| August services will follow the usual pattern: Sunday Services at St Oswald’s, Guiseley: 8.00 am Said Eucharist 9.00 am Parish Eucharist There will be no Sunday Services at Esholt | ||
| It is planned that midweek services in August will continue as usual but they may be liable to cancellation |
Scroll down for previous month
MARY SUMNER – FOUNDER OF THE MOTHERS UNION
The Mothers’ Union is now more than 140 years old. It has accomplished a staggering amount in that time, and nowadays numbers more than four million members, doing good work in 83 countries. That is a far cry from the modest circle of prayer for mothers who care about family life, which is how it all began with a rector’s wife, Mary Sumner.
Mary was born in late 1828 in Swinton, near Manchester. When she was four, her family moved to Herefordshire. Mary’s father, Thomas Heywood, was a banker and historian. Her mother has been described as a woman of “faith, charm and sympathy” – qualities which Mary certainly inherited. Mrs. Heywood also held informal ‘mothers’ meetings’ at her home to encourage local women. Those meetings may well have inspired Mary’s later work.
Mary was educated at home, spoke three foreign languages, and sang well. While in her late teens, on a visit to Rome she met George Sumner, a son of the Bishop of Winchester. His was a well-connected family: George’s uncle became Archbishop of Canterbury, and his second cousin was William Wilberforce. Mary and George married in July 1848, soon after his ordination. They moved to Old Alresford in 1851 and had three children: Margaret, Louis and George. Mary dedicated herself to raising her children and supporting her husband’s ministry by providing music and Bible classes.
When in 1876 Mary’s eldest daughter Margaret gave birth, Mary was reminded how difficult she had found the burden of motherhood. Soon she decided to hold a meeting to which she invited the local women not only of her own class, but also all the village mothers. Her aim was to find out if women could be brought together to offer each other prayer and mutual support in their roles as wives and mothers. That meeting at Old Alresford Rectory was the inaugural meeting of the Mothers’ Union.
For 11 years, the Mothers’ Union was limited to Old Alresford. Then in 1885 the Bishop of Newcastle invited Mary to address the women churchgoers of the Portsmouth Church Congress, some 20 miles away. Mary gave a passionate speech about the poor state of national morality, and the vital need for women to use their vocation as mothers to change the nation for the better. A number of the women present went back to their parishes to found mothers’ meetings on Sumner’s pattern.
Soon, the Mothers’ union spread to the dioceses of Ely, Exeter, Hereford, Lichfield and Newcastle. By 1892, there were already 60,000 members in 28 dioceses, and by 1900 there were 169,000 members. By the time Mary died in 1921, she had seen MU cross the seas and become an international organization of prayer and good purpose.
| Sunday 23rd | 8.00 am | Eucharist | St Oswald’s |
| Trinity 6 | 9.30 am | Sung Eucharist | St Oswald’s |
| 11.15 am | Eucharist | St Paul’s | |
| 11.30 am | Baptismal Thanksgiving | St Oswald’s | |
| 2.00 pm | Holy Baptism | St Paul’s | |
| 6.00 pm | Choral Evensong | St Oswald’s | |
| Monday 24th | 1.00 pm | Collective Worship | Hawksworth Sch |
| Tuesday 25th | 9.00 am | Carers and Tots | Carlton Room |
| Wednesday 26th | 10.00 am | Eucharist | St Paul’s |
| Thursday 27th | 10.00 am | Eucharist | St Oswald’s |
| 6.30 – 8 pm | Parish Office | Vestry | |
| 7.15 pm | Choir Practice | Choir Stalls | |
| Friday 28th | 7.30 pm | Bells Practice | Tower |
| Sunday 30th | 8.00 am | Eucharist | St Oswald’s |
| Trinity 7 | 9.30 am | Sung Eucharist | St Oswald’s |
| 4.30 pm | Guiseley Parish Choir sing Choral Evensong in Bolton Priory |
Bolton Priory | |
| 6.00 pm | Evening Prayer | Guiseley | |
| AUGUST | August services will follow the usual pattern: Sunday Services at St Oswald’s, Guiseley: 8.00 am Said Eucharist 9.00 am Parish Eucharist There will be no Sunday Services at Esholt | ||
| It is planned that midweek services in August will continue as usual but they may be liable to cancellation | |||
On Saturday 20th May we held a Coffee Morning in the Guide Hut. Alongside serving tea, coffee and biscuits we had a cake stall, a tombola, bric-a-brac stall and a raffle. Many thanks to everyone who supported us and those who gave their time to help. We were very pleased to raise £240 for our funds.
Wednesday 7th June was the day of our annual trip. This year around 30 of us went to Port Sunlight on the Wirral and managed to choose the best day of the week weather-wise !
Port Sunlight was founded in 1888 by William Hesketh Lever (later the first Lord Leverhulme) to house the employees of the Lever Brothers’ soap works. The village was created in 130 acres of parkland and has over 900 houses and 14 public buildings. It is one of the finest surviving examples of an industrial garden village in the UK and is a Designated Conservation Area with nearly every building being Grade ll listed.
We arrived at Port Sunlight in time for lunch – having stopped for coffee at an amazing garden centre on the way! After lunch we had a guided tour of the village on the coach, stopping off for a closer look at the United Reformed Church in the village. We then had free time to visit the Art Gallery and the Museum.
The whole day was most enjoyable and many thanks must go to Eileen Shaw for organising the trip.
Our next meeting is on Wednesday 5th July when we will be having a ‘Come and Share’ afternoon, inviting members, if they would like to, to share something with us e.g. a favourite poem, book, memory.
We do not meet during August.
Our September meeting will be on Wednesday 6th September and will be a Communion Service in St Oswald’s Church at 2pm.
Hawksworth School News.
May was another busy month for everyone at Hawksworth School. It has been particularly busy for Years 5 and 6.
Year 6 began the month by sitting their Standard Attainment tests but then were rewarded for their hard work by, along with Year 5, going to a Kingswood Residential Outdoor Education and Activity Centre for a week. Judging by the photographs, they had an amazing time! They participated in lots of activities – raft building, fencing, archery – to name just a few.
Throughout the school the children have been busy planting in their newly constructed planters on the school field.
Class 1 have been observing the transformation of caterpillars to butterflies over a number of weeks. They were very excited to arrive at school on one Monday morning to find they had 4 butterflies and another one hatched during the morning. A couple of days later they released the butterflies into the garden.
The Year 4 football team participated in the Wharfedale Schools’ 5-a-side Tournament. They won one match but were narrowly beaten in their other two matches. Despite the disappointment they played well and showed great team spirit.
The children are all looking forward to the last half term of the school year and the summer activities that will take place. The usual Sports Day is planned and the celebrations for the children from Class 6 who will be leaving Hawksworth School in July. We will also sadly be saying ‘good-bye’ to one of our teachers – Mrs Airey – who is retiring having taught at Hawksworth School for 28 years. A Leavers’ Service is planned for July 20th in St Oswald’s church at 2pm.
The Friends of Hawksworth School will be holding a Summer Fayre at the School on Saturday July 8th from 11am to 1pm. Everyone is welcome. This is an ideal opportunity to visit and support the school.
ST OSWALD’S PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWS
SAD TIMES for our School Family
It is quite common for schools to be described as “a family”, but at St Oswald’s we take this idea very seriously. Family means supporting people in both the good times and the hard times. Families have many happy times of celebrations but they also have sad times. At these times families pull together to help everyone get through.
The end of May was a very sad time for our school family. On the evening of Monday 22nd May there was a bombing at the Manchester Arena, just as an Ariana Grande concert was finishing. Two members of our school family, Mrs Caroline Davis and Mrs Wendy Fawell, were collecting their children from the concert and so were caught in the blast.
Caroline Davis, who works as a lunchtime assistant at St Oswald’s, was injured. She was taken to hospital and underwent an emergency operation. Thankfully, we now know that Caroline is on the road to recover from her injuries, although this will be a long and arduous journey. We look forward hopefully to the time when she will be able to come back to work in our lunchtime team.
Very sadly, Wendy Fawell was closer to the explosion when it happened and was killed. Wendy had worked for many years both as a lunchtime assistant and in Eye Spy, our before and after school care. She had a wonderful ability to build strong relationships with children, helping them to feel settled and happy. She was full of fun and so many of our children remember her with such warmth.
These tragic events were felt right across our school family, including children, staff and parents. Through the week we helped the children understand and come to terms with what had happened. We gave them time, space and support to work through their sadness and helped them to engage with the Christian responses of love, forgiveness and healing. Together we honoured the memory of Wendy with a minutes silence and by flying the school flag at half mast. Importantly, school also provided after school care on the day of Wendy’s funeral ourselves, thus enabling the whole of the Eye Spy team, who had worked so closely with Wendy for so long, to pay their respects by going to her funeral.
Our thoughts continue to be with Wendy’s family and friends in their time of grief, and with Caroline and her family as she begins the long journey of recovery. As a school family, we have stood together through these very sad events and we will continue to do so.
For our God is a consuming fire.’ (Hebrews 12:29)
Dear sisters and brothers
I sit here tonight with a heavy heart. Behind me, on the television, scenes of the fire at Grenfell Tower, London, are being played out before a shocked audience. Up to this point the true scale of the tragedy is yet to be revealed, but the signs are not good. By the time of publication the true horror will have been revealed.
There have been many tragedies involving fire in the UK through the ages, from the Great Fire of London in 1666, to the Bradford City Stadium fire in 1985, to name but two. This latest tragedy will now unfortunately be remembered in the same vain as all those that have gone before.
As Christians we have a great respect for fire, not just because of its properties to heat and bring warmth, but because its theological representation throughout the Bible. Fire is a necessary part of life, it does – as said – bring heat and warmth, but it also has other uses for everyday life such as lighting, protection, cooking and purifying. Sadly it also brings destruction in the most devastating of ways.
‘And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.’ (Exodus 13:21). Fire has always played a pivotal role in God’s Kingdom, from the animal sacrifices of the Israelites in worship, to the Almighty’s lighting of the way with a pillar of light as the Israelites travelled the desert searching for a new home.
‘John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire’’… .’ (Luke 3:16). Fire becomes less practical, but more symbolical in the New Testament, as shown in this passage from the Gospel of Luke. John the Baptist tells of the coming of the Messiah who will not only cleanse us, but also purify us through the fire of the Holy Spirit. As we know, fire can both destroy and bring about new life; this is often witnessed after a forest fire, where new and abundant life springs forth from the ash of the forest floor.
And then we have the Book of James Chapter 3 verse 5: ‘So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!’ This passage talks about the spoken word, and how language can be both healing and destructive, resembling a wild fire that burns everything in its path if it not kept in check.
Fire is a powerful tool that can bring life or take it. It has many practical uses, but is seen by Christians as a powerful representation of the Lord, the Holy Spirit. However it can also be very damaging, both physically and spiritually if not respected and contained, as we have so heartbreakingly witnessed in London today. Like the Holy Spirit that brings life to all and does not discriminate, so too does fire not discriminate, it doesn’t care who you are or what you are, it will consume you and devastate you without a second thought.
So in a paradoxical way we see fire as both bringing eternal life, but also taking life in the most horrific of circumstances. Our thoughts and prayers are always with those who have so tragically been affected by fire.
Fr. David
During the Easter break workmen were in school doing a number of jobs which included making 4 raised beds down the side of the field – one for each class. The children are looking forward to doing some planting in them this term.
Class 1 have been preparing for this by visiting a local Garden Centre to find out more about plants and how to care for them. They have also been a walk through the woods to see the bluebells and observe all the other changes taking place as Spring changes into Summer.
Class 3 have also been on a visit already this term – to a Hindu temple.
The football team recently played a match against our other church school – St Oswald’s. Last season Hawksworth won this local ‘derby’ with ease but this time St Oswald’s proved to be the better team and beat Hawksworth by 5 goals to 2. Well done St Oswald’s!
Saturday 6th May was Hawksworth School’s major annual fund raising event – the ‘Over the Odda’ 10k race. This again was a very popular, extremely well organised and successful event. The success was due to the hard work of the parent’s ‘Friends of Hawksworth’ committee and all the volunteers who gave their time to help at the event. Well done everyone involved!
This term’s theme for Collective Worship is :- Forgiveness.
At St Oswald’s School we have a proud record of supporting charities with our fundraising efforts. Sometimes these are large national appeals, such as, Children in Need, the Royal British Legion or Comic Relief. Our biennial Comic Relief Gunge Vote is always very popular. The children buy votes during the week for the teacher of their choice. The teacher with the most votes gets covered in gunge at a special ceremony on the Friday afternoon. This year Mr Sheppard, the Deputy Headteacher, was the “lucky” winner. Sometimes our money raising efforts are more local, such as our support of the Leeds General Infirmary Neonatal Unit (raising over £3700), our Wacky Hair Day to support Martin House Hospice for Children or our support of Caring for Life, a Christian charity based in Cookridge. These local efforts are often at the suggestion of our children who request, sometimes for very personal reasons, that we support a particular cause. In these ways every year our children, staff and parents raise thousands of pounds for our chosen charities, whilst also learning about caring for those less fortunate than ourselves.
This summer, however, for the first time our money raising efforts are for ourselves. The school has a wonderful Trim Trail in a wild area behind our main playground. Eight large pieces of playground equipment are spread amongst the trees, joined by a bark path. The children love it when they are able to play on the Trim Trail, but this time is limited by the weather because the area can get very wet. This summer we are raising money to put an all weather path to and around the Trim Trail so that the children can enjoy it all year round. There are various events planned throughout the term, but our efforts started on Wednesday 17th May, with a Sponsored Walk around the local area by the whole school. The distance walked varied based on the age of the children, with our youngest walking a mile and our oldest completing a three and a half mile route. Adding up the total distance walked by all the people in school, we covered over 1,200 miles!
The children have been very keen getting sponsors for the event. This has been helped by the promise of prizes for the best individual money raisers and a non-uniform day for the best class. At the time of writing, the money is still being collected, but we are confident it will be a great start towards our target. All the efforts of our Parents’ Group this term are also going towards this project, including money raised at the Summer Disco, Film Nights and other events. As well as this, we have another big sponsored challenge later in the term involving Mr Madeley, the Headteacher. He is planning to walk from St Oswald’s Church to St Oswald’s School, but the starting point will be St Oswald’s Church in York, not Guiseley! Together, as a whole school family, we are confident that we will raise the money needed so that all the children can benefit from our new, improved Trim Trail.
At our meeting at the end of March 2017, Geoffrey Cooper gave us an interesting talk about bells and bell-ringing. He began his talk by telling us that bell-ringing is a serious business which can easily become both an obsession and a way of life. He himself has been a ringer for some 69 years and has rung in many locations and towers both in this country and overseas. . Weighing over 16 tons, Great Paul at St Paul’s Cathedral is one of our countries heaviest bells. However, this is a mere stripling compared to some other bells. Those include the Olympic bell weighing 23 tons; a bell in China weighing 53 tons; a bell in Burma weighing 80 tons; a bell in Moscow weighing 125 tons and another Russian bell weighing 180 tons.
Geoffrey then outlined the process of casting bells. He started by telling us about the early and rather crude method of casting that was largely a matter of trial and error. He took us through the development of the process, concluding with the scientific and specialised processes of tuning that form part of modern bell casting.
He proceeded to tell us about the many different kinds of bell. These included the Curfew Bell, which was initiated by William the Conqueror. There were also the Seeding bell, the Harvest bell and the Gleaning bell. More prosaic bells included the pancake bell and the oven bell. There were also Ship’s bells, Mill bells; Pub (last orders) bells; School bells; chiming clock bells and door bells. And finally, in more than one sense of the word, the passing bell and the death bell– rung by the sexton and verger at the local church.
Geoffrey then told us that bell ringing is the second oldest art – the oldest being archery. Change ringing was introduced in about 1600AD by Fabian Steadmen. Today there are numerous ‘methods’ including “Guiseley surprise”; “Cooper Surprise” and “Harry Ramsden’s Surprise” among many others. Geoffrey concluded his talk by reminding us that one of the most famous bells in the world is regularly heard on the radio – the 13 and a half ton bell Great Tom, that hangs in the Queen Elizabeth Tower at the Palace of Westminster (usually referred to as “Big Ben”)
Paul Brylov gave the vote of thanks.
At our meeting in February 2017, Eric Verge gave us an interesting and informative talk about the HMS Belfast, upon which he served. HMS Belfast is now permanently moored in the pool of London opposite the Tower of London. Her motto is: “Pro tanto quid retribuamus” (“We give as good as we get”).
HMS Belfast, a heavy cruiser, was built at the famous Harland and Wolff shipyard in 1936 and was launched by Neville Chamberlain on 17th March 1938. She was commissioned on 5th August 1938 and had a ship’s complement of 850 officers and men. In the course of her long and distinguished service she reaped countless battle honours including those earned at the North Cape in 1943; the Arctic in in 1943; Normandy in 1944 and Korea between 1950 and 1953.
HMS Belfast saw a great deal of action in the course of her career and sustained damage on a number of occasions. She was damaged by a mine in the Firth of Forth, following which she needed extensive repairs. In the course of those repairs she was fitted with radar. On D Day she fired the first broadside, and continued to support the troops until her guns were worn out. Following this she was docked for a refit. At a later date she was hit by a Korean Anti-tank shell, following which she returned to Hong Kong for repairs.
In a career, in the course of which she toured the world, there were many highlights. At one time she was the Flagship for a fleet admiral, part of her function being to show the flag for Britain and to offer assistance in emergencies. Later she was part of the reserve fleet berthed in Fareham Creek, Portsmouth. Still later, she sailed as Flag ship to the Far East. She was present when Princess Alexandra reviewed the Far East Fleet in Hong Kong. In East Africa HMS Belfast provided the Royal Guard.
Following her retirement her former Captain, now Admiral Morgan Giles MP, proposed that she became a museum ship. The proposal was accepted and she was fitted out as a museum ship, although this required extensive internal changes. She was then handed over to the War Museum and towed to her present location.
Peter Denbigh gave the vote of thanks Paul Brylov
On 3.5.17 Fr John Richardson told us about his life and upbringing and how he came to enter the ministry. We were surprised to learn that Fr John was born in South Africa. However, when he was about 4 years old, he came to this country with his parents and lived in Heaton. He considers himself to be from Newcastle upon Tyne and amused us with the tale of how he once had to prove that he actually was English.
Fr John, whose father was a ship-worker and whose mother worked at the swimming baths, was brought up during the war years. Having passed the eleven plus he attended the grammar school where he passed his “O” levels. On leaving school he started work in an insurance office. That work not being to his taste he left and started work as a disc jockey. Later, aged 26, he went to Ilkley College and took a course in Youth and Community work. It was while he was at college that he first realised that God was calling him.
At around that time he became involved with a church youth group which was where he met the lady who was to become his wife. He got a job at a Youth and Community Centre in Manningham, Bradford, where he worked for 3 to 4 years. He then obtained a job as a part time lecturer and youth worker in Ilkley. Throughout those years he continued to hear God’s call and eventually attended a ministry selection conference. Rather to his surprise he was accepted for training and studied at Carlisle and Blackburn.
He worked part time doing Youth and Community work and, when ordained, worked part time in a parish in Preston. He then became a Parish priest in Preston as well as being a Chaplain at Preston College. He then spent a year in Spain where he worked as a chaplain. In due course he was all set to retire when he went to see Bishop Paul, who advised him to contact Fr David here at Guiseley with Esholt. In due course he joined our clergy team.
Fr John has been married for some 46 years and has two daughters. One of his daughters is a barrister and the other makes films. Fr John concluded his talk by outlining his personal spirituality. He described it as providing living loving care on behalf of a loving God who is an artist rather than an academic. He feels that creation is still forming and growing and that Mission is shown by example. Although God speaks, a large part of the problem is that we, his people, don’t listen.
The MU trip is to Port Sunlight on Wednesday 7th June The next MU meeting is on Wednesday 5th July when the theme is “Come and Share”.
Dear sisters and brothers
‘The Miners united, we’ll never be divided!’
So went the chant during the now in/famous event of contemporary British political history.
I recently attended a play at St Oswald’s C of E Primary School, based on the miners’ strike of 1984/85 – and what a superb play it was! But it got me to thinking – which is probably the whole point of it – as to what really unites us, and what really divides us.
As we know, from this fairly recent event in our history, the miners were united, but they were also divided. Many were unfortunately caught up in the crossfire between the Government and the NUM, both determined in their own way to unite the country behind their cause; the resulting action being that their stubbornness and lack of conciliation is still witnessed today in divided communities right across this country’s once proud coalfields.
Even today, nearly 35 years later (yes, it really is that long ago!) divisions within general society are as strong as ever. We have the usual political divide between supporters of the main political parties, but now we have added to that mix Scottish Nationalism and Brexit, divisions that have again affected families and communities here in the UK, and of course the wider EU.
Even in the United States of America there has been a seismic shift in national politics, with real division between Republican and Democrat, white-collar worker and blue-collar worker, those native to America, and those looking for a better life as an immigrant in the land of opportunity. And the Christian Faith is certainly not protected from this division. Catholic, Anglo-Catholic, Evangelical, Baptist, Pentecostalism, Free Church – there are many divisions in how we understand and witness theology and method, with gender difference and same-sex difference being the current hot potato, with, I believe, a lot more heat to come.
But if we take the two commandments of Jesus, to: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’… and…‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ we see that God wants us to be united; to put away the unimportant things of the earth and focus on what is really important – love – love for God, love for our neighbour; unconditional love that transcends politics, faith, race, colour, gender, sexuality.
We don’t always have to agree – it would be very boring if we did – but we must agree to disagree and appreciate another person’s point of view, and especially their right to have it.
I think it would be lovely if one day we – as a human race – could all sing together:
‘God’s people, united, we’ll never be divided!’
Fr. David