Services, events & news

Mothering Sunday (10thMarch 2024)

Canon Matthew Pollard led the Mothering Sunday service and what a fantastic service it was. Canon Matthew delivered his sermon with such enthusiasm and was wonderful to listen to. After the service, Primrose plants were given out to members of the congregation.

Service of Remembrance 12th November 2023

Harvest Festival Preparations

Preparations were underway for the harvest festival which takes place tomorrow at 10.30am.

30th September 2023

St. George's Day

Despite there only being a small congregation, St. George's Day was celebrated at St. Michael's.  Michelle Dearlove, who took the service, certainly entered into the spirit of the day.  David Terry (Vivien Hare's cousin) was the organist.

23rd April 2023

Mothering Sunday

Michael Glanville-Smith took the service on a sunny Mothering Sunday and, afterwards, the ladies received a gift of a polyanthus plant. All members of the congregation were also able to take a gift for mums, wives, sisters etc. who were unable to be there.  Wendy Orme was taking one for her mother who is 101 years old! Happy Mother's Day  everyone!

19th March 2023

Carol Service

St. Michael's was very busy for the carol service which was led by Canon John Colston. Jeremy Banyard was the organist and Skelldale Singers provided solo and whole choir carols. The readers of the six lessons were Peter Moss, Margaret Plunkett, Juliet Jowitt, Christopher Orme and Jack Litchfield. Following the service, there were mince pies and biscuits along with a glass of wine or apple juice served by Juliet Jowitt, Liz Tite, Ella Curtis, Christopher Orme and Christine Curtis.

18th December 2022

Harvest preparations

Preparations for the harvest festival were well underway with flowers, fruit, vegetables and tins etc. having been donated by members of the congregation and generous villagers.

8th October 2022

Easter Day 17th April 2022

Santa Lucia Carol Service

Candles lit the way to the service which was conducted by Canon Barry Pyke in front of an almost full church. The Santa Lucia procession took place during the singing of 'Once in royal David's city' with Sam Stead singing v 1 as a solo - Ella Curtis was Santa Lucia and Isla Thompson was her attendant. The lessons were read by Peter Moss, Yvonne Coupe, Ali Anderson, Juliet Jowitt, Jacob Ryder, Jeremy Banyard and Canon Barry and the organist was Ken Ridley. Following the service, the congregation was served mince pies, mulled wine and chocolate mints.

12th December 2021

Wedding at St. Michael's

Claire Greenhough and Craig Griffin were married in St. Michael's with Canon Richard Cooper coming out of retirement to officiate at the service. Claire was given away by her father and managed to stay calm even though the wedding car broke down on the way to the church and she had to get there in a taxi!

17th July 2021

Welcome Back

Church re-opened on 23rd May for Pentecost Sunday. Covid guidelines were still in place but this didn't deter people from arriving for the service and church was very busy. Everyone who attended the service had to sign in for 'Track and Trace' purposes and, of course, masks still had to be worn. It was a lovely  service, taken by Reader Michelle Dearlove, and many of the congregation commented afterwards - a wonderful welcome back!

23rd May 2021

Easter at St. Michael's

Most of you will know that Canon Barry is to be our new ‘link’ with the cathedral and we would like to extend a warm welcome to him whilst acknowledging and thanking Canon Richard for his help and support during the last three years.

At a recent meeting it was decided, regrettably, that St Michael’s will not open on Easter Day. The criteria for closing originally has not changed and we are mindful of the vulnerability of some of our congregation. We will let you know as soon as we are notified that the situation has changed. Services will be held at Ripon Cathedral during Holy Week and Easter but please note that tickets will be required for the Easter Day 10.30 Festal Eucharist and many others will be streamed. Notices are displayed on the church door and gate. 

A message from Christine:- all planned giving envelopes for 2021 will be left in church when we open.

Apologies for not distributing the Lent boxes this year. Anyone who has been collecting can also leave them there.

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY

Tuesday 18 May @1.30 pm St Michael’s Annual General Meeting will be chaired by Dean John.

March 2021

Canon Richard to retire

Dear Friends at St. Michael’s,

First an apology from me for not warning you and explaining to you why the Dean would be contacting you. The news of my retirement coming out of the blue like that must have come as a great surprise and I am sorry it happened that way. I suppose the main reason why I did not write this letter before now is that I was not certain that it was the right thing to do in the midst of the Covid epidemic, it felt like leaving friends in the lurch. So why am I retiring?

The main reason is that I shall be 75 in March and will have completed 50 years of ministry. In the 10 years that I have been retired I have only had one in which I did not carry out some duties, which meant I have had a very fulfilling and enjoyable, and I hope useful, active retirement. (This will be my third retirement!)  I am well aware that given the age profile of St. Michael’s I am a mere youth and that those of you in your eighties, including the churchwardens, are the backbone of the church.

 Speaking of churchwardens you will never know just how much work Iris, supported by Peter, does behind the scenes. There is an immense amount of administration that comes from the Diocesan Office in Leeds that has to be dealt with and managed. There are training days to be negotiated regarding Health and Safety, Safeguarding of vulnerable people, endless forms to fill in and returns to be made. For the clergy there are new regulations regarding Church Weddings, a new Clergy Disciplinary Measure, training days on Mission, the Live Streaming of Services, Fund raising – the list is endless. If I am honest I don’t have the enthusiasm or energy to re-learn a ministry that I have been carrying out for the last 50 years. As the old Beatles’ song goes – ‘I belong to yesterday’.

So what happens now? I am still down to celebrate Easter with you – that is Covid permitting and all vaccinations done and then Canon Barry will take over. If we cannot meet at Easter, then when we are able to meet, I shall be back to worship with you. I have asked if I might continue to take services at Littlethorpe and I shall most likely cover the holiday periods and fill in when required – so it is not a final goodbye!

I read recently that at a certain age, one should return to the ‘footpaths of one’s youth.’ My return to St. Michael’s has been such a return and I thank God and you all for it and can say with sincerity it has been for me a true ‘home-coming’.

I shall always be your friend,

Richard

January 2021

Carol Singing

A good crowd turned out (socially distanced of course) for carol singing in St. Michael's churchyard on a cold but dry night. Skelldale Singers led the singing, performing a few carols on their own along with plenty for everyone to join in with. There were even mince pies afterwards. 

22nd December 2020

Back to Basics Cookery

'Back to Basics' is a charity, run by Helen Mackenzie and Sarita McDermott, which aims to educate families in how to produce nutritious meals from scratch. It was originally aimed at families with children on free school meals. Villagers and members of church have been very generous in their support of this charity and Helen and Sarita sent the following letter.

December 2020

Dear Reverend Cooper

I am hoping you might read this out during Sunday’s worship.

On behalf of our little charity, Sarita and I would like to thank the people of Littlethorpe for some incredible donations recently. This is mainly down to one woman – Glenys Gittings – who has cajoled, encouraged and badgered people to make a donation to our cause and we owe her a debt of gratitude.

We set up Back to Basics just over a year ago with a view to helping those families with children on Free School Meals so that the holidays would not be too expensive a time without that regular meal provision. The nature of our project is to educate families (not just the parents) to produce nutritious meals from scratch. To this end we provide recipe cards as well as every single ingredient, even down to a stock cube or garlic clove. There is even video support on our facebook page.

We have evolved during lockdown to providing a quality meal each weekend for those families – we are not a soup kitchen, nor the foodbank – we expect households to cook together and the feedback we are getting from the families we help has been amazing. They are loving the whole process.

With your substantial donations, Back to Basics is able to provide all the families that we have been supporting, not only with their turkey for their Christmas dinner, but all the trimmings too, including pigs in blankets, stuffing and some of Dame Sylvia’s delicious mince pies.

In much the same way my mother has been providing for the members of this parish since long before the first lockdown – pies, quiches, traybakes and fruit loaves. I realise that many of you have given to MY cause as a way of thanking mum for all she has done for others. Whatever the reason for your donation I think Glenys and Sylvia deserve a hearty round of applause (providing that is permitted in a House of Worship…?)

You might think that some people would possibly abuse our generosity but I honestly have not found this to be the case. The families I have met during my deliveries truly have nothing – in a way that is hard for any of us to fathom.

Sarita and I are so grateful for all these donations and wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a happy, and above all, healthy new year.

Kind regards,

Helen Mackenzie and Sarita McDermott

St. Michael's is open

Although some people had made the conscious decision not to return to church services at the moment, there was a good turnout for the first service since lockdown. Everyone was pleased to be back but services will be very different for some time.

September 2020

Church to Re-open for Worship

Letter From Canon Richard - 19th August

Dear Friends at St. Michael’s,

At a meeting of the Church Committee this afternoon it was decided that we should open the church for worship on Sunday 6th September. Of course we will have to abide by the Government Directives and so I have attached a copy of these to this letter. It will take a little time to get used to the new ways I’m afraid, but at least we will be able to meet – although whether we shall recognise each other with face-masks on is another matter!

As the Corona Virus is very much with us and that, regardless of the precautions we are taking, there is still a risk of infection some of you may wish to wait a little longer before returning. It has to be your decision and it will be respected and understood. There is an old saying in the Church of England – ‘All may, none must’ and that is perhaps more true for today than ever. So please don’t feel pressured in any way, you will not be forgotten and we shall save your seat!

If you are returning on the 6th, then please do read carefully the attached notes so that you know what to expect and how the Service will run. It is a pity that we can’t sing and ‘social distancing’ might make coming up for Communion a little confusing but I’m sure we can work it out.

It has been a long haul but people have supported each other by keeping in touch and the church building has been well cared for by Glenys and the church-wardens and is ready for our use. We are most grateful to them. We are also grateful to the Dean and the Cathedral Clergy who will now be staffing the Services at St. Michael’s. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we are allowed to sing again and to welcome Jeremy back to the organ.

I hope this letter finds you all in good heart and not too wearied by it all.

With my prayers and good wishes,

Richard.

August 2020

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS TO BE OBSERVED IF THE CHURCH IS TO BE USED FOR SERVICES

ON ARRIVAL AT THE CHURCH PORCH

Face masks must be worn

Register of name taken (track and trace).

Hand sanitiser must be used on entering the church.

Social distancing to be observed.

ON LEAVING THE CHURCH

Masks must be kept on in the building and social distancing observed.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED DURING THE SERVICES.

What news from St.Michael’s? 

As most of you will know the Government regulations regarding Covid 19 caused all places of worship to close on the 22nd March. It may be that the restrictions will be lifted at the beginning of July so that public worship may again take place. However, as the Bishop has said, closing the churches was the easy, if painful, bit. Reopening them is going to be much more complicated. If we have to maintain ‘social distancing’ at St.Michael’s then we will only be able to accommodate 15 people at a time. The lay-out of the church will make movement very difficult and almost impossible where the altar is concerned. There will also be a requirement to deep clean the church after each service.

After much discussion with our Vicar, the Dean and the churchwardens the decision has been taken not to open in July but wait until September when hopefully things should have settled down and the threat of a second ‘spike’ in the Virus is no longer likely. In the meantime, Iris and Peter our churchwardens are doing a splendid job on social media and over the telephone to ensure that our precious elderly congregation is keeping safe. I also know how people have been looking out for one another and some have even found cakes and pies on their doorsteps! Sadly because of the Government regulations and the instructions of the Bishops, visiting people in their homes is still out of the question, something I personally very much regret. But this will pass and we will return to St.Michael’s which is still being cherished and cared for even if not in use. 

More hopeful news when we have something to report.

Canon Richard Cooper

June 2020

An Easter remembrance from Canon Richard Cooper

These strange days of 'lock down' have brought back to me the Sundays of my childhood and youth at Littlethorpe. My mother, being Scottish and  brought up as a Presbyterian, had firm views as to what was allowed on the Sabbath.  Morning Church at St.Michael's, sunday roast lunch, family walk in the afternoon- usually round the canal, afternoon tea and Church again in the evening. Occasionally in the summer, distant uncles and aunts might join us for tea, otherwise we were  not allowed out of the garden to play or amuse ourselves elsewhere. Complaining to my father one wet Sunday afternoon that I was bored, he looked over his paper and said "Don't worry, you'll get used to it, a lot of life is boring." So much for parenting in the 1950s! And yet he was right. Perhaps what this 'lock-down' is teaching us is that we don't have to be continually entertained, that we are capable of sitting at home or in the garden  and that we are discovering that boredom, unlike the Coronavirus wont kill us. That's not to say that we won't be frustrated. But it will enable us to become more aware that Spring has sprung that new life is starting to break out and flourish. So it was then. The dullness of winter brightened by daffodil and blossom. New hymns to learn for Easter, the usual church arguments as to who would do what flower arrangement and where, the ironing of choir - surplices and the lengthening of cassocks to combat the annual growth  - all added a sense of anticipation and excitement. And for those of us who, in theory, had kept a Lent without chocolate, the promise of the Easter Egg.  We shall miss all that this year, the celebration of Easter in our church, but Easter will still happen, renewing the People of God with the joy of Christ's Resurrection from the dead and we shall gather again, when all this is over, to celebrate our Faith - the Faith I learned in this Village Church in the endless Sabbaths of my childhood.

Keep safe and keep well and may you know the Blessing of the Easter Song- 'Rise heart;thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise without delays, who takes thee by the hand, that thou, likewise with Him mayst rise.' 

April 2020

Ready for Christmas

The tree had been decorated and the stable is awaiting the arrival of Mary and Joseph. At the service, led by Michelle Dearlove, everyone was invited to hang a decoration on the tree in remembrance of someone and there were oranges to take away along with chocolate money. Ripon's mayor, Eamon Parkin, attended the service.

22nd December 2019

Remembrance Sunday

Young and old gathered in St. Michael's for the Remembrance Sunday service which was conducted by Canon Richard Cooper. The church was decorated with poppies with some ladies wearing poppy scarves. The Exhortation was read by Madeleine Staniland-Dixon.

10th November 2019

Harvest Lunch

After the harvest festival, a harvest lunch was held in the village hall for the congregation and friends of the church. The wonderful spread was produced by Sylvia Grice and her band of ladies and included a buffet main course with tea, coffee or squash followed by apple or blackberry & apple pie with cream and, finally, shortbread biscuits. It was a wonderful occasion enjoyed by everyone present. Thank you to all involved in its organisation.

7th October 2019

Holy Baptism

Alice Isabella Hudson was baptised at St. Michael's. 2 year-old Alice was brought for baptism by dad Steven (who used to live in Littlethorpe) and mum Holly. Alice's 7 year-old brother George was also there to support her. The service, which was conducted by Canon Michael Glanville-Smith, was attended by family and friends.

25th August 2019

Roly Curtis 1942 - 2019

The Prayer Shawl Ministry at St. Michael's Church

Our Prayer Shawl Ministry at St Michael’s Church in Littlethorpe began in 2012.

As often happens, good things flow from what seems at the time like disaster. I had severely broken my ankle and spent eight weeks in hospital in Harrogate and Ripon. During that time my friends in Littlethorpe and beyond were incredibly kind to me. Blessings flowed my way every day, including the day I was given the gift of a prayer shawl from friends I didn’t know from a church I didn’t know.

From that kind and loving gift from strangers I was encouraged to begin a Prayer Shawl Ministry at St Michael’s, but of course it needed the loving care and support of members of the congregation to bring it about. An appeal at a Sunday morning service for support was well received and our Prayer Shawl Knitting Circle began. Seven ladies joined the group and we began our work of knitting shawls. We met every few weeks to take our vision forward. Of course we needed other things too. Management of the venture and publicity about our work was also required.

Funding the venture was also forthcoming with donations from both the church as part of its annual charitable giving, and also from generous and kind individuals who saw value in the project.

One of the key tasks within our venture was to identify those within our community and beyond who might benefit from the gift of a prayer shawl. Roundabout and the village web site were helpful but in the end we relied greatly on word of mouth. And we still do!

The purpose of our work is to knit God’s love, care and warmth into shawls for those who we believe might need them. During the past seven years the Prayer Shawl Ministry at St Micheal’s Church has delivered 150 prayer shawls. They have been received by many in our locality, but many have also been sent far and wide of Ripon. Folk living in this country but also in Australia, Africa, America , France and Ireland and have received our shawls.

At St Michael’s Church we have on display a book of cards and letters sent to us over the years from thoughtful folk who have kindly written to thank us for their shawl. They are heartwarming messages which inspire us to continue the work of the Prayer Shawl Ministry.

If you would like to know more about St Michael’s Prayer Shawl Ministry, or you know of someone you think might enjoy receiving one of our Shawls please speak to our church wardens or indeed anyone in our knitting circle - that is Sylvia Grice, Glenys Gittings, Margaret Heywood, Ann Lancaster, Madeleine Staniland-Dixon and myself.

Judith Steele