The Good Shepherd Parish

Mytholmroyd

Nestling in the South Pennines, in the Upper Calder Valley, the Good Shepherd Parish covers some 98 sq. miles – mainly sheep grazing hillsides, farms and moor land.

The main settlements within the Parish are to be found in Heptonstall, the ancient township since Viking times, Hebden Bridge, a bustling town of small shops, Mytholmroyd, the largest residential centre of the valley, and to the East, Midgley, Luddenden village, and Luddenden Foot old mill townships.

The Parish is an ideal residential area for people working in Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Rochdale, Manchester, with easy commuting distances through access to the M62, and a regular railway service to York, Preston and Manchester, and all places in between.

In recent years, virtually all the Mills, and Sewing Shops, have been converted into luxury apartments and housing.

The area is popular with tourists. For the serious walker the Pennine Way and the Calderdale Way provide challenging walks whilst for others they have splendid access to the hills; the Rochdale Canal linking the Leeds-Liverpool, the Calder- Hebble navigation, through to Rochdale and Manchester, gives a wonderful serene sail through some of the most beautiful valleys in Northern England. Cyclists, fisher-people, caravaners, can all enjoy excellent facilities, a wide variety of good restaurants and cafes, with camping sites and bed and breakfast accommodation.

Within the area there are residential poets, (Ted Hughes the former poet-laureate was born in Mytholmroyd), writers, artists and sculptors. There are professional actors and actresses, as well as lively amateur dramatic and Light Opera groups, whilst the Hepton Singers and the Local Brass Bands are very well-known both nationally and internationally. Hebden Bridge is unique in still maintaining its own Cinema.

It is not surprising then, that the Good Shepherd Parish reflects these local qualities. It is a Parish of gifted people who are encouraged to use their gifts to the full, especially in the service of others.

So the interior of the Church, itself, reflects that giftedness. The stained glass and etched windows, designed and executed by parishioners; the altar, presidential chair and altar furnishing designed by a young arts graduate, the woollen sanctuary hanging designed by a local girl and hand made by a local manufacturer are only some of the delights to be found within.

We place a strong emphasis in presenting the seasonal liturgical themes artistically, and through dramatic flower arranging, with carefully chosen hymns, and using the musical talents of our people young and old to enhance the Liturgy.

But even more important are our gifted Luncheon Club staff who provide a weekly three course lunch for local pensioners.

Our Eucharistic Ministers ensure that each of our housebound parishioners can receive Holy Communion weekly, if desired, and are regularly kept in touch with the community, and twice a year are brought out of their homes - in the winter to a Mass of Anointing followed by a party- in the Summer for an outing, and high tea at some suitable restaurant.

Having no parish school, we take a particular delight in caring for our young people.

From their earliest years there is the ‘Parents and Toddlers club’, as they grow older, there is ‘The Children’s Liturgy’ celebrated during the main Sunday Mass; Sacramental preparation for the Sacraments of Reconciliation, and First Holy Communion follow, and from the age of 9, children, especially at non catholic schools, we try to arrange a visit to a residential centre to concentrate on learning about their faith. These lead to the Sacrament of Confirmation. We then encourage them, if they are going away to University or college, to make contact with the Chaplaincy there.

Hopefully, they will return for preparation for Marriage!

One of the endemic problems of living in a valley is that it is not easy to see over the hill! Psychologically, it is easy in the cosy surroundings of these womb-like hills and valleys to grow less concerned about the world out there.

To combat this we have had to make positive steps. We started in the late 1970’s to take our young people to Lourdes, Taize and Rome. These trips necessitated the purchase of a Mini-Bus. Next, we took them into Poland through the Berlin Wall so they could experience life in the Soviet Union. Then onto Poznan, Warsaw, Krakow, Myslenice, visiting orphanages, hospitals, housing estates, making contacts and new friends. This involved making collections of clothing, and medical supplies etc. The ‘Minibus of Mercy’ became a popular sight in the district!

Subsequently this led to trips to Russia where we became friends of the Russian Orthodox Archbishop Hrisanf of Kirov and Sloboda, an Archdiocese of the size of France! We were to welcome him here with great joy on a return visit. But we also met and made friends with Fr Stefan Katinel and Sr.Yolanda FMM of the Assumption Church in St. Petersburg which we were to help restore. Many exchanges have followed from this, and life-long friendships made.

But not content with Europe we then went overland to the Holy Land where we took aid to the Palestinian People and in particular with the Arab Rehabilitation Centre near Bethlehem. This was to mark a new departure for us, for from this trip we undertook to pay for an Arab Muslim Student we met, to go through Salford University for four years to qualify in Medical Engineering. Hazeim was to return to his country and over the years has worked tirelessly to bring the best of medical equipment into the Palestinian hospitals.

Today our contacts with Russia, Palestine, and Lima are as strong and necessary as ever. Meanwhile back home, a retired couple, in the parish, Roger and Josie had begun to establish a pre-school nursery in Lima, Peru. We, of course, began to support the project, and still do. It was natural that our next trip would be to South America, and so it was.

As all this was going along the Parish was being re-structured from three communities to one, necessitating the building of a new church and centre, and making proper arrangements for the disposal of the old ones.

Once more the Parish community reached out to those in need; So the Calder Valley Handicapped Club were able to move into the old Church of SS. Peter & Paul in Mytholmroyd, the Hospitaller Order of St John of God were to open a Respite Care Centre for those with serious learning difficulties and disabilities, on the site of St. Walburga’s Church in Luddenden Foot, whilst Catholic Care opened a home for those with Mental Disabilities being placed in the Community, at St Thomas’s Church in Hebden Bridge. We continue to support these ventures and have added the Care Centre for those with severe Learning Difficulties in the Royd Square Centre in Hebden Bridge. Building community, using the wonderful resources God has given us in the gifted people He has called into this part of the Vineyard, has brought about involvement with many differing needs. From supporting our own families, especially through the annual family weekends; our newly married with opportunities to socialise; encouraging our singles to meet; to reaching out to families torn apart through violence and awesome suffering, and resulting in their becoming asylum seekers in an alien land; this latter, has called us to a work which we have led the way for others to follow in Calderdale.

The task, of course, is unfinished. There is always more to be done. Yet God in His infinite generosity continually sends new people into this vineyard with new gifts, whilst we see others called to new areas of the kingdom, to take the message to other areas with our blessing.

If you are new to this community, then reflect that God too, in His infinite Wisdom has brought you here to use your giftedness and to enrich us, and all those around. We welcome and embrace you.