Bradford North Circuit

I suppose it started with the Tower of London poppies. Somewhere in the dim recesses of my mind, I lodged a thought; “You could do that on a small scale with knitted poppies”. It surfaced again at the beginning of this year in which we would see the Somme centenary. The first day of the Battle of the Somme was a critical event in Bradford’s history. In 1916 everybody knew someone who was there. An estimated 2,000 Bradford men, mainly in the ‘Bradford Pals’, were thrown into the big push that day. 1,770 of them were killed or wounded, that was nine out of every ten men. “1,770 poppies” I thought, “that’s achievable”. So I went to the Stewards and Elders and said “I’ve been thinking”. This tended to make them roll their eyes a bit, but they agreed we could go ahead. The first call for poppy knitters went out to Wilsden residents in the Easter edition of “Village Voice” magazine. Not much happened. I needed help, someone as organised as I am disorganised. Sharon! Thankfull...

St Andrew’s Luncheon Club received an invitation from Peel Park Primary School to attend their celebrations for the Queen’s 90 th birthday. We were advised that Steve would come to collect and return all who wished to attend. There was to be tea and cakes, followed by entertainment from the children, and then flag-waving and cheers for the Queen, outside in the playground, weather permitting! We accepted the kind invitation and so had a slightly earlier lunch. We were collected by Steve at 1.00 pm and driven down the hill to school, where we were received by our very courteous designated staff. They were really caring and helpful. We were treated like royalty! The school hall was decorated with an abundance of red, white and blue. The student ‘king’ and ‘queen’, complete with crown, robes and throne, sat at the head of the top table, alongside the Lord Mayor, Cllr Rev Geoff Reid and the Lady Mayoress, the headteacher and other dignitaries. We were...

On Sunday 15 th May, our service was an own arrangement conducted by Geoff B. His service was about Christian Aid and he gave a very interesting talk about the work that they carry out, which gave us all an insight into the work of Christian Aid. This was followed by a delicious lunch organised by Patricia Francis and Margaret Allan with the proceeds going to Christian Aid. Elaine B, Thornton

On the weekend of 1 – 3 July, Wilsden Trinity Church presented a wonderful display to commemorate the 100 th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme in 1916. All the churches in the circuit were invited to knit 1,770 poppies, equivalent to the number of Bradford Pals who died on the first day of battle. There was a marvellous response, and more than the required number of poppies were produced. Members of Trinity, guided by instigator Jane C, got up early on 1 July (before 6.00 am!) and planted the poppies in the church grounds. They stopped at 7.30 am, for two minutes silence to coincide with the exact time the battle started. Inside the church, an amazing exhibition of mementos, artefacts, books, articles and pictures had been assembled, which brought home the horrors of that awful event, in many cases bearing testimony to the experiences of local men, from letters and personal accounts. On the Friday evening, Gordon B read extracts from the memoirs ...

July the 4 th is Independence Day in the USA. It was also Independence day for the people of Bradford North Circuit. Holiday at Home descended once again on St. Andrew’s Church. This year, we had more guests than ever before. We had new guests from Baildon, Saltaire and St. Andrew’s. Monday 4 th July The day began with everyone getting to know one another. The Agape area was soon buzzing with conversation. Vast amounts of cakes, buns etc. along with gallons of tea were consumed. Shortly after we moved into the church for lunch. Once again our food providers at St Christopher's did us proud. The word DIET was banned for these three days. The fresh cream trifle was to die for. We also care for our helpers! After Lunch we enjoyed games. Believe it or not, Snakes & Ladders was popula...

(A study day held by Methodist Women in Britain on 27th April 2016) I went to this meeting thinking that I should learn more about this subject, as our churches need to be aware of the problem, in order to do what they can to support members with this condition, and their carers.   As we were having coffee before the meeting started, my neighbour said that one of the speakers had been to her church and congratulated her on being a dementia friendly church; the reason being that the toilet seats were the right colour. I was intrigued. All of us will know someone, who either has dementia or who cares for someone who does. With our ageing population, both outside and inside the church, this will be something that we shall have to cope with for many years to come. The love that we have one...

Caroline introduces herself:- I was born and brought up in a devout Christian family, in a small town of North India. Since childhood, family devotions and Sunday school were of prime importance. Although, I belonged to a Christian family, I, like many young people, did not have a deep understanding and personal relationship with Jesus. In my understanding, salvation was my birth right, since I was born into a Christian family. I was wrong. I had a personal encounter with Jesus whilst hearing the message at a youth conference on Hebrews 2:3, “How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.” At this point, I knew that my parents’ salvation had led me to Christ, but I had to confess Him to be saved and begin my jou...