From the Registers

Funerals

St Mary, Leake. 6th February. Margaret Noble (nee Morton), 75, of Borrowby, where she was born and bred, and married the boy next door, Fred.

Felixkirk, 9th February. Kath Edmondson, 68, of The Paddocks, Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe, wife of Dick. Recently retired to their new house built in their former farmyard. Rev. Robin Davill officiated.

We also report the tragic death of David Brown in an accident on his own drive in the snow at Ravensthorpe Manor. Our best wishes to his children, especially Janet who lives in the Parishes.

March 2004 

One of God's greatest gifts to us is TIME. In fact there are two kinds of time: clock time and all that that entails, i.e.chronological time, and the other is the moment or opportunity. This latter is found in the well-known passage from Ecclesiastes the preacher "A time (opportunity) to hate and a time (chance or opportunity) to love" etc. Do we use this gift of God properly?

If we assess time and the Holy Spirit in the Bible it seems very topsy turvy: 40 days here, 40 years there - a generation at that time but several generations at another time/period in history. However, God's timing is correct and Christ's ministry happened at the right time, when God wanted it to take place. It begs our own rethinking and assessment of God's timing in our own lives. For instance when hit by bereavement we may feel that it is very untimely until we come to terms with it. By contrast we may need time to, say, bake bread, but we do that because we need to have some and, hopefully, because we enjoy the process or want some for someone else. That is the real point: we need to make time for God and we need to make time for others. Without making time or setting it aside we neither grow in Spirit nor demonstrate God's love properly.

Sometimes, it is very difficult to make time. We squander it too easily, we waste it. In fact Time is something we need to manage and plan, an elementary aspect of our lives. Sometimes we may experience captive time like a seaman on an oiltanker that is reduced to slow steaming. At other times we budget prime time for the family. We may find that child care takes up all the time - but is not to be missed. We also need discipline to give God time, time to listen to Him and to speak or pray to Him - sharing the awareness of His presence in our lives through the pleases, thankyous and sorrys. The hour of worship on Sunday - or fixed at another time during the week where the system is asked to cater for it - is all important.

The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, says Proverbs. Our best beginning towards that end is to budget that time for God that I have mentioned. Once we respect his space, and project ourselves there, a lot more follows and even time itself appears better ordered!

Time is in your hands, use it well. Best wishes, and have a useful Lent planning time,

Dear Parishioners - "Horse Trek in Mongolia" I have undertaken to do a charity challenge this summer. The charity is the ANTHONY NOLAN BONE MARROW TRUST. The trust provide donors for patients suffering from leukaemia and other bone-marrow related diseases. The way it works is that I have to raise £2600 to take part in this challenge. 60% of the money raised goes to the charity and the rest goes towards the costs of the challenge. I have already paid £350 of my own money - but I do need to fundraise! In the spring, amongst other things, I intend to go to some car boot sales. If anyone would like to donate some books or bric-a-brac, I would be most grateful. I have plenty of storage space so if you are spring cleaning please bring your castaway stuff to me - or ring 537392 and I will collect it. If anyone wants to know what the challenge entails I would be pleased to let them know the details - briefly, it is seven days riding amongst the nomadic people and camping en route, the last night in one of the "ger" camps. Sheila Ashby, Boltby Trekking Centre.

Winter 1947 - I was working at Kennel Farm, Knayton, run by Jim Fletcher and his mother. One day in mid-January, I was spreading basic slag - a dusty phosphate fertiliser now no longer available - with a horse and distributor. The air was mild, the sky blue, the birds were singing and it was just as though Spring was round the corner. Next day it snowed, and the next, and the next. There were hard night frosts, blue skies by day, and a keen east wind. The snows continued and country lanes were blocked from hedge to hedge. The long straight drive at Kennel Farm ran north/south - we dug it out by hand, but each day the east wind soon filled it level with snow. We dug it out seven times. There was little we could do, apart from foddering the stock. It was then only two years after the end of the war - most snowploughs were merely blades fixed to existing lorries. It was a desperately hard job for the horses on the farm snowploughs - they had to make a track through breast-high drifts before even attempting to use the plough. A bucket of hot water and a cloth were the main means of thawing frozen pipes - this became a daily routine. There were repeated forecasts of a thaw. These began in Cornwall but petered out in mid-Devon, leaving us as cold as ever. But, at last, early in April the snowplough reached Kennel Farm, a soft west wind arose, clearing the snow within days, and causing widespread flooding down country.

From E.W.Hart, Ludlow (from The Yorkshire Post, February 3rd 2004)

City Slickers Drive Out Farmers

Two thirds of farms and agricultural land in South East England are being bought by "city slickers", driving working farmers out of the market. An RICS survey showed that non-farmers accounted for 51% of rural property sales nationwide in the final three months of 2003, up from 45% in the previous quarter. Added to which there is huge demand for housing from up to 300,000 immigrants, in South East England alone. (Condensed from recent reports in The Daily Telegraph.)

From the Parishes The Hillside Parishes Meeting This meeting (Joint Open PCCs) is open to all. There was useful discussion and progress at the February meeting, which is feeding back into the PCCs. (i) Mission action. Plans were discussed. Felixkirk adopted at their PCC the “4Es” as criteria for progress: Encouraging attendance Engaging people Exploring together Extending friendship It was considered that the Churches should be more outgoing and co-operate more on special services where relevant and appropriate (Christmas, Easter, Harvest, Summer Special, Mothering and 5th Sundays already made up a fair backbone. (ii) Tourism. A growing factor, and we have a lot to offer! A stained glass pilgrimage/walk is planned, with funding for advertising. Would anyone like to be the “Hillside Tourist Representative”? (iii) Godly Play is being developed by Liz for special occasions and maybe the occasional Saturday a.m., in conjunction with other parties. (iv) Church Army Bus on Good Friday for the young: helpers wanted. (v) Food for Thought. It was decided that funds raised through this should be used as a primer for other events - to enable them to happen and hopefully grow (e.g. Godly Play). (vi) Fellowship and debate. There was a move also to encourage this, say quarterly. What about turning a 5th Sunday next year into a retreat, say at Whitby Abbey, or a day pilgrimage to a Cathedral, or Open air Service in an old Abbey? (vii) Highways Agency presentation on upgrading the A19, 7.30 p.m. in Borrowby Village Hall on 25th February: implications for Leake Ch.

From the Parishes

The Hillside Parishes Meeting

This meeting (Joint Open PCCs) is open to all. There was useful discussion and progress at the February meeting, which is feeding back into the PCCs.

(i) Mission action. Plans were discussed. Felixkirk adopted at their PCC the “4Es” as criteria for progress: Encouraging attendance Engaging people Exploring together Extending friendship It was considered that the Churches should be more outgoing and co-operate more on special services where relevant and appropriate (Christmas, Easter, Harvest, Summer Special, Mothering and 5th Sundays already made up a fair backbone.

(ii) Tourism. A growing factor, and we have a lot to offer! A stained glass pilgrimage/walk is planned, with funding for advertising. Would anyone like to be the “Hillside Tourist Representative”?

(iii) Godly Play is being developed by Liz for special occasions and maybe the occasional Saturday a.m., in conjunction with other parties.

(iv) Church Army Bus on Good Friday for the young: helpers wanted.

(v) Food for Thought. It was decided that funds raised through this should be used as a primer for other events - to enable them to happen and hopefully grow (e.g. Godly Play).

(vi) Fellowship and debate. There was a move also to encourage this, say quarterly. What about turning a 5th Sunday next year into a retreat, say at Whitby Abbey, or a day pilgrimage to a Cathedral, or Open air Service in an old Abbey?

(vii) Highways Agency presentation on upgrading the A19, 7.30 p.m. in Borrowby Village Hall on 25th February: implications for Leake Ch.

From the PCCs.

Felixkirk, 9th February.

(I) Sound reinforcement and loop system to be installed at Felixkirk, and possibly Boltby if price is right.

(Ii) Boltby plans to instal/build a loo on the West end, with access SW corner, if most cost-effective solution to need. 

(Iii) Deanery quota paid in full last year, £290,000. 

(Iv) Alan Parsons welcomed as new member. 

(V) Andrew Peart appointed as Boltby architect for quinquennial inspections/ fabric matters. 

(Vi) Agreed to support Mothering Sunday service at Leake.

Leake, 15th January.

(I) Floodlighting discussed and faculty in preparation. 

(Ii) Churchyard wall to be mended. Mower needs new head, £400. 

(Iii) Andrew Peart appointed architect (Ferrey & Mennim). 

(Iv) Deanery Youth Camp at Kirby Knowle, May 28 - 30. 

(V) Security. Following break-in to vestry, should it be sealed off with bars and glazing on top of the vestry inside wall?

Did you know? 2003. 

2.6 million people attended church last Christmas. Hillsides had 217 communicants with 108 children/non-communicant adults at services over Christmas period (and a mostly full house at Boltby for the crib service!). Easter communicants 122. Harvest activities in Hillsides 290 attendees. A rough rule of thumb: we average 60 people worship per Sunday.