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Annual Parochial Church Meeting Tuesday 18th May 2021 7.30pm

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Annual Parochial Church Meeting Tuesday 18th May 2021 7.30pm

We are planning to hold this year’s APCM as a ‘mixed mode’ event – both online and in-person for those who wish to attend and cannot access the meeting in any other way. I am very grateful to Tim Whitehead, headteacher at Kildwick Primary School, for allowing us to hold the meeting in school, which means that we have access both to space for those attending in person and the necessary technology for this. In order to minimize the risk of gathering, I would encourage those who can to attend via Zoom (remember that even if you can’t do video calls, you can access Zoom via the telephone) – the access details will be provided nearer to the time.

It would be helpful to have an idea of the number of people who would like to attend in person so that the school can provide us with a suitably sized room – please, therefore, let me know ASAP if you would like to attend in person.

Sunday, Easter Day, we resume services in our church buildings!

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Easter Day

A joyful reminder that next Sunday, Easter Day, we resume services in our church buildings!

It will be lovely to see some of you in person next Sunday; I will be taking services at Bradley at 9.30 am and at Kildwick at 11 am, and the service at Cononley will be led by the Methodists.

At present and until different guidance is given, we will still be operating with our Covid-risk-mitigation measures (physical distancing, hand sanitising, mask-wearing, communion in one kind, no singing). Thankfully many (maybe most) of us have been vaccinated, and the evidence seems to be that this both reduces the risk of transmission (including asymptomatically) and the severity of the virus if it is contracted.

However, please do not feel any pressure to return to services until you feel ready to do so.

Julie

Easter flowers

If you would like to make a donation towards the lilies used to decorate St Andrew’s next Sunday, please contact  June Whitaker (01535 655320 or malcolm.whitaker@talktalk.net).

After Easter Day

After Easter Day, the plan is to revert to the pre-pandemic service pattern. Here is a reminder of what that is. In the past on 5th Sundays we have had a joint service in one church, rotating venues. The next 5th Sunday will be in May; the Worship Team will consider how best to plan for this.

1st Sunday 2nd Sunday 3rd Sunday 4th Sunday 5th Sunday
Kildwick 11am HC 9.30am HC Lay-led service 11am HC TBC
Cononley 11am Methodist-led service 11am HC 11am HC Lay-led service TBC
Bradley 9.30am HC No service 9.30am HC 9.30am HC TBC

PCC Matters (and the future)

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The PCC will next meet by Zoom on Tuesday 23rd February at 7.30pm – please pray for us as we continue to do our best to steer the parish as best we can in the current circumstances. At that meeting, we will review the situation in the light of government advice and data on infection rates etc to see if we can come up with a timetable for returning to worship in our buildings.

The PCC and I have been doing our best to maintain work on progressing the interim ministry objectives, some of which has inevitably been hampered by the pandemic. There are two main outstanding matters. The first is progressing a plan for the future of St Andrew’s church building; PCC members from Kildwick recently agreed to form a group to do this. The second is helping the new parish to articulate its identity and its mission priorities, to aid the PCC in drawing up a specification for the kind of person needed to serve as the next Vicar. I will be inviting congregation members to share their views via a questionnaire. If we are able to return to worshipping in our buildings before long, I will say more about this exercise then (if that’s not possible, I’ll progress the work through this newsletter, by e-mail and letters).

 

Julie

National Lockdown – Thurs 5 Nov 2020

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Dear friends – as you will be well aware, last night the Prime Minister announced that with effect from Thursday November 5th, it is expected that the whole country will once again enter a period of lockdown restrictions in an attempt to slow the rate of transmission of coronavirus, to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed and in order to save lives. These restrictions will be in force until Wednesday 2nd December.

The current guidance (published yesterday) includes the following:

Places of Worship will be closed, unless they are being used for:

  • Funerals
  • To broadcast acts of worship
  • Individual prayer
  • Formal childcare or where part of a school
  • Essential voluntary and public services, such as blood donation or food banks
  • Other exempted activities such as some support groups

You can read the guidance in full here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november

With effect from next Sunday therefore, we will no longer be able to hold any currently planned services in our church buildings. This includes services on Sundays 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th November. Sadly it will also include the special service planned for Monday 30th November at Kildwick to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the oldest parts of the building.

I will consult the PCC about whether any of our 3 buildings will be open during this period for individual prayer, and will let you know. Just to remind you, I lead Morning and Evening Prayer Monday to Thursday via the KCB Parish Facebook page, 9am and 4.30pm, as well as Evening Prayer on Sundays at 4pm. Do join me for any of these opportunities for prayer as you are able.

Today is All Saints’ Day. At Kildwick this morning, I spoke about how one of the marks that distinguished the early churches was the love and care that they showed to their members, as well as the hospitable attitude that they displayed to others. This All Saints’ Day, I invite you to continue in the next few weeks in that tradition of the saints (which is what we all are, as God’s faithful people). Look out for each other; keep in touch with each other, by phone or or other means, to remind each other that we remain connected, even when we cannot gather physically. And please remember that I am at the end of the phone too if you wish to speak to me for any reason.

With every blessing

Julie

Revd. Julie Bacon
Interim Vicar, St Andrew’s Kildwick, St John’s Cononley and St Mary’s Bradley

St Andrew’s Kildwick opening update

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For more information see Julie’s newsletter

Update on re-opening church buildings

Last Sunday 12th July, both St Mary’s and St Andrew’s opened for periods of private prayer (9.30am to 10.30am at St Mary’s, and 2pm to 4pm at St Andrew’s). There were 3 visitors to St Mary’s, and at least 23 to St Andrew’s. The format for visiting each place worked well, and seemed to be appreciated by those who came. They will be open at the same time this coming Sunday, 19th July. From Sunday 26th July, St John’s will also be open between 11am and 12 noon for private prayer. This is an important step in communicating to our communities that the Church is still alive and there for all. In Kildwick, the restarting of the church clock has been another audible sign that church buildings are gradually starting to be used again!

Re-opening church buildings for Sunday worship

At its meeting this week the PCC discussed the next stage of reopening for worship. We agreed that we want to hold worship services as soon as possible, commensurate with a proper assessment of the risks involved (which the buildings reopening working will consider at their meeting next week). At the same time, we’re aware that the situation remains fluid, and could change again. As we move towards the autumn and winter, it is possible (even likely) that there will be a resurgence of coronavirus. We may see a reimposition of some restrictions – or people may just feel less able or ready to come to church. So the PCC would like us to develop other ways of worshipping alongside working towards reopening buildings.

 

Reopening St Andrew’s Kildwick

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For more information see Julie’s newsletter

Re‐opening church buildings

The government has given permission for church buildings to be open for private prayer, and now also from 4th July for regular worship – although we still await guidance on practicalities. This is permission, not compulsion! A PCC working group has been formed to think through all the issues involved in reopening our buildings. We are carrying out the required COVID‐19 risk assessments, which will inform our planning.

At present we are hoping on Sunday 12th July to open St Mary’s 9.30am to 10.30am, and to open St Andrew’s for a period in the afternoon. The plans for St John’s remain to be confirmed. This will be for the purpose of private prayer. Once the plans are in place, we will publicise them via this newsletter, the Craven Herald, the website and social media. Watch this space for more information!

 

COVID-19 and our church

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COVID-19 and our church

The immediate practical implications for us because of COVID-19 in the parish of Kildwick Cononley and Bradley are as follows:

  • There will be no Sunday services in our 3 churches until further notice. This includes the 5th Sunday service.
  • Similarly, the Wednesday morning service at Kildwick will not take place
  • At Kildwick, CHUFFs, MiniRingers, bellringing and choir practice are all suspended
  • Any other church or parish gathering will not take place physically for the time being.

The latest information for online services and information for the parish of Kildwick Cononley and Bradley can be found here