Dear Brothers and Sisters

Our new hens have settled in well and are happily producing away. Most days we get five eggs from the six of them. Some days we get six, on one very strange day we got ten! I’m not sure how to explain that one. All our hens lay nice looking eggs; Otley show here we come, but two of them lay a lot of ‘double yolkers.’ Though these are much prized, especially by my brother in law, they aren’t very good for the hen. Hens who lay double yolkers tend to be shorter lived than other hens. Things may settle down; all our hens are still young. But the two who are laying them are both breeds that are well known for double yolks; a Sussex and a Leghorn, so we may just have to live with these lovely big eggs for as long as we have them!

2020 has been a ‘bit of a year’ Most of us are running on fumes, whether we realise it or not. Like my over productive hens we are pushing ourselves too much just by living through this strangest of years. My hens can’t do anything about their egg laying habits but we are not hens. We can help ourselves. Take time over the next couple of weeks to look at your life and to think about positive changes that you can make. In the Autumn the Diocese will be launching a new initiative to help us all take stock of our lives, to regain a bit of control, and to work towards a more balanced, healthier, way of living. There will be more information about this in weeks to come, but meanwhile, take some time to stop, reflect, plan and realise a better reality for yourself.

Sudan Appeal

Throughout August the diocese of Leeds is running an emergency appeal for our linked Diocese of Sudan. Life is pretty bleak there; food and healthcare supplies are in short supply. Please help if you can. To give, you can find information at:

https://www.leeds.anglican.org/finance/donations or you can simply make a cheque payable to ‘Leeds DBF’, posting it to Leeds DBF, 17-19 York Place, Leeds LS1 2EX with a note saying it is ‘for Sudan emergency’. Thank you.

Sunday’s Readings

A Reading from the prophecy of Isaiah

Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many. For the Lord will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song. Listen to me, my people, and give heed to me, my nation; for a teaching will go out from me, and my justice for a light to the peoples. I will bring near my deliverance swiftly, my salvation has gone out and my arms will rule the peoples; the coastlands wait for me, and for my arm they hope. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and those who live on it will die like gnats; but my salvation will be for ever, and my deliverance will never be ended.     (51:1-6)

The Gospel according to Matthew

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the

Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.                                            (16:13-20)

Services next Sunday (30th August)             

  • Leathley                           9.30am
  • Fewston                           11am
  • Weston                            2.30pm

Services for Sunday 6th September             

  • Blubberhouses              9.30am
  • Farnley                            11am
  • Denton                             2.30pm

Annual Parochial Church Meetings which were postponed in the Spring will be taking place in September and October. Confirmed dates are: 27 September Fewston, 18th October Weston and Denton, 25th October Leathley. Electoral Roll lists will be revised prior to these meetings. Please make sure you are on the appropriate roll.

Farming Community Network Sponsorship Money – I will wait until the end of August to send off all the sponsor money that you kindly donated for my diet. If you haven’t been able to get your pledge to me by then don’t worry. These are exceptional times and there will always be another appeal. Thanks once again to you all.

Please remember in your prayers: Those caught up in the wildfires devastating California. For the people of Beirut and of the Sudan. For those on holiday and those who will have to be in quarantine on their return from abroad. For the sick and ill and all who care for them. For the dying and the dead and for their families and all who mourn them.

I’m taking some more leave this week to try to beat the garden into submission.

God bless you all.                                 

Stephen