Saint Wilfrid’s Parish Church, Harrogate

St Wilfrid's Church
Duchy Road
Harrogate
HG1 2EY
North Yorkshire

Welcome to Saint Wilfrid's Church Harrogate

We hope that you will enjoy this on-line visit and explore our pages to learn a little more about Saint Wilfrid's and its people. If travel permits, we hope that one day you will pay a "reality visit" to Saint Wilfrid's and join us for worship. A Visitors' & Newcomers' Pack is available in Church.

Saint Wilfrid's Harrogate, is a Parish Church serving the Jennyfield, Killinghall Moor and Duchy areas of the town. The very fine Grade I listed building by the distinguished architect, Temple Moore, and its tradition of Anglo-Catholic worship also draw people from beyond the parish boundaries.

A wide range of ages, professions and trades is represented among the people who gather Sunday by Sunday to worship God at the Parish Mass, which is our principle act of worship. See the Worship & Young People pages to learn more about the Young Wilf's Sunday School and other things going on each Sunday.

Whilst Saint Wilfrid's has a long-established catholic tradition, it is not aligned with either Affirming Catholicism or Forward in Faith. People of differing outlook are able to worship together in this parish which has passed Resolutions A & B under the Ordination of Women measure but has not opted for alternative Episcopal oversight.

The Parish Church of St Wilfrid, Harrogate is one of the finest modern churches in the North of England. In 1903 the eminent ecclesiastical architect, Temple Moore, was invited to design "a fine Early English church of great dignity and beauty, to be built of stone and to accommodate 900 worshippers". This "exceeding magnifical" building was consecrated in June 1914, and completed by the addition of the Holy Spirit Chapel (1928) and the Lady Chapel (1935) - these two were the work of Leslie Moore, son-in-law of the original architect.

Architect and son-in-law had soaked themselves in the Gothic style of the 13th Century, and the whole building conveys an unerring sense of scale and proportion, with a wonderful power to create vistas and an impression of great space. The glory and majesty of God are truly proclaimed in St Wilfrid's where the Holy Eucharist, the central act of Christian worship, has been celebrated every day for seventy or more years. It is now the only Grade 1 listed building in Harrogate.

Mark Sowerby,

(Former Team Rector)

Latest News...

January 2010

The Diocese of Ripon and Leeds is advertising the currently vacant position of Team Rector to succeed Father Mark Sowerby. View the advertisement and/or apply for the post of Team Rector here.

St. Wilfrid's Church Restoration Fundraising Launch

We have set ourselves a fundraising target of £2million for the refurbishment and replacement of the key elements of our building. It is our intention to put on both large and small fund-raising events as well as to request donations from those who wish to subscribe. We are launching our Campaign on Saturday 6 March 2010. Read More Here>>

St Wilfrid's Walking Group

Weather permitting our January walk will be on Saturday 30th January and those interested should assemble in the St Wilfrid's car park at 10 am. The walk will start at the Visitor Centre at the top of Sutton Bank and will be about four and a half miles taking us past the Scotch Corner Chapel about which the recent book 'A biography of An English Acre' by Margaret Bunting was written.

In addition to the other activities there is a walking group at St Wilfrid's that meets once a month. If you are interested in participating just turn up in the car park at 10 am on the last Saturday of the month. The walks are usually around 4 - 6 miles. In April 2010 the walkers will be spending a couple of days at the Ravenscar Hotel for walks in the area.

December 2009

There are debates, bewildering and strange, often going on in Church circles. Perhaps it's worth reflecting for a moment the situation which has given rise to the Vatican's new Apostolic Constitution. The proposals within appear to be offering an unusual accommodation, not just for Anglo-Catholics, but for a whole spectrum of "conservatives" in the Church of England. Read More.....

Download this December's edition of Network by clicking here.

November 2009

From the Team Vicar....

The Church is sometimes referred to as the "Ship of Fools"! There is an online Christian community with this name and they often publish the report of a "mystery worshipper". St Wilfrid's featured here a few years ago and, we have just discovered, is featuring again now, following a "mystery worshipper" visit just before Fr Mark's departure.

St Wilfrid's is being described in an extremely good light. Do take a look, you can see the full report by clicking on this link. It is heartening see that the joy and high quality of our worshiping life here, together proclaiming Christ, is as positively experienced and appreciated by visitors as well as by us.

As this month begins, the Bishop of the diocese will formally receive the work of the PCC in our "Parish Statement". This is the foundation document for us, and for all in the discerning process, as the procedure for finding a new Team Rector continues. The Statement is the result of many hours of hard work on the part of our PCC Secretary and Churchwardens especially – for this they are due our great thanks.

Read More in this month's edition of Network Here.

October 2009

St Wilfrids welcomes Bishop David Hope for All Saints' Sunday

On All Saints' Sunday, the 1st November 2009, there will be a very special Sung Pontifical Mass at 10.00am where our Principal Celebrant and Preacher will be the former Archbishop of York, Bishop David Hope.

The Rt Rev & Rt Hon Dr David Hope, KCVO, was Bishop of Wakefield, then of London, and then Archbishop of York from 1995–2005. As Archbishop, he came to St Wilfrid's in 2004 for the 100th anniversary of our church's foundation.

Dr Hope has held many other distinguished offices. From 1974-1982 he was Principal of St Stephen's House, Oxford and, between 1982 and 1993, he served as Master of the College of Guardians of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Dr Hope has served on the Privy Council since 1991 and was honoured by The Queen as KCVO in 1995. In retirement, Dr Hope is an Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Bradford and continues to sit in the House of Lords, now as Baron Hope of Thornes. We look forward to welcoming him back to St Wilfrid’s at All Saints' tide.

For more information please contact Fr John Thompson-Vear, the Team Vicar on 01423 709432, or the Parish Office, Duchy Rd on 01423 504629.

From the Team Vicar....

I was very pleased to be able to be part of our parish's Walsingham Pilgrimage; this year the last weekend of September. Those who travelled to England’s Nazareth with me were properly refreshed, challenged and inspired anew in our lives with the good news of Jesus as the Incarnate Lord.

For some Christians, devotion to the Blessed Virgin can be puzzling and controversial, despite this being the daily practice of more than three quarters of the world's Christians, and as old as the faith itself. As we were reminded this year at Walsingham, proper devotion to Mary is never anything less than the proclamation of Jesus himself; true God and true man and continuing both God and man in his new and risen life.