St Martin's say farewell to long standing vicar

St Martin's Church, Castleton

A Castleton vicar is retiring at the end of the month (September 2010) after over a decade of service.

The Reverend Ian Butterworth has been at St Martin’s church on Castleton Moor for nearly 11 years and has become an integral part of the community during this time.

Though sad about the thought of leaving his full-time post, Revd Butterworth has many happy memories of St Martin’s. He said: “This has been a welcoming community and we are happy to be staying in this area in retirement. St Martin’s congregation are a very forward looking group and it has been a joy to serve them over the past almost 11 years.”

In the past decade St Martins has undergone a great deal of change which the Reverend has been actively involved in. After being declared unsafe in the 1980s because of dry rot the church underwent a period of repair and redevelopment before being rededicated by the Bishop of Manchester in July 2003.

Revd Butterworth is proud of the improvements that have been made to the church and their impact on the community. “It has been a particular privilege to see the church building come back to life and to have been at the centre of that process as well as to see the community making more and more use of it.”

The church will now enter a period of interregnum whilst a new vicar is found, a process which is likely to take around a year. Canon Philip Miller has been installed as Area Dean until a replacement is found.

Speaking about the Revd Butterworth’s impending retirement, Canon Miller said: “He is a good, solid man. We’re all very sad that he is retiring because he presided over the rebuilding of St Martins and the opening of that new church as a great community resource and it is so good now because of him.”

Despite the impending interregnum and the uncertainty that it brings, everyone involved with the church is confident that things will carry on as normal. Julie Fuller, the warden at St Martin’s, said: “We’re quite a close unit at St Martins and well organised so hopefully we’ll be able to cope. It’s not going to be easy but we are quite a capable congregation. But we would like a replacement sooner rather than later.”

With a shortage of vicars nationwide Revd Butterworth is likely to be the last vicar at St Martins with just one church to look after. But he is confident that neither this fact, nor the interregnum, will have a negative impact on the congregation. He said: “I have no fears for the future of St Martin’s. It is in a very healthy state and in a good position to attract a new vicar, whoever that may be and whenever they come.”

To mark the vicar’s retirement and celebrate his time at St Martins the Rochdale Light Orchestra (RLO) are planning a concert evening on Monday 27 September. Graham Marshall, Conductor of the RLO, said: “Ian has been a good friend to the orchestra since its inception in 2008, and this will be our opportunity to say our fond farewells to him in musical terms.”

Although unsure how to fill his new-found free time, Revd Butterworth is looking forward to whatever comes next. “Being able to visit folk at a weekend sounds wonderful! Beyond that I’ll wait and see. Everyone tells me that things arrive to fill the time and I have to believe them.”