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​Candle lit vigil
A service of prayer and thanksgiving following the floods of December 2015

At St Mary’s Church, Tadcaster
4pm Sunday 3 January 2016
Organised by Churches Together in Tadcaster
We are inviting all in our local communities affected by the recent flooding to come together at St Mary’s for a short service lasting about half an hour.  It is open to people of all faiths and none who wish to gather together.
St Mary’s Church itself has been flooded and won’t be properly cleaned until Monday so please wear older clothes and shoes and maybe bring a plastic bag to sit on!
For those coming from the east side of Tadcaster, Dawson Coaches will be picking up at the Bus Station at 3.15pm, followed by Leeds Arms, and Auster Bank and returning people home after the service.
A collection will be taken to help those who have been affected by the flooding and have specific needs.

Credit to Giles Rochall for the photo.

St Mary's will be holding a short candlelight service of prayer on Sunday 3rd Jan at 4pm...hopefully in the church (wear wellies/stout shoes!)...and would welcome as many of our community as can make it as we reflect on the events of the last few days, share our sadnesses together and give thanks for some of the good things that have happened as we have pulled together as a community.
We know it will be harder for those on the east side of the town to come, so we hope we will be able to arrange some sort of free bus to shuttle people over and back so we can all be together and not a town divided, despite the collapse of the bridge.
We will put info out on Facebook on Saturday when we can hopefully have more plans in place.
But please come along if you can!

A massive thank you to everyone who has helped in any way with clearing out the church after the flooding this week.  We have a lot of stuff in storage - and all services will continue as normal...but in the Boys' Sunday School until further notice.
Thank you, too, to all those who have sent messages of support or told us you are praying for us and our community.  This has lifted all our spirits and we are grateful for all the thoughts.
After all that has happened in the last few days, we know that you will bear with us as we muddle along for however long it takes until we can get back into our church building. 
Keep up to date with church notices on the website - we won't be printing notice sheets for this week at least as our printing facilities are also affected.  Which means those of you who have computers need to keep those who don't in the loop!
The morning service on Sunday 3rd Jan will be at 10.30am and everyone is very welcome - suitable for all ages. Refreshments served afterwards.

You are warmly invited to join with us for any of our services over Christmas.
 
24 December  - Christmas Eve
5pm Family Service at Church Fenton... a lively service to appeal to families of all ages, with a lantern procession to the stable
6pm   Crib Service at Tadcaster .... the scene in the Bethlehem stable is assembled in a service of simple words and music, with plenty to appeal to young children and families

11pm Midnight Communion at Kirkby Wharfe... a traditional celebration of Holy Communion
11.30pm  Midnight Communion at Tadcaster ... lead into Christmas Day with a celebration of Holy Communion, sung to John Rutter's music

25th December – Christmas Day
8am  Holy Communion at Tadcaster ... a quiet and reflective start to Christmas morning with a traditional Book of Common Prayer Communion service
9am Holy Communion at Newton Kyme ...join with the village community to welcome the birth of Christ 
9.45am Holy Communion at Church Fenton ...time to share together as we celebrate Jesus' birth 
10am  Family Service at Tadcaster ... a short service with carols and interactive talk as we join together to celebrate Christmas Day
11am Holy Communion at Kirkby Wharfe ...a traditional service of Holy Communion to celebrate the birth of Jesus

The Tadcaster annual service of Nine Lessons and Carols will be held at St Mary's, Tadcaster this Sunday, 20th December, at 6pm.
Come along and share in this beautiful candlelit service of familiar readings and congregational carols for all to join in.
The St Mary's choir have been working hard on a few lovely choral pieces and this year are augmented for one song by the Music Group.

St Andrew's Newton Kyme also holds their Carol service this Sunday - at 11am. Experience the wonder of hearing the Christmas story in word & song in this beautiful village church.

​St John's Kirkby Wharfe are also joining in the fun!  6pm on Sunday, including a Children's play for part of the Christmas story, followed by mince pies & mulled wine.

We look forward to seeing you at any of our services.
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This coming Sunday, there is a Holy Communion service in the Benefice - at St Mary's Tadcaster at 8am - for the early birds!

There are two Christingle services to choose from - at St Mary's, Church Fenton at 10am and at St Mary's, Tadcaster at 3.30pm.  This annual service, which supports the work of the Children's Society is always very popular and particularly suitable for children of all ages.

During the day, why not pop into St Mary's, Tadcaster to visit the life-size Nativity scene.  If you want to, gifts (unwrapped) of toys and toiletries can be left at the stable.  These will be passed onto those who would not otherwise be able to provide themselves with toys for their children or basic toiletries over Christmas.
Drinks will be provided all day, there will be a few stalls...and perhaps take a few minutes to visit our Prayer Stations around the church to think about the Light of Christ which is coming into the world.

​We look forward to seeing you!

On Sunday 8th November 2015 across the Benefice.... 
At 10am at St Mary’s Church, Tadcaster
As for the past few years, we will again have an ‘overflow’ in the Boys’ Sunday School on Remembrance Sunday so that, once the church is full, anyone else is directed to a comfortable seat and a chance to join in the service. 
The full sound of the service is relayed over and a board set up to replicate the names of those on the War Memorial, along with images shown on a screen during the service.
We join in exactly the same service – and the same sense of reverence and quiet is kept – along with hearty joining in of the hymns, prayers and responses.
If you haven’t been to this service for a while because you’ve struggled to find a seat, why not try this year? You may even prefer to opt for the Sunday School - the padded seats and more elbow room!
Once the church is full, everyone else will be directed across to the Sunday School.

At 10am at St Mary's Church, Kirk Fenton
A joint service with Kirk Fenton Methodist Church

And at 11am at St John's Church, Kirkby Wharfe
beginning in the church and then moving to the extended churchyard for an Act of Remembrace in the War Graves section.
​

As part of Sunday 13th September’s Holy Communion service at 10.30am, there will be the annual marking of the anniversary for the Battle of Britain, when we shall be joined by the members of the local RAFA group.  During the service we will also be dedicating the new wall plaque in the War Memorial area which has been commissioned by RAFA.
All are welcome to this service, during which there will also be Children's activities at Sunday Explorers.

On Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd August, St Mary’s, Kirk Fenton will be hosting part of the Yorvik Medieval Festival, organised by York Archaeological Trust.  
It will be an Open Weekend with guided tours, demonstrations of medieval crafts and skills, children’s activities, cream teas and much more.
The church will be open between 10am and 3pm on Saturday and again on Sunday from 1-4pm.

On Saturday 22nd at 3pm, there will be a re-enactment of a Latin Mass - do come along (in medieval costume if you like!) to experience what church would have been like in the medieval period.
On Sunday 23rd at 10am there will be a Civic Service of Morning Prayer, celebrating the community of Church Fenton.  All are welcome.
 

On Sunday 28th June, St Andrew’s Newton Kyme will be hosting a circular walk beginning from the church at 3pm.  This will be followed by a strawberry tea at approx. 5pm and the day will be rounded off with Evensong at 6pm.  Do come along and enjoy the beautiful surroundings of St Andrew’s and the village – if you can’t manage the walk, just come for the tea and the service.


We shall meet at the gate to the church field at 3pm before walking through the village across to the Roman road, down to the river bank and back to the village via the fields to the church. 

Sheila Leadbeater has kindly agreed to talk us through the village as we walk.  As we walk past the houses Sheila tells us the history of the buildings which provides a fascinating and insightful picture of Newton Kyme and its community through the ages.  From Roman forts to World War II bombers Newton Kyme has a story to be told – and Sheila does is brilliantly.   

We had a glorious afternoon last year when we did this event.  After lifting  push chairs over fences, encouraging the little ones to keep walking through grass that was taller than them and herding the older ones who were too busy chatting back to church we were all ready for the restorative cup of tea waiting for us, not to mention the scrumptious cakes and scones.  It was a really happy afternoon.

Please come along – we are going to suggest a contribution of £3.50 for the tea – all funds to St Andrew’s Church.