This month we launch our North Wakefield Benefice newsletter, this letter from Glenn was from the inaugural edition.

Dear Friends,  It is lovely to welcome you to the first edition of our very own North Wakefield Benefice monthly magazine.  Many thanks to Ellie at St Peter’s, Stanley who has found time in her busy schedule to put together this edition and for those who have contributed articles from each of the four churches. The benefice magazine will of course evolve over time so please pass onto Ellie or myself any comments and feedback on this edition and future ones.

It is hoped that our benefice magazine will help us stay in contact with each other by allowing us to share our lives, events, stories and prayers and in doing so encourage each other in our own Christian journey.  The magazine is very much a shop window for each church to share their events and activities and what is encouraging and blessing them at the present time.  You will see when you read these pages that across the four churches there is a great number of activities taking place and we are all thankful to those who contribute to church life in any way.  Do have a read and consider supporting an event or activity in another church in the benefice.

It is now reckoned that around three quarters of the churches in the Church of  England are in some form of a benefice or team.  In each case there is no set formula for how a benefice should organise itself but at the heart is a requirement for good relationships, trust and a common vision.  Creativity is very much the name of the game and  listening, supporting and praying together will help guide us into the future.

To help us grow together these are some of the areas the benefice is working on:

1. Our church wardens had their first joint meeting with the clergy in June and another one is arranged for early October.  These meetings allow church wardens and clergy to share together common themes across the churches and encourage one another.

2. The quarterly meetings between clergy and Readers are continuing and at these meetings service planning takes place and we support one another.

3. David Payne at St Anne’s is heading up a benefice prayer meeting and the next meeting is Saturday 24th September from 10am—11.30am at St Paul’s.

4. On Saturday 29th October at St Mary’s, Outwood, we shall be holding an open meeting from 9:30am until around 12 noon.   The meeting will help congregations have an opportunity to hear what is taking place across the benefice and will include worship, tea/coffee and each church will have an opportunity to share news and there will be input about the life of the benefice and possible group work.

5. We are also thankful to Dave Florence who has arranged our benefice logo, which we hope builds up our common life together.

Take care and God Bless, Glenn

Rev Glenn Coggins, Vicar of  the United Benefice of Stanley, Outwood and Wrenthorpe and Alverthorpe.

Dear Friends, On Sunday 17th July at 3pm we will gather on the field at St Peter’s Church for our second Pet Thanksgiving Service. I have been involved in Pet blessing services for many years and have always found them a real opportunity to give thanks to God for our animal companions and the joy and friendship they bring to our lives.  Pet services can have their moments though and for several years whilst I was at St Michael’s, East Ardsley we had Morley Exotic Animal Rescue with us. At one of the visits we ended up with a Komodo dragon  joining us along with some tarantulas.  I think it was one of the quietest services ever as all the dogs and cats looked on as if to say “What on earth is that walking around?  We don’t normally see one of these on our daily walk or in our garden!”

Our friends Dave and Marion at St Peter’s are currently training Esme the Labrador to be a Guide Dog.  It is quite a considerable undertaking but we all know what a valuable help and companion a guide dog can be to a blind or partially sighted person. The dog will help their owners remain mobile, independent, safe and secure.

It goes without saying that animals can be very therapeutic and help us in many ways in our own daily lives.  I know of a man who after various sad events in his life, retreated very much to his house and lost all interest in going out and engaging with the wider world. Family and friends were very concerned about his mental health until somebody suggested getting a dog. Well, to say it transformed his life is an understatement.  After several weeks his mood had changed; he now had a   focus to his life and on his daily walks he made several friends with other dog walkers and enjoyed chatting away to them.     

In our service we will say this prayer together which will also remind us of our great responsibility to look after God’s creation:

Generous God, whose own self-giving is reflected in the love and devotion of these animal companions; bless them with your Spirit, and make us mindful of the great responsibility we bear for all creatures dependent upon us for their welfare; help us to use our power over them for their own benefit and never selfishly for our own gain.  Amen. 

So dear friends, do consider joining us on Sunday 17th July at 3pm on the field for our special pet blessing service. We will also be joined by the Leeds, Wakefield and District RSPCA who will have an information stall.  I look forward to seeing you there or at any other service or event we are holding over the summer months – take care, God bless and hope you have a good summer.

Rev Glenn Coggins, Vicar of  the United Benefice of Stanley, Outwood and Wrenthorpe and Alverthorpe.

I am sure like me you have days which are etched in the memory. One such day for me is Saturday 1st July 1995 when I was ordained a deacon in Salisbury Cathedral. My family had travelled down from York-shire for the service in a mini bus with a poster in the window which read “We are with Glenn and so is God!”. It was a most marvellous occasion and there were well over 1,000 people in the cathedral along with 12 of us being ordained. Before the service we had gathered in the Bishop’s chapel and sat around in a circle for us swear two particular oaths. The registrar was present to make sure everything was done according to Canon law and to make sure each of us actually swore the two allegiances – one to the Bishop and one to Queen Elizabeth II and her heirs and successors.

The Oath of Allegiance was introduced in the 1580s at a period of national crisis, when there was a succession of political plots to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I. Some clergy in the Church of England were involved in these schemes therefore this Oath was introduced to prevent clergy from undermining the crown and also the Church – can you believe it!

Looking back to that afternoon in July 1995, I never had any qualms about swearing allegiance to our Queen. She has shown over the past 70 years of public life her clear sense of vocation to serve ‘with her whole heart’ and in doing so has served God and all the people with humility and good character. For Christians this is fully seen in the kingship of Jesus who came not to be served but to serve.

As a nation will shall be celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee over four days from Thursday 2nd June until Sunday 5th June when there are various national events taking place as well as several across the village of Stanley. At St Peter’s we shall be holding a special service of thanksgiving at 10am on Sunday 5th June to which you are most warmly invited. In the meantime as we approach the Queen’s Platinum celebration I leave you with this prayer for your own personal devotions.

Gracious God, we give you thanks for the reign of your servant Elizabeth our Queen, and for the example of loving and faithful service which she has shown among us. Help us to follow her example of dedication and to commit our lives to you and to one another, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Rev Glenn Coggins, Vicar of the United Benefice of Stanley, Outwood and Wrenthorpe and Alverthorpe.