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

“Should I stay or should I go?” (The Clash).  Since the Referendum in June 2016, we have seen families, our nation and Parliament divided by different opinions over Europe. But—as   written in a statement by CofE Bishops in December 2018—”at the heart of the Christian message is Jesus’ command to love our   neighbour. This includes those with whom we agree and disagree: at home, in Europe and further afield.”

As we celebrate St Valentine’s Day this month, how can we conduct this debate in a loving way? The Apostle Peter reminds us: ‘Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honour the emperor.’ (1 Peter 2:17).

Respect everyone: However much we may disagree with another people’s perspective, we should respect them as people. This applies even if they don’t respect our views!

Love the church: among the family of believers there should be an even greater respect for each other!0 The way we treat each other not only reveals the depth of our love; it will also cause people to glorify God and want to be part of the family.

Fear God: we must demonstrate our allegiance to God by   putting Him first and following His leading. Of course, this doesn’t stop Christians from having different opinions to each other.

Honour those in authority: we are called to honour those who are in authority over us ‘for the Lord’s sake’. Even when we disagree with their decisions and actions, we should keep our respect and not speak ill of them.

Peter is calling us to live with the freedom to make up our own mind on Europe, while listening to what others say. ‘A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a         perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.’ (Martin Luther).

Rev Paul Hardingham writing in parishpump.co.uk

Like most children, my favourite time of year was Christmas. I had lots of favourite times, but Christmas was that bit extra special. It was because we had an open coal fire blazing in the hearth making the house toasty warm. We had extra special food like turkey and Christmas pudding, and if I was lucky, I got more than two toys.

As I grew up my expectations changed but the thrill of Christmas didn’t. Even as an adult I still find Christmas wonderful, not for me anymore but for my children and grandchildren. I can relive the thrill of my own Christmas experience through the faces of others.

For some, Christmas in a very difficult time. Personal circumstances, lack of money, bad relationships and a whole host of other things just can’t help but get in the way. Sadly, for some, Christmas is the worst time of the year. Christmas is meant to be a time of giving. Today, that seems to mean spending lots on as many presents as you can afford even when they already have so much. As a Christian, I believe in giving, and giving for giving’s sake, not because it is expected of me.

Jesus told us that we don’t need a lot of money to make a difference to others, in fact we don’t really need to spend a penny. All we need to do is give. We can give time, support, help and anything else that will, in the giving, help those who receive. It is amazing just how much a few words of comfort can affect the hearer; a simple gesture of helping someone in and out of the house with shopping bags.

Jesus gave the greatest gift of all, a chance to live with him in his Father’s house. To give us this, he gave his life.  This gift is worth more than anything money can buy.  I am not suggesting that you ignore friends and family at Christmas, in fact quite the opposite: be generous, but that doesn’t need to be in the price and number of gifts. Just remember to be even more generous to those who are in need.  We live in a society that is build on wealth, but it should be built on kindness and love, both of which we can give in abundance without cost. Have a wonderful and giving filled Christmas.

Rev David Teece, St Peter’s Church, Stanley

It would be interesting to ask a group of people to say a word which they associate with each month of the year. I am sure that for the month of November the word “remember” or remembrance” would feature.

The month begins with the Christian festival of All Saints or All     Hallows on 1st November (hence Halloween on 31st October is really ‘All Hallows Eve’). All Saints Day celebrates all Christian saints, particularly those who do not have their own special feast day of remembrance. Of the 16,500 churches in the Church of England, 1467 are dedicated to All Saints.

The 2nd November is All Souls day which is set aside to commemorate the souls of Christians who have died. Typically, we remember deceased relatives on that day. It is seen as an extension of All Saints Day and several Anglican churches are dedicated to All Souls.

“Remember, remember the 5th of November, gunpowder, treason and plot I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.”

This rhyme of course refers to Guy Fawkes and the plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament on 5th November 1605 in order to remove James 1st from the throne and return the country to Catholicism. Robert Catesby was the instigator but Guy Fawkes was put in charge of the explosives. The plot failed as an anonymous letter caused a search of the House of Lords and Guy Fawkes was found guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder.

Remembrance Day falls on 11th November and it is a day when we can remember those in the armed forces who have died in the line of duty. It is a time to give heartfelt thanks for those who willingly sacrificed their lives to give us the freedom to live out our own lives. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the armistice was signed between the allies of world war 1 and Germany. Since then many brave men and women have fought sacrificially, and lost their lives in conflict, so on Remembrance Day we remember them and their families for the sacrifice they made.

But of course we need to remember also the words Jesus spoke to his disciples at the last supper and which we hear during the communion service. As Jesus broke bread, he gave it to his disciples saying “This is my body which is given for you, do this in memory of me”. Offering them the cup of wine he said “This cup is God’s new covenant sealed with my blood which is poured out for you. Drink it in remembrance of me”.

We have much to remember and be grateful for. Let us this year, 100 years since the end of world war 1, pray for peace in our world .

Vicky Wilson, Reader, St Peter’s Church Stanley

October sees us celebrating harvest (and everyone at St Peter’s is welcome to the St Anne’s harvest supper on Saturday 13th October at 6.30pm!), which is many people’s favourite festival of the church year.  It’s a relatively recent addition to the church calendar, being a Victorian invention.  The inventors of the harvest festival were drawing on the Old  Testament festival of ‘first fruits’, and perhaps also on the Mediaeval feast of ‘Lammas’ (a corruption of ‘Loaf-Mass’), which was celebrated near the first of August, at the wheat harvest, when the first grains of the year were milled into flour, baked into bread, and brought to church for a blessing.  But the Victorians decided to celebrate harvest in the autumn, as fruit and vegetables put forth a last abundance before everything slows down for winter.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been almost overwhelmed by the productivity of the vicarage garden – especially by the wonderful and slightly terrifying bounty of plums.  Many jars of jam have been made, although I didn’t entirely manage to keep up with the tree’s production – it would have been nearly a full time job to do so!  But I felt a responsibility to make as much use as I could of the fruit which God’s had blessed me with. It’s a blessing, but there were moments when I wasn’t sure I wanted that blessing!

God gives us abundantly of his love, in our creation and in our redemption and in the presence of his Spirit among us.  I wonder, how often do we stop to dwell on this?  And how do we respond?  Of course, God’s grace is a free gift – but it demands a response from us too, not because we need to earn God’s love, but because we shouldn’t waste the grace and love poured out on us.  Sometimes, we might perhaps feel slightly overwhelmed by this.  But God does not over-burden us – he calls us to live lives of faithful love, sharing that love with others.  We’re called to bear the fruits of love and holiness – and it’s in doing that, that God’s gift to us come to its full harvest of joy.

This month will also see the launch of a six week study course that we’re inviting people from across the benefice to participate in, called “Lifting the Lid.” It aims to equip churches to support people affected by mental health issues.  It’s being held in Outwood church on Tuesday evenings.  (Tuesday evenings at St Mary Magdalene church, Outwood at 7.30pm) 

As many of us have become increasingly aware, there are lots of people known to us who are going through hard times mentally; it’s my prayer that this course will help us to offer a little bit of support. It’s not just an us and them thing – some of us have dealt with or are dealing with the issue for ourselves, and this course should give us all a bit more insight into positive ways the church can make a difference.  Blessings,

Rev Joanne Kershaw, Priest at St Anne’s, Wrenthorpe