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SUMMARY:IMPORTANT! – Changes to services in the parish during the WINTER
  months - January 2023 Service Times
DTSTART:20230108T000000Z
DTEND:20230408T230000Z
DTSTAMP:20260406T043601Z
UID:9013082023-01-08 00:00:00+00:00achurchnearyou
CATEGORIES:
DESCRIPTION:Follow Jesus around the parish this winter…….\n\nDue to th
 e 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 Januar
 y\, February and March 2023:\n\nEveryone 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 d
 ifficult times.\n\nHoly Communion services are marked †\n\nSunday 8th Ja
 nuary\n9.30am at St James’ Church\, Meltham Mills\n11.15am at St Mary’
 s Church\, Wilshaw †\n\nWednesday 11th January\n10.30am at St Bartholome
 w’s Church BCP †\n\nSunday 15th January\n10.30am Covenant Service †\
 nat Meltham Methodist Church\, Mill Moor Road\n\nWednesday 18th January\n1
 0.30am at St Bartholomew’s Church BCP †\n\nSunday 22nd January\n9.30am
  at St Bartholomew’s Church\n11.15am at St Mary’s Church\, Wilshaw †
 \n\nWednesday 25th January\n10.30am at St Bartholomew’s Church BCP †\n
 \nSunday 29th January\n9.30am at St James’ Church\, Meltham Mills †\n1
 1.15am at Christ Church\, Helme\n\nPlease find below\, information regardi
 ng the background and reasons for these changes as outlined by Rev John in
  his monthly letter:\n\nVery few will have failed to notice the increase i
 n the cost of living we have experienced in recent months and the most sta
 rtling increases for most of us are represented by our gas and electricity
  bills. Whilst the government is apparently spending many billions of poun
 ds to soften the effects of increased energy costs November has seen a dou
 bling of household prices. This is on top of what were already significant
  price increases over the previous year\, and it seems there are more incr
 eases on the way.\n\nThe government is also providing some assistance to b
 usinesses and charities (which includes Churches) though this help is sign
 ificantly less generous. This presents quite a challenge to our four paris
 h 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 t
 ens of thousands of pounds per year for at least the next couple of years.
 \n\nSo\, 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 o
 f living is increasing so quickly can’t be right. We need to try and red
 uce 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.\n\nThere have b
 een various suggestions as to how we might achieve this including the dist
 ribution of hot water bottles and blankets. However\, the most realistic s
 uggestion seems to be that\, for the coldest months being January\, Februa
 ry\, and March\, we do not open all four Churches every Sunday morning. Op
 tions as to how and if we should do this will be considered by our Parochi
 al 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).\n\nI 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 d
 oing this to keep our churches open.”\n\nI can’t begin to express how 
 much I agree with and support this response. The closing of any Church cau
 ses 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 w
 aiting for their heating system to be repaired. A number of people\, inclu
 ding brides who had weddings booked contacted me destressed because they h
 ad heard a rumour that the Church had closed.\n\nPlease 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 genui
 ne hurt and distress\, so let me repeat:\n\n“We are not closing churches
  - we are doing this to keep our churches open.”\n\nGod bless\nRevd. Joh
 n Dracup (Vicar)
GEO:-1.838713;53.594485
LOCATION:St James' Meltham Mills (the church by the park)
URL:http://www.melthamparish.co.uk/pages/2023/01/07/important-changes-to-s
 ervice-times-in-the-parish-during-the-winter-months-january-2023/
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