Welcome to our Parish!

Next Sunday is May 31st; Pentecost Sunday

Services are suspended until further notice – please read the message below from Reverends John and Abbie

Please click here for a list of the church activities suspended,cancelled or postponed as a result of the current crisis, as well as details of our worship provision during ‘lock-down’.

5th May  2020 (as updated)

Dear friends,

It has been good to see some of you the past couple of weeks, wave at you from a distance, hear your voice and see you on Zoom or through recorded media. I know it is challenging being in isolation and distancing ourselves from others. I have heard many stories of local people using their imagination and ingenuity in helping others and building strong community links – encouraging others in the weekly (Thursday 8pm) clap for the NHS, setting up a pop up food bank to help those in need locally, local/family Zoom groups, calling our friends and neighbours for a chat, co-ordinating grocery shopping with vulnerable neighbours, volunteering for one of the local action groups, etc.  Perhaps this dreadful virus is forcing us to rethink what it means to live together and to be truly generous, rather than the default of self.  I am glad that the church in our villages is central to that pondering about what life is really about.  

Online…

It is also encouraging that many people are watching our online services, many more than would normally attend our physical worship services.  The Gospel is Good News, whether you are there in person, or watching (or listening) online. You can watch any of our video recordings on the church YouTube channel Pannal with Beckwithshaw, as well as our live streams.

It would be good to continue sharing our services online and reaching out to others who would not normally attend our services for whatever reason.  In order to do this, we will need to sort out the technology and we will need some people to volunteer to operate it and make sure that it is working as it should. If you could help in this way, please do let me know. You do not need to be an IT whizz kid! If you can read this email, you can probably work it out…  

Going back…

We all wonder when things will go back to ‘normal’, but this present crisis will leave permanent marks: Some will have lost loved ones, some will have to find a new job, some will change habits of exercise or commit to shopping more locally. As a church family we will also have learned new lessons: how to harness technology for the good (even though it is way out of our comfort zone); the importance of community in an often-disconnected world; remembering that we are all involved in ministry.

Keeping in touch…

Please do continue to keep in touch!  Orders of service can be found via our website and our mid-week message goes out each week with the notices.

You can also continue your church giving. We continue to need money to keep offering ministry and mission during this time.
We are currently losing out on around £950 of income per week across our two churches. We are so grateful for all those who continue to give regularly by standing order… thank you. If you don’t yet give regularly to our church community, you can now set up regular giving to either St Robert’s or St Michael’s via Direct Debit through the Parish Giving Scheme. Call PGS on 0333 002 1271– quoting the relevant parish code: St Robert’s: 460646471……..St Michael’s: 460646060 . If you would like to make a one-off donation, our bank details are:

St Robert’s

Account name: PCC St Roberts Pannal
Sort Code: 40-52-40
Account No: 00026783

St Michael’s

Account name: Beckwithshaw Church Council
Sort Code: 05-04-54
Account No: 16640819

As we continue to be in lock down in the medium-term, we may well need to socially distance for some time yet, so please do follow the advice, look after yourself and each other. May we come through this time transformed, even transfigured, as God walks with us and we walk alongside others. Go well and stay safe.

Yours in Christ’s name and for His Kingdom,

The Reverend John Smith & The Reverend Abbie Palmer

 

Click here for a special prayer

 

St Robert of Knaresborough, Pannal is one part of a joint benefice with St Michael and All Angels, Beckwithshaw. This website serves the parish of St Robert’s

St Robert’s is a Church of England parish church serving the community of Pannal and Burn Bridge on the southern edge of Harrogate. It has a lively worshipping community with a flourishing Junior Church (usually over 70 children from 0-16), a good choir and a wide range of groups and activities.

St Michael’s  is a traditional rural church with a strong bell-ringing community, serving the village of Beckwithshaw and its surrounding area.  You will find its website at http://stmichaelsbeckwithshaw.org/

We hope you find what you are looking for on these pages. We would be very pleased to see you, either as a visitor or to join us in worship.

Safeguarding information
Calendar of events and bookings
Read the Mid-week Message here    Click here if you would like it sent directly to you
Wanting to get married at St Robert’s?  Here is our weddings page
If you need information on holding a funeral at St Robert’s…then you will find our funerals page here

Grant-aided by           Awards for All         WREN        All Churches Trust