messages they brought to God’s people.
Some have not managed to get the YouTube notifications working for them – if you are logged in you can go to https://www.youtube.com/feed/channels and you’ll see a list of all your channels – it’s alphabetical so we’ll be near the bottom.
You will see something like this image below – clicking on the bell gives you options to increase your notifications – if you don’t want to miss anything click ‘All’!
This season has left many of us with a sense of loss and mourning, we wanted to make some space and ask ourselves:
How we make sense of what we have lost?
How can we seek hope for ourselves and those around us?
“Come and think about loss, to name it, to remember well and move to a more hopeful and peaceful understanding.”
On 1st November 2020 we hosted a Journey of Hope.
There were 5 stations taking us through a journey of grief ending with a chance to celebrate loved ones more publicly and leave with a renewed sense of hope.
Shock and Numbness
Yearning and Searching
Disorientation and Despair
Reorientation and Recovery
The Journey Home
Thanks to all those who made it a meaningful occasion.
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