Diocese of Leeds Enews+ January 10th

Welcome to Enews+ for January 10

The latest resources, important information and more.

This is for all clergy, Churchwardens, Treasurers and PCC Secretaries, and is your chance to find out what is going on….

In This Edition

From the Desk of the Diocesan Secretary
New from Church House

Bishop Paul retires at end of January
Statistics for Mission Data Collection
New Dean of Bradford announced
Collation and Installation of Bill Braviner as Archdeacon of Halifax
Environment Team: Events
Stewardship and Income Generation Team: Generosity Week 2022
Children, Young People and Families Team
Stewardship and Income Generation Team: Parish Giving Scheme Clinics
Communications Team: Leeds Diocesan News

Key Dates for 2022
Resources
Vacancies
Other Useful Links and Information

From the Desk of the Diocesan Secretary

Happy New Year!

I hope you were able to find some time for a break over the last week or two and feel ‘a bit’ refreshed as we plough into January. There remains much uncertainty about what the next few weeks will look like for the country, but at this point there is no indication of further changes to the guidance around churches. I know there are many different approaches being taken across the diocese and would encourage you to continue to keep the discussions active. We are here and ready to support as needed, and will continue to back your judgements and risk assessments as to what is in the best interests of your parish. If you want to talk anything through, please do get in touch.

As we think about the year ahead, please do consider the offers of support and resource below – the Children, Young People and Families team have put some fantastic resources together that they are really keen to share, so please do check their sessions out. Similarly the Stewardship Team are running some introductions to the Parish Giving Scheme which we know makes giving much easier for everyone involved. There are also a number of excellent sessions on the carbon net zero challenge running over the coming weeks, which I would encourage you to share with your parishioners.

Take care

Jonathan

New from Church House

Bishop Paul retires at end of January

The Rt Revd Paul Slater, Bishop of Kirkstall, has written about his time in the diocese, the city of Leeds, and cricket, as he ends his innings and retires later this month. Read his piece here.

Statistics for Mission Data Collection

“Statistics for Mission” data collection for 2021 is now open for submissions on the Parish Returns website. The initial completion date for returns is by Monday, January 31.

Some of the questions may be different to previous years, and with this in mind it is advisable that the forms are viewed or printed first before submitting the data online. These are available on the homepage without needing to log in: https://parishreturns.churchofengland.org.

If anyone needs any help at all with details re-setting, or a new logon creating for your Parish, then do please contact us: [email protected].

New Dean of Bradford announced

The new Dean of Bradford will be the Revd Andy Bowerman, who is to return from Dubai to the cathedral where he was ordained and to the city he loves. Bradford is also where he served as Bradford City FC’s chaplain from 2004 to 2009 and once ran the popular Vicar’s Café Bistro in Saltaire, amongst his other clerical duties. Read more here.

Collation and Installation of Bill Braviner as Archdeacon of Halifax

The Collation and Installation of Bill Braviner as Archdeacon of Halifax will be on Sunday, February 27, 2022, at Wakefield Cathedral at 3.30pm.

Environment Team: Events

How to achieve carbon net zero by 2030: a webinar for churches Tuesday, January 25 5-6pm.

Five very different churches in rural Yorkshire have been researching how to achieve the Church of England's target to be carbon net zero by 2030. This webinar is hosted by the Diocese of Leeds and will offer the opportunity for members of other churches to learn more about how these churches set about the project and to ask questions of the Towards Carbon Neutral Churches Craven team and their consultant engineers from Locogen. Watch their short video here. Webinar details and registration here.

Saving Creation Six Steps to Carbon Net Zero Webinars Thursday, January 27, 7.30pm / Wednesday, March 9, 4pm / Tuesday, April 5, 4pm

Following the publication of the Saving Creation: Six Steps to Carbon Net Zero Church Toolkit, this webinar is designed to help you get started on the journey to becoming a carbon net zero church. It will include a scriptural reflection to help us understand the gospel response to climate change, then look at a practical step by step approach for churches. Watch the short Saving Creation video here. Webinar details and registration here.

Creation Salvation Course Starts Wednesday, January 12, 7pm

This seven session course is designed to equip your Parish Environment Officer and others in your congregation to make an impact in your church. Forty PEOs have already undertaken the course online, which has received very positive feedback. “A good balance of practical advice, discussion and spiritual development.” More details here. Please contact [email protected] as soon as possible if there is someone in your parish who might be interested in attending.

Stewardship and Income Generation Team: Parish Giving Scheme Clinics

Find out the latest PGS developments, how the PGS can benefit your church and have your PGS questions answered by joining the Stewardship and Income Generation Team’s popular PGS Clinics in 2022. Our first PGS Clinic in 2022 will be on Monday, January 17 at 12 noon and repeated at 7pm. Hosted by Stewardship Officer Janet Edmond, all are welcome.

For details on how to join our January PGS clinic please visit https://www.leeds.anglican.org/pgs/6.

or contact [email protected].

Stewardship and Income Generation Team: Generosity Week 2022

We are delighted to be able to tell you that following the success of Generosity Week in 2021 we will be holding another week in 2022 from Sunday, September 25 to Sunday, October 2. Generosity Week gives us the time and space to reflect on God’s Generosity and celebrate God’s generosity within our church’s ministry and mission. All materials and details will follow in the coming months, but for now, please allow space for Generosity week in your church calendar so you can plan for a deeper understanding of God’s generosity towards us and how we can live more generously in our daily lives.

For more information please visit https://www.leeds.anglican.org/resourcing-parishes/generosity-week.

Children, Young People and Families Team

On Thursday, February 3 we have our Resourcing Lent and Easter session; previous seasonal sessions have been opportunities for sharing ideas and resources from across the diocese and beyond.

An Introduction to the Mission Toolkit on Thursday, February 10 is an hour exploring the missional training and resources we offer to support parishes to engage, nurture and disciple children, young people and families and grow leaders.

The next sessions of the Working with Children and Young People are detailed below – choose which of the sessions are most helpful for you, or book for them all!

Different Ways of Working, on Friday January 25
Choosing, Adapting and Evaluating Resources on Tuesday, February 8
Dealing with Dilemmas on Thursday, February 17

Communications Team: Leeds Diocesan News

We want your views!

Printing and distribution of our monthly parish magazine insert, Leeds Diocesan News, was halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But, at the start of 2022, the Communications Team hopes to restart sharing our good news in printed form by Easter.

Sadly, as we know too well, all things are subject to sudden change. However we want to canvas opinions on how best to do this and so wish to hear from the parishes.

We are very mindful of both the cost of production and also the environmental impact of physical distribution. That said, there’s so much good news to tell and share that we want to include everyone across the diocese and not only those with online access.

So, please might you find a few minutes to complete a special survey on Leeds Diocesan News (LDN), which may be found here.

Key Dates for 2022

Rhythm of Life Lent Course: Available in February
Step Forward Conference: Saturday March 5
#LiveLent 2022: Embracing Justice: Ash Wednesday (Wednesday, March 2) to Easter Day (Sunday, April 17)
Deadline for receiving Living in Love and Faith (LLF) responses: Saturday, April 30 - processes of discernment and decision-making to take place in 2022 and the beginning of 2023.
Thy Kingdom Come: Thursday, May 26 - Sunday, June 5
World Environment Day/Sunday: Sunday, June 5
Ordination of Deacons: Saturday, July 2
Lambeth Conference: Wednesday, July 27 - Monday, August 8
Creationtide: Thursday, September 1 – Tuesday, October, 4
Diocese of Leeds Generosity Week: Sunday, September 25 - Sunday, October 2

Resources

The Diocese of Leeds has recently launched its resources to help churches reach carbon net zero by 2030, 'Saving Creation: Strategic Action to Combat Climate Change'. These include a video, toolkit, and case studies, with more to come. Read more here.

A resource pack to help churches better support people with disabilities has recently been produced by the diocese and churches across the British Isles. Called ‘A Welcoming Church’, it has been produced by the Diocese of Leeds in collaboration with Dublin and Glendalough Youth Officer Susie Keegan, and The Church of Ireland Youth Department. Read more here.

Living in Love and Faith, The Church of England’s landmark set of resources on questions of identity and which draws together the Bible, theology, science and history with powerful real-life stories has now been published. The product of three years’ work includes a 480-page book, a series of films and podcasts, a course and an online library of other publications. Find more here.

The latest edition of the Prayer Diary is now online to download.There are fresh prayers for Sudan as well as prayers for Tanzania. Download prayers here.

For information, resources and more, visit www.leeds.anglican.org

Vacancies

Rector of Leeds Minster

The Rector of Leeds Minster will be a key figure in leading the mission of the Church of England in one of England's largest cities. Find out more here.

For all other vacancies across the diocese please follow the links below:

For clergy vacancies across the diocese click here.

For educational vacancies across the diocese click here.

For non clergy vacancies across the diocese click here.