Neal Barnes: Minster is historic name for a mission fit for future

The Archbishop of York was closing off proceedings with a rousing address and at the end announced to a stunned audience (me included) that, in 2017, when Hull was to be the UK City of Culture, his gift to the city would be to re-designate Holy Trinity as ‘Hull Minster’. There were cheers and gasps, and personally, I must admit, mixed emotions.

So here we are, celebrating the mediaeval concept of the ‘Mynster’, but also anticipating all the doors our new status will open to us. But what does it mean to become a Minster?

They pre-date the parish system, some tracing their roots back to the ninth and 10th centuries, and were the centres of the evangelisation of England, often founded by monastic communities in larger than average structures.

There was daily worship, of course, but they also fed, educated, and provided a roof and medical care for the faithful. In today’s parlance they were also ‘resource hubs’, sending out individuals to spread God’s Word by founding smaller churches in local communities.

That concept of a Minster largely died out with the Reformation, but in the 1990s, a modern embodiment of the ‘mynster’ principle started to emerge – the Urban Minster. This found expression in metropolitan areas and cities and large towns where there is no cathedral.

Often these were places where there was, and is, significant poverty and deep social issues, caused by the loss of major industries and the migration of people to the suburbs. Not surprisingly, the pioneers were to be found in the North of England, and notably in Yorkshire. By 2012 there were Urban Minsters in Dewsbury, Rotherham, Doncaster, Halifax and Leeds.

The good folk of Holy Trinity Hull were well aware of this movement, and had long considered whether we fitted the bill to be a Minster. In 2007 my predecessor concluded, quite rightly in my view, that the timing was not right.

To be honest, I was a bit suspicious about the whole thing, and it certainly wasn’t at the top of my priorities. Let’s change things on the ground, I reasoned, and then discern whether a change of name is justified.

In our case, neither we, nor the council pushed for it, but now we are all delighted that the Archbishop – in his prophetic way – has discerned that this is the time for such an historic step.

It gives us a distinctive presence, helping us to build on the relationships already established with the civic life of Hull, its businesses and voluntary communities, and organisations. Our faith is expressed in many different styles, from the traditional and choral, through the more contemplative, to the very informal and contemporary. We can expand our work of training and resourcing, not just in the typical churchy stuff of vicars and worship leaders, but for those with different skills, relevant to a 21st century church: media and communication, events management, administration and finance, and so on.

Our mission statement for Hull Minster is “Your place: to worship, enjoy, explore and belong”. We’re aware it is a bold, somewhat risky vision because it means in practice that we want people to engage with us on their terms – regardless of whether they believe in God or not. People like Phil Ascough, president of Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce. He wrote about us recently (with typical Hullensian frankness): “I’m not at all religious, but I welcome the approach of a church which invites people in on the basis that even if they don’t find God, they can benefit immensely by finding each other.”

None of this h​​as happened by accident. The Diocese of York saw, before I came here nearly seven years ago, that Holy Trinity was not primarily about a building but a community of people. And, in order to lead and build that community, putting in a single Vicar would be a recipe for burn-out – especially given the situation of the church at that time. Instead, a small team of clergy was brought in to work alongside the ‘faithful few’ who had been fighting to keep the wolf from the door.

The early years were grim, with our offices being in cold and draughty Dickensian vestries – one of which had internal guttering. Yes, think about it – internal! God has been good and built up that team, the number of volunteers and worshippers since. Community events iand visitor numbers have grown rapidly.

Finances are still a massive challenge, our building is in the disruptive midst of the largest re-ordering for over 170 years, and the demands on the leadership team are considerable.

Before I came here, one former Archdeacon put it to me that the largest challenge facing Holy Trinity was this: “It has to choose whether it is primarily about serving or preserving.” And the same is still true as we become Hull Minster. May God always give us the strength and courage to keep serving as our primary raison d’etre: serving Him, serving one another, and serving this city.

Reverend Neal Barnes is vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Hull, which will be redesignated as Hull Minster tomorrow.