A brief trip to Yorkshire

I'm on my way back to London after preaching last night in Thornhill for the Pennine Bible Witness. I've been looked after very kindly and was glad of the opportunity to be in this part of the country once again. I decided to preach on faith from Matthew's Gospel, looking at three incidents in Chapters 8, 9 and 15 (the centurion and his servant, the Canaanite woman  and her daughter and the woman with the issue of blood). I had been concerned that that might have been too much but in fact it was about right and seemed to have been appreciated by the fifty or so who gathered, mostly people I don't know, though there were some familiar faces. I notice from the blog that I was last there in December 2007. This time I stayed with the Lavers who I know through Grace Magazine. The marmalade lady was not able to be there but there was a bookstall and I picked up two books on church history. Once again, someone very kindly stepped in and paid for my purchase. What kind folk.

One more wedding

So we headed off on Thursday afternon via Rhug and a stay in a Days Hotel just north of Chester to our fourth and final wedding of the summer in Upper Hopton, Mirfield. There a member at Childs Hill was getting married.

Several things marked this out as a little different to other weddings this summer. Firstly, bride and groom are in their forties. Secondly, it is a transatlantic affair. He is an American. They will be living in America. Then there is the fact that they met on the internet and both bring children to the new situation, both having had previous relationships.

The wedding took place in St John the Evangelist, Upper Hopton in Mirfield, Yorkshire, a delightful but painfully "high" Anglican church. The reception for about 60 of us, including seven from Childs Hill, followed in a new part of the model farm, Bradford. It was an unseasonably cold day, which was a pity but it was a lovely time in other respects, including the lovely food by local caterers.

We headed back to Aber around 9 pm and got home in the small hours. We do wish them well, especially with visas and citizenship, etc.

Pennine Bible Witness

It was my privilege to preach last Friday night at Thornhill Baptist Church near Dewsbury for The Pennine Bible Witness. I travelled up to Wakefield on Friday afternoon as the sun set and was kindly met by pastor of the church Daniel Grimwade. The Thornhill church has a long history. The Pennine Bible Witness is one of several monthly preaching rallies around the country that started in the sixties and seventies with the rediscovery of Reformed truth. Some have been superseded but others, like this one, continue. Michael Wright, who I know through Grace Assembly, chaired for me and we sang from the Bible Witness selection, which I had seen once or twice before. About 80 gathered. The bias was to the older age group and the male gender and we all appeared to be of the same ethnicity. I preached on the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37, hopefully with some effect. Most of the people there I did not know. I met Liz Ward who I virtually know through Geneva Net, which was nice. I was about to buy some Pilgrim Home marmalade when I realised my wallet was elsewhere. A kind-hearted gentleman from Leeds bought it for me. I had a nice chat with a young man from the church. The Grimwades generously put me up for the night before I sped back to London. It was nice to spend time with them and their little girls. Such trips are always very encouraging