Posts by Rev. Derek Grimshaw (Page 22)

The Jesus Man

Sadly Geoffrey Brindley died on Tuesday 26th August 2015, a name that will mean very little to most people, but mention “the Jesus man” and faces in west Yorkshire will light up.  I can remember being out in the playground at Calverley Parkside School in the 1960’s and the word would go around “the Jesus…

Living in an Instant world

One of my first purchases after I started working was a Kodak pocket camera.  I had seen films as a teenager where a spy would slip his hand into his pocket and take out a tiny camera so that he could photograph some top secret documents which had been carelessly left strewn on the desk…

Leave room for Jesus

For years I thought that a successful Church was one that was filled to capacity every Sunday, as a teenager I used to look around our local chapel and dream of the day when I would see the place packed to capacity every Sunday, sadly the only times I saw that happen was on special…

On Fire

The Reverend Rob Frost introduced an initiative a number of years ago centred on Pentecost called “On Fire” and the idea was for churches to reach beyond their buildings, go out into the streets and parks and celebrate the Pentecost experience when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and equipped them to witness to…

Going it alone

My mum wrote in her diary on Monday 15th March 1976 “Derek passed his driving test today” the words are underlined and even a whole forty five years later, I remember that day well.  I put my success down to the fact that  I had been warned by some of the lads at work to…

What is our legacy?

We are planning a holiday in June, at the point (hopefully) when the final round of Covid restrictions will be lifted.  We plan to stay in York, but travel around the North of England, one of my aims is to visit Nothumberland , a place were I used to go on holiday with my family…

Fit for purpose

My Grandma lived right opposite Calverley Methodist Church (pictured below) and the story goes that one day, while applying for life insurance, she was asked her date of birth “the 10th of June” she replied, but couldn’t remember the year, so she got up from her chair walked over to the front room window, looked…

New beginnings

Monday 12th April 2021 saw the lifting of further government restrictions as a part of the so called “roadmap to recovery” and along with half the population of Ipswich we visited the wonderful “Jimmy’s Farm” at our first opportunity. We have spent many happy hours visiting the farm in the past and it is better…

Covid Keepers

The residents of Wendley Drive in Meanwood, Leeds have had a regular weekly slot on the BBC’s One Show for the last year.  They started bringing their chairs outside one night a week and sitting by their gates and chatting with their neighbours, it was another of those occasions when viewers could listen to the…