Dear Gary, 

I was interested to read some of the comments on the Brierley Village Website regarding Saint Paul's.  Just to put one or two things straight: 

·       Saint Paul's, Brierley is not Roman Catholic, it is of course, since 2005, by law, in the Parish of Grimethorpe with Brierley.  (Please note, there is a Roman Catholic Church, on Brierley Road in Grimethorpe which is also called Saint Paul's)

·                                 The Parish Church of Brierley is Saint Luke's, Grimethorpe

·                                 The Daughter Church of the Parish of Grimethorpe with Brierley is Saint Paul's, Brierley.

·                                 The Parish is in the Diocese of Wakefield.

·                                 The worship in Saint Paul's is the same worship of that of Saint Luke's, Grimethorpe.

·                                 We have tried to work on the understanding of one congregation, two places of worship.

·                                 The word catholic means universal so the worship in both churches represents the worship of the Whole Church.

·                                 The parish of Grimethorpe with Brierley maintains the tradition of the Church of England prior to 1992 and has chosen under the provision of church and state law to continue with the ministries of only male priests as other parishes in the diocese and the country have also chosen do.

·                                 It has to be pointed out that many people chose to go to Felkirk, in fact, there are more people from Brierley attending Sunday worship now than there were before 2005.  For which we thank God

·                                 The church is open for more hours per week for worship than in the past 20 or 30 years, for which we again, thank God.

·                                 The relationship between Saint Paul's Church of England School and Saint Paul's church is stronger now than it has been for 20 years.

The question people need to be asking, is not about churchmanship- those days are past- much more important, is the question, "Do the people of Brierley want their daughter church of Saint Paul's to remain open?"  This is not a question of the state of the building, the process of saving the building has begun.

How can Saint Paul's remain open at the cost of £4000+ per year, when all it does raise is £1000 per year?  If it were a business it would have closed years ago. 

Remember, in 2005, the then Archdeacon of Pontefract, wanted Saint Paul's closed.  For those who do not know, it was I who pressed the then, Archdeacon and the Bishop to keep it open as a place of mission in Brierley.   In 2005 the architect also wanted to close the church because of the condition of the building.  It was through my initial efforts that we were able to persuade him otherwise and then the great work of the Friends of Saint Paul's assured the restoration of spire and tower. 

What is at question, Is whether the people of Brierley want Saint Paul's to continue as a place of Christian mission and witness for the years to come.  That depends totally on the people of Brierley.

To all who read the Brierley village website, I invite them to a public meeting on Thursday 27th May 2010 at Saint Paul's Church, Brierley at 7pm, to discuss Saint Paul's future.

I hope this email clears up any misunderstandings. 

Your friend and Parish Priest,

 Father Peter