The church on the hill is on the rise.
St Bartholomew’s Church, (St Bart’s) Wednesdbury has overcome the multiple challenges of recent years through the faithful determination of the congregation and with the support of an interim priest, Canon Ben Whitmore, brought in from January 2025 with a brief to nurture and renew.
St Bart’s faced the lack of a vicar through sickness over a long period ending in his resignation in January 2024, the closure of its church hall and resignation en bloc of the Parochial Church Council in March 2024. There were also significant works needed to the ancient Grade II listed building and there were rumours of closure of the building. Through resilience and faith in the future, clearly expressed in the parish newsletters, the congregation combined with the care of the interim minister have won through, with a brighter future now clearly ahead.
In January 2025 Canon Ben Whitmore arrived as an Interim Minister. Canon Ben is Canon Missioner at Lichfield Cathedral and that role, an innovation of the bishop, is sustained by the life and prayer of the cathedral with Ben made available by the Bishop of Lichfield to help in parishes where support is needed and welcome. After Canon Ben’s arrival, in Wednesbury, church life developed apace. He saw his role as renewing hope and providing fresh vision for the congregation.
Canon Ben told them:
“God is bigger than any of the problems we face together.”
He continued:
“For most of the last year we have achieved together far more than could have been imagined.
“It is wonderful to think that we will be holding our ‘nearly midnight’ service this Christmas Eve at 9pm and welcoming in the community to celebrate with us.
“This is in some ways a birth and a resurrection – you could say we are having Christmas and Easter together.
He gave the future a structure: the parish was already building relationships with St Luke’s Mesty Croft and Canon Ben saw that a full-time vicar could viably be shared with them to make St Bart’s sustainable. The congregation had survived the challenges of 2024, continuing to hold services with occasional outside help and had already elected a new Parochial Church Council before Canon Ben arrived. He started work on the building project and he secured working links with local schools, offering support for assemblies and making connection with families.
By May 2025 the church was celebrating the increase in the congregation numbers, the hall being used every day and Canon Ben and the new PCC working hard together for the benefit of the church. The start of building works was announced in June 2025. Numbers continued to grow and wedding, baptism and funeral bookings were being taken with confidence.
The church is now back on its feet, congregations are growing and they are advertising at the moment for a new Priest-in-Charge. The iconic building is on the brink of starting repair works to give it a future for it is hoped, centuries to come. Work has already started on making the worn-out pathway up to the church safe and scaffolding is appearing around the church building.
The Rt Revd Tim Wambunya, Bishop of Wolverhampton, said:
“The story of St Bartholomew’s shows what a few patient, persevering, faithful and hard-working people at the heart of a church can do to bring fresh hope for their church and their community.
“They and Canon Ben are a wonderful example.”
Much of the story is clear in the words of Alison O’Neil, Church Secretary, and editor of the church’s monthly magazine. Extracts below.
In January 2024, after remarking on St Bart’s excellent Christmas celebrations, Alison wrote: “We can only pray for our friends, family and ourselves and let’s join together for the strength of this church as we now enter interregnum (period where we do not have a vicar). We have said goodbye to Father Mark but wish him well for the future. We are grateful to Joyce for currently leading our Sunday services at 9 am and 10 am.”
Father Mark resigned at that point after several months sick leave. Joyce Turner is a pastoral worker at the church who helped sustain the services as best as possible.
February 2024 brought news of the church hall: “It’s been an eventful couple of weeks within our church family to say the least. As you may already know, the use of the activities in the church hall will be paused as from 11th February as the current caretaker is stepping down. Unfortunately it will not be available to the groups that currently use it until a new caretaker/manager is appointed.”
March 2024, brought mixed news for the church: “We continue to have services in church at 11am and we have had different people taking the services and we thank all those who have visited and spent time with us. It has been explained that we may not have cover for some of our services, and it has been suggested that we join other churches who have a vicar/preacher taking a service. Please keep all those working for our church in your prayers as we continue our interregnum. The church hall is still under temporary closure, and our PCC have resigned. We hope and pray the diocese are working for solutions to our current situation.
... and in April 2024: “Hope you had a lovely Easter. Unfortunately, our church was not open over Easter and some of our congregation attended Easter services at St. Luke’s (Mesty Croft). Thank you for inviting us and welcoming us. Our normal service in St. Bartholomew’s will be on the 7th April … We continue to have services in church at 11am and we have had different people taking the services and we thank all those who have visited and spent time with us.”
In September 2024: “Not a great deal happening at church as we are still relying on visiting vicars and preachers, with the regular help of Joyce. Please keep all those working for our church in your prayers as we continue our interregnum and strive to create a new group of volunteers. Please contact Mr. Rob Yardley if you would like to help in any way, big or small.”
“I am pleased to say that St Bartholomew's Church is now open to visitors on Monday
and Friday from 12 noon to 5 pm. Visitors are welcome to walk around or sit quietly in any part of the church. Reflective music is played and refreshments are available. May you know the love, peace and blessing of God's presence. We thank our congregation member who has made this happen and is monitoring the church.”
In October 2024: We also held an extraordinary meeting on the 22nd September where we elected our new PCC. It was chaired by the acting Archdeacon of Walsall, Rev. Jim Trood. It was an encouraging meeting and more details will follow.
The congregation’s patient endurance over long months was rewarded in December 2024 with this announcement: “What exciting times ahead in the New Year for us all too. The Rural Dean Ben Whitmore will commence his ministry in the New Year with us. I’m sure you will all join me in welcoming him to St. Bartholomew’s and wishing him well. With a new PCC, and new team members, it is a very encouraging start to the New Year. Let us support one another in our church congregation and look forward to more things to come.
February 2025: “We officially welcomed Canon Ben Whitmore to our church on the 12th January 2025. The service was conducted by the Bishop of Wolverhampton and was well attended.”
“So lots of plans and hope for the future of our church, and Canon Ben will of course also be working for and supporting St Luke’s and St Paul’s. We wish him well for his 12-month term with us, and look forward to positive plans, ideas and successes. With the help and
support of the PCCs in each church, and their congregations, exciting times ahead.
April 2025: Our Mothering Sunday Service was well attended. It was lovely to see the uniformed groups on the day. Thank you to the band that performed and to Joyce for arranging daffodils for all the mums.
May 2025: A big “thank you” to all who came in to church on Saturday 19th April for a big spring clean. Everyone worked hard and the church is looking clean and tidy. Thank you also to Joyce for the lilies in church.
Our last social evening on the 12th April was the Sedgley Ukulele players. It was a great evening and we raised £308 for church funds. Thank you to the Ukulele players, accompaniment from Ben, those who helped on the evening and for all those who supported us.
Our APCM (annual parochial church meeting) will be taking place during the 9.30am service on Sunday 11th May 2025. This is our annual meeting where you will hear what has been going on in church for the past 12 months, but more so since Canon Ben joined us at the start of 2025.
So much has been happening, and there is so much good news to spread about St. Bartholomew’s and our future. Just to highlight a few of the really positive outcomes – increase in the congregation numbers, the hall being used every day, Canon Ben and the new PCC working hard for the benefit of the church etc. Please come along to find out what we have done and share all that is hopeful.
June 2025: Thank you to all who attended our APCM (annual parochial church meeting) during the 9.30am service on Sunday 11th May 2025. In summary, we have so many positives within our church right now. Following our quinquennial (building inspection) the rectifying work will be starting soon. We are seeing new members in our congregation, the church hall is being used every day, a new choir, a new fully operational and enthusiastic PCC, a new coffee afternoon in the hall on Mondays, and weddings, baptisms and funerals are now being confidently booked within church, to name just a few “good news” items. Next year’s APCM will be easier to compile and reports will be available earlier to view now that we have new templates to follow. The brand new electoral roll is displayed on the notice board at the back of church,(names only, no personal details). If you have any queries with regards to the electoral roll, please speak to me (Alison). There is also a revised list of St. Bartholomew’s team members on that board. Thank you to all our volunteers and helpers.
Our last social evening was on the 24th May and we were honoured to have the choir Voices
Entwined perform in church. It was a wonderful evening and we raised over £420 for church funds.
July 2025: Thanks to everyone who helped out in church on 28th June with cleaning. Much appreciated and as the saying goes, “the more that help, the easier it is”.
If you attended the APCM meeting, you will be aware of the repair work needed in church and the grounds. Thankfully all the work has been approved and it will be starting soon. It will be a little bit of an eyesore when scaffolding has been put up, but totally necessary and it will only be temporary for a short time. It’s a positive thing and will benefit our church and the congregation and shows we have a future here.
August 2025: We are pleased to announce Rob Yardley as our new Churchwarden. On Wednesday 2nd July, Rob and hisfamily and friends attended Lichfield Cathedral as he was sworn in. Thank you Rob (and family) for all you do for St. Bartholomew’s.
October 2025: We have been busy in church with baptisms, a confirmation, a recent wedding and a charity evening in the church hall. We’ve also got several new exciting events coming up including a quiet, reflective time for prayer on a Tuesday evening, and the opportunity to learn how to become a bell ringer!
There are lots of positives currently in our church life, and with the building improvements soon to start, St. Bartholomew’s is definitely in a good place. Watch this space!
November 2025: Something else that is new, is the display board at the back of church. There is a selection of drawings for the proposed church building work/improvements. Please have a look to see what the church will hopefully look like. Exciting!
December 2025: I’m so pleased to say that the building work at St. Bartholomew’s has started! Groundworks at the rear of church have commenced, and as I compile this newsletter, the improvements to the main path in to church starts the first week of December. This is a mammoth undertaking, and work is going to be prioritised with the most urgent being the first stage. The completed work will secure the future of St. Bartholomew’s for many years to come. Exciting and hopeful times, and please pray for the workmen and our building. Their safety and the security of our building are of paramountimportance. There are some plans at the rear of church giving some details of the work if you haven’t already seen them. It’s currently advent, a time of waiting and anticipation, it’s very relevant to our building work too, isn’t it? We wish all the workmen well and hopefully some good weather!
Our Christmas services follow later in this newsletter. Let us remember those who dread Christmas, who are lonely and struggling financially. I always think of people who have family, but don’t see them, and especially those who have lost loved ones who are especially missed at Christmas. Estranged families and children don’t always have a good time. Let us pray that families can reunite, and the true spirit of Christmas and the goodwill of Christ’s birth can be shared amongst all.