A CHARITY set up to help repair, restore and maintain Yorkshire's places of worship, is launching a special history day.
The inaugural Yorkshire Churches Day, organised by the Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust (YHCT), will take place on Saturday, September 10.
It aims to be the one day of the year when all places of worship in the country open up and showcase the history and heritage found inside.
This year Yorkshire Churches Day is being run in partnership with the Heritage Open Days initiative, England's largest festival of history and culture.
Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York and YHCT president, described Yorkshire Churches Day as "a wonderful opportunity to share many of our county’s beautiful churches".
"At the heart of many of our communities sits the parish church; there to welcome everyone," he said. "These are rightly centres of community, places to gather, learn, serve, places where we mourn and where we celebrate and places where week by week the good news of Jesus Christ is shared.
“However you engage with our wonderful churches, remember that they are not merely places of heritage and history, but rather vibrant and living places of worship and community. I’m so grateful to the Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust for this initiative and for the many ways in which they support and encourage those who work so hard to care for these buildings.”
Tom Ramsden, chairman of the YHCT, said the trust hopes Yorkshire Churches Day will "become a day of general celebration, when all Yorkshire’s churches, cathedrals, chapels and meeting houses will be open to all and visited by anyone keen to explore their heritage". He added: “Please use this day each year to pop in to your local church, sit there quietly for a minute or two and feel the magic of the place. They were created with love and care and they will be kept alive for future generations with your support.’
YHCT are encouraging all places of worship to consider opening up on September 10. See www.yhct.org.uk/yorkshire-churches-day/ for details of how to get involved.
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