The church has always been a movement of people, it just happens to have for a period used certain buildings at certain times.  We are still those people, the people of God, and we are still called to witness to him in how we live, how we speak, and how we act.  We are still a people of faith, hope, and love, and each of us is still very much open, to the Spirit, and to his activity in the world.

 

You may be aware that during this lockdown places of worship are permitted to remain open for communal worship.  'Can' does not mean 'must' however.  If the national conditions are such that we are being told to stay at home, we do not believe we should be providing opportunities that tempt or encourage people (often vulnerable ones) to act against that advice, and come together.  Whilst the protocols we have in place may mitigate the risk to a great extent, they cannot completely remove it.  We are therefore not currently gathering congregations for public worship.

We will be continuing the current routines of opening our churches for private prayer (daily 9am-5pm Ripley, 8am-4pm Sundays and Wednesdays at Bishop Thornton, and 12noon-4pm on Wednesdays at Burnt Yates), so if your daily exercise takes you past one you will be able to drop in.  (Though do be aware that if the churches are being used to stream a live service they will for that time be unavailable to public access).

We will be continuing to stream our daily morning prayer, as well as our Sunday services, and providing recordings of those events on our catch up phone line (Harrogate 222470) for those without internet access.  Zoom morning prayer and discussion will also continue at 9am on Saturdays.

Some people have also found success in phoning their friends without computers, and by putting them on speakerphone allowing them to hear and join in with the services.

The situation remains under review by our PCCs, and we will keep this page updated.

 

We are:

• livestreaming Morning Prayer 9am Mon-Fri on our Facebook page (fb.com/ourfivechurches), and here on our engage page.
• enjoying Morning Prayer with discussion at 9am on Saturdays via zoom.
• On Sunday mornings we have a 10am Communion service livestreamed to our facebook page at 10am, and on the Engage page of this site, and shortly after on our telephone catch up line.  It is sadly not possible to attend this service in person at the current time.
• We have a local phone number that can be called to listen to recordings of morning prayer, and communion services - 01423 222470.
• All Saints' Church, Ripley is now open for private prayer through the week.
• St. John's Church, Bishop Thornton, is now open for private prayer on Wednesdays and Sundays 8am-4pm.
• St. Andrew's Burnt Yates is now open for private prayer on Wednesdays from 12 noon to 4pm.

The advice we are operating under from the government means we have taken the decision to reduce visits in person, including into schools and other organisations. However, we still very much want to support and care for our church and wider communities.  So we are working to liaise with community groups and organisations to work together as much as possible.  We are also phoning round  those on our contact lists just for a chat and to see how people are doing.  If you are a resident of our parishes, or a member of our church community, and you would appreciate being included on this list, please do let us know - it may be we've been wanting to call you, but don't have a number!

 

We know it's not nice to talk about it, but we're sorry to say we do need to mention money.  As you're probably aware the church's income, which finances it's capacity to serve and exists, comes almost exclusively from donations.  There is no central or government funding.  And a lot of those donations came in on collection plates during public worship.  You can make a donation just here.

 

Wherever you are in your journey of faith, we would love to have you join with us as we explore together.