About Us

1. VILLAGE AND COMMUNITY

Kilnwick is a quiet, peaceful village, set on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds. It has a population of about 260 people, and is mainly a dormitory village for people who work in the nearby towns and cities. It has a wide spread of age groups from young families to those lucky enough to be retired. It is surrounded by arable fields and woodlands providing the backdrop for some of the best walks in the county (including part of the Minster Way).

2. THE CHURCH

A)        Services and Worship: at the present time we have services on three Sundays a month. The first Sunday is Holy Communion Common Worship and the second and fourth Sundays Service of the Word.  We celebrate the church festivals at Easter and Christmas with Holy Communion if a priest is available but with Service of the Word otherwise. Special services include Harvest Festival (with a refreshments  in the village hall after the service), Remembrance Sunday, Carols by Candlelight, and a Christingle Service. All these services are well attended. We are pleased that we now have again an organist to lead our singing.

B)        Relationship with benefice: we try to foster close relationships with the other parishes in our benefice, taking part in benefice services on 5th Sundays,  benefice meetings and other activities such as Lent and Advent Courses and Revitalise.

C)        Finance: 81% of our unrestricted income is from voluntary giving with 31 people contributing to our funding programme. Most of these donations are gift aided and together with fees, donations in church and a small amount of investment income cover most of our ordinary costs. We have always contributed to Diocesan Costs and continue to offer one sixth of the sum required from the benefice to cover the cost of our vicar. Fund raising, which takes the form of social events, is principally in support of fabric repairs although we do have to do some fundraising for ordinary costs.

D)        School: in our parish,  primary school children attend the C of E school at Beswick, Lockington school and Garton school.  Nearly all secondary school children attend Driffield School although there are some who attend fee paying schools in the area.

E)        Interaction of Church & Community: in the past the church played a leading role in the social life of the village but there is now an active Village Hall , Kilnwick Park and Kilnwick Countrywomen. The village hall is owned by the church, although leased to a Village Hall Trust. We make use of the church building itself for various community activities, such as flower festivals and concerts but the church lacks facilities. Last year we started a Coffee and Cake morning in the Village Hall in effort to reach out more to the community and this has proved popular.

F) Other Information: The current electoral roll is 29, and but average church attendance is now small (10 or less for normal Sundays). We have at least 4 PCC meetings each year and have 10 PCC members including the vicar and our reader. Visitors to the church who are offered a free leaflet about the history of the church are beginning to increase again after covid. There were 2 baptisms and 2 funerals last year but no weddings. We have an outlying piece of land known as Amen Field which we have developed into a small Christmas tree plantation and allotments.