St Matthew's Church. Wood Lane, Chapel Allerton, Leeds, United Kingdom LS7 3QF
07484 635886 revsijones@outlook.com or stmatthewschurch1900@gmail.com
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Verger
Brenda Rowland
Brenda Rowland is the Church Verger; she helps set up for the Sunday Communion service and also clears away after the service. She also meets and greets people at the door, and guides them to the pews.
She also officiates at Weddings and Funerals.
At Weddings she greets the Bride at the door, helps to calm the nerves, and gives words of encouragement.
She is also a member of the Flower Ladies Team, so could have helped to create the display for your wedding.
Funerals she will greet the family and mourners handing out order of service sheets and then clear up after everyone has left.
Churchwarden
Fred Rowland
Fred has been a long standing member of St. Matthew' Church, and as such held the post of Churchwarden for over twenty years. He stepped down in 2017 but has now stepped back and also inherited the role of Fabric and maintenance officer. So when thing's go wrong with the building he is called upon to find a solution to remedy the problem. His wife Brenda is also the verger at St. Matthew's which makes Fred the deputy assistant verger whether he likes it or not...
Churchwarden
Colin Powell
I have been a parishioner at St Matthew's for eight years. I was Deputy Warden for six years and am about to start my second year as Churchwarden serving alongside Fred. I have two grandchildren at the nearby St Matthew's school where I have been Governor for seven years. I work hard with our Vicar and the Head Teacher to forge strong links between Church and School. I am currently responsible for health and safety in church and am the Electoral Roll Officer for the Parish. I have been researching Safeguarding and am fully trained in safeguarding and safer recruitment.
It is a very great honour to be a warden at St Matthew's especially working alongside Fred and John to support our Vicar. Our church is a very warm welcoming space with a diverse community. I enjoy working with Fred and Brenda to set the church up on Sunday mornings and for special services and it is always such a joy to greet our church family. It is a privilege to serve in such a beautiful and historic church that is at the heart of such a special community.
My own interests include Art, film and photography, chess, model railways, reading, sport, and looking after my grandchildren. I look forward to serving God and our church and the community of Chapel Allerton.
Church Treasurer
John Greenwood
John is a long standing member of St. Matthew's Church, having held many and varied positions in the Church. From some thirty years ago raising money for the then new Boiler that heats the Church today. Being in at the beginning of the Pastoral Ministry team, to organizing the Bonfire displays that used to raise money for the Church, which are no longer allowed for insurance reasons.
He is an active member of the PCC and has just stepped down from being a Churchwarden after a long valuable service to St Matthew's. He did this so that he could concentrate on Managing the finances of St Matthew's which is no mean feat. He is still a member of the Fabric and Maintenance committee, a body that looks after the state of the Church buildings internal and external.
Director of Music
Aljosa Skorja
Aljosa joined us in 2004 and had a big influence on the music played and sung at St. Matthew's. He has expanded the repertoire of our Choir, as well as introducing new bands and choirs to our Church. So that they may enjoy the outstanding acoustics that our building offers.
As an accomplished young conductor and vocal coach, Aljosa Skorja (usually known as Josh when in England), is rapidly establishing a reputation as an exciting choral and orchestra director.
Winner of the 2015 London Classical Soloists Conducting Competition, Josh studied musicology and choral conducting at the University in Ljubljana, graduating with a thesis on Gregorian chant. He continued his studies in orchestral conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he gained an entrance award for two years running.
Josh has recently been working with Paul Nadler, initially as a student at a masterclass in New York (working on operas by Mozart and Donizetti, and symphonic music by Debussy), and later as assistant conductor.
Having worked with orchestras like the Manchester Camerata, RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and the Slovene Philharmonic, Josh’s future engagements include Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with Pontefract Choral Society, a return to RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra for a series of family concerts, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneaswith St. Matthew’s Orchestra in Leeds, and Carmina Burana with Halifax Chamber Choir.
Josh is the founder of The Péti Consort, a Leeds-based chamber choir of some of the North of England’s finest choral singers, and St. Matthew’s Orchestra, established to give recent music graduates the opportunity to undertake professional engagements, before entering the competitive music market.
Josh’s main music interests include opera and historically informed performance practice; outside music he is a keen coffee aficionado (battling a Starbucks addiction…) and occasionally enjoys a tipple of Islay’s finest whiskey.