Bishop Visits the Parish of Preston Plucknett
On Sunday 19th January, The Right Reverend Doctor Michael Beasley, Bishop of Bath and Wells, paid a visit to St James’ and returned on 30th January to visit the parish.
As well as visiting St James’ Church, where he met with the ministry and leadership teams of both churches, Bishop Michael also had a tour of Preston Primary, the local church school, with its head Claire Hodgson, followed by a tea party with children from the different school years, where they asked him lots of questions about what Bishops do.
During his visit to Yeovil, he also popped into The Arrow Pub for a bite to eat and a chat with the landlady – The Arrow was recently crowned the winner of the best sports pub in England for the Marstons chain.
Bishop Michael then went to see some of the community initiatives taking place at St Peter’s Community Centre. Built in 2019 to replace the old church hall, which was falling into disrepair, it is home to a multitude of youth and community groups, a “warm hub”, community pantry, library, talking café and toddler group, as well as many other centre users such as Brownies, fitness clubs and bingo.
Commenting on his visit, Bishop Michael said, “It was inspiring to visit St James’ in Yeovil and to see the really tangible ways in which they are supporting their communities, in particular, as well as all the other things they are doing. Their youth work is clearly making a real difference in Westfield area of Yeovil, which has seen antisocial behaviour reduce by 60 per cent, the food pantry is offering vital support to those in need and they are doing their bit to support the environment with the Westfield Fresh project which is reducing the amount of food going to waste. I was very proud to see all the work they are doing.”
Bishop Michael first visited the Thursday “Drop Into” session, one of four youth groups running from the centre. Funded by the council and run by the church youth leaders and volunteers, it is a popular group for secondary school-aged children with different activities each week. Set up in 2023 in response to anti-social behaviour on the Westfield estate, since the start of youth work at the centre, anti-social behaviour has dropped by an amazing 60%. Bishop Michael joined in with the young people in a game of Nerf Wars during his visit!
Later, the Bishop called into Westfield Fresh, in the church building. Westfield fresh is a new project that runs alongside its sister project the Westfield Community Pantry. A volunteer goes to local supermarkets such as Co-op, Lidl and Aldi three times per week and collects their surplus food. It’s then returned to the community centre & church. Members of the community can come to the church and for £1.00 select their own food from the collection. Westfield Fresh is open from 5-6.30 on a Thursday – a suitable after-work time to make sure the working families within the community are reached. Westfield Fresh is not means-tested, and is open to anyone within the local community and all are welcome.
The visit to the parish was concluded by tea with the churchwardens and a PCC meeting in St Peter’s Church.
Bishop Michael, a former scientist and epidemiologist, specialising in infectious diseases of children in low-income countries, was installed as the 80th Bishop of Bath and Wells in November 2022.
Bishops in the Church of England, along with their leadership teams, are responsible for the care of parishes and clergy across each diocese.