Funerals

Saturday 2nd October. Leake St Mary. Ruth Peacock, 75. After a stoic struggle against cancer during these last 11 months. Our best wishes to George, in admiration of his nursing her, and to their children Brian and Ann.

Monday 4th October. St Wilfrid's, Kirby Knowle. Tommy Metcalfe, 88, of Primrose Hill, Kirby Knowle. Our best wishes to his daughter Judith and all her family. Tommy spent most of his life in Kirby Knowle except for war service in the Skipton area, where he met his late wife.

Wednesday 13th October. Service at Kepwick, burial at Nether Silton. Frances (Bunty) Fletcher, 81, wife of the late John Fletcher who died in 1993. They farmed at Kepwick Lodge for many years. Tuesday 19th October. Leake St Mary. Burial only. Nancy Mason.

Often much agonising takes place at PCCs over who, or rather who does not, worship. Schemes are mooted to attract the young or the middle-aged or the family. We overlook the fact that all are welcome to church to worship - so all services are family services. The heart of the matter is to make them more family friendly!

We should be an all age church. Study of both the O.T. and N.T. will reveal that all the community stood before God: Deut. 29 v.9, 31, Ezra, Nehemiah: Paul's writings included all: Acts 2, everybody met together. In the Old Testament it is worth noting that the young shall ask and the older generation shall answer. This suggests that there was liturgical provision for this: Psalm 24 vv.8-10 lend themselves to trebles asking the question with the bases answering, and the sopranos making a halo of sound. We should give some consideration to experimental worship and build on their idea of old and young, question and answer, and making music.

An all age church is drawn from a discernible culture, neighbourhood, background or area (community). Any community includes all ages (as Paul did in his letters to his churches). A simple way of feeling that one is more part of a church is to reflect on what one does with one's time. Take a sheet of paper and note down all your doing for others, your giving and your giving to charities, your helping, as well as your praying and your worship. Maybe the last item does not feature very high but your participation in the others will indicate to you how much you are "being church" in your daily life. It is this aspect that we need to draw into our worship, so that Worship better expresses ourselves to God. So we find space to pray for the needs and activities of others - also drawing into our intercession the whole spectrum of charity supported by individuals. It might also indicate that we are a 24/7 church and not a 1/1 church!

Worship is best started by centring on what there is to celebrate. Carols are not confined to Christmas - there are those for Advent, Epiphany and Easter too. Rogation Sunday, before Ascension (a day for celebration with and at the school), offers the chance to go outside to pray and use the visual image: i.e. Over Silton. Harvests are year-round with stock and gardens included for instance. At the end of lambing a celebration at Sunday worship would remind us of the Paschal Lamb at Eastertide. Mid summer suggests calling on the Gardening Club to join in. That leaves space for Confirmation, Whitsun and, let's say, something Celtic besides some experimental worship to nurture our celebration.

With that in mind I shall be calling together a Worship Committee from across the parishes. Church is also about how we value and treat each other - the "loving our neighbour" if you like. All this is part of the ministry of the Church, which we all share. Consider this: "Ministry is a public activity of a baptised follower of Jesus Christ, flowing from the Spirits' CHARISM (gift of grace) and individual personality on behalf of a Christian community, to witness to, to serve and to realise the Kingdom of God". We're all in it together! Enjoy ministry!

Could we see hunting in a more accurate perspective please? The countryside is more about food than fortune. Fortunes are spent in the countryside which is why our agricultural industry is the most advanced in Europe, if not the world: hence many difficulties with the EU. Few fortunes are made in the countryside and those that are often come under scrutiny of ethics as the public sees them, for better or for worse: viz turkeys, battery hens, veal etc.

There is a danger of the debate over hunting (sadly not debated in the Commons on the day by a full house) will deteriorate into town versus country. In fact many town-based people do hunt and keep their horses in livery, which is why the rural industry feels threatened.

Very few people, unless very sick, kill for pleasure. There is a great respect for the fox (illustrated by some very fine art) and the point of death of the fox by hounds is the most humane available, besides being natural according to nature's laws. People dress up for safety and comfort. Even my dog collar is derived from a hunting stock designed to protect the neck in a fall, and preaching tabs are the loose ends which come from the same source! Hunt servants only wear "pink", which colour helps the field to follow the direction of the chase.

Some of our Olympic gold medals depend on the hunting field as the best place to train horse and rider by encountering the unexpected, which cannot be replicated by artificial means such as drag hunting. Similarly the horse racing industry is locked into hunting. Hunting also provides useful retirement for these horses used in the eventing and racing worlds. And let's face it, the horses enjoy it. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to see that if one aspect of the horse industry is curtailed the knock on effect is quite drastic.

Hunting is part of the conservation cycle and man is the fox's only predator. The hunting ensures the survival of the fittest because a sound Charlie Fox escapes. With the size of pheasant shooting as it is today, there are too many pickings to help foxes survive that would not have done otherwise, so the balance needs to be kept by culling the stragglers. Shooting foxes has already shown in Scotland how it is the stronger ones that are being culled because they are the first to break cover. Besides, foxes should not be shot with shot guns and already there have been some tragic accidents by those who do not observe basic rules of gun safety. Police paperwork looks to have an effect on fire arm licences as the police themselves struggle with their own and the Home Secretary's bureaucracy. Legitimate gun owning will suffer.

If hunting is outlawed how will the police operate amongst citizens currently doing the same thing quite legally? When youths vandalise an old people's home, as recently happened in Hartlepool, it suggests the police should have other priorities. Perhaps these young would have a better outlet if they were able to enjoy the chase and so lessen some of our social problem.

Other issues also come into play. The whole spectrum of field sports (hunting, shooting and fishing) actually dictate the style and management and landscape of our countryside that so many enjoy whether they support the sports or not. There is also a human rights issue and I draw your attention to a very eloquent and sound Borderlands lecture at St John's College Durham this year - given by one Ms Cherie Booth QC. By applying her argument to proposed legislation there are no grounds at all for this or any government to ban hunting or curtail the freedom of expression of a minority. If we are not careful it will be a nail on the coffin of democracy. In a true democracy one size does not fit all. Christian values are important to help everybody to rub along together despite their differences.

As to hunting continuing illegally after any ban I suspect insurance will prove a big obstacle, yet if a person is lucky enough to own enough space I cannot see what there is to stop him doing his own thing in private. Is not the Englishman's home his castle? As to killing off the hounds in the event of a ban not all will go as some hunts will want to preserve ancient bloodlines. Bearing in mind such hounds are never going to be cuddly domestic pets I am sure there will be a demand for occasional forays - when a farmer's lambs are attacked by a rogue fox. The only way to find it and cull it will be with hounds as humans don't have the noses for the job, and not always is it safe to shoot (as above).

People forget that there are restrictions already on hunting as land becomes inaccessible due to urban sprawl, intensive agriculture, busy roads etc. It also has a self-regulating body through the Master of Foxhounds Association. Without Government meddling it would continue to find its own level according to its use, its value and its popularity.

Toddy