All Saints Appley Bridge is a Church of England (Anglican) Church. We are part of the Diocese of Blackburn.
People say they find our church friendly and welcoming. We are part of a United Benefice with Christ Church Parbold. We share our youth groups and some special services, worship and outreach events with Christ Church Parbold.
Reverend Sue Timmins
Rev’d Sue has been the vicar of the joint benefice of All Saints’, Appley Bridge and Christ Church, Parbold since November 2016.
Rev’d Sue is a Lancashire lass, born and bred in Prestwich, North Manchester. She was a civil engineer with ICI before hearing the call to be ordained when she was 30, leaving ICI and training for the priesthood at St John’s Nottingham before becoming Curate at Iver in Buckinghamshire. She then returned to the North West, serving, in her own words, “For 15 happy years as Vicar at St John’s, Pendlebury, in the Manchester Diocese.”
Rev’d Sue left St John’s at the end of July 2015 to follow a call to live and work with a Christian organisation in Nigeria, an experience she describes as “An inspiring and formative time.” She returned to England at the end of 2015 to continue voluntary work with the same organisation in Europe, and ministering to churches in the Manchester Diocese that were between parish priests.
On her appointment to our benefice Rev’d Sue said “We have a strong focus in our Diocesan Vision 2026 to make disciples, to witness and to grow leaders for Jesus Christ, and I am looking forward to seeing how God will lead us on together in our own part of that journey.”
Reverend John Mountain
Rev’d John was ordained priest in summer in 2013. Prior to his ordination, John was a Reader at Christ Church, Parbold. Before retiring, John worked as a professional accountant.
Rev’d John takes services at All Saints’ and Christ Church Parbold including Holy Communion, baptisms, weddings, and funerals. He leads our pastoral team, so he regularly visits people who need home communion and he takes communion services in the residential homes for the elderly in Parbold. He also leads some evening courses and prayer sessions at both churches.
Rev’d John lives in Parbold with his wife, Anthea. He is a keen runner and can often be seen out running in Parbold with Toby, his daughter’s dog. John also enjoys ballroom dancing in his spare time.
He is a retired priest with permission to officiate at our churches.
Reverend Peter Massey
Rev’d Peter was born in Dudley, in the West Midlands and educated in Stourbridge, where he met his wife Angela. Trained as a Mathematics teacher, Peter has had various roles in the Education Service including Shropshire’s Educational Computing Advisor and a couple of Secondary Headships.
At the age of 50, Rev’d Peter retired from teaching to work on the national staff of Youth for Christ before becoming the Lay Training Officer of the Hereford Diocese. Initially trained as a Reader, Rev’d Peter was ordained in 1999 and served in the parish of St Peter’s and St James’ in Hereford City.
Now retired, Rev’d Peter has left Hereford to live near his family in Standish and has been given permission to officiate in our churches. His hobbies include: amateur conjuring, model railways, messing with computers, supporting Aston Villa and the England Rugby Team; rugby is a sport he played for 25 years.
Dr Sara Ashley – Reader
Sara was first licensed as a Reader twenty four years ago. She has been a member of All Saints’ Church for fourteen years. She previously served as a Reader at St Wilfrid’s Church in Standish. In October 2017, Sara was re-licenced to All Saints’ as a Reader,
Sara sometimes leads worship and preaches at All Saints’. She also helps with some community activities and organises some of our charity events. She is a member of our church choir.
Sara retired from her post of a part time GP in August 2020. She has undertaken work at the local children’s hospice, as well as helping out with services at All Saints’. Sara is married to Mark Ashley, our Vision Champion.
Diane Green – Reader
Diane is a retired English teacher. She worked at Up Holland High School until 2012 and she has been working as a volunteer in our church since then. She was relicensed as a Reader in October 2017. Diane sometimes leads worship and preaches at All Saints’.
Diane loves working with children and often leads Family Time. She also takes school assemblies and occasionally leads services held in the school. She has undertaken some training in puppet ministry and sometimes produces our puppet plays jointly with people from Christ Church, Parbold.
Diane is a member of PCC. She also leads our fortnightly Bible Study group.
With lots of technical help from Philip Green, her husband, Diane edits this website and runs the Facebook page jointly with Mark Ashley.
Diane and Philip both love singing and they are members of Standish Chorale and of All Saints’ Church Choir.
Reverend Michelle Plant
Our newest member of the clergy team at All Saints and Christ Church, Michelle Plant, was licensed and welcomed to our church family by the Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Rev Julian Henderson, at Christ Church on Sunday 17th March 2019.
Michelle moved to Parbold from Leeds with her husband Paul and her two daughters Katy and Beth. Michelle was ordained as an Anglican priest in 2011, and since then has served as self-supporting minister in Leeds first as a university chaplain and then an associate minister at St George’s which is a gathered Anglican church that meets in the centre.
Alongside this Michelle is the Florence Nightingale Foundation Professor of Nursing in Manchester with is a joint academic post with the NHS and University of Manchester.
Michelle leads a pain research group and her work has been used in NHS practice and policy guidelines nationally and internationally. Her current research programme has two themes – improving patients’ experience of pain management and addressing inequalities in pain management particularly for those in pain who are marginalized or where pain may go unrecognised.
Church Wardens
Mike Tyrer and Ian Hunter
Mike Tyrer was elected in April 2018 and Ian Hunter was elected in April 2019.
Church Wardens are leaders in our church community and our PCC. They also take care of the church building and the day to day practical issues which keep things running smoothly.
Church Treasurer- Jen Tyrer
Jen Tyrer is a member of PCC and is All Saints’ Treasurer, responsible for keeping our accounts in good order. We are fortunate to have her services as Jen is also a professional accountant.
Jen is married to Mike, one of our Church Wardens.
Organist – Linda Scott
Linda Scott has been a member of All Saints’ Church for many years. She is a retired secondary school tecaher. She is All Saints’ most senior musician, playing organ, piano and flute and organising and directing the choir.
Linda is also the accomplished Musical Director of Orrell Musical and Dramatic Society. She has directed many musicals and concerts with the society. Linda’s skills as a musician are very much in demand with local groups.
Ann Edwards
A former church warden, Ann Edwards is an experienced member of PCC who makes many contributions to our church. She is the leader of our pastoral team and often visits people who are unable to attend church.
Ann is also the leader of the Appley Bridge All Saints’ Branch of Mothers’ Union and she organises the monthly meetings which are held in church. She also organises our intercessions rota and occasionally leads prayers. She also organises some of our charitable collections.
Ann also acts as verger for funerals and oversees our Garden of Remembrance.
Philip Green
Philip is one of our musicians and is our deputy organist. He also plays the flute in some services and sings in our choir.
An electronic design engineer by trade, Philip is our ‘go to’ person for technical and computing issues.
Philip is also a member of PCC and helps as a member of our fabric team with maintaining the church.
He is married to our Reader, Diane .
John Henry
After serving as our church warden for no less that 22 years, John Henry retired from the role in April 2019.
John continues to serve as a member of PCC and as a member of our church choir.
John helps with our Christmas Fair and is a leading member of our fabric team, continuing to help to take care of the church building.
No doubt we will continue to consult him and call on his experience and expertise in many matters relating to church.
Vera Young
Vera is the leader of the Girls’ Friendly Society group at All Saints’, and has many decades of service to the organisation and to young women in our parish.
Vera is the Blackburn Diocesan Secretary of the GFS in addition to her role at All Saints’.
Vera is also a skilled needlewoman and has made many beautiful items for church. She has taken an active role in All Saints’ Church for many years.
Cath Rainford
Cath is one of our Deputy Church Wardens and is a member of PCC.
She has been a member of our Church 4Kids leaders group for many years.
Cath helps to prepare the church for communion services. She also takes our contributions to the food bank.
Cath also leads our monthly evening Service of Light. She is a member of our pastoral team and she visits people who are unable to attend church.
Rachel Edwards
Rachel is a member of our Church 4 Kids leaders group.
Rachel is also the Safeguarding Officer for the Parish, responsible for maintaining the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults at our church.
Rachel advises our PCC on safeguarding issues.
Margaret Baker
Margaret is responsible for the production of our weekly information sheet, The Sunday Link. She also produces our rotas of readers and church helpers.
Margaret is the leader of one of our home groups.
Margaret is also one of the organisers of our popular Harvest Supper and Quiz, and is a member of the Parochial Church Council.
Mark Ashley
Mark is our Vision Champion, and one of our Deputy Church Wardens. He seeks to keep us on track with our progress towards Vision 2026 – the Diocese of Blackburn’s vision for moving our Lancashire churches forward in discipleship.
A journalist by trade, Mark helps run our Facebook page and church website and also helps with events in church. He is a member of our all age choir and music group and he occasionally plays guitar in some of our services.
Mark is an eloquent speaker and he takes a leading role in some of our social events.
Mark also works part time as a journalist for the Diocese of Blackburn. He is married to our Reader Sara.
Debbie Leyland
Debbie is our Data Protection Officer. She was appointed spring 2018 to help us with the changes in the data protection rules. An experienced admintsrator, Debbie is a long standing member of our church PCC.
Debbie occasionally reads the lesson in church and leads intercessions.
Debbie is also currently Chair of All Saints’ C of E Primary School Governors.
Parochial Church Council
Like all Anglican churches, the church is overseen by a Parochial Parish Council (PCC) which acts like a school’s governing body to oversee the work and finances of the church.
Helpers
We are blessed with many people who help with: welcoming people to services (sidespeople); children’s groups; house groups; readings, prayers, flowers, administration, visiting, fund raising, church yard and building maintenance, and all sorts of other activities. We thank them all for keeping our church running and helping us to welcome many people to worship with us.