Our Vision

Imagine what Rotherham Minster could be. Imagine what Rotherham could be like. Imagine a place where people come for concerts, for events and performances, for banquets and big celebrations.

Imagine a place that reaches out to even more people in need, in distress, in poverty, providing practical help, a place where people listen, and where help is at hand. Imagine a place where people meet friends for a coffee, where the doors are always open.

Imagine a place that draws visitors to Rotherham to see the wonderful architecture and learn about the town’s history and heritage. Imagine a place where hundreds of years of Christian worship find 21st-century relevance. Imagine a place that inspires young people, that helps them to see what they can achieve.

That’s what Rotherham Minster can be. We need your help to make it happen.

Rotherham Minster towers over the town, as it has done for hundreds of years. It is the town’s oldest and most significant building, and has always been at the

heart of what happens here. Today is

no different.

Already, the Church of England has invested a seven-figure sum to help the Minster rise to the particular challenges that the community in Rotherham faces. We’ve put that money to use serving those in most need.

Our Social Supermarket puts food on the tables of those hardest hit by the cost of living crisis. But we don’t leave it there. Partnering with Laser Credit Union we help people save. There are cookery classes, Pilates, singing and walking groups, people growing vegetables on Clifton Learning Partnership’s allotments, and a Catch Up Café to build community.

Our choral programme reaches out to schools, teaching children to sing, continuing a centuries old tradition at Rotherham Minster. For every young person, it’s a window into a different world, and when young voices pack the Minster for concerts given to friends and family, everyone is moved.

This is just the start. We can do much more to rebuild our community. But we need your support. This leaflet is about our vision.

There has been a church on the site of Rotherham Minster since 937, that’s over a thousand years of history.

The current building dates, in the main, from the 15th century, but it’s a building that has reflected its times, as each generation leaves its mark.

It truly is the jewel in Rotherham’s crown, as reflected by the views of eminent architectural historians. Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as “one of the largest and stateliest churches in Yorkshire”; Simon Jenkins states it is “the best work in the county”, and Alec CliftonTaylor calls it the “glory of Rotherham”.

Now, we’re creating a new future for this fine place. We’re making changes that reflect the needs of our generation, to sustain this wonderful historic building in a way that serves the people of the town. We’re creating a future that’s fit for the 21st century.

Rotherham is a town with a future. It

has had its hard times, but good things lie ahead.

However you look at it, Rotherham Minster is at the heart of the town. It always has been. We want the Minster to be a place that really is at the centre of things, the beating heart of a reinvigorated Rotherham.

We want to make Rotherham Minster into a place where people gather, where the people of the town go, a place that visitors to the town can’t miss, indeed a reason for people to visit Rotherham. The Minster can play a key role in reinvigorating the town, its economy,

and its sense of community. Already we’re doing it.

A 180 families a year benefit from the Social Supermarket. And it’s not just about food, it’s about helping people change their circumstances. By cooperating with the Rotary Club, schools, churches, Citizen’s Advice, RotherFed and Families First we’ve made it a real community initiative.

Our choral work introduces children to a world of culture and achievement they never knew existed. You have to hear the Minster reverberating to maybe 80 young voices, in front of 300 parents, friends and brothers and sisters to know how much this means.