Heslington Church is in the parish (and village) of

Heslington Heslington is a suburban village and civil parish within the City of York district, in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England, south-east of the centre of York. Before 1974, it was a village in the Derwent Rural District, which was pa ...

, near

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, England. As well as the village and some more modern housing estates, the church also serves some outlying farms. The Heslington campus of the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

is also in the parish. It is a

local ecumenical partnership In England and Wales, a local ecumenical partnership (or project) is a partnership between churches of different denominations. First piloted in 1964, over 850 now exist to promote unity between different Christian denominations. The missiolo ...

between the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

and the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

, making it one of few joint Methodist/Anglican churches. It was formed from

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

's Church, Heslington and Heslington Methodist Chapel in 1971, the name of the combined church being "Heslington Church", though some people still incorrectly refer to it as "St Paul's". The old Methodist Chapel is now the village meeting room.

History

The earliest record of the parish of Heslington is in 1299; it was from that time until 1842 subject to the peculiar jurisdiction of the

Prebend A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...

of Ampleforth. The advowson passed to the Archbishop of York in 1842.Church of England, Heslington, St. Paul, parish
University of York; Borthwick Catalogue. Retrieved 7 May 2019. Originally constructed in 1858, the building still looks like a Victorian parish church from the south. It was extended in the 1970s by the ecclesiastical architect

Ronald Sims Ronald Sims (1926–2007) was a distinguished ecclesiastical architect who redesigned many English church interiors. His style combined modernism with a respect for tradition and particularly the Arts and Crafts movement. He graduated in 1952, w ...

; he removed the old north wall, and added a modern suite of meeting rooms, including a vestry and kitchen, on the north side. The old choir and sanctuary now form a separate chapel, and the congregation sits in a semicircle facing the new

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

to the north. Sims's design makes use of exposed breeze blocks and concrete lintels which are not to everyone's taste. The building is now a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Each denomination in the ecumenical partnership is represented by a member of clergy; the Anglican vicar is Rev. Johannes Nobel, while Rev. Rory Dalgliesh, Methodist chaplain to the University of York, represents the

. Rowan Williams, Anglican chaplain to the university, frequently worships at the church, although the church and the university chaplaincy are officially separate. Services are conducted from a combined liturgy, written by the church.

Services and meetings

Sunday services take place at 10.00am. Aside from the usual midweek meetings, the church also plays host to various university groups throughout the week. Former chapel in Heslington - geograph

References

External links

This is York link

Heslington Church website
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{{Churches in York Methodism in the United Kingdom Methodist churches in North Yorkshire Church of England church buildings in North Yorkshire Grade II listed churches in York