Dear Friends, It was wonderful to gather at St Mary Magdalene in Outwood on last month for Rev Diane’s licensing to serve here in the Benefice. It has been a long journey since Fr Jonathan left in January 2023 with a lot of extra work to cover, and therefore we are very appreciative of the many people in the four churches who have helped in many ways during this time.
We are all pilgrims on a journey, and as we look to future, it will be lovely to share with Diane our hopes and vision for the future of our benefice. To get us started, you are invited to join us on Saturday 19th October at St Anne’s in Wrenthorpe. There will be refreshments from 9.30am, then worship at 10am, with the session finishing at 12pm at the latest. The meeting will allow us the time to pray, share, discuss and plan the next stage in the life of the benefice. At harvest time we give thanks for God’s bounty, and this meeting will allow us to give thanks for the many gifts and talents we can offer to God in his service in our benefice.
This year, we have celebrated the 200th anniversary of St Peter’s and the 150th anniversary of St Anne’s. It has been good to look back and reflect on the journey of these churches, but we know the baton has been passed to us to continue ‘being the church’ in these villages at this time. Therefore, please do join us on the 19th October and in the meantime pray for our time together that our plans and discus-sions will be in line with God’s will for the benefice.
From Monday 7th October 2024 we will be celebrating Morning Prayer on a different day each week in each of our four churches. Anyone is welcome to join any of the services. It will give us an opportunity to pray for what’s happening in each church and the mission of the wider benefice as well as the world and community in which we live. The times and locations are as follows:

null
• Mondays 9.30am St Peter’s church, Stanley
• Tuesdays 9am St Paul’s church, Alverthorpe
• Wednesdays 9am St Anne’s church, Wrenthorpe
• Thursdays 9.15am St Mary Magdalene, Outwood

If you would be interested in having a regular zoom prayer meeting on a Saturday morning, please contact Rev Diane (revddianek@gmail.com). If there is sufficient interest we will organise one from November. If anyone is unable to join any of the prayer meetings but would like to pray with us from homes there will be prayer sheets available in each church from October that you can take home to pray alongside us. Take care and God Bless, Glenn
Rev Glenn Coggins, Vicar of the United Benefice of North Wakefield

“For in the one Spirit we were all baptised into one body” 1 Corinthians 12: 13

I’m Diane, the soon-to-be Associate Vicar here in the North Wakefield Benefice and I’m really excited that I’m going to be joining you permanently this month. My family and I are currently settling into the vicarage in Wrenthorpe, slowly working through all the boxes and adjusting to the quirks of our vicarage. Then after my licencing I’m looking forward to really getting to know you all and the gifts that God has given each of you as I start to learn how you all fit into this body because we all have a part to play in building God’s kingdom here in North Wakefield. It’s always a great adventure seeing how the gifts we have can be used to help each other to grow.
One of the things I’ve learned over the last thirty odd years of being a Christian is that everyone has a contribution to make. No-one is too young or too old, too unfit or too unworthy to be able to contribute to the work we do together. The people God called in the Bible were all of those things too – Samuel was young, Abraham was old, Moses was a murderer and Peter was a denier. God used all of them to do amazing things despite and often because they weren’t perfect. And he can and will use the gifts he’s given to each one of us if we’re willing to trust him to do it.
Over the next weeks and months and years, things will change. That’s an inevitability when people come and go and I know it’s hard. My prayer is that we trust each other and trust God and remember that its His Kingdom we’re building here which is bigger than any of us. When I was on placement with you I began to get to know you and I know there are a lot of very gifted people in all the churches. I know you all have a huge amount of love for the communities you are each a part of and I am looking forward to really getting to know them all and loving them as you do.
In the meantime, please pray for me and my family as we settle in and get to find our way around everything. Thank you to everyone who has offered suggestions to get the shed built! As soon as the weather permits we’ll get that done. Please also be patient with me as I attempt to learn everyone’s names – it will take time, especially whilst I’m only with each church only one Sunday a month! I’ll do my best to get my head around it as fast as I can. God bless you all.

Revd Diane Komorowski
(soon to be Associate Vicar for the North Wakefield Benefice)

Many years ago I can remember talking to a man who said he had been asked several times if he would stand as a local councillor. He had never taken up the invitation as he wanted to have a quiet pint in his local after a long day at work. He thought that as a councillor he would be at the beck and call of the locals and never have a moment of peace. In many ways I take my hat off to those who offer them-selves to serve in parliament or as local councillors. I am sure it has never been an easy undertaking but how hard it must be in today’s social media world where arm-chair pundits feel it’s their right to be abusive to those in public office and we have even had MPs murdered for their beliefs. It must take some soul searching to offer oneself to serve in this way and we are all thankful that people still stand to serve.
I am writing this before the general election on the 4th July and after the dust has settled, MPs will be getting ready to take up their place in parliament and a new government will take shape and be sworn in. I wonder what you look for in the person who serves your constituency? When I was ordained many years ago one of the people who had overseen my training was asked “if I met the test of character.” In other words, was I fit to take up the office to serve as a priest in the Church of England and the people I was called to serve.
Looking back, the run up to the election has not so much been dominated by personality or policy, but rows about selection of candidates, D-Day, betting scandals, racists remarks…the list goes on. In other words, many of the top news stories have been about matters of character. I wonder therefore what would be in your list of character traits for our new MPs? For me they would include, integrity, trustworthiness, resilience, endurance and a desire to serve all people.
To hold office to serve the nation is indeed a very high calling and our MPs need our prayers and support. Here’s a prayer for your own personal prayer time as our new government and opposition take up office:
Endue the High Court of Parliament and the ministers of the Crown with integrity, wisdom and understanding. Bless all those called to government and opposition; guide and guard them in their public service. Amen.
Take care and God Bless and hope to meet you over the summer at many of the wonderful events taking place across the benefice. Also, please continue to remember Revd Diane and her family as they move into Wrenthorpe vicarage in August and Diane prepares for her licensing service at Outwood Parish church at 7.30pm on Tuesday 10th September.

Rev Glenn Coggins, Vicar of the United Benefice of North Wakefield