|  | November 2023 E-Newsletter | | If you would like to submit a news story or details of an upcoming event in your church or circuit, we would love to hear from you! Please email Emily at comms@ywmethodist.org.uk with the information you’d like to share, or for further guidance. The deadline for the December E-Newsletter will be Monday 18th of December at 5pm. | | Dear Friends, When you read this letter I will be in the midst of the second round of stationing. This year has presented some real challenges to the Connexion, and I call on you to pray for all of us during these days. When we entered stationing, we knew we had around a third less ministers than we needed to meet the requests of the circuits across the Connexion. You can imagine how daunting a prospect that was and is. In previous years I, along with colleagues across the Connexion, have been in a place where we have been facing similar challenges, but always with some sense of where there might be alternatives, or the possibility to invite a minister to move early. The picture across the District is such that there is little, or no, capacity for this anymore. Circuits and ministers in stationing face this challenge in a particular way, and I do ask that you pray for them, and for my colleagues and I as we continue the work of stationing together. We all enter this process trusting in the grace and wisdom of God, and we wait on that together. Despite the challenges, we notice God at work, and that is a joyful thing. At the same time, these challenges are not just for those in stationing this year, but for all of us. The current models of churches and ministry are simply not sustainable, however much some want them to be. We cannot maintain what is, and maybe that is something we need to hear as God spoken, rather than as a matter of circumstance. Churches need to radically think about what they need and how they need to organise. Churches need to encourage conversation and change in the circuits, which leads to releasing ministers for ministry, and churches for worship and mission. Across the District, circuits are busy with this work, but for that work to come to fruition what is needed in every place is prayer, hope, sacrifice, and at times hard decisions. This is not something to overwhelm us, or to diminish our hope, but something that is instead about believing in a God who did not cling to heavenly power, but assumed a human life, lived among us, and died for us. This is the story at the heart of Christmas. It was through all that God did that hope was re-born in resurrection. So please, in your church, pray, hope, be prepared to make hard decisions, and be a sacrifice, that we might see the possibility of resurrection and renewal together. This is the way of God in Christ, and so our way together. Yours, Kerry | Events | Details of other upcoming District Events and Events from around the Connexion can be found on the District website:
District Diary - www.yorkshirewestmethodist.org.uk/news-events/district-diary Events - www.yorkshirewestmethodist.org.uk/news-events/events | | Mount Zion Carol and Christingle Service |  | Everyone is welcome to join Mount Zion Heritage Chapel’s Carol & Christingle Service on Saturday 16th December 2:30pm. The service will be led by Revd Kathie Heathcoat in her first service as Minister of Mount Zion. Christmas Cake and Mince Pies, and fairtrade Tea and Coffee will be served after the service in the cottage where John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley often stayed when preaching in Halifax. We extend the invitation to all the organisations and people we have worked with, especially over the last year - Mount Zion wouldn't be here without your continued support. Even if you have never been to church before, we would encourage you to take the opportunity to visit our beautiful Grade II* Listed Building, listen to and sing to carols accompanied by our Anneessens Organ, one of only a few remaining in the world. We will also be livestreaming the service for everyone across the world to join in. We will be opening from 12:00pm, offering a fantastic opportunity to look around Mount Zion's Chapel, Cottage and Grounds at your leisure. Explore our Mount Zion Library where you can either borrow a book or find a comfortable spot to enjoy reading, play board games, and work on jigsaw puzzles with fairtrade tea, coffee and biscuits. Please don't hesitate to contact our Church Steward, Matthew Townsend via email, at townsendjmatthew@outlook.com with any queries. | | | Positively Rural: Spirituality of Older People | Positively Rural is an online community hosted by the Methodist Learning Network, but open to anyone of any denomination involved in rural ministry, including volunteers, lay workers and clergy. In this webinar on the 10th of January, we will be considering the spirituality of older people in a rural context with input from the organisation ‘Anna Chaplaincy’. | | | Abba Amma: Improvisations on the Lord's Prayer |  | The next Yorkshire Plus region Retreat for Presbyters, Deacons and Lay Employees will be from 7 - 9 May 2024 at Wydale Hall, Scarborough.
The Lord's Prayer, or the Our Father, is a prayer text and practice that unites Christians worldwide and puts us in touch with Jesus and Christians throughout the ages. People of other faiths and traditions are also drawn to this prayer. But how do we pray this prayer today, in light of our growing awareness of the dangers of patriarchal and monarchical language and thinking? On this retreat, Nicola Slee will share something of her own journey with the Lord's Prayer and suggest that we are called, not so much to repeat the prayer unvaryingly, as to live in its pattern and improvise around it to find our own authentic way of praying.
Visit the Eventbrite link below or email Katrin Hackett for more information. The cost of this retreat will be £240, though a subsidy of £120 is available from your District. | | | | Let’s End Poverty | There doesn’t have to be poverty in the UK. But over many years, our society has been built in a way that traps people in hardship and keeps them there. As Christians who believe that everyone is created for full life, how can we be good news in the context of poverty that is rising and deepening in our communities?
Come together on Tuesday 27 February to explore how our churches can be part of speaking out, to call for better and bolder action on poverty from our political leaders. As communities who seek to be good news though action, how can we use the influence we have to call for change? How can we take action to show that we stand for a future where everyone has enough to eat, has a good quality of life and are able to wake up each morning with hope?
Join us to hear from movement builders and church members who are leading the way, and reflect on how you can help to build momentum for change. | | | Churches Against Racism |  | How can we build truly anti-racist churches and an anti-racist City? How do we put anti-racism into action?
Leeds Church Institute are hosting a “Churches Against Racism” event on 18 April 2024, where you will hear from leaders from diverse churches in Leeds, sharing experience, best practice and wisdom from dealing with racial discrimination. You will hear stories of division and hope in unity, then join together to talk practically and theologically about moving into action. This city-wide event will serve as a catalyst for anti-racist action and reflection across Leeds churches.
All are welcome to this ecumenical evening of panel discussions, conversations and prayer. Please join us for light refreshments after hearing from the Bishops, Pastors and Priests. | | Don’t forget to check the District website for details of other upcoming events, and our District Facebook Group to find out how our circuits, churches and projects are celebrating the festive season! | | Vacancies | No new vacancies are being advertised in the District this month. Keep an eye on the District website and our social media channels for posts as they become available. | | | News | Highest Honour awarded to Coffee Pot Memory Cafe |  | It was announced today that His Majesty King Charles III has approved The King’s Award for Voluntary Service National Assessment Committee’s recommendation that the Volunteers of the Coffee Pot Memory Café, Drighlington Methodist Church should receive The King’s Award for Voluntary Service (KAVS) 2023.
Equivalent to an MBE, KAVS is the highest award given to local voluntary groups in the UK, and they are awarded for life to celebrate the outstanding work of local volunteer groups across the UK. They are awarded to groups that are truly outstanding and making a big difference to their local community; groups that have the highest standards in everything they do and where volunteers, rather than paid staff, are in the driving seat. Group leader Trevor Martin says “This represents a tremendous achievement by our group’s amazing volunteers, The Methodist Church and the village of Drighlington. We feel immensely proud to be honoured with this award and will continue to support all people living with Dementia, giving them a safe, enjoyable and friendly place to meet and have fun.” | | Leeds Sanctuary share 2022/2023 Impact Report |  | Leeds Sanctuary are delighted to share their Impact Report for the 2022/2023 Connexional Year.
Anna Bland, Team Leader at Leeds Sanctuary, said “It is a privilege to lead the Leeds Sanctuary team; they are an inspiring and passionate group of people who have made this year 2022-23 the incredible year it has been. Each year we grow in depth and number, increasingly bringing about our vision of the flourishing of Leeds and its people in the ways of God’s love/ fellowship.”
You can read and download the Report by visiting the Leeds Sanctuary website. | | | Augmented Reality Nativity Trail |  | Our Digital Church Enabler, Revd Mark Stennett, has prepared an Augmented Reality Nativity Trail for churches in our District!
There are 6 posters that churches can download and use which offer local communities the opportunity of a sheep hunt, as well as an Augmented Reality Scene connected to each poster (which works on most modern smart phones). The only thing we require is that participating churches register their interest and share with us their websites or links to where their Advent and Christmas services are advertised, so that we can share them using the QR codes and links on posters and AR scenes.
Find out more, including how to register your church's participation, on the District website. | | | Revive Us Again | Revd Leslie Newton, Chair of the Yorkshire North & East District, has recently had his book, “Revive Us Again”, published.
This book is the fruit of his sabbatical studies in 2021. Leslie explores how the founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley, achieved extraordinary impact across the United Kingdom and beyond. This is an invitation to be inspired by Wesley's message and methods and see how, by reclaiming these treasures, Methodism and the wider church may once again transform society.
"A timely and timeless reminder that I hope is read widely throughout British Methodism, and beyond." Revd Dr Martyn Atkins
"A hope-filled invitation to rediscover the richness and vibrancy of the early Methodist movement." Deacon Eunice Attwood
"It's impossible to resist the infectious enthusiasm for God and the Methodist movement in this engaging book." Rachel Lampard MBE | | | United for Warm Homes Campaign | As we move towards winter, people across West Yorkshire are facing another difficult season; high energy bills which have doubled in the last two years are driving more people into fuel poverty, and forcing difficult choices between heating homes and feeding families. At the same time, we continue to leak heat (and carbon emissions) from our homes with insufficient progress being made towards the longer term solutions.
Across Leeds alone, over 225,000 homes require energy efficiency measures to ensure they meet the standard recommended by the Government's independent advisors on climate change, for the country to meet its net zero targets. Over 100 neighbourhoods in the city are energy hotspots, where high energy bills combine with lower-than-average incomes to hit families hard.
The Leeds for Warm Homes campaign seeks to secure commitment from our MPs and, as we move closer to a General Election, from parliamentary candidates.
Part of the national United for Warm Homes Campaign, Friends of the Earth in Leeds are asking for: Immediate additional financial support for those most impacted by high energy prices. Investment in a national street-by-street insulation programme starting with areas with higher levels of fuel poverty. A rapid shift away from fossil fuels to more renewable heating systems such as heat pumps.
The Leeds for Warm Homes campaign aims to work with a wide variety of individuals and community organisations (including churches) to demonstrate a broad and inclusive campaign. You can find out more about the Leeds for Warm Homes campaign by contacting Simon Bowens or signing our petition to MPs. | | | | | |
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