St Michael le Belfrey, a vibrant Anglican church in the historic heart of York, is currently undergoing its biggest transformation in over 150 years.

One of the most exciting features of our building project will be, we believe, the UK’s first accessible hydraulic baptism pool - making full immersion baptism possible for people with a range of access needs, including wheelchair users.

We are looking to raise £200,000 to make this happen, and would love you to join us in fundraising for this unique feature.

Baptism is a powerful, public declaration of faith and celebration of new life in Christ - but for many people, physical barriers have made full-immersion baptism difficult or even impossible. With your help we want to change that and make this type of baptism accessible to many more people.

This innovative baptism pool will gently lower a platform into the water, allowing baptisms to take place from a seated or standing position. A person being baptised, together with the Minister and a supporter, will be able to descend safely and smoothly into the water. The beautiful circular pool will be set within a Celtic cross design and hold water around a metre (3 feet) deep. It will offer a dignified and personal baptism experience for all.

The Belfrey (as we are known) conducted an accessibility audit including consulting with accessibility groups and users with access needs, to help make the new baptistery as accessible as possible, within the constraints of our 500-year-old church building. We will continue to explore ways to increase accessibility, including the hire of specialist equipment as appropriate. We appreciate there may be some limitations but are committed to working with people individually to see what is possible. We are excited that this innovative facility will enable many more people to experience full-immersion baptism and we look forward to welcoming believers from across the region to use this unique facility.

We are currently restoring its beautiful medieval church building, creating new spaces and facilities to help more people encounter Jesus.

We welcome 500 people to church every Sunday, and run a wide range of ministries across the week which grow disciples and raise Christian leaders. We also provide a number of initiatives for the most vulnerable members in our local community of York.

Our newly restored church, which will be far more welcoming, flexible and accessible, will enable us to host many more people in the building. Baptisms that may not have been possible previously will be able to take place and we look forward to sharing this beautiful facility with other Christians.

To make this vision a reality, we need your help!

Please pray and consider giving towards this baptism pool. Your support will create a lasting resource that will bless generations and help many encounter the freedom that Jesus brings. If you could share this with your family and friends too that would be wonderful!

Thank you for being part of this story.

Rev Andy Baker

Priest-in-charge, St Michael le Belfrey, York

https://youtu.be/RMGyBLEJmjc