Dear Friends, As I pen this letter, it is wonderful to report that on Sunday 28th April it was announced across the Benefice that Revd Diane Komorowski will be joining us this summer as our new Associate Priest. For the past three years, Diane has served as curate in Lupset and Thornes and spent a couple of months with us at the start of the year on placement. The placement was a lovely opportunity to get to know Diane and for her to experience the breadth of worship across the benefice and the enthusiasm and potential in the benefice and in each church. Diane brings a lot of experience to the post, both from her church life, daily life and also her work background. It is a very exciting next stage in the life of the benefice and during the autumn we shall be spending time together praying, discussing and planning how we develop and deepen our shared lives and witness in our respective villages.

In the meantime please remember Diane and her family as she prepares to move into the vicarage in Wrenthorpe and take up this new post. With regards oth-er moves—on Sunday 5th May at 3.30pm in Wakefield Cathedral we will welcome our new Archdeacon, Revd Canon Cat Thatcher, and in early July, Bishop Tony who has been in the diocese for well over 20 years will retire; his final service is on Satur-day 6th July at 11.00am in Wakefield Cathedral.

Turning to other news and by the time you read this our annual general meetings in each of the four churches will have been completed. For each church there is a great deal of work to be undertaken to look after the fabric of the build-ings, prepare and lead services, run church groups and social events, look after the money and pay the bills, keep up to date with all the legalities.…the list goes. We are all thankful to those who in many ways work behind the scenes to make sure we are ‘open for business’ on Sunday mornings and mid-week – thanks to everybody who offers themselves in any way to serve in our churches.

Finally, on Thursday 9th May we have Ascension Day we shall gather as a benefice for a joint service in St Anne’s, Wrenthorpe and reflect on Jesus returning to the Father after 40 days when he met with the disciples and followers in differ-ent settings. Again this year we shall be joining in the global ecumenical prayer movement (Thy Kingdom Come) that unites Christians from across the world to pray for people to come to faith. On Sunday 5th May there will be prayer booklets available for all the congregation to take home and use in their own personal prayer times from Ascensiontide until Pentecost – please make sure you pick your copy up and together let’s pray for people to come to know Jesus.

Well that’s all for now, take care and God Bless.
Rev Glenn Coggins, Vicar of the United Benefice of North Wakefield

I recently visited Wakefield Theatre Royal to watch a play entitled ‘Something About George’ which focused on George Harrison’s life after the Beatles’ split up. The evening told the truly remarkable tale of one of music’s most understated icons, and addressed the question: “Where does life take you after being in the greatest band in the history of the world?” Well, after the Beatles, George went onto release the classic album ‘All Things Must Pass’ as well as other albums; he was involved in the first charity music concert to raise funds for Bangladesh in the early 1970’s, and also went into film production amongst other things.

In church we are now in the Easter period and our services and readings focus on the resurrection appearances of Jesus and the new life he offers to his followers. In our readings from the Acts of the Apostles we hear about the life and ministry of those early disciples as they begin to answer the question: “What do we do now Jesus is no longer with us?”  We find that for 40 days after the resurrection Jesus physically appears several times to the disciples, then on Ascension day he returns to the Father.  Ten days later, the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples in Jerusalem. This is seen as the start of the Church and for those early disciples, full of the Holy Spirit, they go on to do some remarkable things.  Jesus sowed the seed of the good news in the disciples’ hearts and they went on to share the good news far and wide.

We are all on a journey through life and for some of us we have always believed in God, for others our Christian life may started with a Damascus Road experience and for others we may still be searching.  The wonderful Easter story of Jesus overcoming death and offering us new life, challenges us to pray and think about the question: “What do we do with the rest of our lives?”  We live in a hurting world which is so much in need of hope and kindness and God’s transforming love. Let us as a church and individually share the Good News as we open ourselves to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit which brought Jesus from the dead and is available to us to today to build a new world.

Also whilst writing please continue to pray for the post of associate priest and especially on Tuesday 23rd April when we hope and pray to interview applicants. We pray that this time we shall be able to appoint a new team member.  Again, a big thanks to all who continue to help and support the work and ministry across the benefice.

Take care and God Bless, Glenn

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

Dear Friends, I don’t know if you, like me, sometimes find it hard to watch or listen to our rolling news coverage. These days we have 24 hours news and with such detail and analysis it can be painful to always keep abreast. I am reminded of the quote by TS Elliot who said ‘humankind cannot bear very much reality’ and I feel I have to be careful to balance news intake which can often be sad and graphic alongside some life affirming news. It is easy for us to switch off the television or radio but for many people caught up in struggles in places like the Ukraine and the Middle East, there’s no button to press. Rather the worry and constant threat on the doorstep lives with you each moment of every day and night. We remember the people caught up in these wars in our prayers of course but sometimes you feel helpless against such powerful forces moulding countries and people’s lives.

When one reads the Bible you find it really brings home to us the reality of the world we live in. Along with wonderful examples of people supporting and caring for one another, we also read about the darker side of humanity and how it can destroy lives and communities.

During Lent we continue our own journey of repentance and self examination and are challenged to look deep into our hearts and lives about how we can help build a better world for all. In many ways it starts with us, and sin at its root cause is alienation from God and each other.  As we journey towards the events of Holy Week which begin on Palm Sunday, 24th March, we shall then listen and reflect on those events that shaped the world. We shall eavesdrop on the events of the Last Supper, sit at the foot of the cross on Good Friday and then come to Easter Day to celebrate and rejoice that Jesus has risen. What an amazing God who comes and shares our lives in Jesus and in doing so invites us into a relationship with him.

Perhaps as preparation for our journey through Holy Week, I would encourage you to spend some time reading one of the Gospel accounts of the events of Jesus’ last week and ask God to speak to you in a deep and meaningful way.

Also whilst writing please continue to pray for the post of associate priest which is now being advertised. The interviews will take place on Tuesday 23rd April and we pray that this time we shall be able to appoint a new team member. Again a big thanks to all who continue to help and support the work and ministry across the benefice.

Take care and God Bless and hope to see you over the Easter period and consider joining us at various services and events.  

Glenn 

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