AFYM exists to offer people in the United States the opportunity of supporting the work of York Minster – the largest Gothic cathedral north of the Alps, and a center of prayer, a destination for pilgrimage, and a place of architectural and musical excellence.

Founded in 627, when the pagan king Edwin was baptized on Easter Sunday by Saint Paulinus, the Minster has been a beacon of the Christian faith for nearly 1400 years. The current cathedral, dating from the 13th Century, is the seat of the Archbishop of York, and one of the most significant buildings in northern England, visited by over half a million people each year.