Serving the communities

of Mirfield and Hopton

ANNUAL REPORT 2015(Please note that questions for the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) on Wednesday 20 th April 2016 at 19:00 at St. Mary’s are to be submitted in writing and presented by Sunday 17 th April 2016 for inclusion.)

REVD HUGH BAKER

Vicar of Mirfield Team ParishReport for the Year 2015

2015 St. Mary’s St. Paul’s St. John’s Crem TOTAL

Baptisms 42 0 16 58

Weddings 15 1 3 19

Funerals 20 0 7 31 58

Average Sunday attendance (Main service only)

85 32 117

A read through of the individual contributions submitted for this annual report will tell you of the wide range of activities that are carried out in this Parish over the year, the hours of dedicated effort that have gone in to the life of the church here and the care and attention that has been shown by so many. I am as ever extremely grateful to everyone who has worked so hard over the year both those mentioned in this report and the many others who get on quietly in the background, living out their Christian faith day by day.

Worship and prayer.Worship and prayer should quite rightly be at the heart of what we do as it is this that sustains and upholds us. The yearly cycle of word and sacrament is what roots us in our faith. Our response to God and how we live out our lives should grow from this. My thanks go to everyone who helps to lead our worship week by week and through the special seasons of the year: those who assist and serve, those who produce our service sheets, those who read and intercede, those who sing and play. Our thanks goes to Juliet Moorhouse for her many years of dedicated service as organist both at St. Paul’s and then St. John’s, who following a time of illness took the decision to retire this year. Scott has now stepped into the gap that this has left and although the Sunday morning dash between St. Mary’s and St. John’s is a difficult manoeuvre he has managed to maintain a very high standard of music and choral work at both churches, which I know is greatly appreciated. In addition to the usual services 2015 also saw another quiet day organised at St. Paul’s.

Pastoral CareMy thanks once again this year to the people who visit those in hospital, the sick and bereaved at home and take Communion to the housebound. This is a very valuable part of the work that we do and goes on quietly in the background both officially through our pastoral team and also I know as individual Christians respond to the needs around them as part of their witness.

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Mission and outreachJesus calls us to help those in need and to take the “Good news” of the Christian message to those around us. In a nut shell this is what the mission and outreach of the church is and it is something that all of us are called to part of. There are many good things already going on. There is the Pastoral visiting I just mentioned, there is the work that is being done through our local Schools, and there is the support that we give to “Trinity Care” food bank week by week. This year also saw us reaching out to those who had come to church for Baptisms with a Baptism party and this is something we look to repeat in alternate years, the next being in 2017. We also have a lot of very good work being done with our young children, we have a very active Tiny Tots Group meeting at St. Paul’s and we continue to offer regular children’s workshops and weekly children’s activities in church.

Many things can be identified as part of our mission and outreach like the links we have with the groups who use the Community Centre at St. Mary’s or the good relationships we have with the local community at St. John’s and through St. Paul’s. All of this is excellent and to be encouraged, but we also need to ask the questions “are we doing as much of this as we can?” and “are we doing the things we are doing as well as we can?” The churches that try to answer these questions honestly and truthfully are the ones that seem to be growing at a time when so many others are getting smaller. 2015 saw the start of a process to help us answer these questions for ourselves in this Parish. Kath Crossley and I went to a conference organised through the Diocese called “Leading Your Church into Growth” (LYCIG). Following this through and sharing it with the wider Parish will be one of the PCC’s priorities as we go through 2016 and into 2017 I hope as many as possible will be encouraged by its message of hope and be as active as we can to help God’s kingdom grow here.

Buildings and grounds2015 was again a year that was dominated by our buildings.

St. John’s saw the completion of its new facilities and there was a visit by our area Bishop, Jonathan Gibbs, to mark this special occasion in the life of the church. Our thanks go to all who have worked so hard towards this day. The new toilet, kitchen and meeting room are already proving extremely valuable and I am sure that they will continue to be a major asset to the church for years to come.

Prayerful negotiations still surround St. Paul’s. We are still looking for the money to repair the damage done to the roof back in 2014 by the lead theft. The temporary repair has held out much longer than we could have hoped but will not last for ever. We have a bid in for a grant to cover this work so please hold that in your prayers. On the positive side the area surrounding the church is to be improved as part of the Darren Smith development to the South, and the church continues to be used by a growing number of local community groups. In addition there are some very interesting and positive ideas being talked about at the moment that may be of great interest. My thanks go to all who are continuing to work with the massive potential that St. Paul’s offers to our Parish.

At St. Mary’s the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund has meant that the work to the Tower has now been substantially completed. The scaffolding and cladding certainly put St. Mary’s very clearly on the map looking for all the world like a block of flats rising above Mirfield and catching the eye from all directions. Inside too, the work on the side chapel has now made this part of the church much more flexible in its use as chapel, meeting room and children’s class room. Running alongside all of this was the work to the clock which now looks magnificent and the restoration of the bells. The bells were rung on Easter Sunday 2015 before they were taken to Loughborough and it looks as if we will be having them back and able to be rung by Easter 2016. My thanks to everyone who gave of their time and effort to all of this essential work to make safe and restore St. Mary’s: the coordinating team, fundraisers, labourers and those who have supported in any way. We will be having a special service in 2016 to celebrate these achievements.

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The grounds around our churches were again very well cared for over the year and my thanks to everyone who was part of the team. It is good to know that those who visit our churchyards can see that they are being cared for. I know this means a lot, especially to those who have the graves of loved ones with us. The “Friends” groups at both St. Mary’s and St. John’s have done much to ensure that the buildings and their grounds are cared for and well maintained and our thanks go to them.

The Community Centre at St. Mary’s continues to go from strength to strength under its able management team headed up by Lauren. The facilities there are improving rapidly and its use is nearing capacity over evenings and weekends. It is very good to know that as a church we are providing the community with a much valued and well used resource.

SustainabilityThe concerns that I had at the time of my last report about our finances still hold true this year. Whilst so much has been done on essential works over the past couple of years we have not been able to meet our obligations to the Diocese and the wider work of the church nearly as well as we should have done. The short fall of £30,000 which I reported last year doubled over 2015 leaving us nearly £60,000 short of our commitment over that year. This obviously cannot continue and our Budget and strategy group are working hard with the fundraising group to make sure that the money due to the Diocese is met in 2016. The Diocese is working hard to explain exactly where this money is spent and how the amount we pay is calculated. The bottom line though is that the major part of this money goes on providing clergy across the Diocese and if the money doesn’t come in then the number of clergy will have to reduce accordingly.

PeopleWe are extremely fortunate in the people that we have working as volunteers here in Mirfield Team Parish. Rev’d Helen Butler continues to serve most effectively as a Self-Supporting Minister (SSM) and is joined by our Lay Pastoral Assistants, Barry Hambling, Val Walker and, newly qualified and appointed as of 18 th October 2015, Kath Crossley. Both Stephanie Smith and Jessica Malay are continuing their journeys towards ordination through this parish, Stephanie to full time Stipendiary Ministry and Jessica to working alongside Helen as an SSM. Denise continues to serve us well in the Office as Parish Secretary and I am as always extremely grateful to those who have served as PCC members, Officers and Church Wardens over the year. And, as I said at the outset this report bears witness to so much that is good here in the parish which is done by so many and for which we give thanks.

I would just like to close by commending the Leading Your Church into Growth (LYCIG) programme to you. Worship numbers have been holding steady across the Parish for the past few years. However, if you look at the statistics for this year you will see that our average weekly attendance at our main services over 2015 is 117 and this is down when compared to 125 over 2014. If you add to that statistic the average age of those who are attending then unless we do make a concerted effort to lead our church into growth then you have to ask where it is actually going.

With every Blessing.

Hugh

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THE BUSINESS OF THE FULL PCC

Membership of the PCC

The PCC consists of:Clergy Revd Hugh Crispin Baker (Vicar and Chair)

Revd Helen Butler

Wardens From St John’sDavid AldersonJessica Malay (until September 2015)

From St Mary’sRuth Edwards Anne Richardson

From St Paul’sJane Jaggar Karen Batty

PCC Members From St John’sVicky BowenChris BrearePhil Tolson

From St Mary’sTim GraceLauren Montgomery-BellClaire Stanley

From St Paul’sKatharine Crossley David BrookeValerie Warner

Deanery Synod Reps Anne HeeleyBarry HamblingRichard Smith

Ex Officio Child Protection Officer Karen Batty

There were 5 PCC meetings and 5 Standing Committee Meetings held in 2015.

The Officers to the PCC were:

Vice-Chair Chris Breare Secretary Vicky Bowen Treasurer David Brooke

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Electoral RollAt December 31st 2015 there were 217 people on the Mirfield Team Parish Electoral Roll.

ELECTORAL ROLL REPORTEvery 6 years the old Electoral Roll is discarded in favour of a new one and a new Roll was initiated in April 2013. At the 15th February 2016 the Roll stands at 217 broken down as 61 for St John’s, 146 for St Mary’s, 5 for St Paul’s and 5 joint registrations. This is an increase of 2 over the year. Prior to discontinuation the old Roll stood at 320 broken down as follows; 73 for St John’s, 224 for St Mary’s and 23 for St Paul’s.

Michael J HampshireElectoral Roll Officer

FINANCIAL REPORTIt was another challenging year for the Parish finances with major building projects taking up much time and finance.

Income from regular giving decreased slightly and donations including gift-aided donations to general funds also decreased as these were directed towards the appeal for the work on St Mary’s Tower.

General running and maintenance costs were again the largest expense after the Parish Share. The Parish Share was £88,714 and £34,200 was paid during the year.

The first phase of the work on St Mary’s Church has now been completed and paid for. The work on St John’s Church has also been completed and paid for (funded through the Friends of Upper Hopton Church). The restoration of the bells is almost complete and has been fully funded.

In 2016 it is planned to concentrate on improving our general funds by fundraising and budgeting so that we are able to pay all our expenses and increase our financial contribution to the diocese.

David BrookeTreasurer

BUDGET AND STRATEGY REPORT

The committee has continued to meet on 10 occasions at monthly intervals this year usually at Tim’s house.

The members of the committee have been Revd Hugh Baker (Chair), Chris Breare, David Brooke, Ruth Edwards, Tim Grace, Jane Jaggar and Lauren Montgomery-Bell.

This has been an exceptional year when we have seen completion of the Heritage Project at St Mary’s, the Restoration of the Bells while the scaffolding has been in place in the Tower, the Facilities Project at St John’s and a continuation of improvements at the Parish centre and Community Centre.

We completed a frank and honest response to the Diocesan Questionnaire on “A parochial contribution requested from every parish in the Diocese towards the cost of stipendiary clergy, lay resource officers and support staff on the of the Parish Share and our ability to pay”

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All the restoration projects have been funded in full but we will have a deficit of £64,000 in our contribution to the parish share.

Following appeals for increases in weekly contributions and stewardship campaign from the congregation, we feel we have a commitment to pay our parish share in full next year his year we completed a Diocesan Questionnaire on the future components of Parish Share sent to all churches and expressed our dismay that this debt cannot be met. This was reviewed by the PCC.

Chris Breare

WARDENS’ REPORTSSt John’s Church

The past year has been a very busy time at St John’s. The major project over this period was the new facilities and meeting room which were completed in September, and has made such a difference to the Church. We have also had a heater repositioned on the south aisle to replace the faulty heater by the main door.

Other essential maintenance has also been completed during this period. We have had an electrical inspection, the lightening conductor inspected, the fire extinguishers serviced, the sound system checked and the gutters of the Church cleared. We have also had our quinquennial inspection carried out in December.

The Church has had a busy calendar of events from a quiz in May to a barbeque in July. We have also opened the Church for both the Heritage gala day and the Upper Hopton garden trail during the summer. Roberttown Pop Choir visited us in October, for a very enjoyable concert, and we had a very well attended Autumn Coffee morning in November.

The Dedication Service and Lunch was well attended this year, with the Bishop of Huddersfield opening our new facilities, and leading the service.

St John’s has had a change of wardens this year, with Jessica Malay stepping down so she can enter training for the ministry. Our thanks go to her for all her work as Churchwarden over the past few years. Karen Batty has taken over this position.

The Sunday School is very active, with good work being done by the children, led by Ann Heeley, during the Church services. We are also forging good links with local schools. Sue Young is now a governor at Lower Hopton School, and we have had visits to Church from both Ravenshall School and Croft House Playgroup.

The Churchwardens would like to thank the St John’s Business Team and the Friends of St John’s for all their help over the past year in organising events and helping with fundraising, particularly towards the new facilities.

David Alderson & Karen BattyChurchwardens St John’s

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St Mary’s Church

The last year has been exceptionally busy, but very eventful. The works to St. Mary's have been completed, for the time being, and the final target has been reached. Further works are desperately required to the vestry, as these had to be postponed because of financial constraints. The amount required is approximately £68,000.

The weather vanes had to be removed after one fell off and on the way down, damaged a roof tile. The damage will be repaired by Maysand. The reason why the weather vane broke is being looked into and they will be replaced after determining the problem.

The bells are now back "home", and have caused great interest, during their going and returning. A great number of visitors came into church to view them, whilst on show before being taken up. We hope to have them ringing shortly.

Quotations are being sought re: alarms at St. Mary's. The floodlights are not working correctly but the problem will be solved shortly.

Fundraising will continue as money's are required for the upkeep of the church, for the next year. A full diary of events has been organised and it is hoped that everyone will pull together to make these possible and successful.

The opening of St. Mary's is proving very worthwhile and hopefully soon we shall be able to open more than just Sunday afternoons.

Arrangements for celebrating the Queen’s birthday on 12th June are in hand.

Ruth Edwards & Anne RichardsonChurchwardens

St Paul’s Church

St Pauls continues to be used for regular worship with the Mirfield Team Parish joint service, midweek communion and Christingle on Christmas Eve still being held at the church.

Midweek communion – Congregation numbers remain fairly steady. The service moved down into the lower vestries with the start of winter as the rooms downstairs are somewhat easier and more cost effective to heat.

Future use of the building: Hugh asked Tim Grace to undertake a study and produce a report about the future development of St Paul’s Church. Tim’s investigations and findings have been documented in the report “St Paul’s Church Eastthorpe - a vision for the future” presented at PCC and this is now in the early stages of development and implementation.

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Two successful initiatives that have come out of Hope 2014 regularly use St Pauls as their base.Tiny Tots – Meet weekly on Wednesday mornings in the Lower Vestries having moved from the Community Centre earlier in the year.Healthy Walking Group – Have regularly started and finished their monthly walks using St Paul’s facilities as a base.

Mirfield Allotments & Gardens Society Show - This year was the their 100th show and was held in St Paul’s in August when there was an increased number of exhibitors and the highest number of attendees so far. The church provided refreshments in the form of tea and cakes and this raised an additional £100 for church funds. The Allotments Society also gave a donation of £100 for wood which came from the demolition of the temporary storage that was used during Trinity’s tenure.

Fabric of the building: Roof repairs – we were unsuccessful in our application for a grant from the Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair fund, but there is a second round of applications in 2016 and we will be re-applying.

With the amount of water that soaked into the walls following the theft of lead in 2014, there is considerable delamination of the stone leaving large amounts of sand all the way down the north aisle, particularly when the weather is windy. Some further attention to the temporary repair down that aisle has been necessary with the prospect of additional minor repair to the south valley gutter as water is finding its way in through areas where there is missing lead flashing, particularly over the organ (this is kept covered with waterproof material to protect it).

Unfortunately due to monetary and time constraints little has been done to implement the Quinquennial recommendations but it has been proposed by Tim Grace in his report that we now review it and produce a costed program of maintenance and renewal.

The driveway suffered more due to the wetter than usual winter, but there is light at the end of the tunnel as work on Darren Smith’s development to the south of the church has now commenced and the work to upgrade the driveways and car parks form part of that development.

Jane Jaggar and Karen Batty Churchwardens

MINISTRY TEAM REPORT

The Ministry Team is important in God’s work today in determining parish vision and planning for the future in terms of reaching out to the community. Members of the team meet monthly and share responsibility for certain areas of the church’s life such as outreach, children’s work, and pastoral visiting which includes taking Home Communion to those who are ill or housebound.

Again this year, the three Hope teams have been hard at work seeking to encourage and share information about services and current and future events with those on the fringe of our church community. The Church in the Community group has contributed towards quiet, reflective services and has managed to obtain licences to show films at some places within the parish. The Healthy Walking Group continues to have a substantial membership and holds very successful walks on the first and third Saturday of each month. Details about the Children and Families group are covered under the report of Our Work with Children and Youth.

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The Ministry team also reviews the prayer list and through this works to ensure the best possible pastoral care for people. Alongside this, support has continued for those who are in need, taking donations of food, toiletries and clothing to Trinity Care.

A really successful Baptism party was held in June which was attended by twenty eight adults and twenty two children. A Baptism leaflet has been prepared and distributed.

Some members of the Ministry team have been on a LYCIG course for Church Growth; on a LYCIG course for Children and Youth; and attended some sessions of REWIND which brings the Christmas and Easter message to schoolchildren.

The Ministry team was instrumental in the implementation of non-Eucharistic family services two of which were held in the parish during October.

Kath Crossley

DEANERY SYNOD REPORT

The Synod has held two meetings in 2015, the first meeting being held on the 9th June at Batley Parish Church. At this meeting various appointments to the Diocesan Synod were approved and Mr John Ferrett was appointed as Deanery Synod Secretary.

The other matter discussed at some length was the Reform and Renewal Agenda, this a proposal by the House of Bishops at General Synod to look at every aspect of the Church of England work and to see if the Church can work and use its resources more effectively.

As part of this proposal a subject called “LYCiG” was mentioned. This is an expression which will become familiar to us all in the near future and it means “Leading your Church into Growth”

The second meeting was held on the 5th Oct 2015 at St Peters Church Birstall, with the main item on the Agenda being a presentation by The Rev; Rachel Firth on “Female Ministry in the Church today”. Rachel is the Bishops Advisor on female Ministry and is also Vicar of Lindley, Huddersfield.

Rachel gave a forthright talk, stating that not enough 24 to 30 year old women were coming forward for ordination. She spoke about a lack of opportunity for women in the Church as well of a lack of understanding by the Church of the difficulties facing young women considering Ordination. Rachel said too many women came to the Ministry in later life, but many were un-paid or part time and this showed in the lack of female Parish Priests compared with men.

A very lively question and answer session followed, with some members questioning some of the things Rachel had said. Some members thought that progress for women in the Church had in fact been quite fast with women now achieving high positions in the Church after a little more than 20 years since their ordination. Positions such as Senior Bishops, Dean’s and Archdeacons had been filled by women. Another point raised was that women did not seem to apply for senior posts. The overall feeling was that women were a very valuable asset to the Church and had brought great Ministry to God’s people and his Church.

Barry Hambling, Ann Healey and Richard Smith Deanery Synod Representative’s

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OUR WORK WITH CHILDREN AND YOUTH

2015 has seen the continuation of Children’s workshops, Children’s Church at St Mary’s and Sunday School at St John’s.

Children’s WorkshopsThis year we have held six Children’s workshops, which have focused on biblical and seasonal themes, and a party. The workshops have been attended by quite young children who have enjoyed playing as much as completing craft activities which was particularly true at our Christmas party in December. Workshops have been held at each of the three churches.

Our workshops are made possible by the continued support of the Children and Families group. We meet for regular planning meetings as well as discussing how we might best provide opportunities to interest children and young families. A huge success this year has been our Tiny Tots group which has met weekly, first at St Mary’s and now at St Paul’s. Another very successful event was our Baptism party held for families who had recently had their babies baptised in the parish.

In May a small group of girls were taken to the Big Night Out at Lightwater Valley – this is the largest annual Christian youth event in the north. They had a great time and hopefully this is something that we can repeat in the future.

Several members of the Children and Families group attended a Training Day for working with the Under 5s, held at St Thomas, Bradley.

Many thanks must go to all the volunteers who help regularly with our workshops – without them the workshops could not continue. Also huge thanks to those Val Walker, Rachel Muffit and Janet Baker who have so successfully set up the Tiny Tots group and keep it running smoothly each week.

SchoolsWork with schools has continued. Hugh has led weekly assemblies in Crowlees and has also been into school to speak to children in the Reception class about Christmas and about Easter. He has also been to Crossley Fields school to speak about Baptism. Pupils from Crowlees School have visited St Mary’s to further their studies of Christianity as well as supporting services such as Harvest Festival and making a substantial contribution to the food collection for Trinity Care. Castle Hall pupils from all year groups have visited St Mary’s in connection with their studies of Christianity as well as to fulfil the requirement of their Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development. Crowlees, Crossley Fields and Castle Hall have continued to use St Mary’s for rehearsal and concerts.

Children’s Church at St Mary’sSt Mary’s Children’s Church takes place during the 9.45am service each week and uses themes based on the lectionary supported by materials from the Roots series. A team of eight regular volunteers take turns to

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lead the sessions and this means that the children get used to working with, and know well, different people from their church family at St Mary’s. We follow the basic elements of the main service: starting with a welcome when we light our candles, then saying sorry and then going on to our Gospel story followed by activities. We round off our session with prayers. A highlight for some of the children is the Show and Tell session towards the end of the service when they get lots of praise from the rest of the congregation.

My sincere thanks go to all our leaders who prepare such interesting and challenging sessions which help our children to grow in Christ.

Kath Crossley

Sunday School at St John’sSt John’s Sunday School meets every Sunday during the 11.15am service. There are ten regular attendees and occasional visitors. There are four regular leaders: Anne Heeley, John McMullan, Julie Riley and James Taylor together with help from members of the congregation.

The children meet in the new meeting room after the start of the service but also help out with jobs in church: helping to greet the congregation; ringing the bell to summon worshippers; and collecting hymn books after the service.

We share the peace with the congregation at the appropriate time and then, before the blessing, we share what we have done in Sunday School with the congregation. We start and end with prayer during the sharing of our work. Some of the work is displayed in the tower for all to admire.

Anne Heeley

ST MARY’S COMMUNITY CENTRE

St Mary’s Community Centre has had another excellent year, which has enabled us to fund some major improvement to the centre for the benefit of us all.

New Groups. o Baby Sensory

Lost Groups o Barraconcept on a Friday morning o Moo Music, baby and pre-school music class, Thursday morningso Afternoon Ballroom dancing lessons, Monday afternoons

Proposed new groups to start in the new year o Day care rest bite.

Improvements

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o Our major improvements this year has been the installation of the new catering kitchen which was full replaced with all stainless steel cupboards, new over, steriliser and white goods, we received a grant from Mirfield town council, which funded the majority of work

o Work was completed on the nursery toilets and gent’s toilets, with the addition of a new security door for the nursery.

o We have finally knocked through from the meeting room in to the main hall corridor, which now fully unites the whole centre, with also has created a new smaller meeting room.

Environmental Health Visit

During the year Environmental health, carried out an inspection of the kitchens at the centre resulting in a grade 3 rating being awarded, although the management team at the time were disappointed with the rating, we are awaiting a new visit, which hopefully will result in a 5 start rating for us.

We still have some way to go:

The major improvement we need to concentrate on next is the Fire alarm system, and address the recommendations from the recently conducted fire risk report.

We also plan to incorporate a much needed disabled toilet, and baby changing facilities, off the large hall.

Re order and resurface the carpark area

Going forward

We need to continue updating the centre, so we are in a position to offer quality facilities to our ever growing users groups

We still have a way to go; but, we have a very positive thriving centre now, with around 979 people a week through our centre doors.

The Hall Management Committee

MARA LINK REPORTN’Gope Parish – Rorya – Tanzania

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1 Rev Lucas Fabian Teaching

This year has seen the continuation of our links with the Parish of Ng’ope in the diocese of Rorya. We have communicated approximately once per quarter which has included an exchange of our mutual current activities. The parish of Ng’ope has a new priest, the reverend Lucas Fabian with whom we are in contact via Peter Oyoo the diocesan Link officer. The picture below left shows the reverend Lucas with school children in Ng’ope.

This year I asked Fabian Lucas how best St Marys can support Ng’ope and we have been given a list of items required which included: laptops, building materials to complete the vicarage, musical instruments, a sound system and labour costs to build or install items. Following this and a Parish appeal, two laptops were donated by parishioners that were reconditioned prior to dispatch. There is currently an official West and North Yorkshire diocesan visit to Mara and Rorya with Bishop Nick in the party. The laptops have been sent with the trip through Jennette Lee of Halifax minster who will give them to the Rev Fabian. Whilst in Ng’nope I have asked Jeannette to take a view on how best we might further support the Rev Fabian. Importantly, Jennette will let us know how we can ensure that we can successfully channel any support so that it is particularly effective in the work of the Gn’ope parish. She will also let us know how the laptops are likely to be used.

On the return of the current trip, opportunities will present themselves to further discover how we can continue the work with Mara and how we can learn from each other. In the meantime Peter Oyoo, has responded positively pending Jennette’s visit and I enclose his response to her email prior to her arriving in Tanzania to give the parish an insight into communications:

Fri 22/01/2016 12:12Dear Jennete,

Praise the wonderful name of the son of God Jesus Christ, How are you doing in West Yorkshire, We are off course fine and making it lovely the work of God here in Rorya. Thank you once again for being intact with me I really appreciate the kind of exciting communication you have been doing to ensure that we build a strong partnership among us.

I am very impressed to learn that Peter Gordzieko from St Mary’s normally share with you our communication between I and he, this is good idea and I hope many of my emails concerning with our links

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2 The congregation of Ng’ope

with Ng’ope parish and ng’ope primary school you have heard from him and is my expectation that you are going to join him to let them be more stronger and stronger.

I am doing the best to communicate with the links parishes here to let them write letters to their partners and share all the progress, in your visit I hope you will be accompanied back with many letters to our friends over there including from masara parish and Ryagoro as requested with Rev Stephen Spencer. Jennete Have been working very closely with ng’ope parish and ng’ope primary school as you know some support from midfield st Mary’s and Fountain primary school has been sent there and it is good always to have update of the progress, items such as computer laptops that was sent to ng’ope primary school for the school use.

The above laptops has improved the working ability of the teachers from ng’ope primary school and to enable them not traveling along distance that is about 30km for the access, I trust in other hand when Rev Fabian also will manage to get the laptops as he mentioned in his letters will speed up the communication between st Mary’s and Ng’ope parish.

Additionally you asked about the source of power that Rev Fabian will use to run his pc, I spoke with him and finally visited him and find him with enough solar panel that will help him in operating that pc as those in ng’ope primary school.Thank you Jennete I am looking forward to meet you in few days coming.Peter (Oyoo).

Peter GordziejkoSt Marys Mara Link Officer

ST MARY’S AFTERNOON TEA GROUP

We meet regularly on Monday's from 2.00pm – 4.00pm, for a really enjoyable get together.Some bring their knitting and crochet work, while the rest of us, a very faithful group of twelve, sit talking, eating and drinking tea.

Any newcomers would be made very welcome

Anne Richardson

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3 Jennette Lee in Halifax minster with lap tops from St Marys for Ng’ope

CROFT HOUSE ROOMS CHARITY

At the formation of the Team Parish in 2007 a document was drawn up to ensure Croft House continues to be managed effectively and the new PCC proposed that the Managing Trustees of Croft House Rooms Charity be the Croft House Rooms Management Committee, the eight members of which are determined as follows:-

1. The two Wardens of St John's be members

2. The Treasurer of the UHCA (Upper Hopton Community Association) be a member

3. The UHCA elect three representatives every two years

4. The PCC of the Mirfield Team Parish elect two representatives.

A quorum for any meeting shall comprise two members representing UHCA and two representing the PCC and one other member.

The Management Committee of Croft House Rooms Charity, the Managing Trustees, is responsible for letting the Rooms and for the recurrent expenditure involved in running the Rooms. The UHCA have free tenure of the Rooms and are responsible for the maintenance of the building and grounds and for capital expenditure.

The membership of the Management Committee of Croft House Rooms Charity is as follows:-

1. Christine Breare (Chair) (Trustee) Co-opted2. Jessica Malay Warden (from May 2011 to Sept 2015)3. Karen Batty Warden (from Sept 2015)4. David Alderson Warden (from May 2013)5. Michael Hampshire (Secretary) (Trustee) elected by PCC6. Sue Auckland elected by PCC7. Kathryn Cockerill Treasurer of UHCA 8. Roger Leedham elected by UHCA, November 2014 9. Gail Auty (Trustee) elected by UHCA 10. Joan Hemmingway (Trustee) elected by UHCA, November 2011 11. Katie Harris co-opted as Treasurer (also Booking Secretary from January 2012 to Nov 2015)12. Andrea Leedham Booking Secretary (from Nov 2015)

The Committee set the new fee structure for 20016/17, effective from the 1 March 16 and informed all the tenants. Plans have been approved for the addition of a store room extension to be built by UHCA behind the kitchen. The building work was started early in 2015 and is mainly undertaken by volunteers apart from the foundations. The Management Committee made a donation of £5,000 in the year 2014/15 towards the cost of this extension, which has an estimated cost of £11,869. The accounts for the year, 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2015, were approved in January 2016. These showed an income of £9,718 against an

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expenditure of £6,634 excluding the £5,000 donation to UHCA. This donation leaves a yearend cash balance of £11,308.

The Rooms are well used by the community and comprise a wide variety of regular activities. These include Preschool Classes every weekday, various Art Classes, Guitar Group, Keep Fit, Yoga, Pilates, Sequence Dancing, Drop in Centre and the WI. In addition there are one off private bookings for a range of activities including Parties, Weddings, Funerals, Christenings and Charity events. Croft House is extensively used to support the local activities of Upper Hopton Community Association (UHCA), Hopton in Bloom and the Church Team Parish. These activities provide social events and they are sometimes combined with fundraising. Some notable events include Carols Round the Tree, Christmas Party for the elderly, Garden Trail and the Village Fete.

Michael Hampshire

MODERATOR’S REPORT FROM THE CHURCHES TOGETHER IN MIRFIELD AND DISTRICT FOR 2015

Words from the first verse of Psalm 133 came to mind when I began reflecting on our ecumenical life this past year: “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity.” Not only is that harmonious unity a noble aspiration but in many ways it also is something that we are fortunate to enjoy in the CTMD.

In this first year of my two-year term of office as your Moderator, I have experienced a deepening appreciation for the joys, and also the challenges, of being joined together in the body of Christ. Every other year we share in a Lent course and in 2015 we incorporated the cinematic arts into our sessions through using a series based on Les Miserables. Then Good Friday arrived and after the distribution of hot cross buns and a Walk of Witness through the town centre, an ecumenical service focused our attention on the costly sacrifice that Christ made for our salvation.

Standing at the entrance of the Co-operative, members of CTMD collected donations for ‘Christian Aid’ and were gratified by the generous responses of so many people. Another occasion of ecumenical worship was the service of Pentecost Praise, which featured a power-point slide show that took us on a prayer walk through Mirfield. Prayer is at the heart of CTMD, and every one of our bimonthly meetings begins and ends with prayer. In addition to these meetings, the clergy of the churches meet monthly to eat and pray. Although we enjoy a chinwag whilst eating sandwiches, even more importantly we hold each other in prayer as both joys and sorrows are shared. Through these times together our relationships are nurtured and unity and affection is fostered.

In the summer, members of CTMD could be seen at the Mirfield Show sporting our colourful high-visibility vests which feature our logo. These also were worn again on an occasion which we participated in for the first time – the Round Table Bonfire. At both of these events we were visibly present “flying the flag” of our faith communities and showing our neighbours that Christ isn’t locked away inside church buildings but also is present at agricultural shows and fireworks.

On Remembrance Sunday, a wreath for CTMD joined the many others that were laid at the cenotaph, and that same month the ‘Hope 2015’ prayer project concluded. Events in our world called to our attention the plight of refugees and asylum seekers, and in response a collection of winter goods was initiated. Wanting to hold this concern before the people of Mirfield, we then held an Open Meeting to increase our awareness

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and direct our actions for a local response to the refugee crisis. As this situation continues changing, we hope eventually to participate in appropriate ways.

Not only is the international scene rapidly changing, but locally our community and its needs continue to develop. An area that has been significantly affected by this is Matrix, which is struggling to continue its commendable youth programmes in a context where the social scene of young people is undergoing its own changes.

The season of Advent commenced with an ecumenical service at Christ the King, and CTMD Christmas banners were displayed in the town centre to extend our Christmas blessings and portray the true meaning of that holy celebration. My personal thanks go to Christine, our secretary, and to Ian, our treasurer, who both make my tasks as the Moderator much lighter. Most of all I consider myself fortunate to be in a place where we actually conduct ourselves according to the psalmist’s words and “live together in unity” as we participate in proclaiming the Good News of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Dennis Berk CR

FRIENDS OF ST JOHN'S CHURCHDear Friends

The last year has seen us finally achieve our goal of getting toilet in St John’s church.

Although it has been our main topic at meetings all feel it has been well worth it.

The work started in early February and has had to have short work to allow for a further Faculty to be obtained for the heating. We also have a wonderful kitchenette and meeting room which will be much welcomed by the Sunday School instead of the wooden shed structure used for decades and the temporary use of the Vicar’s vestry.

This should mean that at the time of the AGM the work will be completed. Much hard work has been done by Jessica and David the Wardens amongst others. For anyone who has not seen this work please make sure you come into St John’s soon to see the wonderful work and how well it blends in.

Further fund raising may well be needed to pay the final accounts and the Mirfield Team Parish has agreed to fund any shortfall up to £6000.

Our new gardener, Mr Stephen Ryder is doing good work in the churchyard and is continuing to look after the churchyard well along with help from members of the Hopton In Bloom team.

We hope to continue to help St John’s for many more years and that the last year’s hard work means many more will enjoy our beautiful church.

Mrs Sue AucklandHon Secretary

FRIENDS OF ST MARY'S

Friends committee continue to promote the group. The Friends have a website and a Facebook page. However, both sites need updating. It is proving difficult to engage someone with technical

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knowledge to assist with this. Friends now have a MyDonate facility in place but not yet activated. This would be used for donations towards the rebuild of the collapsed church wall on Dunbottle Lane. We continue to seek a willing volunteer to help with upkeep of the sites including the MyDonate aspect of this.

Another very successful and popular archaeological dig organised by the Friends and again funded by The John Wheelwright Archaeological Society (Mirfield) was held in September 2015. This was part of the national heritage open days’ event. Local builder Darren Smith helped uncover the site to start the dig. This was a free community event for members of the public. Students from Castle Hall School and Mirfield Free Grammar took part in the dig over two days. They wish to be involved with future dig.

During the heritage open days’ event we had organised tours to the top of the church tower. This took account of health and safety factors. More than 200 people went to the top of tower giving them the opportunity to see the far reaching views and recent renovations to the tower roof. St Mary’s church was open and volunteers showed people round.

Frances Stott produced two very informative local history Heritage Trail booklets at the request of the Friends. Grateful thanks to Frances and to David Alderson and the Hope group who trialled the walks. The proceeds from booklet sales going towards the rebuild of the wall on Dunbottle Lane. These sell at £1 each. Both are on sale in St Mary’s Church.

Committee members had a stall at Mirfield Agricultural show 2015 promoting the Heritage site. We launched fundraising for the rebuild of the wall at the show. This included the stocks in which the vicar and other volunteers had wet sponges thrown at them! The heritage trail booklets were also on sale at the show and Frances Stott attended.

As a result of the Friends efforts the heritage information board which outlines the heritage of and on the site is now in situ together with a notice board. The boards funded by Mirfield Town Council, are located at the main entrance to the churchyard near the memorial garden. The notice board will display information relative to the graveyard and heritage site.

Dr. Stuart Wrathmell (archaeologist) is now a member of the Friends committee and is enthusiastic to promote and improve the heritage site. This includes the medieval tower and the collapsed wall on Dunbottle Lane. The Friends have agreed to fund a condition report of the medieval tower with a view to seeking a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant for this and the whole heritage site (including the wall).

The archaeological dig will not take place in 2016. Plans are for this to be a bigger event in 2017. However, the Friends will continue to participate in the national heritage open days’ event in September 2016. We hope to include displays of finds from the previous archaeological digs and include bell tower tours.

Friends have planted native daffodil bulbs on Castle Hall Hill to the side facing on to Dunbottle Lane. These flower in early spring. People can make a donation towards purchase and planting of more bulbs in memory of a loved one. The donation tin and a book for comments are situated to the rear of the church near the main entrance.

John Daniels, Chairman – Friends of St Mary’s Community Heritage Site

THE MOTHERS’ UNION

Another busy year. Our speakers this year have given talks on:

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Our new unit at Hollybank by Helen Clayton, Growing by Monica Dodds, Little Known London Part 3 by Patricia Bell, Convey of Hope by Frank Wright, St George’s Crype by Arja Copperwheat, A trip down Memory Lane by Keith Barber, Australia by Eva Dunwell, My Spiritual Journey by Kath Crossley, Entertainment by Crowlees School

Barbara Oxley does a good job getting a variety of topics.

We have celebrated members “special birthdays” and Golden and Pearl Wedding Anniversaries.

Sadly Margaret Carson and Edith Taylor have passed away.

In June our branch celebrated 110 years of MU. We invited members from other local branches and members from churches in Mirfield. Everyone enjoyed the buffet afterwards and we were able to send £130 to the Overseas Fund and £100 to the MU Project.

Boxes have once again been filled for the Samaritans Appeal and clothes and toiletries have been sent to New Hall Prison, the Refugees and for babies in hospital.

Our two Coffee Mornings have been very successful this year and we have given out 56 bibles to children christened at St Mary’s and St John’s and 3 have been given to Andrew Eastwood to take to Mara.

In May we went to the Cedar Court Hotel in Harrogate for the ‘Summer Celebration’.

In June we helped at the Baptism Celebration in our church and we also went to Hollybank in Roberttown and saw the great work that goes on there.

In August to went to Leeds Minster for Mary Sumner Day.

September saw us “ferrying across the Mersey” on out trip to Liverpool and Albert Docks.

In October we helped at the Wedding Fayre in church.

In December we were once again invited to Cawthorne MU to their Advent Service followed by a buffet rtea and we had our own Christmas lunch at the Duty Miller.

I am sure you will agree we are a very busy group. Let us show our friends this report, who knows we may get some new members.

Joan EddingsSecretary

PANTOMIME

Despite this being a difficult year for everyone involved in Mirfield Parish Church Pantomime following the death of our dear friend and committee member, Sue Pope, the committee were delighted with the success of the 2015 production of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’. This year we were pleased that ticket sales reminded high with over 850 people attending over our 5 performances.

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We were particularly pleased that the roles of the dwarves meant we were able to offer significant speaking parts to a number of our older chorus. This also meant we were able to open the chorus to 10 newcomers giving us a total chorus of 23.

Under the direction of Carys Ervine there were a total of 8 chorus numbers, a mixture of modern and traditional music that the children worked hard rehearsing from the start of rehearsals in September 2014 through to the performances in February 2015.

The 11 cast members (plus dwarves!) also worked incredibly hard perfecting lines, songs and choreography for the performances.We were also pleased to showcase extracts from our pantomime at St Mary's church service on 25 January 2015. This emphasises the fact that whilst we are a community group we are proud to be so as part of the Mirfield Team Parish and under a banner of Christian fellowship. Again we were lucky not only to have an enthusiastic and dedicated committee but many other willing volunteers making up the essential parts of our pantomime - music, choreography, lighting, sound, costumes, scenery and production all have to come together. We were however sad that 2 of our long serving costume ladies decided to step down. By the end of the year we were well on our way to staging our next production ‘Robin Hood’.

Laura Hawksworth

8TH MIRFIELD SCOUT GROUPAs members of The Scout Association, 8th Mirfield provides scouting from the age of 6 upwards. Our Beaver Colony and Cub Pack are currently at capacity, with both currently having waiting lists. Our Scout Troop numbers have risen considerably over the past 3-6 months and we continue to be one of the popular groups in the area. For those Scouts who get to 14½ we are also able to offer continued scouting experience with a District Explorer Troop being run from St Mary’s, and many of these Explorers are becoming Young Leaders, so continuing the provision of Scouting as we move ever forward. One special item I just wanted to mention was the Gangshow back in November. Organising and putting on the show was a new experience for almost all involved and I’m sure that any of you that attended will have had a thoroughly enjoyable evening – well done to all involved

Beaver Section – As was mentioned last year, the past 12 months has seen a period of change for Beavers as we have introduced a new leadership team of Amanda, Jodie and Michelle, ably supported by Kate and Helen. The Beavers have continued to run at capacity along with a waiting list which still means young people are wanting to join scouting, but due to space and available adults we cannot accommodate all the interest

Our Beavers continue to participate in many church activities including church parades and special services such as the Living Nativity. It has also been wonderful to be part of some of the unique events over the past 12 months such as witnessing the removal and return of the bells

Cub Section – As with Beavers, Cubs also continues to flourish, and due to the wonderful strength of the Scout Troop, this has meant we have had to put a slight cap on our Cub numbers to ensure we don’t overwhelm our Scout Leaders when all the Cubs reach the age for moving up.

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Our varied programme continues to include an active part in church and spiritual activities, from attending Church Parades and events such as the Living Nativity throughout the year to participating in larger events such as the Local Remembrance Day Parade and the District St Georges Day Parades. Spiritual reflection also plays a part in many of our camps during a “Scout’s Own” and it is also nice to be able to give something back to the Church and the community, be that through fundraising or actual physical activities such as tidying, cleaning, decorating the hall or the surrounding area.

Once again, last summer, our cubs agreed to help the Church Gardening team with a tidy up around the church, the graveyard and the wooded areas. Not only did this provide a useful community service, but it also helped the cubs earn their “Do 1 Thing” badge.

You may not be aware, but 2016 is the Centenary of Cub Scouting so many activities over the coming year are recognising and celebrating that

Scout Section – Over recent years the Scout section has gone from strength to strength to where we are now bursting at the seams with Cubs moving up, old members wanting to re-join and their friends wanting to join too.

The varied programme being provided ensures that all members are challenged to learn and “Do Their Best”, be it spiritually, mentally or physically. The strength of our Scout section also means that once again we are in a position to re-introduce the Explorer section, which following a change at National level, will once again be a “St Marys” section rather than a centralised section. At present we don’t have any leaders to help run this section so if anyone is interested please get in touch with us

One point to note is that a number of our former young members are returning to us as Young Leaders, to help with the sections they were once members of, and the hope is that they can continue with the Group to become the adult leaders of the future – helping shape Scouting as it continues into its second century and giving the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts of the future an opportunity to make their own spiritual journey. And so the cycle continues

As I said, Scouting is well into its 2nd Century now, but the continued success and growth relies on our Leaders and the time they give the enable our Young People to do all the things that Scouting has to offer. Whether that is badge work, camping, cooking, fun or games we couldn’t do it without them so a big Thank You must go to them for their time, effort and support. We have said goodbye to a few leaders over the last 12 months and also hello to some new ones, but as I alluded to earlier, we could always do with more help. Whether as a leader, a helper or simply offering to provide a specific skill, if you think you might be able to offer a few hours here or there then please get in touch – we’ll do the rest…

Baden-Powell’s original idea of Scouting was to provide a means to improve young people Mentally, Physically and spiritually and I think this is as relevant today as it ever was.

Chris Wilding – Akela (Cub Scout Leader) – 8th Mirfield (St Mary’s) Scout Group

HOPE 2014Social & Health Walking Group

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The group has now been running for 18 months, meeting every 1st and 3rd Saturdays in the month from St Paul’s Church. We now have 65 people signed up for the group, with an average attendance of 17 for the 22 walks we did in 2015.

The walks, which last for approximately 90 minutes, usually start from St Paul’s but over the summer we did 4 walks from St John’s Church and during 2016 we hope to expand our walks to start from all 3 Churches. The walks are free and open to all ages and abilities, and well behaved dogs on a lead are also welcome.

I would like to thank the other 5 Walk Leaders for their help and support in organising the various walks we have done over the year. David Alderson – Walk Leader

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