[Diocese of Ripon and Leeds] A special service will be held on Sunday 8 June to celebrate the major redevelopment of a 176-year-old Ripon church building. The congregation at Holy Trinity, Ripon, has given an astonishing £1 million, with £900,000 of the total being used for the 'Space Project', an ambitious building scheme to create a new worship space and facilities for the local community. An additional £100,000 will be used to support similar projects in third world communities. This Sunday 8 June at 3pm the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, the Rt Revd John Packer, will take part in a service of Thanksgiving and Dedication to mark the completion of Phase One of the project.

Holy Trinity's vicar, the Revd David Mann, said, "I am deeply grateful to God and to the members of the congregation for their sacrificial generosity in giving this amazing sum of money to these projects. I am also thrilled that the PCC has decided that we should give away 10% of what we have received to support similar projects in third world countries."

Commenting on the decision to give away 10% of the sum donated to the project, he said, "In view of God's goodness in providing so generously for us and for our needs, we thought that it was only right to think about others less fortunate than ourselves. It is a privilege to be able to share with other communities what has been provided so generously for us."