Follow Jesus around the parish this winter…….

Due to the high energy prices and in order to reduce heating costs, services will only be held in two churches each Sunday instead of all four during January, February and March 2023:

Everyone is encouraged to join together at one of the other churches if there is not a service at the one you would usually attend. Let's stick together (and worship together) during these difficult times.

Holy Communion services are marked †

Sunday 8th January
9.30am at St James’ Church, Meltham Mills
11.15am at St Mary’s Church, Wilshaw †

Wednesday 11th January
10.30am at St Bartholomew’s Church BCP †

Sunday 15th January
10.30am Covenant Service †
at Meltham Methodist Church, Mill Moor Road

Wednesday 18th January
10.30am at St Bartholomew’s Church BCP †

Sunday 22nd January
9.30am at St Bartholomew’s Church
11.15am at St Mary’s Church, Wilshaw †

Wednesday 25th January
10.30am at St Bartholomew’s Church BCP †

Sunday 29th January
9.30am at St James’ Church, Meltham Mills †
11.15am at Christ Church, Helme

Please find below, information regarding the background and reasons for these changes as outlined by Rev John in his monthly letter:

Very few will have failed to notice the increase in the cost of living we have experienced in recent months and the most startling increases for most of us are represented by our gas and electricity bills. Whilst the government is apparently spending many billions of pounds to soften the effects of increased energy costs November has seen a doubling of household prices. This is on top of what were already significant price increases over the previous year, and it seems there are more increases on the way.

The government is also providing some assistance to businesses and charities (which includes Churches) though this help is significantly less generous. This presents quite a challenge to our four parish Churches. If we continue as normal and use the same amount of energy as we did last year our collective annual bill is likely to be increased by tens of thousands of pounds per year for at least the next couple of years.

So, what should we do? We could seek to increase our income to cover the additional costs but, while this will need to be a part of the answer, simply asking people for more and more money especially when the cost of living is increasing so quickly can’t be right. We need to try and reduce our spending particularly on energy and the only way to do this in the short term is to reduce the amount of energy that we use.

There have been various suggestions as to how we might achieve this including the distribution of hot water bottles and blankets. However, the most realistic suggestion seems to be that, for the coldest months being January, February, and March, we do not open all four Churches every Sunday morning. Options as to how and if we should do this will be considered by our Parochial Church Council. I am very aware that this is not a first-choice option for many and wish to be clear that all four Churches will be open as usual from Easter Day (9th April).

I recently received an email that said: “This is our saying of the day after someone asked what I thought about the church closing for 3 months” “we are not closing churches we are doing this to keep our churches open.”

I can’t begin to express how much I agree with and support this response. The closing of any Church causes me real personal sadness, and this would of course be all the greater if the Church in question were one of ours. Last year, the congregation at Christ Church, Helme chose not to meet for a while because they were waiting for their heating system to be repaired. A number of people, including brides who had weddings booked contacted me destressed because they had heard a rumour that the Church had closed.

Please let’s all listen carefully to what is being said, observe the punctuation, and recognise the spirit with which it is said. Rumours can be damaging and cause genuine hurt and distress, so let me repeat:

“We are not closing churches - we are doing this to keep our churches open.”

God bless
Revd. John Dracup (Vicar)