The parish magazine of St Mary’s Church, Whitkirk
Vol. 71 Issue 3 September/October 2022 50p LANDMARK
Big perspective, big questions
cover LANDMARKVol. 71 Issue 3 September/October 2022
Celebrating, Learning and Talent
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Turning green foam greener
Thought for the month......
Inside this month’s issue
How a small change helps our Flower Team to cut down on plastic use.
............ 15 Mouse Makes .......................... 18 Our regular services............... 20 Contact information ............... 21
As the James Webb Space Telescope peers deeper into the universe, questions at the border of science and theology become even more fascinating.
We look at the walls of St Mary's as the series on what's hidden inside our buildings continues.
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Regular
Wildflowers at Whitkirk 4
Have a look inside…
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items
Bible Bites
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Changing how we care for our graveyard leads to an explosion of colourful flowers.
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What's on at Whitkirk
Matthew lays out three themes running through this Autumn.
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This year we, with people across our city celebrate the 100th anniversary of the acquisition of Temple Newsam House and Estate by the City of Leeds. To celebrate this significant anniversary, you are warmly invited to two events.
The second is the annual Eucharist taking place on the morning of
Learn
Celebrate
Then we learn. In September a new informal place to explore the faith is beginning, called Pints of View. We shall meet in the Brown Cow. There will be a theme each week, and it we hope it will be a good chance to learn and get to know each other.
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Christian rhythm for living might look like. Why not join us at either one or both of these? Please keep an eye out for more information.
Dear Celebrating,Friends, Learning and Talent – these words express something
about what will be happening at St. Mary’s this Autumn.
Celebrating , Learning and Whitkirk’s Got Talent
The Autumn will also see the return of Rhythm of Life as we continue to consider what a distinctively
We also get a chance to consider our stewardship of God’s creation at our Sunday Eucharist on the 18th September, offered in the midst of the ‘Creationtide’ season. A time of year designated for us to learn about Continued overleaf
Sunday 25th September when we shall be joined by the Bishop of Leeds, Nick Baines along with other representatives from the House, Estate and City. It should be a memorable occasion, and a great celebration.September is also the month in which we celebrate our Patronal Festival, a chance to give thanks both for our patron Mary and our life together. So, we celebrate.
The first is a lecture on Friday 23rd September entitled Temple Newsam 1922: the House, the City and the Church offered by Dorothy Schofield.
Talent
— Audrey Hepburn
Finally, Whitkirk’s Got Talent. We belong to a wonderful Church and community and on any given Sunday I am aware of how much talent we have inside the church. Talent that embraces lots of different experience and skills.
So, there’s plenty to look forward to this Autumn as we celebrate, learn and share our talents.
For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with knowledge that you are never alone.
how we might better care for God’s creation.
“When we have given God all that we have and are, we have simply given Him His own.”
a Church like ours and with it will come an invitation to you, to offer your talents whatever they may be. These might be to help us in what we do now, but might also help us start something new. Whatever your talent, we need you.
As a church we want to encourage this talent and hope it might be offered in the service of St. Mary’s. Next month a brochure will be available that will publicise just how much talent we need to run
With love and prayers,
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–– William Plumer
On show: embroideries, history, architecture, and the stories of people who have worshipped here over the centuries.
Saturday 10 September from 10.00 am until 4.00 pm
Friday 9 September from 6.00 pm until 8.00 pm
Sunday 11 September from 2.00 pm until 4.00 pm
Explore this mediaeval church, a place of continuous worship for nearly a thousand years.
St Mary's Church, Whitkirk Church Open Days 2022
The national Heritage Open Days theme for 2022 is "Astounding Inventions". We will be marking the achievements of John Smeaton (1724–1792), prolific inventor and "Father of Civil Engineering". He was born and lived in the parish, and is buried in Whitkirk Church. There will be regular demonstrations of a working model of a lifting bridge as an example of civil engineering.
whitkirkchurch.org.uk/heritage
Refreshments • All welcome
Yorkshire Churches Open Day Saturday 10th September
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Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust
For a first attempt we have had some reasonable success, particu larly on the patch near the lychgate which passers by have been able to enjoy. One or two other areas away from the main footpath also produced wild flowers. Although not in view of most people, we are
sure the bees, butterflies and other insects appreciated them!
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An update from the Grounds Team
Wildflowers at Whitkirk
early Spring this year wild flower seeds were sown in a few locations around the churchyard , along with some areas being left to grow naturally.
IN
This is something that can be done in your own garden in the smallest of areas, either by planting wild flower seeds or even just leaving a patch of grass unmown and seeing what grows. Go on, give it a go next Spring.
Changing how we look after our grounds is just one of the ways we're trying to reduce our impact on the environment. Find out more at wkrk.uk/green.
We will look to extend the wild flower areas next year as part of our aim to encourage greater biodiver sity in the grounds we manage.
Evensong is especially renowned for its choral music with several sections of the liturgy sung by the church choir.
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The first recorded priest of St Mary’s Whitkirk was Paulinus who was the priest here in 1185 AD. Choral Evensong gives a powerful sense of connecting the present with the past and of being part of a great, and continuing, tradition.
All are welcome.
Sunday 4 September and Sunday 9 October at 6.00 pm
The liturgy of Evensong is taken from the 1662 edition of the Book of Common Prayer which is widely known for the beauty and richness of its language and which, to this day, remains the official prayer book of the Church of England.
www.choralevensong.org
Choral Evensong
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Bible Bites
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He is regarded as “the father of civil engineering”. The words of the monument record his exceptional talents:“Aman, whom God had endowed with the most extraordinary abil ities which he indefatigably exer cised for the benefit of Mankind in works of Science and philosophical Johnresearch”.Smeaton was a great engineer in many fields but his most famous achievement was the design and construction of the third Eddystone Lighthouse, completed in 1759. This was built on the dangerous
There are many monuments to people who lived in the parish and who worshipped here.
Dorothy Schofield
John Smeaton, 1724 – 1792, is buried in the church and his memorial is on the north wall of the chancel, complete with a fine model of the Eddystone Lighthouse, just one of his many feats of engineering.
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Eddystone rocks, an extensive reef in the English Channel approx imately 13 miles south-west of HisPlymouth.achievements and interests were wide-ranging — from scien tific instruments to steam engines, canals to harbours, bridges to light houses and mills to astronomy. His career mirrored the developments
LANDMARK, the parish magazine of St Mary’s, Whitkirk, featured monthly articles titled About Whitkirk Church in the 1950s and 1960s, giving insights into features
Have a look inside…
of the church, the parish, people, and events.
We continue this revived series by looking...
Up on the walls…
lived and worked at Austhorpe Lodge, half a mile east of the church, where the Detroit estate now stands. The Lodge and the remaining parts of his workshop were demolished in the 1930’s. He played an active part in church affairs and worshipped regularly at St Mary’s, Whitkirk. In 1780 he supervised the hanging of the ‘Great Bell’ in the church tower. The church clock was removed, repaired and altered “according to Mr Smeaton’s direction” and was set up in June 1786. Not the present-day clock, though!
Deliver us
JohnBritain.Smeaton
The inscribed slab under the Coat of Arms commemorates Sir Arthur Ingram, (ca. 1565 – 1641).
To find out more about John Smeaton, why not come along to the Heritage Open Days: 9, 10 and 11 September. This year’s national theme is “Astounding Inventions”, so we are proud to recognise John Smeaton as a leading ‘astounding inventor’ in our parish.
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Another important monument is high up on the wall in the Trinity chapel, in the archway above the Scargill monument.
of the Industrial Revolution in
In 1622 he bought Temple Newsam for the (then) large sum of £12,000 from the Duke of Lennox, who had to sell the estate because of his extravagance.
I had been teaching my four-year-old daughter the Lord’s Prayer. Then one evening at bedtime she attempted it solo. I listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word, right up to the end of the prayer. “And lead us not into temptation,” she prayed, “but deliver us some e-mail. Amen” overleaf
Continued
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To celebrate the 100th anniversary, two events are being held: The 2nd Annual Whitkirk Lecture on Friday 23 September, and the Annual Sung Eucharist on Sunday 25 ForSeptember.details,please see the posters elsewhere in this magazine.
Sir Arthur Ingram had made a fortune from the sale of Crown lands, and various other business ventures. He had connections with both James I and Charles I, and had given advice to leading members of the court. He became the owner of numerous properties, not only in Yorkshire but in Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Suffolk. Many are listed on the inscribed slab. He was knighted in 1613 and became one of the most wealthy and powerful men in Yorkshire.SirArthur and later generations of the Ingram family rebuilt and extended Temple Newsam into a large stately home. The Temple Newsam families have had a long association with St. Mary’s, Whitkirk. This year, 2022, marks the cente nary of the acquisition of Temple Newsam House and Estate by the City of Leeds.
For more information or to book call 0113 345 6870 or email communitycentre@whitkirk.com. whitkirk.com facebook-f /whitkirkcommunitycentre
A place to meet, connect, be entertained and hold events in East Leeds.
The Ingram Coat of Arms, formerly in the floor and now on the south wall of the Trinity Chapel.
Page 11 Family Ceilidh Dance and Faith Supper Come together for a night of music, dance and food for the whole family. Saturday 8 October 7.00 pm Bar open Tickets in advance £5 • Tickets on the door £7 (Free for Young People in Education) Buy your tickets in the Community Centre after the Sunday morning service – 11.15 am until 12.00 pm Or from Tony Bond on 0113 260 5027
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• Thursday at 5.00 pm
Conversations about life and the Christian faith.
reading for the day, to contemplate, and to offer our prayers. You're welcome to join us online for any of the meetings, or on a Tuesday you can also join us in person in the IfChurch.you'd
We know how sometimes the week can be exhausting and it can be difficult to find time to collect your thoughts and pray. That’s why we’ve set aside three times for daily
Starting 7.30 pm, Thursday 8 September, The Brown Cow
Join us for daily prayers
Come and join us for a drink as we chat about how Christianity relates to the rest of our lives, from events in the news to how prayer can help us grow, exploring the deeper meaning of the Eucharist to unpacking just what happens when we celebrate Christmas.
• Wednesday at 9.00 pm
Each gathering takes about 15 minutes and offers a time to hear a
•prayers:Tuesday at 5.00 pm
like to lead some of these sessions of daily prayers, with no need for long-term commitment, we're always looking for new people. Just get in touch and let us know.
Every meeting is open to anyone, no matter if you've come before or you're totally new. Join us at 7.30 pm on the 8th and 15th of September, and the 6th and 13th of October.
Find out more or join us online at wkrk.uk/pray.
of us who have grown up in an age when ‘astronaut’ is a career option (albeit a pretty specialist one) might struggle to identify with the wonder of these events, and the true scale of the challenge. Human beings developed the technology to send first a probe, then living people, out of Earth’s atmosphere, and cross the 252,000-mile gap to the moon. It was in 1959 that the Luna 3 probe managed to send back grainy images of the far side of the Moon, and in 1969 Apollo 11 managed to actually land on it, take off again, and arrive back in one piece. It’s the safe arrival home that gets me – like hitting the bullseye twice in a row. For some space-travellers, seeing Earth from a distance is a lifechanging experience; a shift in thinking dubbed ‘the overview effect’. The observer feels a sense of awe at seeing the whole planet as a single entity rather than a fragmented collection of coun tries, and at getting a sense of the
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fragility of the whole system. It brings people out of themselves –something psychologists call a ‘selftranscendent experience’.
This summer the first operational images from the James Webb Space Telescope astonished and delighted astronomers, as well as the rest of Thoseus.
Science can bring us to the big ques tions of meaning and purpose, but it doesn’t answer them. It’s important to recognise that science, wonderful though it is, has limits. Beyond those boundaries we step into other ways of knowing, such as philosophy or theology. At the interface between science and theology we can have some fascinating conversations.
Dr Ruth Bancewicz
Big perspective , big questions
Some people claim to have a ‘nothing but science’ approach to life that trusts only in things for which we can produce very concrete, measurable, evidence. Is it perhaps ironic, then, that this overview of the whole globe – which is made possible by science – can trigger such a deep sense of meaning?
The discussions about science and religion that I enjoy most happen when people share what really matters to them. What do you find beautiful? Which scientific discov eries changed the course of your life? How do you see yourself in relation to the cosmos?
Saturday 1 October
Friday 9 September to Sunday 11 September
Sunday 25 September at 10.00 am
Parish visit by coach to Ripon Cathedral to celebrate the cathedral’s 1,350th anniversary
Ceilidh Dance at Whitkirk Community Centre
There's so much going on we can't fit it all in – for more details on any of these events or to see what else is happening check our website at whitkirkchurch.org.uk/events, or keep an eye on our notice boards.
What’s on at Whitkirk
Heritage Open Days at St Mary’s Whitkirk whitkirkchurch.org.uk/heritage
Harvest Lunch at Whitkirk Community Centre
Preacher: The Bishop of Leeds, The Right Reverend Nicholas Baines
Saturday 8 October at 7.00 pm
An illustrated talk marking the 100th anniversary of the acquisition of Temple Newsam House by the City of Leeds.
Temple Newsam 1922: the House, the City and the Church
Sunday 2 October at 12.30 pm
The 100th annual Temple Newsam Service at Temple Newsam House
Friday 23 September at 7.00 pm
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• Ladies, don’t forget the jumble sale. Now’s your chance to get rid of all those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands.
Mums, dads, kids, grans, grandads, neighbours... Everyone welcome! Fun, faith, food and fellowship for all ages!
Next on Sunday 11 September and Sunday 9 October
Church notices that didn’t come out quite right…
• Sadly, Barbara remains in the hospital. She is having trouble sleeping, and so has requested tapes of the minister’s sermons.
• Next Thursday there will be try-outs for the choir. Do go along if you can sing at all. They need all the help they can get.
Messy Church is held on the second Sunday of the month from 4.00 pm until 6.00 pm in St Mary's Church Whitkirk Community Centre Selby Road, Leeds LS15 0AA
• The sermon this morning is entitled ‘Jesus Walks on the Water’. The sermon tonight will be: ‘Searching for Jesus’.
• The cost for attending the Prayer & Fasting conference includes meals.
• Miss Charlene Mason sang I will not pass this way again, giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
For more details call Jean Bradley on 0113 260 2762 or 07932 640036.
you Holy Communion to your own home. Our team of Lay Eucharistic Ministers are licensed by the Bishop for this Ministry, and usually visit on a Monday afternoon.
If you live in the Parish but are unable to come to Church due to age, illness or disability, whether permanent or temporary, then a member of our Home Communion Team will be pleased to visit you and bring
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Home communion
If you're interested in helping with our flowers, why not get in touch and let us know?
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Turning green foam greener
An update from the Flower Team
THE flower team have been looking at how we might become more environmentally friendly in how we arrange our flower displays. Until recently we have been using green OASIS floral foam for all our displays, as we have done for many years.
This is made from natural minerals and sugars so is biodegradable and Therenon-poisonous.isalsoanother product on the market that has been developed which is made from natural wool, and is entirely biodegradable and compostable. We will investigate this to see if it will be suitable to use. To cut the amount of floral foam being used in the church even futher we are moving to reusable pin holders for some displays.
We have also discussed the inclusion of silk flowers alongside natural, which can provide richer-looking displays throughout the year at a lower cost.
The Flower Team is just one of the many groups of volunteers who help keep St Mary's running, putting together everything from simple arrangements to stunning seasonal displays.
There is now a new eco version of this – OASIS Bio Floral Foam which we have started to use.
Having looked at the composition of it we found that each block contained the equivalent of 12 plastic bags along with harmful chemicals such as thamaldahyde which would leach into the ground if it was put into landfill or into the air if it was burned.
Our regular services
Sung Eucharist at 10.00 am
Worship in person
You can watch all of our Sunday services and festival services online, either live as they happen or by catching up later.
• Watch on our website at whitkirkchurch.org.uk/services
We make our Sunday services and festival services available as a podcast to listen to later in the week. Find us by searching for “St Mary’s Church, Whitkirk” in your favourite podcast directory.
You are welcome to join us in person for any of our services, with no need to book in advance.
• Watch on your smart TV, tablet or phone by opening the YouTube app and searching for “St Mary’s Church, Whitkirk”
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Choral Evensong at 6.00 pm
The first Sunday of the month
Every Sunday
Listen to the service later
Every Wednesday Said Eucharist at 10.00 am
Watch the service online
Churchwardens Melvin Herring Elaine Roberts
Director of Music Giles Taylor 07807 839474 choir@whitkirkchurch.org.uk
Landmark Advertising David Waddington 0113 260 5122
Landmark Editor Nick Jackson 07929 landmark-editor@whitkirkchurch.org.uk409909
churchwarden@whitkirkchurch.org.uk
Landmark Production and Distribution Marjorie Bond 0113 260 5027
Important contacts
Clergy resident in the parish
Contact information
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vicar@whitkirkchurch.org.uk 0113 264 5790 07772 560014 Matthew’s usual day off is Monday.
PCC Secretary Sue Middleditch 0113 264 3946
Name Contact
The Reverend Canon Rosemarie Hayes 0113 217 3727
If you don’t know who to contact you can call us on 0113 264 5790, send an email to hello@whitkirkchurch.org.uk, or find more details on our website at whitkirkchurch.org.uk/contact.
Safeguarding Officer Janet Blenkinsop safeguarding@whitkirkchurch.org.uk
Say hello
Vicar The Reverend Canon Matthew Peat
Licensed Lay Minister Miss Lynne Pickersgill 07812 794103
Treasurer Alistair Hezel 0113 232 finance@whitkirkchurch.org.uk6082
Gift Aid Officer Shelagh Freer 0113 264 8028 giftaid@whitkirkchurch.org.uk
Belonging to God
Thought for the month
St Mary’s Church, Whitkirk 390 Selby Road Leeds LS15 0AA Registered Charity Number 1130280 whitkirkchurch.org.uk/landmark
Grant that I may belong wholly to you.
By John Sergieff (1829–1908) a Russian priest of humble family, who became renowned for his prayers which ordinary people could use.
How good You are, Lord, and how near You are to us –so near that we may always talk to You, be comforted by You, breathe through You, be enlightened by You, find peace in You, and gain spiritual nourishment from You.
/whitkirkchurch @stmaryswhitkirk
Grant that my fellowship with You may never be polluted by malice, pride, envy, greed, gluttony or falsehood.