Churches Together - Thornhill Parish Church

The churches involved in this group are Thornhill Methodist Church, Thornhill Parish Church, Thornhill Lees Parish Church, Ravensthorpe Parish Church and Whitley Parish Church

Events are organised throughout the year to witness to our continuing 'growing together in Christ'

Lent is a particular time for working together with study groups, a meal with a celebration of the Last Supper or Agape. A joint procession of witness takes place every year on Good Friday from the Town to 'The Cross' with a wooden cross carried and then erected for several weeks as a symbol of the resurrection.

At The Cross in Thornhill Easter 2008

Annual Report by the Chair – January 2008

Well, here we are in 2008, and I am about to give my second annual report. I can't believe that it is a year since I gave the first one. Over the year we have seen several changes in our churches. We were sorry to lose the Rev. Gill Johnson as she moved to become part of the Mirfield Team parish. However, we were also pleased to welcome Father Robert Ward as Vicar of Thornhill Lees and Ravensthorpe and the Rev. Peter Bates as new Minister of Thornhill Methodist Church. We hope that they will enjoy their time with us, both in their respective churches and as members of Churches Together. Once again, we have had quite a successful year together. The Lent Study groups this year were held at Thornhill Methodist Church, with an average of 21 people attending. As 2007 saw the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery, the theme of the study groups centred round this subject. We were a little disappointed with the Lent lunches. Although the food was as usual of a very high standard the lunches were not as well attended as in previous years. We hope that this year committee members will encourage more members of their churches to attend. Again this year the activities in Holy Week were well supported. There were 60 people at the Wednesday Fellowship, and about a 100 at the Good Friday service and Walk of Witness. The Quiz this year was held in Thornhill Methodist Church and was really well supported. The Advent Sunday service this year was held in St. Saviours Church in Ravensthorpe, as this church is also under the care of Father Ward. We thank them for their hospitality. Our final event was the Week of Prayer service for Christian Unity. Our speaker this year was the Rev. Liz. Smith, the new Chair of the Leeds Methodist District. Finally, I would like to thank you all for the help and support that you have given me over the year. Thank you.

Barbara Chappell

The Cross on Good Friday

West Yorkshire Ecumenical Council- we are pleased to support the work of WYEC. Follow this link to their web site www.wyec.co.uk/ -

Thornhill Parish Church

Churches Together in Thornhill, Whitley

and Thornhill Lees