Archive at St JAMES
Contents Part 2
1 Bishop John
2 Revd Wendy Wilby
3 Bishop David
4 Millenium activities
5 George and Judith Mackey's
induction 2002
6 George and Judith Mackey's Silver
Wedding
7 September 11th
2001
8 Operation Christmas Child 2003
9 Visit to Lambeth Palace June
2004
10 Memorial Garden planting snowdrops
2004
11 Confirmation Service 2005
12 Annual Meeting March 2005
13 New Lightning Conductor
2005
14 Royal Ascot at York 2005
15 Wardens 2005
16 Mary Mother of Jesus An
abridged version of Guy Wilson’s Easter week reflection 2007
Address by Guy Wilson Show Sunday
2003
Address by Angus Holmes Harvest
Service 2003
Harvest Supper 2003
United Benifice
Reports 2003
Our Bishop
1 Bishop John Packer the first Bishop of Ripon and Leeds
The Rt. Revd John R Packer became the new Bishop of Ripon and Leeds 16th July 2000 in Ripon Cathedral
Over 2,000 people attended the service. Representatives of the cities, counties, districts and towns within the diocese were present to greet and to welcome the new bishop. Clergy and Readers from the diocese gathered with visiting bishops and clergy and people from the Diocese of Liverpool, bishop John's former diocese, to pray for him and wish him well.
THE MAN & THE JOB (written in Summer 2000)
Bishop John Packer is 53 years old and is married to Barbara, who is a Maths teacher working in Further Education. They have three children, Catherine (23), Richard (21) and Tim (19). He became the Bishop of Warrington in 1996, appointed by the then Bishop of Liverpool, Rt Revd David Sheppard. He led the Diocese of Liverpool through a 14 month vacancy, and has supported Bishop James Jones as the new Bishop of Liverpool since November, 1998. This will be a key appointment for the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds. The new Bishop will have pastoral oversight of 160 parishes and 266 churches served by 193 stipendiary clergy. His appointment has been welcomed locally by church leaders.
The Bishop of Knaresborough, Rt Revd Frank Weston, who has been leading the diocese during the vacancy, says
“I greatly welcome John Packer’s appointment as Bishop of Ripon and Leeds. His experience makes him an ideal choice and I know that his ministry has been very greatly appreciated. I have had several contacts with him since I came to the Northern Province and I feel certain that our future partnership in the ministry will be a happy one.”
Representing lay people throughout the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds, Dr Alan Stanley, Diocesan Lay Chairman says he is delighted by the appointment.
“The lay people of the diocese will be as pleased with this appointment as are the clergy. Bishop John Packer is well respected by the laity of Liverpool diocese as a Godly and caring leader. We look forward to drawing on his wide experience for this new stage in church life in our region.”
(The above article is taken from the Diocesan Web Site)
| 2 Rev Wendy
Wilby
Vicar Wendy gave her final service on She has moved to be the vicar of the parish church of Halifax. The VICARAGE , KENSINGTON RD, HALIFAX, W. YORKS. HX3 0BQ Tel: 01422 365477 e-mail: octave@wwilby.freeserve.co.uk
Have a look at their web site. |
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3 Bishop David Retired
This photograph was taken in St James' He retires with our love.
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4 Millennium 2000
It is amazing to think that Birstwith Millennium Committee, formed just under five years ago is now being wound up. The committee has been involved in several activities over the Millenniun period, from parties on "the night" to other projects in the village.
Our involvement has been the planting of trees. Starting with the Oak tree planted up Elton Bank, followed by the school copse, we then planted the Millenniun Oak in Angus Holmes's field - as central as possible in the village, also linking up with the oldest oaks (maybe Forest of Knaresborough) We then planted the Beech trees in the Show Field fronting Wreakes Rd, followed by four baby oaks (all village grown) on the Mill side of the field. Several have been replanted after sheep damage. Finally, the specimen trees on the Birstwith Rd side of the field . A common oak in memory of john Stockdale and a Pink Chestnut (on behalf of the WI) were planted at Elton Top.
A total of 76 trees were planted for the Millennium, which we think is a great team effort - a big thankyou to everybody for helping.
The committee was asked to plant a tree to honour the Jubilee and it is suggested that this should be next to the Silver Jubilee Copper Beech on Nidd Lane. There is no surplus money but hopefully funds can be sourced so that a suitable tree can be planted when permissions have been granted.
Ian & Carol Harrington and Birstwith Millennium Committee.
Millennium Signposts
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The signposts at the side of all roads entering the village. They were designed by our schoolchildren and the cost has been met by the Millennium Fund.
Click on the picture to see a more detailed
photograph. |
5
Our New Priests press release below
The Revds. George & Judy Mackey arrived safely at Leeds and Bradford Airport on Wednesday July 10th.2002 George was inducted as House for Duty Priest and Judy as Parish Deacon by Bishop John at a special service on Sunday July 14th. At the same time, the Revd. Garry Hinchcliffe vicar of Hampsthwaite and Killinghall was appointed Priest - in - Charge.
Issued 26.07.02 Press release
AMERICAN COUPLE TAKE OVER DALES CHURCH
A retired husband and wife team from the United States have taken over the running of a village church in North Yorkshire. The Reverends George and Judith Mackey, who are both ordained in the Episcopal Church in the USA, have moved from California to become the ministers at the Nidderdale church of St James, Birstwith near Harrogate.
The couple, who retired as joint ministers of Santa Maria Episcopal Church in California, three years ago, gained a taste of North Yorkshire life when they spent a month at Birstwith last year in a parish exchange with the previous Vicar, Revd Wendy Wilby. Following Revd Wilby's move to become a vicar in Halifax, the Mackeys successfully applied for the vacant post and have now moved into the vicarage at Birstwith. Last week George was licensed by the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds as the 'House for Duty' priest, and his wife Judith was licensed as parish deacon.
'We wanted to work in England from our retirement,' said George, 'but stayed on in California to allow Judith to finish studies for a Masters degree. We enjoyed our time here last year and when the job became vacant we applied straight away.'
'I broke into tears when George rang me to say we had been appointed,' said Judith, and I couldn't wait to get here. But there are always complications and it took nearly four months to sort things out. It was all worth while - we were warmly received, the parishioners had painted and carpeted the vicarage and they have loaned us furniture. They are wonderful,' she said.
The Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, Rt Revd John Packer says the couple bring with them a wealth of experience. 'George became a priest in the American Episcopal Church in 1966 and his wife became a Deacon in 1986. Both bring a wealth of experience of parish life and Judith brings her skills as a trained counsellor. It is a particular delight to be able to learn from their experiences as American Anglicans and we look forward to their gifts being used in Birstwith and more widely in the diocese.'
Meanwhile, the rural parish of Birstwith offers many contrasts with Santa Maria, but George says they welcome the differences. 'I love it; I like the rain, the green fields and the quiet; it is so different to California. The order of services is not quite the same as in the Episcopal Church but we'll soon get used to that.'
Ends
· NOTES: The Episcopal Church dates from 1789. It is part of the worldwide Anglican church and its Bishops participate in the decennial Lambeth Conferences. It has more than 2.5 million members.
. A House for Duty priest, as the name implies, is a part-time, unpaid post. The post-holder is given tenure of the Vicarage and in exchange carries out Sunday duties and an average of around two days a week in pastoral work.
· Issued by Ripon & Leeds Diocesan Communications Officer, John Carter
Phone: 01423 530369 ; Mobile 07798 652707 ; Email: jhgcarter@aol.com
· All recent Ripon & Leeds Diocesan News Releases can be found on the Web at www.riponleeds.anglican.org
6
Silver Wedding for the Mackey's
A Special Celebration
George and Judy Mackey, the Priest and Deacon of St. James' Church had a
special celebration - their Silver Wedding Anniversary! The actual date was
Monday 16th December, but we, as a Parish, helped them to celebrate the occasion
a day earlier, on Sunday 15th December. As you know, George and Judy are
with us from America, and therefore have no relatives here to share their
special day with. Instead they have US! US being 2/3 of USA - not bad really.
These pictures, taken by Norman Castle, show the cutting of the cake and
part of the happy gathering in the church hall.
7 September 11th 2001
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September 11th is remembered
The bells of St James rang across Birstwith at 11am on Wednesday the 11th
Sept. before prayers were said in church.
The poem "The Divine Image" by William Blake sums up what we have to do to
defeat terrorism and pretty well any other evil: It was suggested by
Guy Wilson.
To Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love
All pray in their distress;
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness
For Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love
Is God, our Father dear,
And Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love
Is man, His child and care
For Mercy has a human heart,
Pity a human face,
And Love, the human form divine,
And Peace, the human dress.
Then every man, of every clime,
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine,
Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.
And all must love the human form,
In heathen, Turk or Jew;
Where Mercy, Love and Pity dwell
There God is dwelling, too.
On 13 September, Guy Wilson, one of our our Church Wardens, will give a short speech to an audience including the American Ambassador. The occasion is an evening at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds to remember the events of 11 September 2001. The Yorkshire artist Ashley Jackson has donated prints of his painting of the attack on the World Trade Centre for sale in aid of the charity Children in Crisis and the evening was to launch this innovative fund-raising initiative. Guy will end his remarks by suggesting that to defeat terrorism we must learn to be slow to anger and quick to recognise common humanity despite our differences. He will end his speech by reading the above poem by William Blake.
8
Operation Christmas Child
The Parish has once more filled lots of shoe boxes with toys for needy children throughout the world. The picture below was taken for the local paper.
9
Visit to Lambeth Palace June 2004
Vicar George and Judy meet Archbishop Rowan Williams during their visit to Lambeth Palace.
10
Memorial Garden
Flowers in memory of the lost little ones CHILDREN from a Nidderdale village have been remembering fellow schoolchildren who died in the Russian school siege last month. Youngsters in Birstwith helped plant snowdrops as part of a memorial in their village. Members of St James's Church in Birstwith are turning a patch of land in front of the church into a memorial covered in snowdrops for local families that have lost children.
But such has been the effect of the tragic events in the town of Beslan, they asked local people if they would also like to donate snowdrops in memory of the casualties of the siege. The snowdrop bulbs, which have been donated by several local people and businesses, were planted last week and it is hoped they will make a glorious display in years to come. Church warden Ann Taylor has led efforts to create the floral memorial and decided to remember the child victims of Beslan after seeing the horrific images from the siege on television.
Priest at St James's, Rev George Mackey, praised the efforts of Ann and said the garden was a fitting tribute to Beslan's victims. "I think we need to make some sort of visual reminder that other people are worse off then we are," he said. "It's a very sad situation, we were all horrified when we saw it on television. " You can't imagine what it would be like if that happened here. "I think this is an excellent point of remembrance."
11
Confirmation Service 2005
St James was full to overflowing (320) when Bishop John came to lead the confirmation service on 1st May. There were 28 candidates from Birstwith, Hampsthwaite and Killinghall. The Bishop was assisted by the Revds Garry Hincliffe and George and Judy Mackey.
Click here to see some photographs.
12 Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting was held in the Church Hall on 17th March. 2005 Click for information
13 Lightning Conductor 2005
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Here you see the new lightning conductor being fitted to the spire
of St James. It is not a job for the faint hearted!
The old conductor did not meet the required standards and a complete replacement was essential. |
14 Ascot at York 2005
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A batch of beautiful Birstwith Belles went to Ladies Day when Royal Ascot was held at York . Names are withheld, but regular visitors to this site will know who is who. |
15
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Wardens Anne Taylor and Norman Castle at the Carol Service Christmas 2005 |
16
MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS
MARY: AN EASTER REFLECTION
As Jesus died in agony on the cross his mother stood and watched. Surely nothing can be worse for a parent than to see their child die, especially a painful death, especially an undeserved death as a petty criminal. So let us spare a thought for Jesus's mother Mary in this Easter week.
Perhaps like me you have always had a bit of a problem with Mary. I was brought up as a protestant to believe that worshipping Mary, praying to and through Mary, was pretty close to setting up false idols and Gods, a silly catholic superstition that the Reformation had wisely exposed for what it was. But now I'm not so sure.
True, we can be perfectly good Christians without believing in many of the stories about Mary. The concept of the perpetual Virginity of Mary was first propounded in the 2nd Century in the apocryphal Infancy gospel attributed to Jesus' brother James and has been disputed by many ever since. The concept of the Assumption of Mary - her bodily rising to heaven - seems first to have been suggested in the 5th Century. To the earliest Christians, to those who had known either Jesus or people who had know him, Mary was his mother, pure and simple. And isn't that enough? Interestingly, belief in her power to intercede with God, pre-dates the idea of her assumption into heavenly glory by some two hundred years. The idea that Mary can be prayed to, though alien to the very earliest Christians, is an old one and perhaps one that we should think about more seriously than we do. After all, hasn't it been quite normal in families to go to Mum rather than Dad if you've done something wrong, to ask Mum to have a word with Dad, to explain. Perhaps it doesn't happen so much today with changing roles in families but in the old days when Dad was either away at work, or tired and remote when at home, it was normal for Mum to tell him the bad news and explain to him his children's misdeeds and needs - to intercede with their father just as Mary is pictured as interceding with our eternal father.
Some years ago, when I was putting together the words for what became Karl Jenkins The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace I selected two verses from Rudyard Kipling's Hymn Before Action, a poem that calls on the God of Battles to give aid in the coming fight. The fifth of the six verses is a prayer not to God but to Mary
Ah, Mary, pierced with sorrow,
Remember, reach and save
The soul that comes tomorrow
Before the God that gave!
Since each was born of woman,
For each at utter need -
True comrade and true foeman -
Madonna, intercede!
Forget the occasion for the prayer, instead let's think about the reasons for it being addressed to Mary. The verse, I think, gives two. It is addressed to Mary, pierced with sorrow - it's an appeal to a human being who is likely to listen because she has known what it is to suffer the loss of a child. And Mary is asked to listen and help "since each was born of woman". Mary, the woman and mother stands for all women and all mothers in the sight of a "male" trinity and is asked to intercede on behalf of them and their children.
Now I don't think we have to believe absolutely literally in the Trinitarian concept of God, nor in the maleness with which God the Father has often been invested, to appreciate the importance, somehow, of admitting feminine attributes into our ideas of God. Many of the earlier religions did this by creating a whole pantheon of Gods, both male and female, so that each could be given a number of specific characteristics that could be worshipped and called upon when necessary. It is perhaps more difficult, but nonetheless important, when we believe in only one God, to find ways to make our idea of the unknowable immensity and complexity of the Creator as broad and varied as we can. Otherwise we are in danger of making a God in our own image and using our almighty God to reinforce our own petty prejudices.
No, I think I may not have given enough consideration to Mary over the years. Kipling's Mary pierced with sorrow is, for me, a good place to start. And the more I think of it the more the image that it conjures up is that of MichelAngelo's great Pieta in St Peter's Church in Rome. Apart from Michelangelo's sheer technical brilliance as a carver of stone what makes this sculpture so affecting is the way he has changed time and made mother and son much the same age. It is not the older Mary that cradles her dead son, but the young virgin. The joy of birth and the pain of death both writ on a face that is so pierced with the sorrow and sadness of things that this Mary is someone that we all, instinctively, would feel we could share our troubles with.
But behind this vision of Mary is the sad, historical reality of the older mother, who had not seen much of her son in his short adult life, though she had doubtless heard, heard much and with immense pride of his doings and sayings. And now here she was on a desolate hillside watching that son, her pride and joy, flesh of her flesh, suffer the agony of crucifixion with two common criminals. And this the reward for her obedience to God, this what came of her saying "Behold the hand-maid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word." When we suffer far less and wonder if God is quite as loving as he's cracked up to be, we could do worse than to remember Mary, to remember her obedience, her faith and her humility. Mary is a symbol of human love, endurance, constancy and faith. She is not the worst of role models. And there are suffering, enduring Mary's all around us.
Of all the expressions of sympathy that we received recently when Pamela's father died the one that most effected us came from a lady who has herself recently had to endure the double tragedy of the death of a daughter in her 30s and the growing mental and physical incapacity of her not old husband. And the only hint of complaint that she expressed to us about her situation and ours was "I sometimes wonder if God hasn't got things a little the wrong way round." That sort of response to personal tragedy makes me hope that God does feel a bit guilty sometimes at what he throws at some people, though as George reminded me a few weeks ago God is much more merciful than we are.
But if God does owe anyone an apology it is surely his son's mother, Mary. And that surely is why we should pay a little more attention to and give a little more reverence to Mary than we do.
As Jesus died in agony on the cross his mother stood and watched. Surely nothing can be worse for a parent than to see their child die? Well, in another of his poems Kipling gives an answer, and the answer is, yes there is. There is something worse than watching your child die.
Remember that Kipling's son was lost in the First World War, his body never found, the manner of his death forever uncertain. This loss profoundly affected Kipling. He wrote a poem called A Nativity 1914-18. It is not one of his most popular poems. It is complex and initially difficult to understand. It conflates time as does Michelangelo's Pieta and gives us the birth and death of Jesus as rapidly succeeding events. And it contrasts the certainty and comfort, even if only cold comfort, of seeing a child die with the uncertainty and greater pain of not having seen it and not really knowing. It does this by setting alongside Mary a mother who has lost her son in battle and doesn't know where he is. As with those grieving families we see so often on the news who demand the closure and certainty of a conviction for the murder of their child, so this is a poem that seeks closure through knowledge of where and how. And, for Kipling, the moment of greatest pain for Mary, what most nearly breaks her, and what links her to that other mother, is not Jesus's death but his disappearance from the tomb. The irony is that the very event that was to light up her life and our lives gave her the most intense pain because, like that other mother, she has no closure, she has lost everything. And at that moment of deepest uncertainty Kipling throws in the final verse that begins with our doubts and our need for a sign that all will be well. But no such sign comes to the watchers and waiters. Or does it? If it does it comes not from the stars but from mother Mary. And her answer, an answer of glorious certainty is what Easter is all about. And that, surely, is the best of reasons for us to give her more of our time and attention. Here is the poem in full.
The Babe was laid in the manger
Between the gentle kine -
All safe from cold and danger -
But it was not so with mine,
(With mine! With mine!)
"Is it well with the child, is it well?"
The waiting mother prayed.
"For I knew not how he fell,
And I know not where he is laid."
A star stood forth in Heaven;
The Watchers ran to see
The sign of the promise given -
"But there comes no sign to me.
(To me! To me!)
"My child died in the dark.
Is it well with the child, is it well?
There was none to tend him or mark,
And I know not how he fell."
The Cross was raised on high;
The mother grieved beside -
"But the Mother saw Him die,
And took him when he died
(He died! He died!")
"Seemly and undefiled
His burial place was made -
Is it well, is it well with the child?
For I know not where he is laid."
On the dawning of Easter Day
Comes Mary Magdalene;
But the stone was rolled away
And the body was not within
(Within! Within!)
"Ah, who will answer my word?"
The broken mother prayed.
"They have taken away my Lord,
And I know not where he is laid."
The Star stands forth in Heaven.
The watchers watch in vain
For sign of the Promise given
of Peace on Earth again -
(Again! Again!)
But I know for Whom he fell" -
The steadfast mother smiled,
"Is it well with the child - is it well?
It is well with the child, it is well!"
Amen
