You may have heard the news that we will soon be welcoming our new vicar to Stanley.  The Rev Glenn Coggins has been appointed as vicar of Stanley, Outwood and Wrenthorpe and priest in charge of Alverthorpe.  Rev Coggins is currently based in East Ardsley and will be licensed as lead vicar for our United Benefice at a service at St Paul’s, Alverthorpe on Thursday 6th June.

Since Bill retired a year ago, St Peter’s church has been in what is known as period of interregnum.  Interregnum is the term used to describe the period before a new vicar is appointed to fill a vacancy. During an interregnum, the administration of the parish is the responsibility of the churchwardens.

Thankfully we have a fantastic team at St Peter’s that we have been able to call on for help.  Huge thanks go to Rev David Teece and our two readers Vicky Wilson and David Greenwood-Haigh, who have done a marvellous job of keeping the Church services going!  As part of a United Benefice we have also been able to draw on help from     Father Jonathan Bish from Outwood and Rev Jo Kershaw from    Wrenthorpe, so thanks also to them.

During the interregnum the churchwardens are required to ensure the vicarage and any other property of the benefice is looked after. With the PCC we have been in regular discussion with the Diocese of Leeds (of which Wakefield is now part) about the sale of the vicarage. The building is not in a great state structurally and due to the high cost of repairs the Diocese has taken the decision to sell the property.  We as a church do not get any proceeds from the sale but there is a       commitment to buy another Vicarage in Stanley.  As a PCC we feel that this is very important and will continue to push for this.

So as we continue through Lent to Easter this year it really feels like we are building up to a big celebration in the Church; celebrating the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Day and looking forward to the   arrival of Glenn in June.  We would love you to join us this Easter and you will find full details of our Easter services this magazine.

By Jason Plant, Church Warden, St Peter’s church

How will you remember March 2019? For some people it will be a birth, a marriage or a death. For others it will be redundancy or a new job, an illness or a recovery, a falling out or a reconciliation. Or even the holiday of a lifetime.

The question of Brexit will be foremost in the minds of many people. Will we or won’t we leave; will there be another referendum or not; will we leave with a deal or just walk away; what changes will there be or will there be any at all. It is all very uncertain, and as I write in mid-February, nothing is very clear.

Uncertainty is part of life. One of the most difficult things in life is not to know what is coming; what is going to happen. Unpredictability can sometimes be enjoyable but usually it leads to stress. A study reported in 2016 found that most people would rather know for certain that they were going to get an electric shock than not be able to predict it. A team from University College London, invited people into a laboratory to play a computer game. Snakes were hiding under rocks and when someone found a snake they got a painful shock in their hand. A computer model estimated each person’s level of uncertainty for each choice made, as over time, they could predict which rocks were likely to hide a snake. Their stress level was also measured by looking at pupil response and also the amount of perspiration produced.

The study found that participants were most stressed when they were more uncertain about the situation than when they were certain about either thing happening. The conclusion was that people feel better about knowing what is coming, even if it is painful, rather than not knowing.

March marks the beginning of Lent, the forty days before Easter in the Christian calendar. It is a season of reflection and preparation before Easter, but it is also a season of  CERTAINTY that Jesus died, rose and lives again to give us peace, joy and hope.

By Vicky Wilson, Reader, St Peter’s church