A joyous day for all at Christ Church and St Mary's happened on Saturday, June 27th, with the priesting of our assisant curate, the Rev'd Clare Wood, at Ripon Cathedral.Rev'd Clare was one of five ordinands from the Ripon episcopal area priested during the ceremony.The Bishop of Ripon, the Rt Rev'd Anna Eltringham presided, and the preacher was the Rev'd Canon Jude Smith, Diocesan Director of Mission and Revitalisation.The service was sung by the boy choristers, choral scholars and lay clerks of the Cathedral Choir.Several members of the congregation attended to support Rev'd Clare, travelling to Ripon on a vintage Bristol coach manufactured in 1967, and provided by one of our worshippers, Don McKeown.Revd Clare will celebrate her first Mass at Christ Church on Monday, the 29th of June, at 6pm.Rev'd Clare is pictured with our vicar, the Rev'd Kathia Shoesmith.
The Ordination to the Priesthood of our curate, the Revd Clare Wood, is to take place at Ripon Cathedral on Saturday, the 27th of June, 2026, at 2pm.A coach is available for those wishing to attend the service (sharing fuel cost only).Please put your name down on the sheet at the rear of the church or talk to any of the churchwardens.Revd Clare will celebrate her first Mass at Christ Church on Monday, the 29th of June, at 6pm.
Christ Church is pulling out all the stops for a triple celebration this spring.This year Robert Marsh is marking both his 25 years as our resident organist, and his 70th birthday.2026 also marks the 120th anniversary of the building and installation of Christ Church’s organ by famed organ builders Harrison and Harrison of County Durham.To mark the occasion Mr Marsh is performing an organ recital on Easter Monday, April 6th at 11am, which will include the first performance of a piece entitled “Meditation” composed by Richard Lambert as a 70th birthday gift to Mr Marsh.There are three further Bank Holiday organ recitals planned for Christ Church this year; William Campbell of Bradford Cathedral is performing on May 4th; Charles Dobson of Holy Trinity, Skipton, on May 25th, and Philip Rushforth of Chester Cathedral on August 31st.Mr Marsh is former Junior Exhibitioner at the Royal Northern College of Music, and an organ scholar at Keble College, Oxford, and has built a varied and successful career as a performer, conductor, composer, teacher and examiner.He was Director of Music at Ripon Cathedral Choir School and Assistant Organist of Ripon Cathedral, and as a concert organist has appeared in venues from Westminster Abbey and York Minster to the Chapel of the West Point Military Academy in New York.As well as his duties at Christ Church he is Senior Examiner at the London College of Music (University of West London), working in Turkey, Malta, Italy, India, Greece, Vietnam, China, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, Kenya, Malaysia and Singapore, as well as in all parts of the United Kingdom.
Parisioners at Christ Church, Skipton, and St Mary the Virgin, Carleton, turned out in number at the last weekend of June, 2025, to welcome our new Curate, the Reverend Clare Wood.Clare was ordained at a ceremony at Wakefield Cathedral on Saturday, June 28th presided over by the Bishop of Leeds, The Right Reverend Nick Baines.The following day she celebrated her first service at Christ Church and St Mary's, followed by a lunch to welcome her.She will serve as Assistant Curate of the Benefice. For the past three years, she has been training for ordination at St Hild College.Previous to this, she has worked as a maths teacher in East Sussex, a hotel manager in France and a lecturer in Kazakhstan. Clare and her husband Matt moved to Yorkshire in 2020 when he started his curacy. Since then she has been enjoying exploring the footpaths of the Dales, paying particular attention to those that lead to tea rooms and pubs. She is very much looking forward to getting to know another part of ‘God’s own country’.Clare joins our ministry team of our Vicar, the Reverend Kathia Shoesmith, our curate, the Reverend Emma Halliwell, the Reverend Malcolm Foy, and Reader Mrs Anthea Foy.
