Parish Priest:
Rev. M. Sinclair
Tel. 01653 658360
Churchwarden:
Mrs. V. Jarvis
Tel. 01653 658136

Originally the church was the village school until the present one was built. The old school building which belonged to the Church of England became the chapel-of-ease to Acklam church as Leavening was in the parish of Acklam.. In 1965 it was rededicated by the Bishop of Selby to the Venerable Bede

Above is the key to the church interior.
Right is the Village Graveyard, which is on Leppington Lane.

As there are two churches in the Parish, so there are eight churches across the nine villages that constitute the Benefice of West Buckrose. There is one priest servicing the whole benefice. Michael is supported by a patchwork of retired priests, lay readers and other priests from the Deanery who lend a hand. In addition there is the Churchwarden and the PCC, the lay officers who run the day-to day aspects of the church.
There is close working together with the Methodists in the village. The church & chapel want to have a building sharing agreement. This would mean extending the church and selling the chapel for capital to fund the church modifications with. this is now at a contractual stage with both party’s receiving legal advice on the matter.

At the Benefice level all eight churches have agreed to become one Unified Parish. This means that there will be one P.C.C.  to run all the churches. Each church will however be maintained by a small council (called a Village Church Council) which will still need dedicated officers to run it, raise funds etc. These councils will not be the legal entities current P.C.C.’s are now. For the incumbent, it will mean fewer meetings to attend, freeing their time up to be used more spiritually. For the churches it will allow a greater working together and a greater sense of community.
A significant spin off of this is that Leavening and Acklam have decided to end their centuries long union and be separate church councils under the new super parish. (see News for details)