Bradford North Circuit

During the holiday month of August, we have established a pattern of shared evening services, with the aim of maintaining a healthy congregation in those churches which have a regular evening service. An invitation is issued to all in the circuit to join with us, and experience evening worship at one, or all, of the churches. Each service will be led by a member of the ministry team and two will include Holy Communion. Here is the programme:-   2 August        Crag Road                    Rev Andrew Taylor   9 August        Baildon                         Rev Christine Crabtree (HC) 16 August        St Andrew’s        ...

Holiday at home has returned - bigger and better than ever before! On the 6, 7, & 8 th July 2015, St Andrew’s Church was confiscated by over 35 wonderful people, (of Tender Years). Our Staff were working hard to prepare for the arrival of our guests on Monday 6 th July. I never cease to be amazed at the amount of food these seniors can put away! Monday started gently with everyone having a get-to-know you natter, over tea, coffee and cakes. There was much chatting and much catching up on all the news.  After lunch, there were some very serious gaming sessions. All too soon it was the end of day one. Tuesday 7 th July started early and at 09:44 (one minute  early), our coach set off to visit the Cathedral City of York. Our first coach-stop was to board a river cruise and see the city from the River Ouse. This was a novel experience for most of us. Th...

Thornton Methodist Church celebrated its Sunday School Anniversary on Sunday 21 June. It was an ‘OA’ on the Plan and the Sunday School led a wonderful service. The children received gifts for attendance. After the service, we shared a faith lunch . Elaine B Thornton

Pope Francis issued the Laudato Si encyclical in June 2015, saying it was for all humanity. ‘ Laudato Si’ is how St Francis began his great paean of praise to God. ‘Praise be to you, my Lord’. Here are a few extracts from Laudato Si . It can be read in its entirety on the web :- “St Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically.  He was particularly concerned for God’s creation and for the poor and outcast.  He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace. He would call creatures, no matter how small, by the name of brother or sister. If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set ...

As part of the Circuit Leadership Team Away Day recently, our minsters were asked to describe what they felt were their strengths, and so what they bring to the Ministry Team. In the last edition of The Link, we heard from Nick and Phil. This edition is the turn of Christine and Andrew. Rev  Christine Crabtree “I bring a passion for spirituality, for people coming to God direct and being built up in faith and in the knowledge that God loves them, however flawed they may perceive themselves to be; A sense that each person has a calling and this can get buried under what the church demands of them; A wish for people to accept who they are, individually and as congregations, rather than strive to be something they are not; A sense of dislocation with church and an understanding of those who are searching but not finding it here; A desire to see people freed from busyness and burden, and able to relax in God’s love; A desire to connect with people and not merely ad...

Our preachers and worship leaders enjoyed an away day on 20 June when 21 of us went to Norwood and took part in a quiet day, on the theme of rainbows. We were led by Katharine Cheney, who is our District Link for Reflect, the Methodist Spirituality Network. She provided this lovely worship focus and talked through various aspects of our day to day lives, assigning a colour of the rainbow to each one – material things, relationships, spirituality, health, harmony, learning, and communication. All of these things need to be in balance, if we are to have the wholeness God wants for us. After hearing from Katharine, we had time with the notes she had prepared, to sit in the quiet, or walk (in the rain!) and reflect on each aspect. It was lovely to be at Norwood and to spend time together, and have time to listen to what God might be saying. This has been part of a programme of quiet spaces for preachers and worship leaders, as we seek to deepen our relationship with God, and our ...

Dear friends At last the weather has grown warmer and it has been pleasant to spend some time in the garden. A hellebore given to us by from Calverley’s garden had been in splendid isolation for quite some months, and was joined by an acer and a buddleia in the spring, and at last we were able to get to the garden centre in June and buy some heathers to plant around the edge of the garden. These will in time provide ground cover and flowers, in a mix of colours and in different seasons. Under the front window, we hope to have some alpines growing over the rocks that were left by the front door, and we have bought a grass for the side border, which will go alongside existing plants that we are trying to coax back into life and growth. I enjoy gardening – creating a beautiful space filled with different colours and shapes of leaves, adding feed, watching things grow, weeding and clearing the borders – all these things occupy my hands and leave my head free to think, and for my b...

Greek in a Week!  For those who want to learn NT Greek from scratch or brush up on old knowledge. Led by: Revd Dr Roger Walton; Cost £50 plus cost of basic text book; Venue: Trinity Methodist Church Duckett Street Skipton BD23 2EJ ;  Daily 9.30am-4pm.  This 5 day course aims to get you started with the Greek language of the New Testament, to gain a basic vocabulary and to introduce you to Greek grammar. By the end of the week you will be able to: read passages of the NT with the help of a dictionary;  use commentaries on the Greek text;  identify issues in translation and exegesis;  use some of the techniques for studying the Greek Text.  The week will not make you an expert nor will it cover all you need to read the New Testament fluently but it should provide a good foundation for learning NT Greek, on which you can build with the course text book. It will also give you a flavour of reading the text in the original langu...

A Church Prayer Leaflet Besides this monthly column, would it be good to have a little leaflet on prayer in your church?  It could be freely available all the time for visitors and those who use the premises, as there’s often interest in prayer.  It might begin by saying what prayer is: talking with God – asking for help, or giving praise, or thanks – or even complaining if that’s how we feel.  But prayer is also about listening, because what matters is having a living, daily friendship with the Lord.  We talk with friends, so we talk with our Maker.  We’re meant to relate to God as our heavenly Father, as shown by Jesus his son, helped by the Holy Spirit.  Prayer is partnership: it helps us learn to live better the way the Lord wants us to. But people might need to be reassured that prayers really can reach God – He  who is holy, perfect and ‘in heaven’, while we’re here in the mud and very much less than perfect (sinful, the Bible says)....