Church Services – May
Ascension Day, Thursday 1st May St Helen’s Skipwith,
Deanery Service 7.30pm Holy Communion

Sunday 4th May Sunday after the Ascension
St Andrew’s 10.30am Holy Communion
St Mary’s 9.00am Holy Communion

Sunday 11th May Pentecost
St Andrew’s 9.00am Holy Communion
St Mary’s 10.30am Holy Communion

Sunday 18th May Trinity Sunday
St Andrew’s 9.00am Holy Communion
St Mary’s 10.30am Family Service

Sunday 25th May First Sunday After Trinity
St Andrew’s 9.00am Holy Communion
St Mary’s 10.30am Holy Communion

Sunday 1st June Second Sunday after Trinity
St Andrew’s 10.30am Holy Communion
St Mary’s 9.00am Holy Communion

We invite you to come and join in our worship at any service. You will be most welcome.If you have never been to a church service before come to our Family Service. The worship is informal and normally about 30 minutes. Children are always welcome at all services.

GIFTS – The Vicar’s Letter

It is my birthday in May. If I am lucky I might get the odd gift from my family. I will have to be good! It has made me think about the place of gifts in our Christian faith. Gifts are central to our belief and we can respond accordingly.

Right from the beginning of creation there has been a sense in our tradition of God giving us so much. The writers of Genesis were convinced that the whole of the universe was a gift of God to humans to look after and to live well in. How good a job we are making of this is a debatable issue. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) God is seen as someone who gives life and well-being – particularly to those who respond positively to him. Clearly this presented some problems because there were those who did suffer undeservedly and the idea of life after death emerged as an answer. Again a gift of God was seen.

In Jesus’ life there are examples of gifts. The obvious ones are the gifts offered by the Wise Men to Jesus, gold, frankincense and myrrh. Then there were other acts of generosity. One of these is the story of the woman who took perfume and washed Jesus’ feet with it. Judas complained and said the money could have been given to the poor. In one of Jesus’ most powerful parables the rich man ignores Lazarus at his gate but could have so easily given him something to make his life better.

In the end we have the ultimate gift. As you read this we will be coming to the end of the Easter season and preparing to celebrate Pentecost. At Easter God gave his only son to be crucified and to die. What kind of gift is this? Yet we are told:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

Giving is central to our faith and is a response to a loving God. As we go into the summer we can think about the generosity of God and as Pentecost is celebrated we remember the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, which gives us a sense of God with us.

How can we respond to these gifts? One is the look at our giving overall to the church and to charity – are we responding proportionately to the gifts we have been given?

Francis

St Mary’s and the Future

St Mary’s Church building has its roots in the past. It was built for a purpose and that purpose was to enable the mission of the church to be brought to the people of Hemingbrough and beyond. In 1426 St Mary’s Church became Hemingbrough Minster and was staffed fully to enable this work of mission. Working from the Minster were a total of 15 people, probably more.

Things are somewhat different these days, but the glorious Minster remains. As the last church in England to be made collegiate we have some attraction as a tourist stop. The Minster building itself is also an attraction to tourists.

We must develop not only that attraction, but we must be true to the very reason that the building was placed here in the first place, to bring the good news of the gospel to this area. How we do this best and adapt the building to mission in the 21st century will be discussed at an open meeting on Tuesday May 20th in St Mary’s. The Archdeacon of York and Stephen Parry our architect will be present to guide our thinking. Please make this a “must” if you have an interest in the church.

Saturday 7th June

11.00am to 5.00pm
St Mary’s Church

Children’s Painting Competition Bouncy Castle
Hot Dogs Magician Face Painting Raffle
Plant Stall Refreshments Competitions
Tower Trips Tombola Book Stall

Fun for all the Family

TRINITY SUNDAY 18th MAY

Trying to explain the doctrine of the Trinity has kept many a theologian busy down the centuries. One helpful picture is to imagine the sun shining in the sky. The sun itself – way out there in space – unapproachable in its fiery majesty – is the Father. The light that flows from it, and which illuminates all our lives, is the Son. The heat that flows from it, and which gives us all the energy to move and grow, is the Holy Spirit. You cannot have the sun without its light and its heat. The light and the heat are from the sun, are of the sun, and yet are also distinct in themselves, with their own roles to play.

The Bible makes clear that God is One God, who is disclosed in three persons: Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. For example:

Deuteronomy 6:4 ‘Hear O Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is one..’
Isaiah 45:22 ‘Turn to me and be saved… for I am God, and there is no other’
Genesis 1:1-2 ‘In the beginning God created…. And the Spirit of God was hovering…’
Judges 14:6 etc ‘The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power…’

John 1:1-3 ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.’

Luke 24:49 actually manages to squeeze the whole Trinity into one sentence. Jesus tells

his disciples: ‘I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power (the Holy Spirit) from on high.’

In other words, the sun eternally gives off light and heat, and whenever we stand in its brilliant light, we find that the warmth soon follows.

Most of you will know that Janice Midwood has been working hard studying to be a Reader and she has just completed a further stage in her training. She has been at Selby Abbey to gain experience outside of the context of her own parish church.

But what is a Reader you may ask. Often there is an understanding that a Reader is a substitute for the vicar when he is away or unable to take the service. There are over 10,000 active Readers in the Church of England. Readers are lay people, but they are trained and authorised to preach and to teach as part of the congregation in which they serve.

It was suggested that Janice went to Selby Abbey from January to Easter to experience “High Church” worship and the differing atmosphere of a larger church. She was able to preach, read lessons and prepare the intercession prayers.

Janice said, “During my placement there was a 100th Anniversary Eucharist for the Selby Abbey Branch of the Mothers Union, all branches of the MU in the Diocese were invited and Canon Margaret Sentamu gave the address in an uplifting service, full of excitement and joy.” She recalls her time in Selby as a wonderful experience and has been invited to return at any time.

We are pleased to see Janice back in the fold at Hemingbrough as she continues her studies which will lead to licensing as a fully paid up Reader later in the year.

As good as it gets

A shipwrecked man spent five years on a deserted island. One day he was overjoyed to see a ship drop anchor in the bay. A dinghy approached, and a ship’s officer handed the sailor The Times, The Financial Times and The Daily Telegraph. “The captain suggests,” said the officer, “that you read what’s going on in the world before you decide if you wish to be rescued.

HOLY GROUND – LASTINGHAM

In the small village of Lastingham, a monastery was founded in 654 by St Cedd, who chose the site amid some steep and remote hills which seemed better fitted for the haunts of robbers and the dens of wild beasts than for human habitation; so that, as Isaiah says, ‘In the habitations where once dragons lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes’, that is, the fruit of good works spring up where once beasts dwelt or where men lived after the manner of beasts. The man of God was anxious first of all to cleanse the site which he had received for the monastery from the stain of former crimes by prayer and fasting, before laying the foundations.

The monastery flourished until the Danes destroyed it in the ninth century. In 1078, Stephen, the Abbot of Whitby, persuaded William I to restore Lastingham, and he set to work on the abbey. William built the crypt, which can still be seen down the stairs. However Stephen and his monks left abruptly to set up a new monastery in York, leaving only the crypt and the apse of the church complete. Amazingly, the crypt has survived unaltered over the centuries

Lastingham was also famous for the curate who played his violin in the village pub. In the eighteenth century underpaid curates were often employed by absentee vicars to do the work of the parish as best they could. One such curate was the Revd Jeremiah Carter, who had a wife and thirteen children, and was paid £20 a year by Smelt, the vicar. Carter supplemented the family diet by fishing, and his wife kept the public house (the Blacksmith’s Arms), where Carter sometimes played his violin to entertain his parishioners.

Replying to the queries of his archdeacon, Carter reminded him that some of his parishioners, coming ten or fifteen miles to church, needed refreshment before returning home.

FROM THE PARISH REGISTERS

BAPTISM Sunday 13th April William Jack Johnson of Cliffe

HELP NEEDED PLEASE.

We are collecting raffle prizes for the Fun Day and also books for the Book Sale. If you have anything that is suitable that you would like to donate please contact Carol Perry 638471, Susan Sellers 630530, Sondra Bird 638405 or Mary Todd 638527 or bring them along to the church. We will be most grateful.

OPEN HOUSE RETURNS!

Now that the worst of the winter cold is past St Mary’s is open again on Wednesday mornings from 10,00am to 12 noon so that you can drop in for a coffee and a chat. You may be surprised who you meet. Last year we had visitors from many parts of the world as well as residents of the villages.

An inscription over a church door in Cheshire: ‘This is the house of God. This is the gate of heaven. (This door is locked in winter months.)’

And finally… Hymns for the over 60’s
Precious Lord take my hand….and help me up
It is well with my soul…….but my knees hurt
Nobody knows the trouble I have seeing
Just a slower walk with thee
Go tell it on the mountain ,,,but speak up
Give me the Old Timers religion
Blessed Insurance
Guide me O thou great Jehovah…..I’ve forgotten where I parked the car

Baptism, Weddings, Funerals by arrangement with either of the Churchwardens:

Mr. Peter Bramley Tel: Selby 638246 or Mrs. Carol Perry Tel: Selby 638471