We approach Easter this year with the sadness of having lost one of our most faithful members of the congregation, Don Somerville.

Don was born in Paddington, London, and brought up there. As a child in the war he was evacuated to Crowcombe, a little village in Somerset, which he remembered as a happy time. He was a good rugby player who played for Wasps in their B team; though he did damage his knee. He continued to follow rugby, especially the 6 Nations and the World Cup.

As an adventurous young man he travelled to Ceylon—Sri Lanka as it is now—to work as a manager on a tea plantation. It was there that he acquired the taste of drinking his tea black, a habit he continued throughout his life

After returning from Sri Lanka he went on holiday to visit his sister in Newport. It happened that Nan worked with his sister and they needed an extra girl to make up numbers. With a decision that would change her life forever, Nan chose to give up her original plans and join the party. Nan was involved with guides and Don was into scouts. They never stopped talking, Don stayed the full 2 weeks, and they ended up spending the rest of his life together. They set up home in London where Don worked making jigsaws. Then Waddington’s bought out the company he worked for and he was asked to move North, where he was a factory foreman.

As newcomers in the village they thought coming to church would be a good way of getting to know people. They soon got involved. John Crabb, the vicar at time, could see a good man and in 1971 asked Don to carry the cross. He has done so faithfully ever since for the last 46 years. He helped Laurie set up the scouts. His service to the church has been amazing. Mostly in the background; not making a fuss. He was efficient ,thoughtful and very supportive. We are still discovering all the background jobs he did, getting the church ready for services.

He will be greatly missed and the church will never be the same without him.. We give him into God’s love with our Easter hope of resurrection and new life.

Rev Bill Henderson

As is often the case, the March magazine is published as we begin Lent. Once again we have an opportunity to use this month as a   preparation for the great festival of Easter, with the powerful themes of death and resurrection; themes that we see all around us.

Death and resurrection are themes that we see in nature, partly through the changing seasons, but also through cultivation. Cutting back plants is a way of encouraging growth, as is digging out weeds and spreading fertiliser. In our spiritual life there are many ways of applying these principles. Cutting back can give us a positive reason for giving things up. Jesus was particularly good at spending time in prayer so he knew what to say ‘no’ to.

The digging up of weeds can also represent the cutting out of things in our lives that are not helpful; whilst sowing new plants or seeds can be a picture of something that will lead to growth.

It is helpful if we take time to discern the areas of our lives that leave us more desolate or diminished so are good things to stop. It could also lead to the whole area of confession as we face up to areas in our lives that need to change. Confession then becomes a positive experience as the fault is faced up to and dealt with by decisively   turning away from it. By God’s grace we are then set free from the consequences.

So maybe giving up a TV programme could be helpful if we used the time to enrich ourselves in other ways. This can take a number of forms: taking time to read the Bible and pray; deciding to spend time with neighbours or friends; perhaps joining one of our Lent Groups to build relationships and encourage faith to grow; choosing to care for someone perhaps with a phone call or writing a letter.

This year there are opportunities to join other churches in   Wakefield for a service each Sunday evening during Lent. The times and places can be found on page 15 of this magazine, along with the details of our small groups. Let this Lent be a time for growth, as we ask the Holy Spirit to make us restless till we change, and prepare for the glorious celebration of Easter.      

Rev Bill Henderson

This is the first magazine of 2017, so I would like to begin with wishing you all a Happy New Year.

We are at the beginning of the year, but already significant things have happened for the life of the Parish. The vacancies at Outwood and Wrenthorpe have given the opportunity to start a new way of working collaboratively across the parishes.

After prayer and consultation, this has resulted in me being licenced as Priest in charge of Outwood and Wrenthorpe. At the same time, two young Priests have been licenced into each Parish. Jonathan Bish into Outwood and Jo Kershaw into Wrenthorpe. They are a married couple so will be living in the Wrenthorpe vicarage.

We are in the process of thinking and praying how this will work out. I want to encourage a good relationship between the parishes. It is all too easy to live in next door parishes and yet know very little about what goes on there or the people who live and worship there.

Each parish has it’s own distinctive style and the plan is for that distinctiveness to be retained but for us to grow in understanding and valuing the differences. The Church of England has a rich tradition of diversity and we have an opportunity to experience something of that in our own communities.

I would like to encourage people to come along to events in each parish, so we are inviting people from Outwood and Wrenthorpe to come to our Ceilidh on 11th March at St Peter’s school. There is a Youth Event at Wakefield Cathedral in the evening of 24th February and I am hoping that young people from each parish will come to that. Wrenthorpe are having a ‘Sing-along to Frozen’, with optional fancy dress, on 11th February

We are planning to use the same material for our Lent groups in each parish, and to encourage some mixing from the congregations.

There are some important things to agree and decide e.g. what do we call the new grouping? I look forward to a year developing this new relationship; may God bless it.

Rev Bill Henderson