The Parish of Abbeydale and Millhouses Sheffield with the churches of St John the Evangelist Abbeydale and Holy Trinity Millhouses was formed by the coming together of the two adjacent parishes of Holy Trinity Millhouses and St John the Evangelist Abbeydale. In 2011 the vicar of Holy Trinity had also become priest-in-charge of St John’s, and after co-operating increasingly closely over the next three years the congregations of both parishes decided in 2014 that the communities of Millhouses, Abbeydale and Bradway could be served most effectively by a single parish, with two churches, covering the entire area. The formal procedures were completed in July 2015.
Our Sunday worship is based around a set liturgy, and aims to be relaxed but dignified. Regular Sunday services are:
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A 10.00 am Parish Communion each week in one or both churches;
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A monthly All-Age Service in each church;
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An 8.00 am Communion most weeks in one church or the other;
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A varied pattern of Sunday Evening services, in one or other of the churches, on the 2nd Sunday of each month.
For further information, including weekday services, please see Services; for times and locations, see What’s On.
About us
Our Values
We endeavour to:
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Be welcoming and inclusive in our activities
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Be joyful in worship
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Be outward-looking in service and in mission
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Be driven by vision
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Encourage a sense of vocation and ministry among our members
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Value the contribution that all can make
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Live in a way that respects the environment
Regardless of age, gender, race, colour, sexuality or disability, we welcome you – as you are – wherever you are on your spiritual journey. Both churches are regularly open for prayer, contemplation or just a visit.
As members of the Community of the Cross of Nails, we are committed to its aims of:
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Healing the wounds of history
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Living with difference and celebrating diversity
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Building a culture of peace
For more information, please see this leaflet (opens pdf) or see the Coventry Cathedral Website (opens in new window).
Holy Trinity Church
The church of Holy Trinity Millhouses, stone-built in the ‘Arts & Crafts’ style, dates from 1937. The interior is light and airy and has a simple dignity: it gives a feeling of space, which lends itself to visual art and music. The fine acoustics of the building make it an ideal, and increasingly popular, location for a wide range of musical performances. The space is flexible and seating can be moved aside or re-arranged for special events and for Christmas and Easter worship.
If you are visiting the church, you might like to notice:
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The Font
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The Windows
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The Lady Chapel and its altarpiece
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The Sanctuary and altar frontals (including the fine embroidery to be seen there)
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Seasonal Banners above the altar
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The Organ
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The Children's Area in the south transept
In 1897, the area of Holy Trinity Millhouses was part of the Grange Villa Estate belonging to Sir Wilson Mappin. He gave the site for a chapel-of-ease to be built, to serve the ever-increasing population of Millhouses, because the Parish Church of that time was up the hill at Ecclesall. By 1910 Millhouses had grown sufficiently to become a separate parish: St. Oswald’s was built, at the corner of Abbeydale Road and Bannerdale Road, and the chapel came under its care. As Millhouses continued to expand outwards from the city, the parish was divided yet again: in 1927 Holy Trinity became a parish in own right, with the chapel as its parish church. The chapel and an adjoining house were demolished in 1935, and a new Holy Trinity Church on the same site was consecrated on 1st May 1937. A new Church Hall was opened in 1965 , between the church and the vicarage, and the following year a Parish Centre was opened half a mile from the church and on the site of the original church hall, to provide better facilities for youth work in the area.
St John's Church
The foundation stone for St. John the Evangelist, Abbeydale was laid in 1873 and the church was consecrated in 1876 by the Bishop of Lichfield. The parish of St. John the Evangelist was then formed in 1878 by carving off part of the parishes of Christ Church Dore and St. James Norton. The church was enlarged in 1937, adding the two side aisles and the two porches at the west end of the church. Two important features of the original church which still remain today are the eagle lectern and three windows at the west end of the Nave.
The war memorial was erected after World War One and, on the north side of the church, a garden of Remembrance was dedicated in 1972. The church hall was erected in 1893, and served as a hospital during World War 1. It was later sold to the Post Office in 1956, and now serves as the Dore delivery office and in 1995 received a grade II listed building status. The current church hall was also opened in 1956.
Over its history, St. John's has transferred from the Diocese of Lichfield, to the Diocese of Southwell in 1884, to the Diocese of Derby in 1928 and finally to the Diocese of Sheffield in 1974. The move to the Diocese of Sheffield means the church is now in the Deanery of Ecclesall and has transferred from the See of Canterbury to the See of York.
Our Mission
We see serving the needs of others as both an obligation and a privilege of church membership. The Mission Committee of the PCC has the responsibility of considering the needs to which we should give priority at any one time, keeping the congregation informed about them (using a visiting speaker where possible), and organising our response.
Each year we allocate a fixed proportion of our regular income from the planned giving of the congregation to a range of charitable causes - local, national and international – and what is given in this way is frequently supplemented by individual donations.
We have regular Appeals for particular purposes at Lent, Harvest and Advent. In 2017 the focus of our Lent appeal was is the Sheffield Family Holiday Fund - a charity which makes a summer holiday possible for families who would otherwise be unable to afford one. The Harvest Appeal has traditionally been for goods, especially foodstuffs, rather than cash, to support the Sheffield Cathedral Archer Project, which works with the most marginalised and destitute people in the city centre. This year’s Harvest Appeal also supported Farm Africa. The Advent Appeal regularly supports The Children’s Society.
We provide church members with opportunities and encouragement to respond also to major natural disasters and emergencies; a number of whom also contribute regularly in goods or cash, through the church, to a local food bank.
Church members take responsibility each year for house-to-house collections in the area, and sometimes in the local supermarkets, in support of Christian Aid Week.
Our appeals noticeboard at Holy Trinity
The food bank at Holy Trinity. Please help support the food bank by either bringing some tins or other non-perishables to church or dropping in some other time to help those in need.
Where To Find Us
Holy Trinity Millhouses
The church address is Grove Road, Millhouses, Sheffield S7 2GY. Entry to the car park is from Grove Road, by way of the drive to the right of the church building. The church can also be approached from Millhouses Lane (opposite the top of Sterndale Road) by means of the pedestrian pathway between Numbers 72 and 80 (The Vicarage). In addition to the church car park there is ample free parking in any of the surrounding roads.
There are two churches in the parish, both of which are in regular use for both Sunday and weekday worship:
St John the Evangelist Abbeydale
The address for St John's is St John the Evangelist, Abbeydale Road South, Sheffield, S17 3LE. It is opposite Abbeydale Sports Club, 300 metres past Dore and Totley Station coming from the City Centre. It has a large car park off the main road, but this does get full up at large services, in which case there is further space opposite Twentywell Lane, our side of the Station.
Who's Who
Priest-in-Charge:
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Rev'd Nicholas Noble
Church Wardens:
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Liz Frost (HT)
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Lynda Tulley (HT)
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Nigel Harwood (SJ)
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Vanessa Boddye (SJ)
Deputy Church Warden:
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Juliet Rowson (SJ)
Readers:
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Michael Morton-Thorpe
Pastoral Workers:
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Carol Hunt
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Pat Gregory
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Ann Smedley
Parish Office:
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htmillhousesoffice@yahoo.co.uk
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0114 249 0377
Vicarage:
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0114 236 2838
Safeguarding Officer:
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Katie Harwood
Directors of Music:
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Mary Cobbold (HT)
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Alan Eost (SJ)
Vergers:
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Eric Lacey (HT)
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Vacant (SJ)
Church Flowers:
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Pat Gregory (HT)
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Margaret Minns (SJ)
Stewardship:
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Neil Bridgwater
(HT) - Holy Trinity
(SJ) - St John's
Annual Reports
2019 Parish Report
2018 Parish Report
2017 Parish Report
