| CALENDAR | |||
| 4th | SUNDAY | 9.30am | Morning Worship at Headingley Methodist Church |
| 11th | SUNDAY | 10.30am | At West Park URC. Morning Worship, including the sacrament of Holy Communion, led by Rev Ed Lyne |
| 13th | Tuesday | 12.30pm | Guild Lunch |
| 14th | Wednesday | 9.30am | Elders’ Meeting |
| 18th | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Morning Worship led by Rev Phil Chilvers |
| 25th | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Morning Worship led by our Minister, Rev Dr Nicola Robinson |
| Followed by CHURCH MEETING | |||
Dear friends
Honouring Our Communities
October is Black History Month. An opportunity to share and celebrate the impact of black heritage and culture and challenge racism.
For 2026, the theme is Honouring Our Communities, which calls us to look beyond well-known figures and towards the everyday individuals who sustain, support, and strengthen our society and communities.
In our increasingly divided world, it is utterly essential that we take opportunities to get to know each other as fellow human beings to love rather than someone to ignore or hate. I firmly believe that there is so much more to discover in each other to celebrate rather than there is to fear.
When we meet with someone and take time to actively listen to someone from a different race or culture, we are transformed. It is a real and practical way of recognising and acknowledging that we are all made in the image of God. As Psalm 139 reminds us, we are all “fearfully and wonderfully made.” We learn more about God when we really get to know one another and when we deeply care for one other.
In peace, Nicola
Prayer
God of justice,
Open our eyes to recognise prejudice wherever it exists.
Give us the courage to challenge injustice with wisdom and grace.
Heal the wounds caused by racism and discrimination.
Bring reconciliation where there is division,
understanding where there is fear, and hope where there is discouragement.
Teach us to listen well, speak truth with love, and walk humbly with one another.
May your peace reign in our hearts, our communities, and our nation.
Amen.
(Churches Together in Britain and Ireland)
In memoriam: Mrs Gwen Collins, mother of Sue South, passed away in the early hours of Saturday, 26th September. She had been in hospital for some time following a stroke and a series of falls. Gwen was a longstanding member of our church and was involved in many activities. She was a loyal member of the Choir until she became too frail to attend worship. Our thoughts and prayers are with Sue and her sister at this difficult time.
The funeral service will be held on Friday, 16th October at 9.30am at Headingley St Columba, followed by private committal at Lawnswood.
ZARACH HARVEST APPEAL
A huge thank you to all who contributed to the Zarach harvest appeal. A fantastic amount of £1,250 was raised, of which £800 was Gift Aided.
Our thanks also go to the members of West Park URC who joined us for our Harvest Festival (and Barbeque) and contributed to the appeal.
A Zarach bed bundle includes a bed frame, mattress, pillows, duvet, bedding, and pyjamas and cost £150 each, so we have provided at least eight bundles. That’s eight children who have had their life changed with our help. Well done!
AND A BIG THANK YOU to Sue Bollon who arranged all the catering for our Family Barbeque. The church family was augmented with enough guests to move from the Small Hall to the Large and it was a great joy to see so many people enjoying an indoor ‘alfresco’ meal together! As our new member of the Partnership team, Ed Lyne, had taken our morning worship it was also an opportunity to meet and chat with him in a more relaxed way. Brenda and David manned the barbeque and we thank them for all their help, particularly as the usual head chef, Richard, was on holiday.
GUILD LUNCH
Our October lunch will be held on Tuesday, 13th October. All are welcome to join us, where about a dozen or so get together for a hot meal and a chat – there is always room for more. Just let us know you are free. The cost – £4.
The Ordination and Induction of Ed Lyne took place on Saturday, 26th September at Wigton Moor URC.
The church was full with URC members from across Leeds, members of Wylde Green URC, Birmingham – Ed’s sending church- his proud family and friends and representatives of churches in the city. Needless to say it was a solemn occasion for Ed as he committed his life to the ministry of Word and Sacrament but a joyous one too.
We wish Ed well as he takes up his role in the Ministry Team of the Leeds Partnership and his special role with West Park URC and Beeston Hill United Free Church.
We look forward to welcoming the Rev’d Edward Lyne when he leads our worship next year.
The Prayer of St Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
St. Francis & scenes from his life, Santa Croce, Florence
Asked to name a saint, that of St Francis of Assisi would undoubtedly be amongst those most mentioned. This year marks the 800th anniversary of his death on 3rd October 1226 when he was aged about 44 years.
St Francis is particularly remembered for preaching peace, caring for the poor, and respecting all creatures and the story of a life born into wealth, becoming a soldier and being captured but then choosing a life of poverty, service and kindness is exciting and one that children readily understand.
In 1209 Francis received approval from Pope Innocent III for the founding of an order based on his simple rule of life. The Franciscans remain the largest religious order in the Catholic Church, with global influence through parishes, missions, universities, and charitable institutions.
As well as leaving us his much much-loved prayer, each Christmas the influence of St Francis is still there when we create a nativity scene which he first instituted, and in which the animals he loved as part of God’s great creation, also have a place.
Would I might wake St. Francis in you all,
Brother of birds and trees, God’s Troubadour,
Blinded with weeping for the sad and poor;
Our wealth undone, all strict Franciscan men,
Come, let us chant the canticle again
Of mother earth and the enduring sun.
God make each soul the lonely leper’s slave;
God make us saints, and brave.
Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931)
