Horton, Yorkshire - Nov 2026

Autumn has arrived with very welcome rain in Yorkshire. Although we didn’t get to the stage of a hosepipe ban this year our fields, gardens and countryside have all suffered and ‘God’s own County’ has turned a straw colour instead of green! However, a small miracle occurred, because within a few days of the rain starting the grass changed and green re-appeared – such a welcome sight and one we tend to take for granted and one I am sure we all give thanks for.

Over the summer, in addition to our normal church services, a special family service was held, we also shared a service with Lower Wyke and we continued with various outreach activities – local churches together coffee mornings, a fashion show, our summer birthday group where we played ‘Beetle’ and shared a hot lunch, a holiday craft session for young people and a shared service with Lower Wyke.

Our own Br Owen took on and completed the Three Peaks Challenge in June and raised money for Dementia UK – well done, such an achievement.

We hope everyone stayed well over the hot, dry summer and you all enjoyed a time of rest and renewal. Sending greetings from the congregation at Horton.

Sr Linda Barraclough

Horton’s Church Committee had a day retreat in Malham on 12th September, based in Malham’s Methodist Chapel. The weather was not kind but, on the way, we saw a rainbow which gave us a lot of hope.

Our theme was reflecting on passages in the Bible that explored our use of time. Together, we shared in a variety of ways including highlighted lists and colourful clay about how we use our personal time. We considered carefully what gave us joy, what was ‘simply for a season’ and what felt like something we would like to stop.

After lunch at a local cafe, we scrapped our planned walk and started the afternoon with a cuppa and some cake in the chapel. We played a shortened game of ‘Picteureka’ which helped warm us up to the theme of seeing things a bit differently from different angles or perspectives. We then took time as a church committee to reflect on what gave us ‘joy’ over the years of Horton’s Church history to the present day. This included some fabulous things that have happened in the past but no longer do, alongside current ministry and mission work. We dug a little deeper into the importance of recognising how even things that have given us joy in the past might be ‘of a season’ and if they were to suddenly return might not be where God is calling us to be today. We explored how God leads us and discussed the tricky reality of ‘obligation’ and how this cannot be a main motivation for us as a community. God’s spirit, which is full of love for us, encourages us to find a life in all of its fullness, rather than operating from a sense of ‘we must’. We shared personal reflections throughout this session intertwined with the wonderful history of Horton Moravian Church and its varied expressions of faith.

We finished by curating some candle holders that reminded us that God’s light is with us through the joyful times as well as the darker and scarier moments, and that we follow a God who calls us to live in the light.

We finished with a Cup of Covenant service together before leaving to return home in the one car – with many thanks to Sr Maureen Colbert for driving us there and back.

Once more a rainbow was spotted this time on the way back: ‘a promise from God’ as someone mentioned in the car. It was good to retreat together.

Sr Claire Maxwell