Ministry Briefing is replacing Enews+. It is intended to be a weekly resource for clergy, church officers, and lay leaders throughout the diocese, bringing together essential announcements, updates and new resources into one platform.

We have added sections, subject labels and colour-coding to try and make it as easy as possible to navigate and find the information that is most pertinent to you. Increasing the frequency to weekly is aimed at making it shorter and easier to glance through and as timely and relevant as possible. This first edition is longer than our target length! We hope that the briefing will be helpful for discussions at PCCs, Chapter meetings, and other leadership meetings.

Your feedback is important to us; please do share any suggestions that could improve this resource by clicking the button below so that together, we can strengthen our leadership and support one another in our mission.

The Essentials

• Diocesan Church Buildings Grants: NEXT APPLICATION DEADLINE Funding and Grants
• Emergency Contact details on the People System Admin request
• Open funding opportunities for churches Funding and Grants

Important to Know

• The Personal Growth and Leadership Course Training Church Growth
• Renewable energy tariffs update Net Zero and Environment
• Safeguarding Leadership Courses – new booking process Training Safeguarding
• Lay Training Courses Training
• HR Team update HR
• Treasurer Forum meeting Finance
• Generosity Week resources Finance

For Your Information

• National Clergy Training - Talking About Money series for clergy and curates Training
• Continuing Ministerial Development Courses, Retreats and Resources brochure Training

Events

• Youthscape Essentials
• Sharing the Gospel in Intergenerational Worship
• Messy Church Learning Community
• Prayer Spaces in Schools training day
• Sowing Seeds Training
• Exploring Vocations Together - Starting a New Ministry
• Additional Needs Learning Community
• Employed Children and Youth Workers Gathering
• Enabling others in Evangelism

Key Dates for 2026

Resources

Vacancies

Other Useful Links and Information

Diocesan Church Buildings Grants: NEXT APPLICATION DEADLINE

The Diocesan Church Buildings Grant Scheme manages three separate funding pots. More detail about each fund is included in the application form and guidance note. 

• Diocesan Church Buildings Fund 
• Buildings for Mission Minor Repairs and Improvements Fund 
• Environment Programme Net Zero Carbon Quick Wins Fund 

One application form is used to apply for all three funds and the diocesan grants' panel will make the final decision about which fund(s) to award from. 

For more detailed information about the Diocesan Church Buildings Scheme and to download the latest application form please click here.

Please contact resourcingparishes@leeds.anglican.org with any questions relating to this grant. 

Emergency Contact details on the People System

We would like to encourage all clergy with access to the People System to update their emergency contact details on the system. This is so we can reach someone in the event of an emergency. Please log in and update these details as soon as you can. Many thanks!

Clergy who cannot log in to their People System record can contact the People System team by email here: peoplesystemsupport@churchofengland.org or by calling 020 7898 1618.

Open funding opportunities for churches

Round 2 of the continuation of the Heritage at Risk Capital Fund is open for Expressions of Interest, closing on Friday, September 18 at 5pm. The Heritage at Risk Capital Fund supports the repair and conservation of historic buildings and sites at risk across England. Churches are considered by exception, although in particularly acute risks of loss this fund has awarded grants (see example here).

Round 2 of the Places of Worship Renewal Fund opens for Expressions of Interest, closing on Friday, October 2 at 5pm. The fund is designed to support the repair of England's treasured places of worship and is targeted at places of most need.

Church of England Conservation Grants deadlines

The next grant deadlines for the Church of England's conservation grants are Monday, September 14 for clocks; Monday, October 5 for organs; and Monday, October 26 for monuments, textiles, metalwork, woodwork, and books.

Historic England have recently published guidance on funders for places of worship. This is a resource to support places of worship in England to identify potential funders for building-focused projects. This guide will help those caring for places of worship find funding to look after and improve their buildings. 

The Personal Growth and Leadership Course

We are pleased to be able to confirm dates and venues for this year’s Personal Growth and Leadership course. This is a six-session course over six months for teams of clergy and lay together that has a proven track record of encouraging people into positions of responsibility both within church life and beyond. You can find out more about it here.

Do take a look at this video as it gives a really good flavour of what the course has done for people.

This year we will be able to offer the course on Saturday mornings in Bradford City Centre and in the afternoons in the Wakefield area. The dates are:

• Saturday, September 26 2026
• Saturday, October 24 2026
• Saturday, November 21 2026
• Saturday, January 9 2027
• Saturday, February 6 2027
• Saturday, March 6 2027

If you are interested then please drop us a line at barnabas@leeds.anglican.org.

Renewable energy tariffs update

The National Church recently updated their list of renewable energy electricity tariffs. These tariffs will be classed as green and reducing churches’ carbon footprint within the Energy Footprint Tool (EFT), when the EFT re-opens in January 2027, for churches to enter their energy data from 2026. The updated list can be found here – do scroll down to the bottom to find it. Please note that the National Church are now treating ‘green gas’ (also known as biogas or 100% biomethane) differently, and no green gas tariffs will be classed as low-carbon within the EFT, in line with international reporting standards on net zero. 

Many thanks for your continued support with this initiative to move towards renewable energy, which will have a material positive impact on God’s creation. If you have further questions after reading the National Church’s guidance, do contact Rosalind (Net Zero Carbon Programme Manager) at rosalind.cooper@leeds.anglican.org.

Safeguarding Leadership Courses – new booking process

The new system for booking onto Safeguarding Leadership courses is now live. To book courses, please click here and log in using your existing account, or create one if you do not yet have access.

Once logged in: 

• Select Leadership from the course options
• Choose Diocese of Leeds
• Enter your details to enrol on the course (name and role)

Once you enrol, the system will notify us and we will grant you access! You can expect this within around three working days. You will then be able to:

• Select your preferred course date
• Complete your pre course work online
• After the course, complete the post course work on the portal
• The system will issue automatic reminders to your e mail inbox to help you complete your pre and post course work on time
• Once your post course work has been marked, the portal will automatically generate your certificate.

Lay Training Courses

Introduction to Theology (various options, including in-person, hybrid and online, in 2026-27 academic year – see website for dates and locations)

Theology is a word that comes from Ancient Greek. It means talking about God. It’s as simple as that. You already do theology, even if you don’t call it that. For example, when you say, ‘God loves you’ to someone, you are making a statement about God. You are ‘doing theology’.

This course is for anyone who wants to do theology - to talk and think about God - and to deepen their discipleship. It’s also an opportunity to think about how God is forming us right now. All of us are on a journey with God. We are letting God mould us into the person God always meant us to be. We may feel called to a particular ministry. We may just want to know more. Either way, this course is for you!

More details and booking information can be found here.

For more information or to book a place on one of the upcoming iterations, please contact Anne Payne on anne.payne@leeds.anglican.org.

Lay Worship Leaders (a mixture of in-person at Church House Leeds and online sessions, starts Saturday, September 26 in person, online sessions will run on Thursday evenings)

This course follows Introduction to Theology. will develop skills and leadership ability in those wishing to be involved in leading worship in their parishes. The Lay Worship Leaders course enables those who have successfully completed it to lead worship in their parish under the supervision of their incumbent. Lay Pastoral Ministers are authorised at parish level. This means that applicants for the course must have the approval of their incumbent and PCC.

More details and booking information can be found here.

Occasional Preachers (a mixture of in-person at Church House Leeds and other locations TBC and online sessions, starts Saturday, September 26 in person, online sessions will run on Monday evenings)

This course follows Introduction to Theology.  It is a course for lay people who are unable to commit to becoming Licensed Lay Ministers but still feel called to a preaching ministry on an occasional basis. Occasional Preachers are authorised at parish level. This means that applicants for the course must have the approval of their incumbent and PCC.

More details and booking information can be found here.

For more information, please contact us on layministry@leeds.anglican.org. 

HR Team update

We are sharing four new clergy policies and guidance that have been approved. These are: our Clergy Sickness Absence Policy, our Clergy Family Friendly Policy, our Ordinands Family Friendly Policy, and our Perimenopause and Menopause Guidance.

The policies and the guidance have been developed to promote clergy wellbeing and put clear processes in place so that clergy and their parish colleagues, along with Church House and senior clergy, know what is expected of everyone and how to best provide support.

These run alongside our Employee Assistance Program, which provides extra support to clergy too. To access this, please email hr@leeds.anglican.org and details will be shared.

These policies can be found on our website here: Absence from Duties - Including Family Friendly Leave and here: Health and Wellbeing.

The July 2026 Parish HR email update highlights a number of other important employment, safeguarding and wellbeing developments for parishes. Key upcoming employment law changes include: 

• a reduction in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from two years to six months, 
• stronger employer responsibilities to prevent sexual harassment, 
• longer time limits for employment tribunal claims, and 
• new restrictions on "fire and rehire" practices. 

If you would like to receive the Parish HR email update please click here.

Treasurer Forum meeting

The next Treasurer Forum meeting will take place online on Monday, September 21 at 6.30pm. This meeting will focus on Net Zero Carbon, the Church of England’s 2030 target, and the support available to help churches work towards it. All PCC and DCC treasurers should have already received a direct invitation to the meeting via the diocesan database but please get in touch by emailing the Stewardship Team on resourcingparishes@leeds.anglican.org if you have any queries.

Please pre-submit any questions by Sunday, September 13 to resourcingparishes@leeds.anglican.org. We will answer as many as possible during the meeting.

Before the meeting, we encourage you to explore the following Diocesan website information in advance:

• Net Zero Carbon Buildings
• Caring for God's Creation
• Funding

Generosity Week resources

An updated suite of Generosity Week 2026 Resources are now available to download. To find out more information about running a Generosity Week in your church and to download the resources please visit the Stewardship Team webpages here.

National Clergy Training - Talking About Money series for clergy and curates

These 60-minute long online training sessions, in September and October, are being offered by the National Giving Team and are designed to help our clergy explore the topics of money, budgeting, giving and generosity. There are three sessions entitled:

• Talking Money: Tuesday, September 22, 12.30pm
• Teaching & Preaching Generosity: Tuesday, October 13, 12.30pm
• Fundraising: Tuesday, October 20, 12.30pm

For more information contact the Stewardship team on resourcingparishes@leeds.anglican.org. To register in advance for each session please click here.

Continuing Ministerial Development Courses, Retreats and Resources brochure

A brochure is published twice a year on our CMD page for the attention of all clergy and Licensed Lay Ministers in the Diocese of Leeds. This brochure includes upcoming events and learning opportunities that are planned in the following five or six months from diocesan teams as well as external providers, such as Harrogate School of Theology. It also includes a number of chosen retreats taking place at Parcevall Hall, Scargill and The Briery Retreat Centre that may be of interest to clergy and LLMs. Finally, it includes resources such as finance information and clergy welfare links. You can find the latest edition of the brochure here.

Youthscape Essentials

Begins Monday, September 14, 7pm - 9pm, online

A youth work course delivered in two five-week blocks on Monday evenings. If you’re not sure if you’ll like it, come along to Session 1 to try - there’s no obligation to keep coming beyond that. Click here for more details and to book.

Sharing the Gospel in Intergenerational Worship

Tuesday, September 15, 9.45am - 11.45am, Church House Leeds

This session explores how we can share the Gospel in Intergenerational Worship so that it engages and nourishes everyone. Click here for more details and to book.

Messy Church Learning Community

Tuesday, September 15, 7.30pm - 9pm, online

This session is for anyone involved in Messy Church teams; at this session we will be thinking a little deeper about the hospitality we offer at Messy Church and how this might extend beyond providing food and refreshments. Click here for more details and to book.

Prayer Spaces in Schools training day

Saturday, September 19, 10am - 2.45pm, Church House Leeds

This is a very practical in-person training day, which will be led by a Prayer Spaces in Schools Ambassador and will cover what you need to know for getting started with prayer spaces in schools. Click here for more details and to book.

Sowing Seeds Training

Saturday, September 19, 12pm - 4pm, Thorpe Prebend House, Ripon Cathedral

Lunch served from 12pm, training session 1pm-4pm £15 to include lunch.

Join for an afternoon with Sharon Moughtin, Anglican priest and biblical scholar with a passion for education, as she introduces us to her Sowing Seeds material: a creative approach to helping children (and their parents/carers) become active participants in worship and discipleship. For a greater understanding of the Sowing Seeds material, which is published by SPCK, please see the website here.

Exploring Vocations Together - Starting a New Ministry

Wednesday, September 23, 7pm - 9pm, Huddersfield Parish Church

Come and hear from those who have recently taken the step into a new ministry. Is it as they expected? What has surprised them? What do they wish they’d known? Come and find out and ask your own questions – Ministry Uncovered! Tea and coffee will be provided.

Find out more and book here.

Additional Needs Learning Community

Monday, September 28, 11.30am - 1.30pm, Church House Leeds

This gathering is for anyone involved in Children and Youth Ministry in the Diocese of Leeds and who wants to help make church more accessible for families with Additional Needs. Click here for more details and to book.

Employed Children and Youth Workers Gathering

Tuesday, September 29, 12pm - 2pm, Church House Leeds

If you are employed by (or an intern for) a Church of England church in the Diocese of Leeds in a role relating to children, young people or families, then this gathering is for you. Click here for more details and to book.

Enabling others in Evangelism

Saturday, April 24 2027, 10am - 3pm, Leeds Minster

Hear from the Rt Revd Philip North, Bishop of Blackburn, about how we can support others to share the Good News of Jesus.

To find out more and to book please click here.

Diocesan Synod

• Saturday, October 17

General Synod

• Monday, November 16 to Wednesday, November 18

Season of Creation: Tuesday, September 1 to Sunday, October 4

First Sunday of Advent: Sunday, November 29

Christmas 2026: Friday, December 25

Hub Leader (Huddersfield Area), part time - Diocese of Leeds

The Diocese of Leeds are launching an exciting new phase of the Barnabas Lay Leadership Development Programme, and we are seeking a Hub Leader in the Huddersfield Area (Fixed term for 3 years) to help equip and empower lay leaders, particularly in underserved communities, areas of deprivation, and among global majority heritage groups. Find out more here.

Assistant Conference and Events Manager (part-time) - St George's Leeds

St George's Team Ministry is looking for an organised and customer-focused Assistant Conference & Events Manager to support the delivery of conferences, meetings and events across our portfolio of venues in Leeds. Working closely with the Conference and Events Manager, you will help manage bookings, coordinate events, provide excellent customer service, support marketing activities, and ensure our venues deliver a professional and welcoming experience for all users. Find out more here.

The Revd Sam Crook has been appointed as Associate Priest at Wakefield Cathedral

The Revd Joseph Harrison has been appointed as Interim Priest in Charge (0.5) of St Saviour’s Fairweather Green and Priest in Charge (0.5) of St Chad’s Toller Lane in the Bradford area

The Revd Wayne Simmonds has been appointed as Priest in Charge of St Aidan’s Harehills in the Leeds area

The Revd Meg Bradbury-Saunders has been appointed as Assistant Curate (SSM) at Holy Trinity Ripon in the Ripon area

The Revd Canon Joyce Jones has been granted PTO in the Diocese of Leeds

The Revd Thomas Haley has been granted PTO in the Diocese of Leeds

The Revd Ian Sparks has been granted PTO in the Diocese of Leeds

The Revd Stephen Osman has been granted PTO in the Diocese of Leeds

The Revd Kim Brown has been granted PTO in the Diocese of Leeds

The Revd Canon Paul Maybury, Rector of Leeds Minster in the Leeds area, will retire with effect from Monday, November 30 2026