St. John’s Church, a Grade 1 Listed Building, dates back to 689 AD and possibly even earlier as a Christian site; it has a very colourful history. It has seen the homage to a King, been Chester’s first Minster Church, its first Cathedral and Collegiate Church and is home to items of historical, artistic and architectural interest.
We keep St. John’s church open daily for residents of Chester and visitors who wish to enjoy quiet reflection and a time of prayer; and for those who just wish to appreciate its history and architecture.
St. John’s is first and foremost a Church, but we recognise that it is also a very important Visitor attraction, but, the cost of keeping it open as an attraction is becoming too much for the Parish to bear on its own, and within the next few years the Church Council may have to take the decision that St. John’s will only be open for Services.
This would be a great shame and a tragic loss for the people of Chester and visitors alike. So, we are launching a vision the ‘St. John's Project’, the aim is to keep St. John’s church open for all to enjoy.
Our aim is to establish a community hub where light refreshments can be enjoyed as well as a bite to eat, visitors can buy souvenirs and most importantly, all can enjoy the spirituality of this wonderful building. As a follow up we will launch an appeal to raise a great deal of money so that St John’s can be improved and thereby host more secular and community activities. Its acoustics for concerts are amongst the finest in the North West of England.
To make this vision work however we need help, the project will be run by volunteers from all sections of the community and it is hoped will run from May to September 2008.
So, our appeal is to you, the people of Chester to help us run and maintain this building by volunteering to help,
If anyone would like to be involved in the setting up and running of this exciting new voluntary opportunity or want more information then, please click the Please Help link on the left of this page or feel free to contact us using the information on the right.
Thank You
We keep St. John’s church open daily for; residents of Chester and visitors wishing to enjoy a quiet time for reflection or prayer, as well as for those wishing to appreciate its history and architecture.
St. John’s undoubtedly is a Church. Fortunately we recognise that St. John's is an important visitor attraction. However, the upkeep for St. John's as a tourist attraction is becoming too costly for the Parish alone. As a result of this, the near future may bring the Church Council's decision to be that St. John's will only open for services.
This would be a tragic loss for the people of Chester and a missed attraction for Chester's visitors. To counteract this effect, we are launching a vision called 'The St. John's Project’, aiming to keep St. John’s church open for all to enjoy.
Our aim is to establish a community hub where light refreshments can be enjoyed as well as a bite to eat. Visitors can buy souvenirs and most importantly, anyone and everyone can enjoy the spirituality of this wonderful building with free guided tours of the building on request. As a follow up we will launch an appeal to raise a great deal of money, generating improvements for St John’s to achieve more secular and community activities. Its acoustics for concerts are amongst the finest in the North West of England. However, to make this vision work we need help, the project will be run by volunteers from all sections of the community.
www.parishofchester.com has been set up as part of the project, it aims to be the best Parish Church web site in England, aiding to make St. John's world renowned.
