The Friends of the Manor House have been celebrating 50 years of their work in creating a space for art and local history in a beautiful and important building.

I see the Manor House every day as I go to and from All Saints’ Parish Church and each time I do, I am reminded that we are all just a part of a much longer and complicated story.

You see this in All Saints’ church itself of course if you visit the Saxon Crosses in the tower or read the brass plaques in the chancel and if you have the time, you can even try to find Alan Titchmarsh’s initials scored into one of our Victorian choir stalls.

Our buildings, our town and the land is saturated with history; of stories from centuries past and of lives lived in the spaces we now occupy.

I love history and too often the Church of England can be accused of living too much in the past – old-fashioned services, old-fashioned hymns and out-of-date morals.

These accusations may well have some anecdotal proofs but the God that we try our best to proclaim as a Church is actually beyond fashion and current trends. The God, who enabled Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, also enabled the Apostles and other followers of Jesus to spread the teachings of Jesus all over the world.

This same God enabled Dietrich Bonheoffer to stand-up against the Nazi party in Germany, enabled Martin Luther King Jr. to be such an important part of the fight against racism and enables millions of people today to reach out and make a difference for the good of others all over the world.

There is so much anecdotal proof that God still makes a real difference to millions of lives today. The world seems at times to be in chaos but history tells us this is not new. God has been at work for millennia, is still at work, redeeming the world and through his people has been making a difference in many lives in big ways and in small ways. This is a heritage and a history I can celebrate, and I encourage you to do so as well.

By the Rev Richard Parkinson, MA, Curate of All Saints’ Parish Church, Ilkley, Clerk of Chapter Otley Deanery