Author Archives: Jason Plant

Film Club – September 2019 – “Darkest Hour”

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Friday evening, 13th September 7:30pm 

‘Darkest Hour’ (2018)

During the early days of World War 2, Britain faces its darkest hour as the threat of invasion looms.  With the Allied army cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk by the advancing Nazis, the fate of Western Europe is in the hands of the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman).  Whilst manoeuvring his political rivals, he must confront a terrible choice:  negotiate with Hitler and save the British people, or rally the nation and fight on against incredible odds.  Directed by Joe Wright, ‘Darkest Hour’ is the dramatic and inspiring story of four weeks in 1940 during which Churchill’s courage changed the course of world history.

Doors open 7pm, film start 7.30pm

Free admission, tea & coffee; bring your own popcorn!

Film Club – August 2019 – “The Help”

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Friday evening, 9th August 7:30pm 

‘The Help’ (2012)

The number 1 New York Times bestseller by Kathryn Stockett comes to vivid life through the powerful performances of a phenomenal     ensemble cast.  Starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Bryce Dallas Howard, The Help is an inspirational, courageous and empowering story about very different, extraordinary women in 1960s southern USA who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project — one that breaks society’s rules and puts them all at risk. Filled with poignancy, humour and hope — The Help is a timeless, universal and triumphant story about the ability to create change.

Doors open 7pm, film start 7.30pm

Free admission, tea & coffee; bring your own popcorn!

Coffee Morning – July & August

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Thank you to everyone who supported last month’s coffee morning at St Peter’s church; it was a lovely morning and raised a fantastic £211.00. 

The coffee mornings over the summer will be on Saturday 13th July and Saturday 10th August from 10.30am-12.30pm with all the usual great stalls including cakes, raffle, jigsaws and more, and refreshments including bacon and sausage sandwiches. 

Please come along for a warm welcome and a very pleasant morning.

Film Club – July 2019 – “Stan and Ollie”

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Friday evening, 12th July 7:30pm 

‘Stan & Ollie’ (2018)

Steve Coogan and John C Reilly star as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in the untold story of the world’s greatest comedy act.  Stan & Ollie   wonderfully portrays the unique and precious partnership of the legendary duo as they set out on a tour of Britain in the twilight of their career.  Whilst they face an uncertain future, the charm and beauty of their performances shine through, making each other and their audiences laugh, re-connecting them with legions of adoring fans, old and new. Coogan and Reilly are faultless as Laurel and Hardy, and tell a poignant tale of friendship, resentment, financial uncertainty and illness in the unglamorous, uncaring, fast-changing world of post-war showbiz.  Above all it is an affectionate tribute to two of the world’s best loved and funniest duos, and their innocent, timeless humour which continues to delight audiences even today.

Doors open 7pm, film start 7.30pm

Free admission, tea & coffee; bring your own popcorn!

Letter for July/August 2019

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Dear Friends, it is lovely to have finally arrived and start to settle into life here in Outwood, Stanley, Wrenthorpe and Alverthorpe.  First of all a big thankyou for your warm welcome to Angela and myself and for your support at my licensing service in early June.  We are both thrilled and excited to be here at this stage in the life of the benefice and look forward to sharing our lives and ‘getting to know people’ over the coming months and years.

We have not moved far, in fact from just over the M1 after serving nearly thirteen years at St Michael’s in East Ardsley.  Over the years though I have moved extensively around the country for both work and church life.  My roots are in Royston near Barnsley where my father was a miner until the pit closed in 1968.  We then moved to south Leeds and it was from there that I went onto university where I met Angela and we married and lived in South Manchester throughout the 80s. 

A call to the ministry came about in the mid 80’s which took  several years to come to fruition and involved us living in Poole in Dorset. It was from Poole that I went to train for the ministry in Durham in the mid 90’s. Ministry then took us to Wiltshire followed by eight years in the Cambridgeshire fens before arriving in East Ardsley in 2006. During this time our twins Beth and Sam arrived on the scene.

Over the long hot Sundays of summer, our readings from Acts bring the early Church to life and how the disciples  lives were transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit to go out and share the good news of Jesus across the known world. At the end of the day God’s people are always a journeying people, a pilgrim people.  Our faith journey is one of movement be it spiritually and/or physically as we discover more of God’s blessings for us and his church as we step out in faith.  We are people on the move: the Holy Spirit calls us to share God’s love in a hurting world and be a church family that welcomes all and be a place where one can ‘Find God, Find Friends and Find Yourself’.

Angela and myself look forward to meeting you and sharing in your lives as we too journey together and follow in Jesus’ footsteps and discover more of God’s love and blessings.  God Bless.

Rev Glenn Coggins:  Vicar of Stanley, Outwood and Wrenthorpe, and Priest in charge of St Paul’s, Alverthorpe.

Hopes & Dreams – Summer 2019

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St Peter’s Church will be staging three performances of the musical ‘Hopes & Dreams’ on Friday 5th July, Saturday 6th July and Sunday 7th July 2019.  The musical was written by Paul Field in 1998 and was enormously successful at the time.  It features ‘The Millennium Prayer’: the words of the Lord’s Prayer set to the tune of Auld Lang Syne which was recorded by Cliff Richard and gave him a number one hit single.

St Peter’s has staged the musical twice before; originally in November 2002 in Stanley Community Centre and again in April 2011 to celebrate 10 years since our move from the old church to our new building. Even more than 20 years after it was written, the music is still so powerful that we felt it was time to revisit it, and stage it again for a new audience.

The whole musical is based on the Lord’s Prayer, and uses the themes of creation, forgiveness, temptation among others as the inspiration for the songs, poems, dances and drama. We have a brilliant team of people busy rehearsing for the performances in the summer. Details of ticket sales will be released nearer the time.

Film Club – June 2019 – “Quartet”

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Friday evening, 14th June 7:30pm 

‘Quartet’ (2013)

Dustin Hoffman directs this comedy drama adapted by writer Ronald Harwood. Beecham House is a retirement home with a difference: it specifically caters for former artistes including opera singers Cissy (Pauline Collins), Reginald (Tom Courtenay) and Wilf (Billy Connolly).  The three still take part in an annual concert to celebrate the birthday of composer Giuseppe Verdi.  But this year things are complicated by the arrival of the fourth member of their quartet, Jean (Maggie Smith), a die-hard diva who also happens to be Reginald’s ex-wife. Theatrical temperaments and old hostilities flare as the dramatic foursome fuss, flirt and flounce their way through rehearsals, adhering    emphatically to that old showbiz adage, ‘the show must go on’.

Doors open 7pm, film start 7.30pm

Free admission, tea & coffee; bring your own popcorn!

Letter for June 2019

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For Christmas we have the build-up of Advent, and Easter Day is preceded by Holy Week.  But when it comes to Whit Sunday, it just arrives!  Yet Pentecost is all about the birth of the Christian church and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Surely, that is something to get excited about!

For forty days following our Lord’s resurrection, Jesus appeared to His followers and taught them about the Kingdom of God.  Just before His ascension into Heaven, Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Spirit.

Ten days after His ascension, it was the Feast of Pentecost and this was a significant festival for the Jews.  It was an annual occasion for    people to assemble in the Holy City.  The day marked the time when the barley harvest officially ended.  This feast day was characterised by religious ceremonies and the offering of sacrifices.  No work was done. It was a day of thanksgiving.  A time to remember deliverance from Egypt and God’s mercy and reconciliation with His covenant people.

On the day of Pentecost, the followers of Jesus met together in an upper room. Its location was probably on Mount Zion to the west of Jerusalem.  The site can be visited although it’s not the Upper Room. It’s an ancient building dating from the 14th century and built on the site of a church destroyed by the Persians seven centuries earlier.  But the first floor chamber is large with old paving stones, surrounded by stone pillars and arches.  According to tradition, this is where Jesus ate the ‘Last Supper’ and His followers received the Holy Spirit.

On Whit Sunday we would do well to remember why the Holy Spirit was sent to us. We are given power to live God’s way:

– to lead us into the things God has prepared for us;

– to worship and glorify Him;

– to enable us to pray;

– to lead us into truth;

– to give us a desire to share the love of Christ with others and to help us trust God for all our needs.

This Pentecost may our prayer be for God’s Spirit to transform us, for the gentleness of His Spirit to lead us, and for the gifts of His Spirit to equip us.                            By Lester Amann writing in parishpump.co.uk s