News and Information

Safeguarding - please see scroll down panel to the right.

SERVICES

There is currently no reguar priest in this benefice until a replacement for Revd Camilla is found.

Each Parish Church will have one Holy Communion per month and there will be a Family Service led by Ruth Abbey, Lay Worship Leader.

We will endeavour to publish information as to where services are and who will be leading them on the linked page from here.

BAPTISM

If you are attending a Baptism, the Order of Service of Service is here, (PDF)
or here as images.

Evening Hymns - new Aldbrough service

On the third Sunday of the month September to November and January to March, there is an informal service based on singing well-known hymns and learning new ones, at 4.00pm in St Paul's. The service will be followed by tea and cake in the narthex. If you enjoy singing, even if you think you don't know many hymns, this could be a good service to try.

This service will take a break for the summer. We hope to start again in September.

Donations to our churches

If you would like to donate to our churches, please click Donations. The donations details for all three parishes plus the benefice as a whole can be found there. Thank you. But please see also the next paragraph.

Parish Giving Scheme

The best and easiest way to give to your church, however, is with the Parish Giving Scheme. Once you have signed up there is no need to worry about forgotten collections, the wrong notes / coins or Gift Aid envelopes. Our three parishes have registered to use it and our Treasurers think it is wonderful.

Please see our page about it to see more about PGS in our parishes.

Thanks, Celebration, Commemoration

Take a look at our Thanks, Celebration and Commemoration pages. If you would like to give thanks, or celebrate or commemorate a person or event, we can add a short message there.

Bishop Helen-Ann's St James Sermon

is now on the St James the Great, Melsonby page. If you would like to watch the recorded service then click here. Unfortunately a technical hitch prevented Zoom access at the time.

Foodbank Donations

We support the Richmond Storehouse Foodbank with donations. See this page about the foodbank. When you come to church, please consider bringing a tin, jar or packet of something suitable for the foodbank collection. There are boxes for your food bank donations in Aldbrough, Forcett, Melsonby and East Layton churches and donations are taken regularly to the food banks in Richmond and Darlington.the New Year.

Prayer Circle

If you have anything at all that you would appreciate prayer for in the strictest confidence,
our Prayer Circle would be delighted to support you in this way.

All requests are in the strictest confidence and will remain within the small group of people who make up the Prayer Circle.

No prayer request is too small (or large!)

If you would like to request prayer support or to join the circle, please contact us by email at

stanwickprayers@gmail.com

Vocations

If you wwould like to know more about a vocations and ordination in the Church of England, please see this video from the Diocesan Ordinations Team.

Bell-ringing in the benefice

There is now a band in Melsonby. If you have rung or are interested in learning, see here

A group has now started ringing under the tutelage of Rob Kirby. They meet on Tuesday evenings from 6.30 to 8.30pm. New ringers, either experienced or learners, are welcome.

BELL RINGING IN THE BENEFICE IS NOW BACK IN BUSINESS so go along if you are interested.

Stanwick Group of Churches Benefice Website

Aldbrough St John, Forcett and Melsonby

We are currently without a priest of our own and so grateful for the services of visiting priests from many other parishes and offices. We will try to give details of who will be officiating inadvance.

This site is primarily an additional information source for the people of the three parishes of Aldbrough St John, Forcett and Melsonby, but we hope that if you are from outside the area you will get a flavour of an area that is pleasant to live in.

You'll find out why it's called the Stanwick Group of Churches on our Welcome page.

We hope you'll find the information you are looking for on who we are and what we do as a benefice. If you feel that anything is missing, please contact the webmaster

If you want to ask about a wedding, please do not use the 'webmaster' link. Go to Contact Information where there is a specific email link direct to the vicar.

If you are a member of one of our parishes and want to be involved in our activities at any level, under GDPR we now need your signed consent to be allowed to contact you specifically. To give this please see the appropriate parish section in the Benefice Administration menu above and download the form.

Safeguarding

If you have any Safeguarding concerns involving anyone in the Benefice, please click on the poster to see details of who to contact in a larger version.

The parishes in the Benefice have also adopted this document from the House of Bishops regarding Safeguarding.

Further information about poliies and practice at Diocesan level can be found here.

Stanwick Group of Churches Elsewhere on the web

You can also follow us on Facebook

and Twitter

Our Polls

The poll in the column below right is for fun rather than a serious enquiry so please feel free to take part. It only records the number of people who have voted. There will be no catastrophic events as a result of it. We know of one former benefice resident who regularly participates, not necessarily with his actual opinions but does like to stir a bit!

Events outside our Benefice

The Diocesan Office and our Cathedral at Ripon plus other parishes and benefices in the area often send us details of events of interest. We now have a section specifically for Lay Training sessions, usually organised by the Diocese but occasionally by other bodies. For those events which are for interest or enjoyment, please look in the section From the Diocese and Wider Church where we have another folder with details of events.

In most cases the information we publish is a copy of their poster which is linked to the appropriate website with fuller information.

	Votes
Gender - should one be given preference?	8
Background - past roles and experience?	6
Biblical teaching - a particular biblical interpretation?	6
Attitude to music in church - traditional or modern?	0