THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - From Vicar Geoff

Reaching our village communities

Many of us are used to traditional worship from the Book of Common Prayer that we have known most of our lives: Holy Communion, Mattins (Morning Prayer); Evensong. They are nourishing and encouraging, and we enjoy what we have known for many years. Indeed, we may have grown up with that kind of worship from an early age. It is wonderful. It is rich. Surprisingly, it does not appeal to everyone. You may be aware that for 4 years we have had something called Messy Church. You may think that it is not proper church, because it doesn’t include communion or there are no traditional hymns. But did you know Messy Church has grown to have the largest attendance of any service across all seven of our villages? It regularly attracts around 50 - 60 adults and children, many of whom attend no other worship opportunity. That’s why we have been holding it Askham Bryan College Main Conference Hall, because none of our churches have a hall big enough.

During August we followed a theme ‘Encountering the Divine’ as we explored together accounts from the Acts of the Apostles where folk had encounters with God. At our 5th Sunday in August, ABC Communion Together, Emma Peers, who will be licenced as a Lay Minister on 27th September 2025, preached a sermon which I encourage you to listen to the audio recording here: Encountering the Divine God in the Mess Emma Peers Sermon 31st August 2025.

Emma has been leading Messy Church for the past 4 years, for which I am very grateful. In that time, I estimate that around 300 people have benefitted from this wonderful ministry. People often say children and young families are the future of the church. They are the church of today, even if the kind of church is out of our own personal comfort zone. The church must be for everyone and not everyone likes the same kind of thing. Over the years I have endeavoured to offer a range of various styles of worship across the churches. That may mean that ‘your’ kind of worship on any given Sunday may be found in a church which you don’t consider to be your own, and may involve travel, but you may find you have the opportunity to encounter the divine. Do ask around for a lift if you can’t get there yourself.

The ABC Churches Leadership Team, myself and our PCCs believe we need to invest in this congregation and so we are praying about employing a Children and Families Worker to ensure that this vital and important ministry not only continues, but thrives to ensure the continuation of the church we all know and love. We are one church, made of people of all ages, traditions and preferences, so please pray that we find a way forward for Messy Church (and out pre school playgroups) which currently all rely on a limited pool of volunteers. Messy may not be where you ‘Encounter the Divine’, but it is a place where many people of all ages do.

So, if you missed the final sermon of our August ‘Encountering the Divine’ sermon series, I encourage you to listen to it, it lasts just 17 minutes. Please pray about how we continue to serve these important congregations and how you might be able to help. That doesn’t mean you have to do crafts if that isn’t your bag. There are plenty of ways you can serve, including through prayer, which I believe is vital for any endeavour we undertake.

Geoff