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Isherwood Hall. (The original hall)

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There is said to be evidence to show that there has been a chapel or church on the site of St Mary’s Acklam for over a thousand years. The first reference to ACLUN is found in the Doomsday Book with a mention of 'a church and a priest'.

In 1853 it was renamed West Acklam to avoid confusing it with Acklam in the 'East Riding' but it was not until 1866 that the Parish of West Acklam was formed and the Rev E.G. Charlesworth became the first vicar.

Several buildings have occupied this site since Saxon times, a medieval chapel of unknown age was rebuilt circa 1770. The heading photo shows this church before the rebuild. This in turn was pulled down and a new church built circa 1874 by the Hustler family who lived in the adjacent Acklam Hall and owned all the land in the area. The original dedication was to St John and it is thought that around the time of the rebuilding in 1874 this was changed to St Mary. The South Porch was added in 1925.

The 1874 church only seated 135, with the rapid growth of the modern town of Middlesbrough and the new housing estates being built nearby prior to the Second World War, the little church soon became inadequate and more seating was required. A large extension to the North side of the 1874 church building was added, though still retaining the nave and chancel of the older church as the Bede chapel, the foundation stone being laid on 4th July 1956. The completed church was consecrated on 19th October 1957 by the then Archbishop of York, Dr Michael Ramsey. St Mary's could then cater for a seated congregation of 400.

For further information, please see a book written by the Vicar at the time of the 1957 extension Rev’d John L. Badger.

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Monday

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Tuesday

09:00 am - 06:00 pm

Wednesday

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Thursday

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Friday

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Saturday

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Sunday

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Service Sheets

St Mary’s West Acklam

August 16^th (10^th Sunday Trinity) 2020

(Holy Communion Service in Church 10 a.m.)

PRAYER

Let your merciful ears,

O Lord, be open to the prayers of your humble servants;

and that they may obtain their petitions

make them to ask such things as shall please you;

through Jesus Christ you Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you, in

the unity of the holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

FIRST READING: Isaiah 56: 1, 6-8

Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.

SECOND READING: Romans 11: 1-2a, 29-32

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

GOSPEL READING: Matthew 15: 21-28

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.

REFLECTION

Is Jesus always an attractive figure? In today’s Gospel reading, it looks like He is refusing to help the Canaanite woman, whose daughter was in a desperate situation, simply because she was a Canaanite rather than a Jew. Again, it looks rather like that by implication He is comparing the woman to a dog.

But imagine for a moment that you were a Jew in the crowd, hearing the woman’s shout. To such a person, what Jesus’ action was plain. Jews took themselves to be God’s chosen race, and the Messiah whom they awaited was to save the Israelites – only them. The tribes of Israel were then like sheep lost without a shepherd. For the crowd, then, it was only proper that Jesus implied that the Israelites are His children and the woman was not. As the same time, the crowds would be surprised that Jesus granted the woman’s plea and praised her faith.

Let us look again, this time from Canaanite woman’s point of view. We know that she was definitely familiar with Jewish tradition, for she knew how to correctly call Jesus, ‘Lord, Son of David”, and so she knew too what kind of treatment she could expect, not only as a gentile but also as a gentile woman. Yet as a mother she would do everything to save her daughter, and as a believer in God also had the faith to believe that He is merciful to those who call upon Him.

So we can understand the crowd and the Canaanite woman better. Yet something remains. What is happening in the passage is that the old, Jewish understanding of the Messiah is giving way to a new, Christian understanding. Jesus’ actions to this point in the narrative are consistent with His coming only for the lost tribes of Israel – but now, before a Jewish audience, there is a sudden, radical change. It emerges that even those whom Jews despised are to benefit from God’s grace.

Perhaps this is why Jesus is so brusque with the woman. As St. John Chrysostom put it “the evangelist speaks against this woman, that He may show forth this marvellous act, and celebrate her praise the more.” In our own time, Tom Wright interprets this narrative as being about how ‘the future keeps breaking in to the present – even as here seeming to catch Jesus Himself by surprise!’, that is to say a new message breaks in, supervening on the old one. What was for the tribes of Israel alone is now to be all nations. A gentile woman has broken through the crowd to demonstrate her faith in the mercy of God.

This is a story with an unexpected beginning, quite contrary to what we like Jesus to be and to act. It has an equally unexpected end, in which the salvation of God is bestowed on a gentile woman and her daughter. The barriers between people, whether Jews and gentiles, rich and poor, male and female are broken by the love of God. It is essential for us to remember that Jesus’ dramatic change from being dismissive to praise to the woman demonstrates the love of God is for anyone and everyone. No one is beyond and outside of Salvation.

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION by David Dorman-Smith

The Church of Christ

Lord, teach us again in your Church how to be your servants today. Teach us to do your will and walk in your way with humility, care, and true joy. In the crowded agenda of the work of the Church, beset on all sides by meetings without number, let us not lose sight of your truth. Give us the lifeline of your Spirit, an injection of hope. Replenish us with your vision. Renew us with hope of transformative action. Renew us with a sense of your purpose