(c) Published in the Scarborough News – 14 May 2026 First ‘Homecoming Service’ held at Glaisdale Head Methodist Church
The YHCT were delighted to award £6000 to Glaisdale Methodist Church towards roof and stonework repairs.
“It was almost standing room only in Glaisdale Head Methodist Church on Sunday May 10, when a ‘Homecoming Service’ was held for the first time. The idea was inspired by the origins of Mothering Sunday, when those in service were given leave to make an annual visit to their ‘Mother’ or ‘Home’ church
Almost seventy ‘Homecomers’ attended the event – ten of which were from one family. Many of those who came had attended the Sunday School as children, or been christened or married at the chapel. Some had parents or grandparents with connections to the chapel and/or relatives who are buried in the churchyard.
A good number were also descendants of Thomas Breckon of Postgate Farm who, in 1784 lent his home as a meeting place for the first Methodists in Glaisdale, and later gave a plot of land and a substantial proportion of the funds that enabled Glaisdale Head Methodist Church to be built in 1821.
Rev Caroline Vodden (retired United Reformed Church minister and current member of the Chapel congregation) led the service. She said: “A church is not a building – although we often think so.
“A church is the people who gather together in the name of Jesus to worship God, to share their lives and eat and talk together and learn to be a living, loving community.”
The church is currently fundraising after a buildings inspection in 2022 revealed that urgent repairs are necessary. The YHCT were deligthed to awards £6000 towards the fundraising effort .
The only toilet is outside and considerable work is required to secure the future of the building.
Closure of the Church was given serious consideration, with the congregation having dwindled to a mere handful during Covid.
However, since this time, the number of regular attendees has grown and a vision ignited of a chapel that can serve as a real hub for the local community – reducing loneliness and isolation and improving resilience through events that build relationships – as well as a place of hospitality for walkers.
Congregation member Babs Flintoft said: “When I’m in the Church on my own doing some cleaning, it’s rather a dour and dismal place.
