At the end of January 2022, a small team from The Belfrey, led by Mike and Emma Perkins, were sent to help revitalise Holy Trinity church in Heworth and the congregation already residing there. Just over a year later, and it is exciting to see this community thriving and growing. Mike, the now resident Vicar, has written a few words about the church plant:

“The past year at Holy Trinity has been so encouraging and a real sign of God's kindness and generosity. One of the first things we did after our first Sunday at Holy Trinity was to introduce ourselves on the local Facebook community group. We received lots of positive welcomes from the local folk, including one who said how nice it was to see 'the church back open again'. This gave us a good indication of how the wider community viewed the church. Fast forward a year and we are seeing much greater community engagement in our events and groups and much more trust in what we offer; with numbers steadily growing not only in Sunday Services, but in our toddler group and other seasonal events too. 

It's also been wonderful to see the discipleship within the church growing too. The church had no remaining small groups when we arrived and it has been such an encouragement to now have three groups meeting at different times in order to delve into the bible in greater depth and spend time praying with one another. Linked with discipleship, we've also been so blessed by many of our church family volunteering and serving in some way this year. We recently held a thank you afternoon tea for anyone who volunteers in the church and were delighted to realise that we had invited around 40 people (somewhere between half and two thirds of the adults in the congregation!) 

All in all, it has been a full but rewarding year, full of signs of God's grace and generosity and we can't wait to see what else He has in store for us.

Mike”

We’re blessed here at The Belfrey to have fantastic ministries for community and discipleship. The Belfrey Women’s ministry is entering a new season in 2023 which we’re delighted to invite you to be part of!

We want to see women across the generations coming together to be built-up and rooted in our identity in Christ, empowered and released into what He is calling us to and confident in the part we play in seeing His Kingdom come here in our city of York.

Belfrey Women is entering a new season this year as Hayley Baker steps into the leadership of it, alongside a wonderful team: Kay Scott, Remi Oduyemi, Ursula Warrington and Becca Hewitt.

Hayley is a qualified Youth and Community worker by trade, primarily working with offenders and those with additional learning needs. She enjoys mentoring and longs to help others know their worth and freedom in Christ. Hayley has felt the call to lead since she was 16 years old, and is expectant of what the Lord will do amongst women and His church in this time. Hayley is married to Andy Baker, our Associate Vicar, and is currently a full-time mum to their two wonderful children.

The mailing list is being renewed at the moment so that we can make sure every woman in the Belfrey family has a chance to be part of this special, multi-generational community. We’d love you to take a moment to sign up! Please also invite the women of your Belfrey Group and other friends from church to do this too.

JOIN THE BELFREY WOMEN MAILING LIST 

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The next event in the Belfrey Women calendar is our annual Teaching Day on Saturday 3rd June.

We’re delighted that Arianna Walker will be joining us, helping us to explore what it means to live free and stay free in Christ. 

Arianna is the CEO of Mercy UK - a charity which equips Christians with the tools they need to thrive: to experience real freedom from the issues that hold them back and navigate life’s challenges from this place of wellbeing and wholeness. They run a Freedom Course which includes one-to-one mentoring, counselling and other specialist support. They also train churches and leaders in responding to mental health challenges through pastoral care and discipleship.

Come and join us, and invite your sisters in Christ along too!

BOOK HERE

We have recently confirmed that we have received planning permission and listed building consent from City of York Council for the external elements of Impact, our proposed major building project. The permission includes over £3.5m worth of urgent external repairs and improvements to the fabric of the St Michael le Belfrey.

Permission is subject to certain planning conditions including the requirement for a written scheme of investigation for archaeology before construction commences. The approved works, due to start later this year, will include a new roof as well as repairs to the stonework and medieval stained glass. In addition, the proposed design will create two new doorways and level access to the front/west end; while the installation of an air source heat pump to the east of the church building will provide underfloor heating.

The first major refurbishment to the church building in more than 150 years, The Belfrey’s Impact project will create a far more welcoming, flexible and accessible entrance area and ensure the building is sustainable for generations to come. The improvements will enable us to serve the city of York and our community better. Nestled close to York Minster, we welcome 35,000 visitors a year and have a 600-strong congregation across our four services, engaging in a creative and vibrant ministry.

As a church, The Belfrey would like to thank our planning consultants O’Neill Associates who have consulted with City of York Council throughout the application process, and our amazing architects, LDN, for the extensive submission and subsequent revision of drawings and documents as we responded to the Council’s comments and advice.

The repairs are forming part of our bigger £11m Impact project to beautifully transform the church building for future generations. The interior of the church is currently inflexible and inaccessible with uneven floors and poor facilities, and is in desperate need of modernisation. The proposed renovations to the interior have to be approved through the Church of England’s Faculty process. They include the creation of better toilet facilities, new meeting spaces, cafe and servery area, new gallery and lift, together with updated technology and flexible seating. An accessible full immersion baptism pool will be created for use by The Belfrey and churches throughout the area. Impact was recommended by the York Diocesan Advisory Committee in November 2022 and we look forward to reaching an outcome later in the year.

The proposed two-year project of repairs and renovations is due to start in late 2023 with completion in late 2025. It will deliver a far more flexible, accessible building that is fit for purpose practically and spiritually, to serve the city of York, the Diocese and beyond. We expect the Impact project will deliver numerous outcomes which include expansion in our work with children, young people and students. We will be better equipped to deliver our social action programme for the city, including expanding our newly opened Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Debt Centre, and a soon to be launched counselling service, amongst other initiatives. Impact will facilitate our vision to act as a hub for training and resourcing social action in partnership with other churches and charities in York. It will offer a beautiful mid-sized city centre venue, and we predict we will double the numbers of people who visit.

The Belfrey congregation and staff team will be moving to The De Grey Rooms in central York during the construction phase of the project.

For further information about the project, please contact Gillian Shepherd, Impact Project Manager on 07795 644680, email gillian.shepherd@belfrey.org, or visit www.belfrey.org/impact

Last month our Vicar, Matthew Porter, was announced as the new Bishop of Bolton in the Diocese of Manchester.

We are so excited for Matthew and his wife, Sam, as they take on this new adventure in Manchester and particularly what he can bring to grow the mission and church planting initiatives in the area. Matthew has always been passionate about evangelism and empowering us as a church to see God’s transformation of the North and we are excited to see how he continues this over in Bolton.

We are saddened to see Matthew leave us here in York but are thankful for Matthew and Sam’s servant hearted nature and all they have given to The Belfrey over the last 14 years as leaders here. They will be greatly missed but we will be praying for them as they finish up their time here in York and prepare to move over the summer.

We will be officially thanking both Matthew and Sam and saying goodbye during their final Sunday with us on the 11th June and will be praying for Matthew as he is officially consecrated as Bishop in York Minster on the 22nd June.

With our Impact project rapidly gaining traction we are pleased to announce that during construction we will be moving into the historic De Grey Rooms.

Located opposite York’s Art Gallery just a minute down the road from St Michael le Belfrey, we will be moving both our services and offices into this temporary home for two to three years as our building undertakes major restoration and renovation works.

Built in 1841, the De Grey Rooms consists of a large and beautiful ballroom where our services will take place as well as plenty of other rooms of varying sizes that will be used throughout the week to hold our offices and for small events. This move will undoubtedly mark great change for us here at the Belfrey and how we operate but we are excited for the new opportunities it will provide for our services, outreach events and more.