Who we are
Hello. We hope that you may find the information on our website useful and informative. We are a Christian church, a part of the Diocese of Leeds and the Church of England, enjoying living our lives with God.
In 2015, the four parishes of Askrigg, Stalling Busk, Hardraw and Hawes were joined together to create the ‘Benefice of Upper Wensleydale’ – it’s an area that covers some 90 square miles of stunningly beautiful, ‘deeply rural’ countryside in the heart of the North Yorkshire Dales National Park. We’re a church on a journey, building on what has gone before with a hunger to see the church of Jesus Christ grow in the Dale through experiencing the love and presence of God in our daily lives.
The four communities are all quite unique with distinct histories and experiences that enrich the Benefice as a whole. There are four church buildings: St Oswald’s in Askrigg, St Matthew’s in Stalling Busk, St Mary and St John in Hardraw and St Margaret’s in the market town of Hawes.
Serving such a community spiritually requires a range of different expressions of worship and in 2019 a new pattern of services was introduced across the churches to meet that need; traditional and more contemporary, formal and informal, Eucharistic and non-Eucharistic eg: ‘Family Together’ and ‘The Gathering’ are all age services but with specific provision for our younger members, Common Worship Holy Communion, Café style, Morning Prayer, Afternoon prayer, Bible study and services using the Book of Common Prayer, all form a part of our regular monthly worship.
Our desire and our hope is that the church of Jesus Christ in Upper Wensleydale would be a place of welcome, love and truth where we may encounter God through his Holy Spirit and enjoy living our lives with Him.
You are most welcome to join us at anytime.