Covenant Service in Lealholm

for 1 hour, 30 mins
Lealholm Methodist Chapel
Lealholm, YO21 2AQ
At the start of the new year all our congregations across Middle Esk Moor have been invited by our Methodist friends to make a distinctive resolution.

The covenant service, often celebrated on the first Sunday of the year, is at the heart of Methodists' devotion and discipleship, and their dedication in working for social justice. In the service the Church joyfully celebrates God's gracious offer that "I will be their God and they shall be my people".

That relationship primarily involves the corporate life of the community of God's people. It is concerned with individuals within that group.

What God offers is a loving relationship. The Covenant is not a contract in which God and human beings agree to provide particular goods and services for each other! It is not something that we have to do to create a relationship with God. God has freely and graciously already made it possible.

Rather, the Covenant is the means of grace by which we accept the relationship and then seek to sustain it. It is therefore not so much about getting in to a relationship with God as it is about staying in it. It is not about acquiring a relationship with God, but living within the loving relationship that God has already offered us.

God's gracious offer to us is therefore simultaneously a challenge. If God is committed to us, are we prepared to accept that as reality and commit ourselves in return to God? Even if we do choose to accept it, how can we manage to live out our commitment adequately, frail and human as we are?

It is in Jesus Christ that we discover the supreme example of what it is to live in relationship with God. The New Testament suggests that as we join the group of those seeking to follow the way of Jesus, we respond to God's challenge with him and begin to share his relationship with God as Father. Within the group of disciples, this leads to his Spirit bubbling up in us as individuals, encouraging and enabling us to live out our side of the relationship (i.e. "writing God's ways on our hearts" as Jeremiah 31 describes the Covenant).

All are welcome to come and share in this special start to 2026 together with our Methodist friends.
More info

St Hilda, Egton

Our benefice, Middle Esk Moor, was created in 2000 and comprises the parishes of Glaisdale with Lealholm, Egton, Grosmont and Goathland.

Our churches are set in the spectacular countryside of the moors and dales of the North York Moors National Park. They can be reached via the A171 Middlesbrough to Whitby road, or the A169 Whitby to Pickering road.

Please visit our main Middle Esk Moor home page for further info.

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Get in touch

The Reverend Anthony Bennett

The Vicarage
Egton
Whitby
North Yorkshire

YO21 1UT
Interim Minister and Deanery Enabler
01947 899843
07484 735284

Our website

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Covenant Service in Lealholm

for 1 hour, 30 mins
Lealholm Methodist Chapel
Lealholm, YO21 2AQ

At the start of the new year all our congregations across Middle Esk Moor have been invited by our Methodist friends to make a distinctive resolution.

The covenant service, often celebrated on the first Sunday of the year, is at the heart of Methodists' devotion and discipleship, and their dedication in working for social justice. In the service the Church joyfully celebrates God's gracious offer that "I will be their God and they shall be my people".

That relationship primarily involves the corporate life of the community of God's people. It is concerned with individuals within that group.

What God offers is a loving relationship. The Covenant is not a contract in which God and human beings agree to provide particular goods and services for each other! It is not something that we have to do to create a relationship with God. God has freely and graciously already made it possible.

Rather, the Covenant is the means of grace by which we accept the relationship and then seek to sustain it. It is therefore not so much about getting in to a relationship with God as it is about staying in it. It is not about acquiring a relationship with God, but living within the loving relationship that God has already offered us.

God's gracious offer to us is therefore simultaneously a challenge. If God is committed to us, are we prepared to accept that as reality and commit ourselves in return to God? Even if we do choose to accept it, how can we manage to live out our commitment adequately, frail and human as we are?

It is in Jesus Christ that we discover the supreme example of what it is to live in relationship with God. The New Testament suggests that as we join the group of those seeking to follow the way of Jesus, we respond to God's challenge with him and begin to share his relationship with God as Father. Within the group of disciples, this leads to his Spirit bubbling up in us as individuals, encouraging and enabling us to live out our side of the relationship (i.e. "writing God's ways on our hearts" as Jeremiah 31 describes the Covenant).

All are welcome to come and share in this special start to 2026 together with our Methodist friends.

More info
Our Middle Esk Moor

Safeguarding

Our Benefice (comprising the parishes of Glaisdale and Lealholm, Egton, Grosmont and Goathland) is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults from harm. We follow the House of Bishops guidance and policies and have our own Parish Safeguarding Officers (PSOs). Our Diocese’s safeguarding pages contain vital links and information including contacts for the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor who advises our PSOs.

If you are concerned that a child or adult has been harmed or may be at risk of harm please contact one of our PSOs, via the 'Safeguarding in our Benefice' page at the link below.

If you have immediate concerns about the safety of someone, please contact the police and your local authority’s children or adult social care services.

Safeguarding in our Benefice - Further information