Hello All,

And so, the end is near, and now I face... my first Christmas as Vicar of Calverley. While it would be nice to have thrown wide the doors and packed everyone in, I have cherished being able to do so much more than last year.
It really is great to see so many people in the church community pulling together, and so many occasions to welcome the rest of the village in.
Christmas in Calverley looks set to be a delight!

Let me share a few things which have touched me this advent:
I was delighted by the astonishing generosity of the church and the wider community, donating items to bring a little light in dark times for those seeking the support of Leeds Women’s Aid.
I found peace and wonder as I inhabited the quiet beauty of our ancient building, sat beneath the stained glass with a few others who gathered for midweek communion, making new ripples in a pattern of prayer going back almost a thousand years.
And I have been warmed by the HOPE project, a small but tangible way for us to be a blessing and source of light to those around us, a way to connect with our neighbours with some good news – do see below for more details!

So it’s over and out for now – I hope to see you at one of our festive services if you were able to get a ticket, and we’ll be back with more Newsy Emails in the New Year.

God Bless, and Merry Christmas!
Rev’d Rob

COVID-19 Update
With the new variant and the additional precautionary measures the government has put in place, we would like to remind all visitors to adhere to our guidelines:
• Please, let’s be respectful towards each other and the range of personal feelings about risk.
• If anyone is showing COVID-19 symptoms or has tested positive prior to attending a church event, we ask they do not attend.
• We ask all visitors to register for venue check-in, our QR code is available at the back of church.
• Seating is arranged to enable visitors to socially distance. We ask that seating is not moved.
• Hand sanitiser is available at key points, and we encourage people to use it.
• Face masks must be worn by all people over the age of 11 in church, unless exempt for medical reasons. When eating or drinking in church we encourage you to do this around the large tables set out down one side of church. Face masks may be removed here.
• During communion, when offering a sign of peace please note we’re going ‘contactless’! (Please do so without touching one another.)

Please be aware our guidelines could change at short notice if government recommendations change.

Christmas Services
We have a very busy weekend coming up in church. On Saturday it’s the first Christingle, then on Sunday we have our usual 9am Communion Service, followed at 11am by the second Christingle. Both Christingle Services are fully booked, please only attend if you have reserved a seat.

Seats for the Family Carol Service and the Lessons & Carols by Candlelight on Christmas Eve are also fully booked.

There is still some availability for Midnight Mass, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day Services. To book a seat, please contact the [email protected]

Quiet Hour: Midweek Advent Communion w/ Contemplative Prayer
If you’ve not been to this new service, why not join us next week?
We meet in church on Wednesday at 12pm for a quiet hour with contemplative prayer and communion. Everyone is welcome.

Helping Other People Eat – H.O.P.E
Our new project for our wonderful village has launched, called:

HOPE: Helping Other People Eat

We are working together to provide hot meals in the short term for people in need. This could be a family who have recently had a birth, death, or other unexpected emergency and would be blessed by not cooking for a week!
Kim Raja and Claire Tular are going to co-ordinate the HOPE Project, and what we need are volunteers to go on our rota to cook & deliver the meals to the families in need. If you think you could cook a meal once in a while for a family, or more importantly if you know someone in the village who could benefit from this service, then please get in touch! More contact details will be coming soon, but for now, contact Kim on 07984 158 281, Claire on 07770 580 830, or email [email protected]

Everyone needs a little bit of hope in their life, because with HOPE, and Jesus, anything is possible...