In Judy's own words:

I have long been aware of the awesome responsibility of becoming a priest in God's Church, it is not something to be taken lightly, for as well as leading God's people in sacramental worship, there is whole issue that I, a sinner, am authorised to pronounce God's forgiveness. It has led to several discussions with a variety of people and while on retreat I felt drawn to make a personal confession, with the retreat leader, for the first time in my life. It brought me a sense of peace and comfort.

During the final hymn the choir sang a beautiful Celtic blessing before we processed to the West door to be photographed with Sentamu and await our friends and family.
It was a day of joy tinged with sadness at the death of a dear Mother-in law, Audrey

As I prepared for my ordination I spent some time considering the Journey that had brought me to this point and all the people who had influenced me on the way:
My parents, who went to church and who sent me to Sunday school
Pauline, a dear friend, who made sure I went to church on the weekends when not on the hills.
Norman McCall-Smith, who visited David and I on a church mission inviting us back to church on a more regular basis.
Jim Woodhouse, the vicar, with whom we spent many evenings with whole families in the church hall sitting on the floor, singing praises and sharing suppers.
David Cooke, who together with Barbara were good friends while never allowing me take myself too seriously.
Neil Strong, a very spiritual vicar.
Frank Foster and Marjory for what they taught me about prayer and the encouragement I got from them both.
Ken Good, Gill, Pat and my current vicar, Derek who have all encouraged, supported and were involved in my training and were there in the Minster for my ordination.
And, of course, my Special thanks to David and my family for their support and encouragement.throughout my journey.

It has been a long journey with many wanderings from the path and not without moments of doubt, but throughout it all I have been conscious of the prayers, support, care and encouragement of so many people. Thank you all.

Rev'd Judy Cook

Office Photo

St Mary’s Church was loaned a set of newly-carved figures for our Christmas Eve services of the Making and Blessing of the Crib, where we re-tell the Nativity story. The figures have been carved by Charles Gurrey, an internationally renowned sculptor in stone and wood, who we first met when he accepted the commission for the commemorative plaque in the new Church Room.

Charles has made the figures’ heads from oak and added some colouring through subtle natural stains, to differentiate the figures. The faces are ‘rustic’ and full of character, aiding our imagination as we hear the Christmas story once again. The figures are designed to be carried by children and the supporting wood is tulip wood which is very light in weight. The figures have metal arms which can be moved if required.

The children and young people made rough and simple cloaks to cover the supports, as we prepared in December to tell the story together. In addition, there are three beautifully carved animal heads, on block bases. The ox, the ass and the sheep were placed in the stable, in the straw around the crib, which was, as usual under the main altar in St Mary’s.

At the Third European Ecumenical Assembly (2007) official representatives of Europe's Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant churches recommended 'That the period from 1 September to 4 October be dedicated to prayer for the protection of Creation and the promotion of sustainable lifestyles that reverse our contribution to climate change.'

Here are some of the comments from Lightning Bolts members the following evening:

Aimee (Year 4)
The pet service was like the Vicar of Dibley pet service. In every hymn the dogs kept barking. It sounded like they were singing. There were lots of dogs, chickens, guinea pigs, cats, hamsters. The animals were blessed. The dogs didn't fight.

Rebekah (Year 4)
The pets got blessed There was no grafs [giraffes] or elephant There was a lot of dogs and even chickens and hamsters and cats.

Jake (Year 7)
At the pet service there was lots of pets (obviously) such as a chicken, a guinea pig, a hamster, a cat, lots of dogs, but apart from that is was kind of like a normal service.

Jenni (Year 9)
I thought the pet service was great! There was plenty of dogs (small and large), cats, guinea pigs, someone even brought a chicken (Jake). The pets also got a blessing, my cousin brought her dog, we put a little pink bow on her! Every one was good as gold!!!

In all, there were twelve dogs (we think): Holly, Tango, Fern, Bracken, Bear, Coda, Bess, Molly, Stan, Oscar, Maggie and Harriet; plus one Burmese cat in her box (Milly), one hen in a big cage with a guinea pig (Peekachoo); and a hamster Maestro (who slept throughout). For most of the service they all stayed calmly under the chairs, even with noisy percussion m the last hymn!

We had some cuddly toy animals and photos of pets left at home, plus a Siberian tiger to remind us of endangered species.

Well done, all creatures great and small!

Open Weekend - 29th June to 1st July 2007

Janet Bennett, Harpist and Singer, played the opening concert to celebrate the completion of St Mary's Church Extension Project,on Friday 29th June. Janet plays a striking golden harp which caught the evening light and provided an almost 'magical' evening in the setting of the beautiful church. She has been acclaimed as one of the finest harpists and self-accompanied singers in the UK and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the celebration.

She gave a varied repertoire of harp solos and songs accompanied by the harp, particularly from the North East of England near where she is based, at Heaton. Popular, classical and folk songs entertained a good audience and her encore was a great favourite; Bobby Shafto.

During the interval, drinks were served in the new Church Room and enjoyed both outside, admiring the clear evening view of Roseberry Topping, and inside in the extended Church.

After the encore, the Vicar, thanked the Extension Project team and their wives for the many years of dedicated and professional work they have contributed. Merrik and Joan Brown, Barry and
Shirley Glover had given their support and expertise on a voluntary basis. The family of the architect and church member, the late John Riley, were present and Diana was thanked along with their son, Andrew, who has completed the project and daughter-in-law Jane who designed the gardens at the new entrance. A small gift was given along with heartfelt thanks from
everyone present.

Embroidered copes were the silent stars of the Open Weekend. All the copes are the work of Josephine Ratcliff, from
Lancashire, and have never been displayed together before.

Jo Ratcliff lent many other examples of her embroidery and over 200 visitors enjoyed a close-up view, in addition to the full church congregation for the celebration Eucharist on Sunday morning, led by the Revd Pat Harrison and Judy Cook.

A large team of welcomers were on duty over the weekend and trips up the church tower were led by Dave Cook, assisted by Andrew Riley and many parents. The stunning view from the top was voted worth the climb and the showers held off for most of the day.

Children from Nunthorpe waving branches of pussy willow followed Humphry, the donkey, into church on Palm Sunday (1st April 2007). The procession started by the Scout Hut and wound its way up Church Lane, Nunthorpe, towards St Mary's Church. Following the new driveway into the churchyard, the donkey tested out the new ramp into the porch, while the people tried out the new steps. The porch is from the original church and has been rebuilt on the West end of the new extension to the Church.

Six year old Humphrey, belonging to Kim Peacock, didn't bat an eyelid at his role. Although he hardly ever leaves his field, he coped with 150 people waving branches, singing in the church and loud organ music. His long ears flickered once or twice but he took it all in his stride. Kim held him at the front of church as everyone filtered in, so that everyone could see him. Kim's sister Mandy Thompson and niece Lucy are members of the choir, so it was quite a family occasion.

Every donkey has a long black line down its back and another black line across its shoulders, making the shape of a cross. An old tradition says that this is to remind us of the story of Jesus, who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and was acclaimed King by the people. During part of the service, in their own activity time, the children made card donkeys to take home with them.

Watching the procession was Lazlo and his brother Szabolcs, who have been working on the extension for the past year. Lazlo's wife and four year old daughter were visiting from Hungary and came to watch the donkey come into church. They said they have a donkey leading them into church on Palm Sunday in Hungary too.

Only this week, Lazlo and Szabolcs finished laying the stone floor to allow the whole congregation to come in through the West doors. For 18 months the doors have been out of action, with a large wooden screen across the back of the church. The screen came down for the last time on Friday and the new arches into church from the extension room were revealed. The contractor, P&S Coverdale from Barnard Castle, still has some work to do before the extension will be fully fitted out, but St Mary's congregations were delighted to be able to use the new entrance and room for the Easter celibrationsr. Merrik Brown, the project manager, who is a retired engineer living in Nunthorpe, has worked tirelessly to reopen the Church in time for the 2007 wedding season, Holy Week and Easter.

Details of services and special events can be found elsewhere on thsi web iste or by contacting the Parish office: 01642 316570.

St Mary's opened its doors to visitors over two days of the Harvest Festival period.

On display in the church was the Creation cope made by Josephine Ratcliff and worn by the Vicar when the Archbishop of York visited the parish (see previous news items). Three further copes, lent by the Bishop of Whitby and an antique Victorian cope, were also on display.

Jo Ratcliff visited St Mary's as part of the Open House weekend and spoke with many visitors about her work. She brought other examples with her, as well as designs and an album of photographs of her work.

The Creation cope is worn for festivals at St Mary's and for the many weddings held in the church.

This was the first exhibition of the copes Jo has made and she enjoyed meeting many embroiders from the area.

Also on display were Harvest flowers arranged by the St Mary's Flower Guild along with agricultural implements.

The Festival Choir sang for Harvest Praise on Friday 13th and led the Harvest Festival Eucharist on Sunday 15th October.

Several hundred people visited the church throughout the weekend and were interested to see the progress of the extension building project.

Day to Remember ~ St Mary's 80th anniversary
Sunday 10th September 2006

Above - fom left to right: Judy Cook (Reader),Tony Hughes (Church Warden), The Bishop of Whitby, Yomi Opaneye (Church Warden), Revd Gill Henwood (Vicar), Revd Pat Harrison (Retired NS Priest)

The Millennium Garden may now be legally used for burials and the internment of ashes.