Diocesan Enews
Welcome to the Enews for May 13

The latest resources, news and more.
Click on headlines or pictures for more details.  
Contact enews@leeds.anglican.org with your news. 
News
After years of hard work and fundraising, improvement works likened to a “moonshot” have begun at St John the Baptist, Low Bentham. Already, the builders have excavated the old cellar, installed new footings, and built walls up to ground level in preparation for the new extension which will house two new toilets. Read more here
Following a successful pilot scheme supported by the Diocese of Leeds, the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) has launched its new digital service. Since its introduction in January 2020, churches across the country have been signing up to the PGS and it's now the preferred way to give for the Diocese of Leeds. Read more here
Churches across the Ripon area have been celebrating recently as they look to go green. St James’ Wetherby and Towards Carbon Neutral Churches in Craven have been the recipients of grant funding from the Rural Community Energy Fund, or RCEF. Read more here
The Church of England has published guidance for parishes and cathedrals addressing concerns over memorials with links to slavery and other contested heritage. It enables churches and cathedrals to consider the history of their buildings and congregations, and to engage with everyone in their community to understand how physical artefacts may impact their mission and worship. Read more here
Employed as a children or youth worker?
Our Children, Young People and Families Team are seeking to connect with anyone employed as a children, youth or families worker across our diocese. Any parishes in this position are invited to email the team at childrenyouth@leeds.anglican.org, so they can invite the workers to a virtual session to help support and resource them. 
A goodwill message to mark the end of Ramadan has been sent from our six bishops to Muslim people across our large and diverse diocese and is printed in full on our website. Read the message here
St Mary the Virgin, Oxenhope, St Matthew’s, Chapel Allerton and Leeds Minster are amongst ten Yorkshire churches celebrating after being awarded over £50,000 from the Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust. Read more here
The Diocese of Leeds is hoping to remain one of the top dioceses in the country for green data, as this year’s use of the Energy Footprinting Tool gets underway. The Energy Footprinting Tool calculates the carbon emissions from the energy used by a church using information from the energy bills. Read more here
Two parishioners from one of our Leeds churches have helped illuminate people about their stained-glass window with a suite of new resources. Alastair Morton and Janet Fraser-Smith, worshippers at Christ Church Upper Armley, have collaborated to produce materials that would further the mission of the church. Read more here
One of our churches in the Bradford area is making it easier for people to remember and find out more about those who served the country during wartime, thanks to a new leaflet and poster offering details and insights into the church’s Commonwealth war graves. Read more here
One of our priests in the Wakefield area hopes to make looking though the Bible easier with a new book taking us through it from A to Z. ‘From Ark to Zion’ has been written by the Revd Rupert Martin, Vicar of the parish of Sandal Magna, and looks to share a treasure trove of biblical images, symbols, metaphors and parables. Read more here
A climate pilgrimage happening this year is looking for volunteers as it crosses large parts of our diocese. The Relay to COP26 is a relay walk from St Ives to Glasgow running from June to October, organised by the Young Christians Climate Network. The relay comes through our whole diocese, from Marsden in the Huddersfield area to Bedale in the Ripon area. Read more here
For more diocesan and regional news, visit www.leeds.anglican.org
Living and Learning Online
On Wednesday, May 19 at 7pm, a fun and interactive online course to learn about children and young people with disabilities in churches. This 90 minute Zoom course will cover definitions of disability, ways of working with children with disabilities, where to look for resources, and much more. Booking is essential and can be done here.
Our Digital and Social Media Officer is available to churches and parishes wishing to discuss a digital platform on a one to one basis. An initial 6 slots have been made available, starting on Thursday, May 20 at 2pm. Follow this link to find out more and how to book a Digital Surgery for your church. The time can be spent reviewing a social media account, or discussing video content and live streaming.
Spiritual Direction Training will resume in September 2021 with two innovative and exciting courses designed to equip all who feel called to explore their spiritual journey and the ministry of spiritual companionship. Find out more here, including dates and how to apply. Applications are open until Monday, May 24 so make sure to book your place if you're interested.
Explore what God's call might mean for you with others thinking about the same thing with a speaker, to help your discernment. This special additional Fellowship on Tuesday, May 25 at 7.30pm will focus on Mission & Evangelism with guest speakers Revd Dave Male and Revd Heather Cracknell from the National Evangelism & Discipleship Team. Find out more here
Run by our Children, Young People and Families Team, this workshop is designed to help parishes think about opportunities to engage with their local schools. It will cover a number of possible opportunities, highlighting ways to get started. It will take place online, on Wednesday, May 26 at 7pm. To register for this session, please email childrenyouth@leeds.anglican.org.
A series of training events, aimed at helping churches fulfil their digital mission, are taking place this year. Starting on Thursday, May 27 with a session focused on videography, each will focus on a particular area, with topics covered such as live streaming, social media and video presentation. Go to our communications training page for more details and how to book a place.
This ten month course will develop advanced skills and leadership in those wishing to be involved in leading worship in their parishes. People completing this course will gain an in-depth understanding of the theology of worship, practical knowledge of preparing worship; transferable skills to lead worship in different contexts, and gain confidence in leading up front as well as leading a team. Find out more here
For more Diocese of Leeds training visit the Digital Learning Platform
Events across the diocese
The first of seven organ recitals in the summer 2021 programme begin with Bradford Cathedral Director of Music Alex Berry. Book your seat in the cathedral, and find out more, on the Bradford Cathedral website here.
For 1349 years Ripon Cathedral has been welcoming visitors, making it one of Yorkshire’s longest standing visitor attractions. On Monday, the cathedral will throw open its doors once more, as the restrictions on indoor attractions are lifted. As ever, entry is free of charge. Find out more here
Resources
This year's annual Thy Kingdom Come 11 days of prayer, from Ascension to Pentecost, will happen from Thursday, May 13 to Sunday, May 23. A host of resources, including a webinar on this years plans, can be accessed here on the Thy Kingdom Come website.
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
During the Covid 19 crisis, we’ve had to adjust to very different rhythms. As Christians, we believe Jesus should be at the heart of our rhythms of life, whatever our circumstances. Find out more here about the ‘Rhythm of Life’, a new diocesan venture.
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.
Media
The Leeds Diocesan Internship scheme is an amazing opportunity to explore more of what it means to be a disciple of Christ and to serve his church. It's designed to equip you for life, work and leadership. The scheme runs from September to July and involves practical placements, training and community living. Watch the promo video here
In this video our lead stewardship officer, Becky, explains what a Giving Review is. We recommend that every church PCC conducts one every single year. A giving review looks at giving as an act of Christian Discipleship and asks what are we doing as a generous church. Watch it here.
Following a successful pilot scheme supported by the Diocese of Leeds, the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) has launched its new digital service. Watch this video from our stewardship officer Janet to find out more.
 ...is the name of Bishop Nick's blog and his most recent entries can be viewed here.
Vacancies
The Diocese of Leeds is seeking to appoint a Finance Manager to lead and manage the busy Finance Team. For more details click here.
Hellifield and Long Preston are villages near Settle and Skipton. These parishes are looking for an experienced, energetic and enthusiastic priest who will enable them to fulfil their mission of “sharing God’s love at the heart of our communities.” For more details click here.
Bradford Diocesan Academies Trust are looking for a Governance and Compliance Officer with a good understanding of school and academy governance and strong administrative and people skills to join their team. For more details click here.
The Community of the Resurrection in Mirfield are looking to appoint two administrators to work closely together covering 50 hours per week, ideally at 25 hours each with at least part of one day per week worked in common. The posts would suit a job-share arrangement. For more details click here.
Useful links & Information
For safeguarding issues, contact our advisers on:
safeguarding@leeds.anglican.org or call 0113 353 0257 
Carla Darbyshire - Safeguarding Team Leader
Jenny Leccardi - Safeguarding Adviser
Narinder Lyon - Safeguarding Adviser
Nikki Rose - Assistant Safeguarding Adviser
Moves and Appointments

Revd Canon Vaughan Pollard to be Interim Priest in Charge of the Parish of St Peter Allerton (Bradford EA)

Revd Steven Harvey to be Priest in Charge of Christ Church South Ossett and Holy Trinity Ossett and Gawthorpe (Wakefield EA)

Revd Joshua Cockayne to be City Centre Mission Lead/Assistant Curate at Leeds St George (Leeds EA)

Revd Blair Radford to be Priest in Charge of the Benefices of St Peter & St John Barnsley and St Mary Magdalene Lundwood (Wakefield EA)

Revd Steve Lees to be Anglican Chaplain of Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust

The Who's Who directory lists clergy & diocesan staff (email addresses & phone numbers). Access it here 
Contact us with your news
Please contact the Communications Team with your news for future editions. The Enews is published twice a month. The next edition will be sent out on May 27. Area news stories to enews@leeds.anglican.org  
© Anglican Diocese of Leeds, 2021
Church House, 17-19 York Place, Leeds, LS1 2EX
 0113 200 0540

Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily represent those of the Leeds Diocesan Board of Finance

Why am I receiving this email?
This email from the diocese is sent to those who have asked to receive it by 'subscribing' or who receive it because they have a relationship with the diocese, holding an office or position in a church in the diocese, a church school or the diocese itself. However, if you do not wish to continue to receive these emails, simply use the 'Unsubscribe' button at the foot of the enews. 
Under no circumstances are email addresses shared with third parties.