What a wonderful, successful weekend we have had in the village!

So many different people were involved in our Amy Woodforde-Finden Music Festival from musicians local and nationally renowned, villagers of all ages, artists, flower arrangers, guest musicians to name but a few.

Around 200 people enjoyed the music of Friday and Saturday. First came the charismatic Patricia Hammond, who gave an informative and entertaining song recital on Friday evening. She has a beautiful, mellow voice which is ideally suited to the songs of the Edwardian era.

You can see Patricia on YouTube singing ‘Till I wake’ with Thomas Flessenkaemper accompanying her on the piano.

On Saturday, we had a varied concert of Amy Woodforde-Finden’s music featuring instrumental music, vocal solos and trios. After wine and canapes the festival culminated in an excellent, dramatic performance of Amy’s ‘Pagoda of Flowers’.

The whole weekend was the vision of our Director of Music, Thomas Flessenkaemper, who worked tirelessly over the last few months to bring this all together.

Altogether, a successful weekend which brought our community together, whether they be church goers or not. Visitors came from around the country to be part of the audience.
Thank you for supporting us in our inaugural music festival. If you were unable to do so this time, please watch out for our next venture and come and be part of it or come and support us. You are all very welcome.

Written by Gill Hart

Our Churchwardens at Killinghall, Sue Macdonald and Fiona Pepper; and our Hampsthwaite Churchwarden, Beth Wickenden, were all installed in their position for the next 12 months as the Archdeacon’s Visitation Service at St Peter’s on Monday 25th July.

Here they are with Reverend Suzy

We are delighted to announce that we have appointed a new Musical Director, organist and choir master, whose name is Thomaz Flessenkaemper. We invite you to meet him in Hampsthwaite Community room on Saturday 2nd April at 6pm where we will serve drinks and nibbles. If you can’t make the evening, then do come along to one of our Holy Communion services 9.30am Birstwith or 11.00am Hampsthwaite on Sunday 3rd and hear him play and meet him afterwards. We look forward to many musical and exciting events in the years ahead!!

We were delighted to be able, at last, to formally welcome Reverend Suzy and her family to the Benefice at an induction service held on 28th July. With a few sensible precautions in place, the service went ahead in the newly-repaired Killinghall church and was attended by members of the three churches together with Killinghall’s patron, Sir Thomas Ingilby, and representatives of the diocese and the villages. Presided over by Bishop Helen-Ann, it was a welcome return to worship with singing, beautifully supported by a joint benefice choir.

For anyone who’s never attended an induction service, it’s a mixture of warmth and humour, symbolism and ceremony (or at least, this one was). Robert Smith, from Suzy’s previous parish, gave a delightful speech about her as he, in effect, handed over to us; Suzy received a symbolic bunch of keys by the wardens, placed her hand upon the church door and even had the unenviable task of ringing the church bell which, as everyone at Killinghall knows, is no mean feat (but she managed it with apparent ease).

It was lovely to see members of our retired clergy who have supported our churches so well during the vacancy and to hear the kind words of the representatives of the Methodist chapel and WI and our patron. Even though we weren’t able to have any real social time in the church after the service, it still felt as though we, as a united benefice, had finally said a proper (and long overdue) welcome to Suzy, Brendan, Kathryn and David.