We are pleased to announce that our Vicar, Revd. Matthew Porter has been appointed an Honorary Chaplain to Her Majesty The Queen.

An Honorary Chaplain to The Queen is a member of the clergy who, after long and distinguished service, is appointed to an honorary role in service of the monarch. There are presently about 35 Honorary Chaplains.

As an Honorary Chaplain, Matthew will be part of the Ecclesiastical Household, which means that as well as being Vicar of St Michael le Belfrey he will occasionally attend royal events and preach to the royal household.

Matthew says: ‘In this year of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee I am delighted and honoured to be invited into this role. I look forward to being part of the Ecclesiastical Household, alongside the other chaplains, in prayerful service of our monarch and nation.’

It's with full hearts that we are pleased to announce that Beth Burbidge, our Internship Coordinator and Assistant Youth Worker, has accepted a new post as Associate Leader with responsiblity for Children and Youth at St Peter's Church in Morley, Leeds.

We love Beth and her husband Alex, and are so thankful for all they have given in service to our church family over the last six years. Both of them have played a huge part in our community and will be sorely missed, but we're so pleased that The Belfrey is called to be a church that builds up leaders, in order to send them out to resource other churches in the North of England.

Beth and Alex will be moving to Leeds in the summer, and we will commission and honour them closer to that time. In the meantime, please do join us in praying for Beth and Alex over the next few months as they transition into this new chapter of their ministry together, and for our Internship and Youth Work ministries as they continue to grow.

Anonymous Donor gives up to £5.9m to help fund St Michael le Belfrey’s building project 

It is with awe and gratitude that St Michael le Belfrey Church finds itself the beneficiary of a gift of up to £5.9m. This significant gift has been donated specifically to fund a major repair and reordering project currently estimated between £5-7m. 

This gift will help the Church:

• expand its mission to share the Christian faith, serve young people, support the vulnerable in the city and develop future church leaders who can move on to plant new churches in the north

• undertake a comprehensive programme of repairs which preserves a nationally significant building for future generations

• restore and reorder a building which will create a stunning city centre venue that not only benefits visitors but York’s residents and businesses 

 “When I received the news, it is fair to say that I was astounded by the generosity of this gift and the phenomenal provision of God,” explains Matthew Porter, Vicar of The Belfrey. “To know that we can go ahead with the building restoration in the knowledge that most, if not all, of the funding is in place is both a privilege and a responsibility. It’s important that we create a space which will benefit many people and supports our vision. It’s wonderful to know that this releases us as a church to consider other priorities which require our finances.” 

The building project includes substantial repairs to the fabric including stonework, stained glass and a new roof, alongside a significant reordering particularly to the interior, to make it more flexible for the worship and mission of a 21st Century Church.  

St Michael le Belfrey is a resource church for York Diocese which means it will help train and develop new leaders, help revitalise old churches and plant new ones in York and further afield (as is the case with St Thomas’ church in Newcastle, planted in 2019). 

The benefactor, who wishes to remain anonymous, approached Matthew in summer 2019 to share their support of the vision to reorder the church building and plant new churches. The Vicar and Church Council have appointed a Project board to make sure the project and its finance are managed wisely. This significant gift follows an already generous donation made to the church in 2017 towards the project.