Julie Bacon

Julie: a final word

A final word

Julie BaconIt has been a privilege to serve as your interim priest-in-charge/Vicar over the last three years and seven months. I know that it has not been an easy time. Forging one new parish out of two and developing a new service pattern with one priest has meant that there have had to be uncomfortable changes and upheaval. It has been a great pleasure to see the long-planned reordering of St John’s church building accomplished – and frustrating that we have not yet been able to show it off and put it to the uses which we hope to develop. St Andrew’s church building continues to face major challenges, with no firm plan to secure its future (although much hard work continues in this area). Not living in the parish (as was the original intention) has been an additional issue. And over the last 16 months, the pandemic changed all our lives, causing additional stress to us all as individuals, and as the people of the parish of Kildwick, Cononley and Bradley.

In his address to the diocesan Synod on 12th June, Bishop Nick reflected on a recent visit to Whitby:

…we spent some time in the ruins of the abbey. There is a plaque there that (rather blithely) says that the Vikings paid a visit in the late eighth century, after which there wasn’t a Christian community there until one returned two hundred years later…

Did you notice that timeframe? Two hundred years. Two centuries. Now, doesn’t that provide a bit of perspective on whatever is happening in the immediate present? (I was speaking…with Imam Qari Asim at an online Common Purpose event for senior leaders in the north, and was asked about resilience in leaders. I responded with my own perspective-calibrator for when I hit major problems or challenges: in the context of the entire history of the known universe, will we survive this? The answer is usually ‘yes.)

Now, I know I bang on about time and perspective a lot, but I make no apology for this. We cannot read the Scriptures unless we have a proper sense of how long time takes. The Exodus followed four hundred years of exile and growing oppression in Egypt – fine if you lived at the beginning or towards the end and, therefore, have a memory of ‘home’ to hold onto or some hope of resolution to inspire you; but, what if you were born two hundred years in and none of your preceding or succeeding three or four generations had known anything other than captivity? Following liberation, the people spent a generation in the desert having to either die off or sort themselves out for what they had been freed for. Only then could they enter the land of promise and even begin to establish a different sort of society in which justice and mercy were the dominant contours of their common life.

So, we too easily read a plaque about two hundred years of defeated vacancy in Whitby and breeze over to the next bit of ‘interesting information’ without attempting to live into that experience and how it might have shaped our Christian ancestors in Yorkshire.

Why am I talking about this today? Well, I want to encourage us in this final Synod of the extended triennium to keep a sense of perspective as we look back at an extraordinary couple of years and look ahead to what the world – and the church – might look like in the next few years. We know in our heads that the only constant in this world is ‘change’, but we find it equally hard to navigate change (a) proactively and (b) where it is thrust upon us. Change is always changing: we either shape our future or complain about being victims of other people’s decisions and choices. The former is healthier for both individuals and communities.

It’s a helpful (I hope) reminder that change is usually uncomfortable for those living through it, whilst reminding us of the need to hold on to a wider perspective. The appointment of a new Vicar for this parish will be yet another change. I hope and pray that it will be a beneficial one that promotes the future wellbeing and flourishing of the parish of Kildwick, Cononley and Bradley. You will all remain in my prayers.

 

With every blessing

Julie

Dates for your diary

Sunday 30th May – KCB Morning Praise Service 11 am

A reminder that next Sunday (Trinity Sunday) we are holding a joint KCB Morning Praise service – an opportunity for a really good sing! You’re invited to bring a chair (and if necessary umbrellas and warm layers!) to the green space at the front of St Andrew’s Kildwick. We will be led by a brass sextet (thank you, Mary Peet). I know that many of us have missed the opportunity to sing in church over the last 14 months, so please get in practice during the week, and then come along.

Julie’s last Sunday 20th June

Just a reminder for your diaries that on my last Sunday in the parish there will be a single joint service at 11am at Kildwick (which should be big enough to accommodate us allowing for physical distancing).

 

Julie

Julie Bacon

UDATED: THE APPOINTMENT OF THE REVD. JULIE BACON AS ASSOCIATE ARCHDEACON

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE APPOINTMENT OF THE REVD. JULIE BACON AS ASSOCIATE ARCHDEACON (TRANSITION ENABLER) IN THE DIOCESE OF SHEFFIELD

The Bishop of Sheffield the Right Reverend Dr Pete Wilcox has invited the Reverend Julie Bacon to take up a role as Associate Archdeacon (Transition Enabler) to serve the twinned deaneries of Rotherham and Laughton in the diocese of Sheffield, and she has accepted. This is one of four similar appointments in the diocese of Sheffield which are being announced today. The four newly appointed Associate Archdeacons (Transition Enablers) will work alongside the two existing Associate Archdeacons who started work in January 2021. The post is for a period of 5 years. It is funded through strategic development funding from the Church Commissioners as part of the diocesan transformation project. A start date for Julie in this new role is yet to be determined, and the appointment is announced subject to the completion of a satisfactory DBS check.

The Archdeacon of Bradford, the Venerable Dr Andy Jolley says, “Julie is to be congratulated on her appointment to this significant post of Associate Archdeacon (Transition Enabler) in the Diocese of Sheffield. Bishop Toby and I are most grateful to her for her faithful service as Interim Minister for Kildwick, Cononley and Bradley for the past 3 and a half years, and the part she played in overseeing the transition to a united parish. Julie’s leaving at the end of the period of Interim Ministry as expected, and we are glad that work is ongoing with the final Interim Ministry objective of helping the PCC to articulate their parish’s new identity and consider the skills and experience we will now need to find for the future. We will therefore be praying the parish as well as for Julie and Matt as they prepare to move to South Yorkshire.”

Julie says, “I am excited to have been appointed to one of these innovative roles in the diocese of Sheffield, which is about helping clergy and lay people to adopt new ways of fulfilling their vocation of being the whole people of God. The Church of England is facing up to the need to do things differently, and I feel called to help and support clergy and lay people as they navigate their way through the journey of transition. This is a journey that we’ve been on together in the parish of Kildwick, Cononley and Bradley over the last three and a half years that I have served as Interim Minister here. I have been encouraged by what we have done together, and I am grateful to everyone in the churches and the wider parish who have tackled challenges and adapted to changes. I hope that this has created a solid foundation for you and your future Vicar to build on as you continue to serve the parish. I have made many friends during my time in the parish whom I will miss, and I will continue to hold you all in my heart and in my prayers.”

Julie’s leaving date will be confirmed in due course.

UPDATE: Julie’s last Sunday in the parish

My last Sunday in the parish will be Sunday 20th June. I will then be taking a holiday before starting in my new employed post in the diocese of Sheffield later in July. A licensing date has yet to be arranged; once it is, I’ll let you know and would value your prayers.

 

Julie

hands up

Annual Parochial Church Meeting Tuesday 18th May 2021 7.30pm

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!

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)

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

Sunday Services in February 2021

When the Government announced Lockdown 3, following the arrival of first one then a second virulent strain of the virus, the PCC considered deeply what we should do. The regulations, while emphasising how essential it is to remain at home whenever possible, rather bizarrely allowed gatherings for church services.

There were fairly clear hints from the House of Bishops and we followed the example of many churches and cathedrals. With heavy hearts, we decided that the doors should remain closed in order to minimise the spread of this disease. As the programme of vaccinations rolls out, let’s hope that we can soon re-assess this sad situation.

Services during National Lockdown 3

During this time, there will be Sunday services available via Zoom at 10am (with an opportunity for a chat afterwards), and Evening Prayer will be live-streamed via the KCB Parish Facebook page at 4pm.

Please request more details if required …

 

UPDATE: St Andrew’s and you – what’s your story? Kildwick 700

Kildwick 700 – an update

We were unable to hold our special St Andrew’s Day service with Bishop Nick to mark this important anniversary. I hope that we’ll be able to reschedule a service sometime in 2021 instead, once it is possible to make proper plans. I still plan to turn the stories about the significance of St Andrew’s shared with me into a little leaflet and to draw on some of them for that service in due course.

If you’ve got a story about how St Andrew’s has been significant in the lives of you and your family, I’d love to hear it. Please spread this request far and wide – I know that there are people in America who have links with Kildwick, and it would be great to receive stories that show that Kildwick’s influence is far from simply local!

You can send your story by e-mail, or send me a hard copy (my address is 2b Nab Lane, Shipley BD18 4HB). Please say whether you would like me to use your name in sharing your story, or would prefer your contribution to be anonymous (though please ensure that your name and contact details are with your story, otherwise I won’t be able to use it).

Julie