Churches unite for historic service in Acomb

THE Archbishop of York followed in the footsteps of 18th-century preachers when he led a special open-air service for a 500-strong congregation.

Preachers from ten local churches gathered for prayer, worship and fellowship in the sunshine yesterday at York’s Acomb Green as Dr John Sentamu held the service – a quarter of a millennium since the last of its kind was held.

In the mid-1700s, Methodist preachers came from far and wide to hold sermons on the green.

The organiser of yesterday’s event, Steve Redman, of The Ark church, said as the 250th anniversary approached since the last was held, St Stephen’s, St Aidan’s, Holy Redeemer, Our Lady’s, Gateway, Acomb Methodist, Lidgett Grove Methodist, Acomb Baptist, The Quakers and The Ark churches got together for the community event.

The worship was led by Christian musician Godfrey Birtill, who has performed all over the world.

Mr Redman said the day was met by fantastic local support and public response.

“We were absolutely overwhelmed,” he said. “Over 500 people turned up and the weather was fabulous after such a lousy few days – our prayers for sunshine paid off.

“Godfrey Birtill was brilliant and this is the first time in history these ten churches have stopped their meetings and all come together – and to such a fantastic result.

“The crowd loved Archbishop Sentamu – he really is popular and lots of people say they like to see him in person.

“He got everyone involved and sprits were really high.”

He said this was a “prototype” event – but as it was such a success it could be held annually.

“About 250 years ago, the great Methodist preachers would come to Acomb and preach on the Green,” he said.

“It would appear that this included John Wesley himself.

“The Green has moved since then, but we got the idea a quarter of a millennium later to get people together to sing rousing songs and hear a great speaker.

“It was meant to be a one-off event but afterwards I was inundated with people coming up to me saying ‘Right Steve – let’s plan next year’.

“So it definitely looks like this could be an annual event.”