THOUGHT - From Vicar GeoffChristmas is anything but new … or is it?Over the past year we have focussed on the Word for the Year for the ABC Churches - New. It came with Isaiah 43:19:“19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”Over the course of the year we have been looking at what new things God has been doing amongst us. At the beginning of the year we had hoped that we would see progress on the formation of our new ABC Ministry Unit, incorporating ABC & AAA pluralities. While I have begun to minister across all the churches and we have formed the Churches Leadership Team (CLT) made up of myself, our Licenced Lay Ministers (LLMs), those in training to be LLMs and Church Wardens, our own progress seems to have outpaced that of the Church of England, who are overseeing the legalities. News is that we as churches have made progress and we are seeing new things sprout up. We have this year appointed Amy Batchelor to a new role as our Children, Youth and Families Worker and we are looking forward to her joining the team in January. With support and encouragement we have grown a team to run Messy Church, our most well attended gathering, which happens each month. We have also grown a team to run Little Fish (the parent and toddler group that meets each Tuesday at St Giles Copmanthorpe) and are looking at how we can grow the team that runs Little Apples (which meets in Bolton Percy each Wednesday). All of these ‘new’ developments have come about as a result of much prayer and listening to God two aspects of our corporate life together which will be the bedrock of our mission and ministry going forwards. I sense a real excitement bubbling away across our villages and I am eagerly waiting to see what God does next.A prayer I have been increasingly praying each day is that God would give me God conversations each day. And he has! Culminating in one incredible conversation after a wedding this past weekend. Whenever I have remembered to pray that prayer, I have had an amazing encounter. When I have forgotten, because I have been too busy or too lax, I haven’t. It reminds me that we need to be intentional with our daily activity for God. I have just been so encouraged since I started praying that prayer each day and those ‘God’ encounters tend to happen in the most unusual places and when they do, we need to make time for them. As we go through our Christmas festivities look out for those moments and take time to nurture the conversations that begin. You never know what God is up to.So, as this is the final newsletter of 2025 (can you believe it?) let’s be intentional about our following of Jesus and our prayers, so that we begin to regularly see God on the move. For me 2025 has definitely been a year of ‘new’ things. I hope your year has been too and that as we go into 2026, we will embrace all that God has in store for us as individual disciples, but also in our church communities and as a Mission and Ministry Unit, working together to build His Kingdom.Have a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year!Geoff
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - From Daniel Khan18th December 2025Into the WarmthWe are now well into the season of Advent and the world outside is becoming sharp, dark and cold. Having grown up in the Caribbean, I am especially aware of the cold! The air bites, the pavements and bushes glitter with frost, and every breath seems to hang in the cold morning light. Many of us would prefer to stay indoors, wrapped in blankets, avoiding the sting of winter. And yet this physical cold can remind us of another kind of chill we sometimes encounter, one not felt by the skin, but by the heart. I am sure that we all felt a chill on hearing of the dreadful recent event on Bondi Beach, it is a struggle to understand the dark thinking that brought about such actions, and to comprehend the coldness that had settled in the hearts of the two gunmen.Closer to home, however, we may also know what cold relationships feel like: conversations that have frozen over, long silences where warmth once lived, or misunderstandings that settle like snowdrifts between friends or family. We may have experienced a frosty welcome, even in places that should offer refuge, sometimes even in the Church. Perhaps we can recall a moment when walking through the doors felt a bit like stepping out into an icy wind, we felt unsure, hesitant, reluctant.And yet, Advent proclaims a different story. Into a world that knew winter, Jesus comes as warmth, not the fleeting warmth of a momentary fire but the deep, sustaining warmth of God’s love. As the prophet Isaiah foretold: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2)The light that dawns is not harsh or blinding but gentle and warming. It thaws what has grown numb. It softens what has hardened. It invites us back into life. And Jesus meets the coldness of the world not with more coldness, but with compassion. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.” (Matthew 12:20)What a picture of divine gentleness, God tending even the faintest spark, coaxing it into flame.As the temperatures drop, we may find ourselves reluctant to go outside. And yet Christ calls us beyond our comfort, not into harshness but into His warmth, the warmth of reconciliation, welcome, and renewed hope. His invitation is simple: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)Advent is a season of waiting, but it is also a season of warming. It is a time for the Church to be a place where frost melts at the door, where strangers are met with hospitality, and where those carrying coldness inside them encounter the glow of Christ’s presence.So, as we light the candles on the Advent wreath, let us allow the small flames to remind us that warmth is returning, hope is stirring, and the Light is coming into the world. May we each reflect that warmth, and in reaching out to thaw old hurts, let us offer a kind word to someone standing in the cold. Let us ensure that our church doors open into a place where Christ’s love is felt as clearly as the warmth of a fire on a winter’s night.Come, Lord Jesus. Melt our coldness. Kindle our hope. Warm our hearts again.Daniel Khan (Licenced Lay Minister)
Weekly Newsletter - Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete): 14th December 2025THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - From Vicar GeoffThe Spirit of God is at WorkReflecting this week, it struck me that one of the challenges to all our church communities is that of NEW things. Anything new or different can make us anxious. We may say, I like it the way it is (has always been) yet it should not have escaped your notice that God is constantly doing new things. Throughout scripture He does new things. One of the ways that the story of God’s people advances throughout the Scriptures is through new activities. Consider the parting of the Red Sea – no-one had seen anything like that before. Or Jeroboam’s hand withered and restored (1 Kings 13:4-6), to pick a couple.One of the most amazing new things that God did was sending Holy Spirit upon the crowd gathered in Jerusalem on what was to become the first Pentecost. Holy Spirit is a Spirit of movement. He will never allow us to become static or to fossilise into patterns and meetings which may well have been a blessing in the past. This is why there is a need for regular reviews of patterns of services, meetings and church activities. Are they the best use of time or resources? Is there something else that would be more effective in being a church with a mission to reach out to our communities? Such questions need to be asked in an attitude of prayer and seeking after God, because ultimately, He is head of the church.The viability and productivity of any church community is dependent upon a willingness to think differently, begin new things and laying down those things that are no longer beneficial. There is no use in holding on to things of the past which hold the church back. To quote David Watson, ‘Heaven forbid that we should go on playing religious games in one corner when the cloud and fire of God’s presence have moved to another.’Change leading to new things can be daunting, but if it leads to new exciting adventures with God it is the most worthwhile thing we can do. That is one of the reasons I am so excited about our newly appointed Children, Youth and Family Worker taking up her role in January. God is on the move and His Spirit is beginning to blow in a powerful way. Let’s be open to the new things that God has in store for us in 2026.Pray for …Our LLMs as they get involved in new aspects of ministry.Those in our community to respond to invitations to church services this Christmas and our Alpha Course beginning in JanuaryThose who struggle with ChristmasGive thanks for …Our schools holding Christmas themed showsMany opportunities to share the Good New of Jesus Christ over ChristmasSmall steps taken to form our new Mission and Ministry UnitWe pray for all who live and work in the following streets in our communities:In Copmanthorpe - Top Lane, Larkfield Close, Hallcroft LaneIn Bolton Percy & Colton - Colton Main StreetIn Askham Bryan - York RoadIn Acaster Malbis - The Crescent & The Willows - Mount Pleasant, Railway CottagesIn Appleton Roebuck - Orchard CloseIn the name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
