BROCKHOLES

Parish communion at St George's Church was celebrated by the Rev David Barnes, who spoke on Being Jesus of Others. Suzanne Dufton read the lesson and Rosalind Watt was the server. Noel Clarke was the organist.

Members of the Brockholes churches and their friends made a house-to-house collection for Christian Aid.

Mr Simon Hollingworth prepared the service at the Methodist Church. The reader was Mr Robert Booth and the pianist was Mrs Kath Gaukroger.

HOLMBRIDGE

A meeting of the parochial church council at St David's Church was chaired by the Rev Geoff Banks. Me Banks also conducted midweek communion when the reader was Ian Gold. Friday evening prayers were led by Carolyn Burley. Meetings of the Tumble Tots, Monkey Business and Over 60s groups were held during the week.

Eddie Purcell organised African drumming training at the church on Saturday.

The congregation of St David's Church joined a team festival service in Holmfirth, led by the Bishop of Pontefract, the Rt Rev Tony Robinson. During the afternoon, a meeting for nine to 14-year-olds was led by Mike Smithers and Carolyn Burley.

HOLMFIRTH

Morning service at Holmfirth Methodist Church was led by Marina Woodhouse. As it was the beginning of Christian Aid Week, the talk to the children was based on this and two short videos were shown. One was about conditions in the Congo where there was a great deal of poverty and distress and the other dealt with how the money collected for Christian Aid was spent. This was followed by a short quiz on what the congregation had been watching. The preacher’s address was interspersed with readings from the Bible. Margaret Hinchliffe read from John – the story of Jesus appearing to the disciples, when they saw him standing on the shore as they returned from fishing. Later, Betty Eagles read from Acts – the description of Philip getting into the eunuch’s chariot and teaching him about Jesus. The congregation was reminded that Philip had seized the opportunity to talk about his faith – were we ready to do the same if we were asked?

HONLEY

David Pinder made his third visit to the Probus CLub to speak on Terrorism - It's History and It's Future. Mr Pinder, who was introduced by chairman Martin Dove, gave a brief history of the development of terrorism before dealing in more detail with contemporary terrorist movements. He discussed the impact of the internet and modern news media in "helping" the causes of terrorism. Bill Sewell proposed a vote of thanks. A party of Probus Club members and their wives saw a production of Mack and Mabel at the Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield.

Parish Eucharist at St Mary's Church was celebrated by the Rev David Barnes. Cynthia Hepper read the lesson and Diana Griffiths led intercessions. The organist was Jean Cheeseman.

A Sunday afternoon service to mark the launch of Christian Aid Week was led by the Rev David Barnes. Anne Blount led intercessions and the service was accompanies by St Mary's Music Group.

MELTHAM

Meltham WI met on May 4, with President Ann Dick in the chair. The tea ladies for the evening were Jill Douglas and Joan Whitehead. The meeting voted on the Resolution that would go to the Annual General Meeting of the National Federation – this was about honey bees. Jackie Moutell gave her report on the Spring Council meeting that three members attended. This was followed by a recipes and Silent Auction. There were cakes and scones to taste and the recipes provided. The Silent Auction was a great success and £40 was made for WI funds. The raffle organised by Margaret Booth was won by Linda Hirst.

UPPERTHONG

Midweek communion at St John's Church was conducted by the Rev Geoff Banks, who was also the celebrant. Lunch followed in the meeting room. Last Sunday, members of St John's attended the team service at Holy Trinity Church, Holmfirth, to mark Folk Festival Weekend. The Bishop of Pontefract , the Rt Rev Tony Robinson, led the service and preached the sermon. A collection was taken for Christian Aid Week.