Hillside Parishes Magazine
Hillside Parish MagazineMay 2009Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! The Easter Morning services provided a wonderful conclusion to Lent and Holy Week. We waved our palms on Palm Sunday, watched in the Garden on Maundy Thursday and followed the Way of the Cross on Good Friday. So it was fitting to greet the Risen Lord on such a beautiful morning and in four such different ways: early at Over Silton, slightly unexpectedly at Leake, joyfully in Osmotherley and with more joy and a baptism at Felixkirk. Each service began without lights or music until after the Easter Candle was lit and the Resurrection proclaimed. Then we more than made up for lost time, with candles all round and Easter hymns. It was good to see so many in church at this special time. The Easter season now continues for forty days until Ascension Day on May 21st and then ten days later, on Sunday 31st May, we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. This is the day when the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples and the church, almost literally, burst into life on the streets of Jerusalem. Its energy was unstoppable and it very quickly spread across the Middle East and throughout the Roman Empire, laying the foundations for the next two thousand years of the church. This dynamism continues to encourage us in this part of the world as we reflect on the life of our churches and think about future developments. It is always outward looking, engaging with people and communities where they are and developing relationships which make it possible to share the Good News of Jesus. Church members do this by being both gathered and dispersed: meeting together regularly to pray, to retell the great stories of faith, to break the bread and support one another, but also living and working within the wider community, sharing its joys and its sorrows and bringing these back into the church through prayer and offering. Both individually and collectively life is Christ centred, because it is always focussed on the teaching, the example and the presence of the Risen Lord which becomes real in the prayers, in the scriptures, in the breaking of bread and in the very life of the church community as it is lived out in the spirit of the gospel. There is a great awareness of these themes in the wider church, which is encouraging us all to become mission shaped. That means being ready, willing and able proclaim the Easter message in word and deed all year round and also working to draw others into the fellowship of our local church congregations. Many churches have now recognised that the average age is rising and that they struggle to attract new members so there is particular emphasis on work with children, young people and their families. This is all very timely for us in the Osmotherley and Hillside Parishes as we continue to draw closer together in our new grouping and shape our life together. It continues to flesh out the Diocesan Vision Statement which was printed in the February 2009 copy of the magazine and it provides the background to several things which are happening soon. On the morning of Saturday 30th May the Church Wardens and members of all the PCCs are meeting in Knayton School from 9am until noon in order to do some training together and to take this thinking further. The following day, Pentecost, Gavin Wakefield is preaching at the 10.30 service in St.Michael’s, Cowesby. Gavin is the recently appointed Director of Mission, Ministry and Training in York Diocese and the leader of the team which will be working with parishes to support their mission and development. The new priest in our Parishes, who will be living in Ingleby Arncliffe and leading worship in all of our churches, will be a member of Gavin’s team. In addition there will be further opportunities to explore prayer and bible study in small groups throughout the summer and we are also making plans for Summer Fetes and Village Shows. So inspired by our Easter celebrations and the enthusiasm of the first Christians we are discovering what it means for us to be mission shaped; how we can be more effective as the local church in each of our villages and communities as we draw closer to the Risen Lord and also share his message of new life and hope in our words and deeds. Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! With my prayers Ian Houghton
The magazine of the parishes of Boltby, Borrowby, Cowesby, Felixkirk, Kepwick,
Kirby Knowle, Knayton, Leake & "The Siltons". Also circulated in
Upsall, Thirlby & Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe. |
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