As many of you know, and some may not, my usual place of worship is Rawdon St. Peter’s, but last Sunday Ian and I had the pleasure of sharing your services. One of the reasons was to try and put faces to the names of those of you who I keep emailing for various things or putting on rota’s, it’s always nicer I think when you can see who you’re ‘speaking’ to! The other reason was so that you could also see me, I am real, I do exist, I’m not just someone whose name appears on the bottom of emails or on a list of people who have a role within the church, and it was lovely that you all made Ian and I so welcome and that I could meet so many of you. I will be back to try and catch up with those I missed at some time in the future.

Last week’s service was about Time & Talents and what you can give to God and St. Wilfrid’s to help make the church and church community grow. Whilst I would encourage everyone to look at what they can offer, it will make my job easier if we’ve a really good pool of people to go on the rotas to share the load, but also consider how you can grow by giving, what talents do you have that you can share? Thinking about growing reminded me of a poem I’d seen in another Parish magazine about God’s Garden and how we can make it grow.

Plant three rows of Peas:
Peas of Mind,
Peas of Heart,
Peas of Soul.

Plant three rows of Squash:
Squash Gossip,
Squash Grumbling,
Squash Selfishness.

Plant three rows of Lettuce:
Lettuce be Faithful,
Lettuce be Obedient,
Lettuce love one another.

Plant three rows of Turnips:
Turnip for Services,
Turnip for Meeting,
Turnip for one another.

Plant three rows of Thyme:
Thyme for God,
Thyme for Bible Study,
Thyme for Prayer.

Finally – Water freely with Patience,
Cultivate with Love,
And remember, you will only reap what you sow.

Spare some time to think about what you’re planting to make the church grow in God’s Garden,
Carol – (Newish) Parish Administrator

Peter Perkin
It's with sadness to report that we have lost a valued, loyal member of our church and village community. Peter Perkin died unexpectedly in hospital on 3rd February. Always an active member of the church, holding several offices over the years including Treasurer of the PCC, Fete Organiser, and work for the Mothers' Union. As a member of the Royal British Legion he held the post of Poppy Appeal Organiser for over 16 years when thousands of pounds were collected on behalf of the charity. We send our love and prayers to Peter's wife, Barbara, and to Tony and Carol his son and daughter in law.
Details of Peter's funeral will be announced soon.

Lynn Taylor
It is with much sadness that we also need to let you know that Lynn Taylor died this week. Lynn had been a child minder in Calverley, and used to lead Monday’s Barn Babies, and often helped cater for church events.
Lynn passed away on Tuesday at home after a 3-year battle with Motor Neurone Disease. Please keep her family in your prayers - Graham, Emma and Daniel, June, Eric, and all who loved her. Details of Lynn's funeral will also be announced soon.

Time & Talents 2024
Over the next few weeks, we'll be looking at how we can offer our Time and Talents to God and the church. If you feel you have something to offer, please print and complete our Time & Talent 2024 form online here.
Is there are something you would like to do at St. Wilfrid’s to support the life of the Church? Such as helping make worship work by being on one of the rotas for reading or intercessions? Helping with our Young people at Messy Church or Youth Drop In? Making the Church community work by serving on the PCC or by inviting folk to church? Being part of what we do to offer pastoral care by visiting people at home or giving them a lift to church?
Or by just praying for others.
What is God inviting you to join in doing? Where will you find Joy?
You don’t have to sign up forever! If you would like to try something, just do it for a short while, or just occasionally, that’s also fine!
We will be offering our Time & Talents to God (and handing the forms in!) over the next three weeks. Please click here to download, print, and complete the form.

This Week @ St Wilfrid’s
Sunday 11th February
9:15am Traditional Communion Service
11am - All-Age Worship
Wednesday 14th February
6:30pm - Ash Wednesday Service

Moving On
As the follow up to the Start Course, The “Moving On” Course will run through Lent in the Barn, beginning on Tuesday 20th February at 6:30-8pm.
If you enjoyed the Start Course, you might find this particularly useful, but the course describes itself as “perfect for people who want to grow in their relationship with God, going deeper into prayer and the Bible. In fact, it’s for anyone who just wants to move on!”. Please speak to Rob or Lizzie if you would like to join this.

ChurchSuite
Here at Calverley Parish Church we use a secure online database called ChurchSuite to safely store your contact details instead of paper copies. If you haven’t yet provided your information to us via ChurchSuite, it makes it very hard for us to get in touch with you, so please do sign up!
We’ll also be looking to use ChurchSuite to manage rotas in the future.
It will make organising and managing serving rotas far easier for all.
It has the ability to send reminders, allow for easier swapping, and gives visibility of any gaps that need filling. Anyone who regularly supports on a ministry or serving team, please consider signing up to ChurchSuite if not done so already. For more information and to sign up, please click here, and help us be the strong connected community we're called to be.

Weekly Family News Introductory Pieces
Do you have something you’d like to share? How you came to God?
An experience that might interest others? Something about the history of Calverley and its relationship with St. Wilfrid’s that might not be common knowledge? Your own history and relationship with St. Wilfrid’s?
We’re looking to build up a library of articles that could be used as the introductory piece for our weekly Family News Newsletter Email.
It doesn’t have to be a long piece, just something you’d like to share.
If you have a piece in mind that would fit a particular week, please let us know and we can save it for then. All you need to do is put the words together, give it a title, and if you have a suitable picture to go with it you'd like to share send us that too or we will find something appropriate to complement your words. Please send your submissions including Title & Picture to the [email protected]

Further Afield – Pudsey Parish Church Ceilidh!
Pudsey Parish Church are kicking off their Bicentenary Celebrations with a Ceilidh! Get ready to dance, laugh, and celebrate with them for a night of traditional dancing. Saturday 24th February starting at 6:30pm.
£12 per person, Under 16’s are £6, Under 5’s are Free.
Bookings can be made online via pudsey2024.co.uk/ceilidh

Bradford North Foodbank
Donations from St. Wilfrid’s totalling 12.9Kg towards their 2023 Christmas Parcel Project made a BIG difference to so many local people and families, Thank You! Bradford North Foodbank continue to support local people and families and are currently in need of:
- Tinned Tomatoes
- Tinned Vegetables
- Tinned Fish
- Tinned Meat
- Instant Mash
- Cereals
- Coffee
- Chocolate Bars / Sweets
- Long Life UHT Milk
- Long-life UHT Fruit Juice
- Tinned Custard
- Tinned Fruit
- Rice Pudding
- Soap
- Shampoo/shower Gel
- Toothpaste
- Toothbrushes
- Deodorants
- Sanitary Products

The Patronage Scheme
What is the Patronage Scheme? It's an opportunity for everybody in Calverley Parish and beyond to help St. Wilfrid’s Church serve the community of Calverley. Our church is an important and beautiful landmark which holds a great deal of the history of our Parish. St. Wilfrid’s has always been at the heart of the community, there for Family Occasions, Baptisms, Weddings, and Funerals, as well as Coffee Shop, Beer Festivals, Concerts and Christmas Carols. Your patronage will support the practical, ongoing costs of running and maintaining this beautiful building – preserving St. Wilfrid’s Church for future generations. Our Church costs an average of £105 per day to heat and maintain. There are also occasional larger repairs beyond these day-to-day expenses. You can choose a particular date, special to you, to support the running costs of St. Wilfrid’s. In ‘sponsoring’ that date your donation will help to cover the costs for your special day. If you would like to buy the same date every year, that would be fantastic! Please click here to access the Patronage Scheme form online.

Generosity
If you would like to give to the work and ministry of our church, which includes missional giving such as Parish Share, please do get in touch with Margaret Roundhill ([email protected]) to talk about The Parish Giving Scheme, a wonderfully simple and tax efficient way to donate regularly, or see the link at the bottom of this email.
Yours with gratitude, Rob.

Please send any items to be included in our Weekly Family Newsletter to:
[email protected]

The work & ministry of Calverley Parish Church is supported by the generous giving of the community, and we receive no outside funding.
You can make a donation or sign up to regular giving, including Gift Aid, via our Parish Giving page online here.
Thank You for your support.