Hillside Parishes Magazine
Hillside Parish MagazineJuly 2010From the Vicar Trevor, the new priest in our churches, was ordained at the end of May. When the Archdeacon read out the names of the parishes he was to serve in, “Cowesby, Felixkirk with Boltby, East Harlsey, Ingleby Arncliffe ……” and so on, you could hear the sharp intake of breath around the Minster. People were amazed at the number of churches in the benefice, and all the responsibility which that implies. When people hear that we have eleven churches I’m always quick to tell them that it’s not the churches which will wear the clergy out, it’s the pace of life in the local communities!! Just in the last couple of weeks I’ve been to the Gala at Thirlby, a Musical Evening and Supper at Nether Silton, an Organ Concert in Osmotherley, Leake’s “Raising the Roof” bike ride, the Almond’s coffee morning, plant sale and open gardens at Felixkirk and a Social Evening on the outskirts of Boltby (I missed the Coffee Morning at Ingleby Arncliffe!). And there’s lots more to come over the next couple of months! It’s great to see people of all ages enjoying themselves in so many different ways. And enjoying one another’s company too, sharing hospitality and conversation, sometimes in friendly (!) competition, sometimes working together on a common task, making new friends and getting to know some old ones better. I’m always grateful for the way these events make it possible for us to meet one another informally, of how in this respect they make up for the loss of many of our local services. It’s very noticeable in the Bible that Jesus doesn’t spend much of his time in the temple or the synagogues, the churches of his day. He is usually to be found where the people are, in the towns, by the lakeside. Sometimes he sits down to a meal with some unlikely companions, those who are looked down on by the rest of the community. (continued) He uses all of these public situations to teach and tell stories, and to make the point that it’s in the midst of our busy-ness that God is to be found. That the fun and the laughter of our socialising is as much a part of our prayers as the quiet times. That God becomes real for us in the love and the friendship that we share and in the genuine concern that we have for one another. Our churches are important. They are symbols of our past and signs of our hope for the future. They are also places where we can come close to God in the quiet, in the sacraments and in the life of the congregation. But our local communities are important too. They are the places where we come close to God in one another and discover his love for us in our neighbours and in our daily lives. 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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©Thirsk.net |
