Jams, Chutneys and Brownies-Christmas Fair Prep!

As we are constantly reminded it is beginning to get towards that time of year again, and with it being only 60 something days until Christmas, preparations for our Christmas Fair have begun in earnest.
 Since the end of the summer we have been asking local people if they had any surplus fruit they would like to donate to us. The idea behind this was to make it into jams, jellies and chutneys to sell at our Christmas Fair. We have been inundated with (literally) buckets of apples from people's gardens and our harvest festival and these kind donations have been made into a multitude of different apple based jams and chutneys. We are still looking for more fruit donations, so if you have the ends of your fruit tree crop hanging around that you are not sure what to do with, drop them off at Haworth Church and we will turn them into delicious treats for our fair. However, if you require some inspiration about what to do with your left over apples yourselves, then here is the recipe for an Apple Chutney that we have been making. This chutney is very simple (although it does make your house smell of vinegar) and goes well with cheese, meats and roast pork.

Apple Chutney-

Ingredients
2lbs Apples (chopped)
3/4 lb Sugar
2 Small Onions (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3/4 to 1 pint Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/2 lb Sultanas or Raisins
Pinch of Mixed Spice
6 Chillies

Method
Cover the chillies with cold water and soak overnight. Put all the other ingredients into a saucepan with half the vinegar.
Allow to come to the boil. Gradually add the remainder of the vinegar and boil up for about 1/2 an hour.
Then add the chilli water and boil, stirring until the chutney is thick.
Pour into pots.
Makes about 4-5lbs.

If you would like to make us a donation of fruit, jars or sugar then please feel free to drop them into church any Sunday morning. The church is also open during the week, so you could also drop them off then and send an email to haworthchurch@gmail.com to let us know to pick them up. For those not living in Haworth, Haworth Church address is
St Michael and All Angels church
Church St
Haworth
BD22 8DR

Away from preserves, we are also looking for Chocolate Brownie Recipes. We will be having a cake stall at our Christmas Fair and we are looking for the best chocolate brownie to sell at the fair. If you have a recipe that you think makes the BEST brownie then please email it to us haworthchurch@gmail.com and we will test them out, the winner will get to be the one on sale at the fair!

Speaking of cakes, a very exciting new fundraising event has been added to our calendar this year. Info below:

28th November – 7pm-9pm – The Old School Rooms

Christmas Stollen Masterclass with award winning local baker

Winner of the 2011 Sainsbury’s big bake off Mike Armstrong will be giving a Christmas stollen Masterclass on the 28th November 2011. Tickets are £10 including all ingredients and refreshments. Come along to learn how to make this very traditional Christmas treat and have one to take home. For more information or to book your place email haworthchurch@gmail.com

Tickets are limited and it is first come first served so book early!


For more information about Haworth Church then please check out our website www.haworthchurch.co.uk.

Haworth Church Update-Leaflets, Calendars and Christmas

Hello and welcome to Haworth Church blog. Although things on the blog have been quiet for a while, things have very definitely not been quiet within Haworth Church! Our Priest in charge, the Revd Peter Mayo Smith is very pleased with the progress we have made:

."If you look around the church you’ll notice that a number of things have happened. The most obvious are the “pull ups” which explain key features of the church. If you haven’t had the opportunity to look at them please do. The second, and perhaps less obvious, are two new leaflets. The first, which will be appearing all over Haworth, is a leaflet giving information about the church ~ this is coloured blue. The second leaflet, in green, provides a walk through the church and will be sold to help raise funds for the restoration. These items are already having an impact on our visitors. The other Sunday I noticed that visitors were taking time to read the pull ups and look at the church in more detail. "

Away from the immediate church building you will also see that the Haworth community have come out in order to help safe-guard the church. The 'Haworth Couldnt Wear Less' is a calendar produced for the Restoration fund and the Old School Room and is proving to be generating quite a bit of interest. Peter Mayo Smith expresses his gratitude to the group in the soon to be released November church magazine:

"The community of Haworth also feel so strongly about the need for the church; many of you will know of the two calendars whose proceeds are going towards the restoration of the building. (Something the PCC and I are very grateful for.) The community wants the church not just because it is a draw for tourists; but far more importantly because they know it is there for them in good and bad times. It is place they can turn to in joy and sadness. It is their church."

If you would like to find out more about the Haworth Calendar then you can visit their website www.haworthcalendar.co.uk or you can read the story behind it, in their own words, on our website here http://www.haworthchurch.co.uk/haworth-couldnt-wear-less .

Haworth Church has also been working very hard towards the formation of a group called the 'Friends of Haworth Church' A group that will hopefully work to safeguard the church's future by volunteering in the church, fundraising and event organising amongst other things. If you feel you would like to get more involved in Haworth Church then the first meeting is going to be held on Wednesday 2nd November at 7pm in the Old School Room Haworth (more information on our website http://www.haworthchurch.co.uk/events ) Anybody is welcome, regardless of whether you are a church goer, so if you would like to be involved or to hear more about what we are hoping to do then come along.

We are now into the beginnings of the Christmas season (earlier every year) and a number of special events and services will be happening at Haworth Church throughout November and December, below is a programme of what is currently planned to happen:


Services for November and December

Sunday 6th November
9:30am Holy Communion at Stanbury
10:45am Holy Communion at Haworth
4:00pm Light a Candle Service (please note the time)


Sunday 13th November
8:30am Holy Communion at Haworth
10:45am Remembrance Service at Haworth (no Stanbury service)
12:00pm An Act of Remembrance at the Cenotaph


Sunday 20th November
8:30am Holy Communion at Haworth
9:30am Morning Prayer at Stanbury
10:45am family Worship at Haworth


Sunday 27th November
10:45am Baptism and Confirmation, lead by Bishop Nick, at Haworth (note no service at Stanbury)


December Services
Sunday 4th December
8:30am Holy Communion at Haworth
9:30am Morning Prayer at Stanbury
10:45am Toy Service at Haworth


Sunday 11th December
9:30am Holy Communion at Stanbury
10:45am Holy Communion at Haworth
6:00pm Carols by Candlelight


Sunday 18th December
8:30am Holy Communion
9:30am Morning Prayer at Stanbury
10:45am Christingle at Haworth
7:00pm Community Carols by Candlelight


Christmas Eve
12:00pm The Nativity Pilgrimage in Main Street
5:00pm Carols Around the Crib in Stanbury
11:30pm Christmas Eve Communion at Haworth


Christmas Day
9:30am Christmas Communion in Stanbury
10:45am Christmas Communion in Haworth


New Years Day
10:30am Joint service at West Lane Baptists

There will not be a service at Stanbury or Haworth

Please note that the Haworth Church will be closed after the Christmas Day Communion until the 28th December. It will then close on New Year’s Eve until the 3rd January 2012.

There will also be a talk being given by local historian Ian Dewhirst on the 2nd December (more details to follow) and Haworth Church will be holding it's Christmas Fair on the 10th December, both of these events will be to raise money for the Restoration Fund.

We would like to extend a massive 'Thank You!' to everybody who has been working so hard for us both in our church, in the community and beyond. We really appreciate the effort that everybody has put in.

St Michaels and the Community

Time was that the church would have had a more central place in the community, and would have had an essential role to play in the happenings of a village. Times have changed and the way communities work have altered, but it is important that the church still has a place in the community.

 Lately a lot of work has been done in St Michaels to reconnect us with the village. We don’t just want to be a building that is only called on for the ‘hatch, match and dispatch events in people’s lives, we should be a part of the community.

 We now need to act on the new friendships and connections we have made. Firstly, we have our website, which is constantly under development to find new ways to communicate with people. We also have out social media feeds, so we can strike up conversations with people locally and all over the world.

 Secondly, and closer to home, we are beginning to work with people and events that share similar ethos’s to our own. Most recently this has been through local eco and fair trade festival ‘Fair Intents’ http://www.fairintents.org.uk/ and we are hoping to continue working with the community in the future.

 The church needs to be seen as a building of religious significance, but also as a community building with people who want to help. If you would like more information about Haworth Church or would like to get in contact with us about anything you can do so via www.haworthchurch.co.uk  

Windows and Newsletters

It has been a busy, if a little soggy week at Haworth Church, with many exciting projects under way. A lot of this week was spent investigating our beautiful stained glass windows as we felt it was one of the areas where we needed to provide more information for our visitors. It is amazing how you can be in a building and miss so many interesting features that you don’t notice until you really look. For example, did you know that three of our windows are from the famous window designers Clayton & Bell? It was also very enlightening to learn about people about the church from the past, such as the windows dedicated to Michael Merrall, who donated £5000 of the £7000 needed to rebuild the church in the 1880s. Fascinating stuff, more window signage to come.

In other news, people are signing up in droves to receive our quarterly online newsletter that will keep them up to date with the happenings at St. Michaels. It is not too late if you are interested in receiving quarterly updates from us, then send us your contact information in an email to: haworthchurch@gmail.com.

If you would like more information on anything to do with St. Michaels, its restoration, or to get in contact with us about anything then visit our website www.haworthchurch.co.uk, ‘friend’ us on Facebook: Haworth.church, or send us a Tweet: @haworthchurch.

Have a good week!

Post Holiday update-Preview of upcoming attractions

After a short summer break, Haworth church blog is back to keep you updated on the very exciting happenings within the church and our fundraising campaign.

 August is a month of hard work and the beginnings of new projects for us. Our website www.haworthchurch.co.uk is still developing, the most exciting change recently is that for the first time ‘Haworth Parish Church News’ is available online http://www.haworthchurch.co.uk/magazine

This is just the beginning for the churches new forms of communication, as we have plans to produce a quarterly online newsletter to keep people from all over the world up to date with our progress.

 Fundraising events wise we held a very successful concert in the aid of the restoration fund which was performed by the Steeton Male Voice Choir. A full review of the concert is available here http://www.haworthchurch.co.uk/raising-the-roof-with-steeton-male-voice-choir and all in all it was a very successful evening with a full church and a good amount raised towards our restoration.

  Upcoming projects in the pipeline at the moment include a visitor survey to try and establish why people visit our church and what they would like to see the future. The furthering of our website with an extended gallery as well as the beginnings of some projects that will hopefully help protect the building for future generations.

Events being held in aid of the Restoration Project in September are-A table top clothes and shoe sale at local cafe ‘Cobbles and Clay’ and a Harvest Supper. You can keep updated on upcoming events by checking out the events page of our website http://www.haworthchurch.co.uk/events

If you would like any more information regarding our fundraising, would like to receive our online newsletter or would like to make contact with us then more information can be found on our website www.haworthchurch.co.uk  , Facebook page Haworth.church and twitter feed @haworthchurch

Haworth Church Cookery Book

A fundraising effort that has proved very popular with our visitors is the Haworth Parish Church cookery book. This book was compiled by members of the congregation and friends of Haworth Church and is filled with delicious and varied recipes. As there will be no blog update next week we will share a few of these recipes to keep you occupied until we return at the end of July.

Do you have a problem trying to use up the ends of your bunches of bananas before they go off? Well never fear, Haworth Church Cookbook has the answer with ‘Banana and Raisin Loaf’

Banana Raisin Loaf

 (makes a 1 ¾ loaf approximately)

Ingredients

3 oz Margarine

4 oz Caster Sugar (4 rounded tablespoons)

1 Large Egg (beaten)

7 oz Self Raising Flour (7 rounded tablespoons)

¼ level teaspoon Salt

¼ level teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda

2 Large Ripe Bananas (Mashed)

2 oz Walnuts (chopped)

Decoration

1 Banana (sliced and brushed with Lemon Juice)

Method

Cream the margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and stir in the sieved ingredients and then the raisins, bananas and walnuts.

 Spoon the mixture into a greased, greaseproof paper lined loaf tin. Bake on the middle shelf of a pre-heated moderate oven (350C/Gas Mark 4) for approximately 50-60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Decorate with sliced bananas.

Or if you would like to make a more traditional, banana free cake you could try a Yorkshire favourite ‘Sponge Parkin’.

Sponge Parkin

Ingredients

3 cups of Self Raising Flour

1 Cup Sugar

4 oz Margarine

1 level teaspoon Ginger

1 level teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda

1 large tablespoon Syrup

1 Egg

1 Small cup of Milk

Method

Rub the margarine into all the dry ingredients. Beat the egg, milk and syrup together then mix well until it drops off the spoon. Bake in a low oven (Gas Mark 3) for about an hour.

Or away from cakes and sweets you may want to try this delicious curry recipe from the book:

The Shah’s Aromatic Curry

Ingredients

1kg Chicken Pieces

15 gm Butter

15 ml Oil

2 Cinnamon Sticks

2 Large Onions (chopped)

2 Garlic Cloves (crushed)

2 Bay leaves

1 Knob Root Ginger (peeled and grated)

10 ml Curry Powder

2 ½ ml Ground Cumin

45 ml Flour

500 ml Chicken Stock

2 Cans Chopped Tomatos

5ml Honey

Pinch Salt

10 Ml Lemon Juice

60 gms Sultanas

100ml Single Cream or Buttermilk

Method

1)Brown the chicken pieces in the butter and oil with the cinnamon sticks

2)Transfer to an Oven Proof Dish

3)To the pan of juice with the cinnamon sticks add the onions and garlic, the bay leaves, root ginger, curry powder and cumin. Toss together for a minute over a low heat.

4)Sprinkle in the flour, and stir. Slowly add the stock.

5)Add the tomatoes. Honey, salt, lemon juice and sultanas.

6)Bring to the boil stirring then pour over the chicken.

7)Cover and then cook in the oven at 170 C for about 1 ½ hours until the chicken is tender and the sauce has thickened.

8) Remove the cinnamon sticks and bay leaves, then swirl in the cream and return to a low oven for 5 minutes without boiling.

As you can see from these few ideas, Haworth Church Cookery Book is very varied and provides a wide selection of recipes.

 If you would like to obtain a copy of this book, being sold in aid of Haworth Church Restoration Fund, then they are available in Church for £3.99.

If you would like more information regarding any of our fundraising efforts or would like to make contact with us please visit our website www.haworthchurch.co.uk.

Chordiality Raise The Roof and Calling All Gardeners!

June has proved a productive month for St Michael and All Angels as we have held 2 successful fundraising events. Last week we reviewed the 1960s themed ‘Brolly Folly’ held 18-19 June, the second event this month was a concert performed by Chordiality, a Bradford based choir, on the 25^th.

David Root, who is the accompanist for ‘Chordiality’ is also the organist at Haworth Church and was the one who originally suggested that the choir perform in aid of the restoration fund. The choir have performed a number of fundraising concerts in the past and are well known in the Bradford Area.

The choir performed a variety of music ranging from the 15th century to more up to date pieces such as Snow Patrol. This not only proved the choirs range but also provided an evening’s entertainment with something for everybody. The audience greatly enjoyed the evening, pleased once again to have the rafters of the building ringing. It was greatly acknowledge that anybody who didn’t attend this performance had really “missed a treat”.

If you would like to attend a Chordiality concert in the future then their 2011 dates are as follows:

Saturday 1st October 7.30 – Methodist Church, Silsden

Saturday 8th October 7.30 – Blackley Heath Baptist Church, Elland

Sunday 18th December 3pm – Candlelit Christmas Concert. First Martyrs church, Heights Lane, Bradford, BD9 4RX

Future events being held by St Michael and All Angels include a concert by the award winning Steeton Male Voice Choir. This choir have generously donated their time to perform for us on Saturday the 30^th of July. The concert will begin at 7.30pm and tickets will cost £7.00. This is an ideal opportunity to have a summers evening of entertainment and support a worthy local cause.

Another way you can help the church at the moment is donating to our produce collection towards our Winter Fair. We are looking for donations of surplus fruit and vegetables from people’s gardens to make into Jams, Jellies, Chutney and Pickles. We are also collecting donations of jars and sugar in order to help us make lots of yummy preserves to sell at our winter fair later in the year. If you would like to make a donation or help in anyway then don’t hesitate to get in contact with us either through our website www.haworthchurch.co.uk or by email haworthchurch@gmail.com

Brolly Folly 18-19 June

Since our post last week highlighting our fundraising campaign we have held our 1960s themed ‘Brolly Folly’ much to the bemusement of locals and tourists alike.

Happy Birthday Sweet 16

 As mentioned in lasts weeks ‘Haworth Church Needs You’ post, the idea behind this event was to match the decorated umbrella with the corresponding 60s songs. After some explanation and some confused expressions (including a gentleman who thought it was like a flower festival, only with umbrellas) our visitors really took to it. In conjunction with the brollies we also held a Mouse Hunt for the children. This simply involved a number of mice being hidden around the building for the children to go and find. The mice were alarmingly realistic, as proven by the fact that Oscar (A village car who occasionally spirits himself into the church) had ‘caught’ one and was looking very pleased with himself holding it between his paws.

No Milk Today

1960s weekend never quite gets the attendance numbers that 40s weekend gets, and with most of the events being held in the park at the other end of the village, we didn’t quite reach the numbers of our Spring Fayre. We did, however, have a slow and steady stream of people throughout the two days which gave us a total of £300 towards our restoration fund and to coin a phrase-it all helps.

Yellow Submarine

Continuing our concert programme this summer, tomorrow (Saturday 25^th June) sees us play host to ‘Chordiality’ who are a 40 piece choir from Bradford. The concert starts at 7.30 and tickets are just £5, which can be bought on the door. The first half will be spiritual/classical music including Handel’s Zadok the Priest and Ave verum Corpus by Mozart. The second section will be more popular tunes including ‘Hallelujah’ and the Anthem from Chess. Next month we are also lucky enough to be having a concert by the award winning Steeton Male Voice Choir, this event is on the 30^th July and tickets will be £7.

If you would like any more information about the events we hold, or our fundraising campaign then please check out our website www.haworthchurch.co.uk or email us at haworthchurch@gmail.com

Haworth Church Needs You!

The term ‘church fundraising’ tends to conjure up images of older people holding coffee mornings, fayres full of aging soft toys and yellowing books and cake sales selling sorry looking sponges. Of course, a lot of these fundraising methods are still used today. However, when you have £60,000 to raise, there needs to be a little bit of ‘outside the box’ thinking.

 For the initial stages of our roof renovations we need about £60,000. As mentioned last week, we are very fortunate in that we have received a grant for an overall amount of £115,000 from English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund. This sum needs to be match funded by money raised by St Michaels and its congregation, in order for it to be given towards our restoration fund.

To this end, Haworth Church, it’s congregation and their families have embarked on a fundraising campaign in an attempt to raise the required amount. This campaign has included events such as a highly successful 1940s themed Spring Fayre and collections taken at a concert inspired by the work of the Brontes. Ongoing plans include this weekend’s 1960s themed ‘Brolly Folly’ where umbrellas will be decorated to represent 60s song titles. In order to have a chance at winning, the aim is to match the number from the appropriately decorated umbrella to the song title on the entry sheet. Later in the month, on the 25^th, we are very pleased to be hosting a concert by popular Bradford based choir ‘Chordiality’. They will be singing a combination of spiritual music as well as more contemporary pieces. Tickets for this event will be £5 and will be available on the door. Continuing the concert theme we are also hosting a concert from the award winning Steeton Male Voice Choir in July.

'Mike' one of our mascots for Brolly Folly

This is a cuddly evacuee from our 1940s Spring Fayre

 A more traditional fundraising venture that we have used is producing a cookbook. This was a project that could have appeared dated, but with a variety of recipes from around the world and lively illustrations provided by Haworth Primary School, the book has proved very popular with both the local community and our visiting tourists.

 However, we still have a long way to go until our target is met and we are still looking for inspiration for fundraising ideas that will help protect our building for future generations. We don’t want our church to be seen as merely a building to be used on a Sunday morning, only being for the tourists of Haworth or as a place only to be called upon for major life events. Our church aims to be a place to celebrate God, lives, births and marriages and an historic building. It embraces its status as a tourist attraction and its Bronte heritage, as well as still holding an important position within the community. Without this money, the church building won’t be able to be used to its full potential.  This is why we all need to pull together in an effort to raise funds to restore Haworth Church to a usable building for everybody to use.

If you have any questions about this work, or fundraising suggestions for us then please email haworthchurch@gmail.com, or if you would like to make a donation to our restoration fund you can do so via paypal using the ‘Donate’ button on our website www.haworthchurch.co.uk

Hello and welcome to St Michael and All Angel’s blog. Our church, of Bronte and Grimshaw fame, has entered the age of 21^st century technology with a new website (www.haworthchurch.co.uk) Twitter feed (@haworthchurch) and Facebook (Haworth.church)

 We are hoping to use these new communication tools to bring together our work within the community, our fascinating history and our relationship with God.

 The building of St Michaels has many uses. Firstly it is a place of peace, prayer and worship. It is where a regular congregation attend services and take communions and local people can celebrate their important life events with God.

 Secondly, and equally importantly, it is a place that brings the community together. There are a number of groups that use the church as their base. People from all areas of the community can come together for companionship, prayer and tea and cake.

 Finally, our building is also of great historical and literary significance. There has been a religious settlement on the site in Haworth since 1317 and an Anglican church since the 15^th century. Through its long and colourful past the building has been rebuilt and remodelled and its records mention historical events such as the execution of Charles I. It has also been the place of work for some famous incumbents including William Grimshaw and Patrick Bronte.

 Our work of late has been in an effort to restore St Michael and All Angels to its former glory. The church roof is leaking badly and causing terrible damage to the 19^th century wall paintings inside. Overall we need about £240,000 to complete the project, which will be the first large scale repairs carried out on the roof since the 19^th century. We were recently given a grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage for £115,000 towards the project. The remainder is still to be raised by members of the church through donations and holding fundraising events.

 This blog will provide a weekly update on the happenings in the church, news, reviews of fundraising events and an insight into our history and the people who use our building.