On the weekend of 11-12th May, Westfield URC, Wyke celebrated 200 years of worship and witness from 1824-2024
Here is what Mrs Kath Lonsdale, Church Secretary says about their special weekend ….
Giving Thanks for the Past
This year we are celebrating 200 years of church ministry at Westfield. We are so grateful to God for the vision, faith and commitment of our founder Benjamin Firth, and his supporters who started our church all that time ago.
Celebrating our 200th Anniversary this year is a testament to God’s faithfulness to our church and community. We give thanks for His loving grace to all our church leaders and congregations from 1824 right to this present day. The church has had its share of challenges over those 200 years (some were quite big ones!) but we offer praise to God for His abiding and enduring goodness to us throughout those two centuries.
Celebrating the Present
The Anniversary Weekend over the 11th and 12th May was a real blessing as many people from our church fellowship, past church and community friends and first time visitors from the local neighbourhood shared together. Through the sharing of our ‘history’ and ‘present’ in displays and the sharing of many memories and future possibilities, the weekend has felt like a very special time in our Westfield journey. It was made extra special by the interactive and challenging message from our Moderator, Rev Jamie Kissack, at our Sunday service. We thank God for our redeveloped sanctuary which was completed in March of this year. We are very grateful to Crossgate Constructions, Yorkshire Synod and members past and present for financially, practically and through much prayer enabling this to happen. We pray our sanctuary will be a blessing to all who use it as we ask for guidance from God on how we may be able to use it more for Him and His glory throughout the week as well as on a Sunday.
Hope for the Future
Our vision for the future is to build on the times we share together as church within community. We continue to explore ways to do this and would value all your prayers as we move forward in faith.
Westfield URC
Celebration Cake
Refurbished Sanctuary
The cover image shows Kath, Imogen Illingworth and Jamie Kissack, Synod Moderator.
Imogen aged 14, seen cutting the cake, is a member of the young people’s group who has attended faithfully since the group began 7 years ago. She also loves to regularly serve refreshments on a Sunday morning – well done Imogen!