Church life – The Church of England in Marsden and Slaithwaite

Poetic Faith

July 15, 2020 Rev Holdsworth Church life

Pamela Denton has been writing poetry for many years and expressing her faith through verse. Pam claims to have a simple faith, but in the words of her poem I see the wisdom of the Holy Spirit at work

Shred Treasure Hunt

June 30, 2020 Rev Holdsworth Church life

This Hunt (without collecting treasure) can be a lovely walk for everyone during the month of July. You could still go after this, but one or two clues could be missing.

The Shred Whit Walk

June 3, 2020 Rev Holdsworth Church life

Photographs from our Shred Whit Sunday walk

The faith of children

May 6, 2020 Rev Holdsworth Childrens Church activity, Church life, Prayer, Reflection

Wednesday’s update is usually something reflective, an opportunity to share our faith. It was delightful to hear from Ali and her retreat in Northumbria, and from Elaine on how her faith helps her find peace. Over the past two weeks I have been inviting the children from our Shred Sunday School, and from Slaithwaite CofE Junior and Infant School to[…]

Faith and inner peace

April 29, 2020 Rev Holdsworth Church life, Letter, Reflection

It is wonderful when people share their stories of faith, because it often helps us gain confidence in our own experience of God, and faith, and such like. This week we have a reflection on faith and school life from Elaine Bradley, whom many of those living in Slaithwaite will know… …from Elaine Bradley To introduce myself for those who[…]

God at work

April 22, 2020 Rev Holdsworth Church life, Letter, Reflection

There are so many businesses based in Marsden, Slaithwaite and the surrounding countryside, all trying to work out how to operate while this pandemic sweeps through our lives. I spoke to a business owner who is torn apart by the conflicting desire to help their employees financially by working and staying open, while equally wanting to stay at home /[…]

Northumbria Retreat

April 15, 2020 Rev Holdsworth Church life, Letter, Reflection, Retreat

It is lovely for our church website to have many voices, representing the many people who worship together from Marsden and Slaithwaite with East Scammonden. Today we have some art and a reflection from Ali Baxter. This was written during Lent on a retreat at Nether Springs, the home of the Northumbria Community. Ali has offered her own artwork, and[…]

What does today’s church look like to you?

April 1, 2020 Rev Holdsworth Church life, Reflection

This website for St James’, St Bartholomew’s and Shred is a new one, and I’m collecting photographs, drawings and images to help illustrate what the life of our churches looks like. When creating a church website from scratch, the obvious thing to do is populate it with lots of images of the gorgeous and awesome ancient buildings we worship inside…[…]

Image of book with words, "To you O Lord I lift up my soul"

Let us pray with one heart and mind

March 26, 2020 Rev Holdsworth Church life, Prayer

One the the most significant stages in the growth of my faith, was learning to say Morning Prayer from the Church of England’s Daily Office. It isn’t the only form of regular prayer devotional, but it was the one which resonated with me. There was something about the liturgy (here I mean the words we say together as a church)[…]

Kirklees Community Response (Covid19)

March 25, 2020 Rev Holdsworth Church life, Letter

Kirklees Council have opened a new dedicated helpline as part of their Covic-19 Community Response. The Council are working alongside our citizens and local organisations to make sure that together we can all support our neighbours and communities over the coming weeks. They are working especially closely with local voluntary sector organisations through our partners at Volunteering Kirklees (part of[…]