Diocese of York / News & events / News

Churches across York will be celebrating a Sunday with a difference next week. When le Tour de France travels through the city on Sunday 6th July, churches will be cancelling services, serving refreshments, and holding activities for visitors and locals alike.

St Michael le Belfrey church in the city centre will be passed by le Tour. The church has cancelled its morning’s services, and instead is hosting a café inside church and a party in the forecourt of the church. Church staff will be dressing up as Frenchmen supervising giant inflatables for all the family including a bouncy castle, sumo wrestling and pillow jousting. There will also be face painting and other items of entertainment for all the family. The church will have a large screen showing le Tour inside the church, for people to follow its progress throughout the region, and yellow bikes decorating the outside of the church.

St Philip and St James church, Clifton, is another church on the route of le Tour. Vicar of Clifton, the Revd David Casswell, has written a song about le Tour for local primary school children. The song, called “It’s the Tour de France”, was recorded by twenty-five children Year Five children from Clifton Green Primary School.

St Philip and St James church is also decorated with yellow bikes, including one on the tower. On the day of le Tour, the church will be serving refreshments all morning, and hosting games including a slow bike ride competition.

St Olave’s church, Marygate, will be serving tea and cakes with a French twist for visitors as le Tour goes past the end of the road. From 12pm to 3pm the church will be serving coffee, brioche and French fancies.

Holy Redeemer Church, Boroughbridge Road, has set up a temporary notice board in French, welcoming visitors from the the continent to join the church in worship, "Nous nous réunissons ici pour le culte chaque dimanche, vous êtes invités à vous joindre à nous." The church is holding a Boys’ Brigade 24 hour sponsored static bike ride and sleepover from 5pm on Saturday 5th July to 5pm on Sunday 6th July, and a Festival of Fun for all comers from 7am on Sunday 6th July, with bacon sandwiches, music, stalls, games and activities for all ages.

At St Luke's church, Burton Stone Lane, there will be a Tour de France Art Display by the children of Clifton Green and Burton Green primary schools on display in the windows of the businesses on Burton Stone Lane and in St Luke's Church. The church will be open from 10am serving refreshments, and there will be a celebratory evening service at 6.30, where people are invited to bring their bikes and dress up in cycling gear, past or present.

St Martin’s church, Coney Street will host a bell ringers extravaganza, with demonstrations and the opportunity to have a go yourself, from 12pm to 5pm, with tea, coffee and cakes available. St Helen’s church, Stonegate, will hold a Songs of Praise service at 6pm.

After traveling through York, le Tour will travel through the village of Poppleton, where St Everilda’s and All Saints churches will be teaming up with Poppleton Methodist Church to welcome the cyclists and visitors. From 11.45 the churches are serving refreshments and hosting games and treasure hunts on the village green. There will be an outdoor praise service at 1.30pm and a free BBQ in the afternoon.

The Revd Jeremy Sylvester, Vicar of Poppleton said, “We’re encouraging people to gear up for God! We are asking folk from the village to decorate a bike in whatever way they wish and bring them to the church on the Saturday. Then on the Sunday we will have them lining the path to the church. We are cancelling all services in the church buildings for that day to be out there as Jesus would have been.”