Welcome to the Enews for March 21

The latest resources, news and more.

Click on headlines or pictures for more details.  

Contact [email protected] with your news. 

Affirming our commitment to God’s Creation and the people in it were the topics of the most recent Diocesan Synod. The busy agenda included motions confirming our not investing in companies profiting from fossil fuels and engaging more with our link dioceses, as well as reports from the most recent meeting of General Synod and on our Barnabas work. Read more here

In a world where news reports swing violently between troubling subjects, Christians must engage hopefully with reality, not turn away, Bishop Nick urged Diocesan Synod recently. “I sit on a House of Lords select committee for Communications and Digital and we are currently doing an inquiry into news and trust. Witnesses are clear that a substantial number of people in the West are simply avoiding news because it is all so grim,” the Rt Revd Nick Baines told the online meeting of diocesan representatives. Read more here

Our commitment to action on climate change has been reinforced by Synod with an overwhelming vote against diocesan investment in fossil fuel businesses. The diocese has been a positive leader in environmental work for many years and synod members voted in favour of a motion presented by the Rt Revd Anna Eltringham, Bishop of Ripon. Read more here

Work to nurture and grow global relationships through our network of Link Dioceses has been endorsed by Synod. Members affirmed and celebrated those links by approving the following recommendations aimed at strengthening and growing our international engagement, overseen by a new Companion Link Steering Group. Read more here

Churches across the diocese have raised some £57,000 in just six weeks to help reach carbon net zero, as part of the Give To Go Green project. 11 churches took part in Give To Go Green, a match-funding pilot from the Church of England working with churches to double local digitally-raised donations, to allow for more work on reducing carbon emissions. Read more here

We are pleased to be offering new taster sessions of a course which will help people to become confident Christians. One of the offers that our Barnabas work brings are resources and opportunities to grow confident Christians. Personal Growth and Leadership is a course that helps churches and people in the diocese grow in confidence, particularly people who have not had responsibilities in the life of the church before. Read more here

The Diocese of Leeds is pleased to open up our small grants programme for new congregations, supporting new ventures to reach those not yet part of church. The diocese is offering grants of up to £500 to small new congregations to help them get off the ground. Read more here

Churches looking to reduce their carbon emissions have received a boost, with new resources to help parishes find funding for their projects. As part of our Saving Creation strategy, the diocese is pleased to share new funding resources prepared in partnership with Action Planning, expert charity fundraising consultants. Read more here

New people are coming to church services, thanks to a recently-launched community cinema club. Worshippers at St Lucius Church, Farley Tyas have a hit on their hands since launching the club in Autumn last year, said Chris Thompson, one of the founders. Read more here

A joyful Sunday morning was had in Bellerby in the Benefice of Leyburn and Bellerby in the Ripon area recently, celebrating 150 years of important community and faith in the area. St John the Evangelist held a service of celebration to mark 150 years of mission and ministry on Sunday, March 17, bringing together people from the church and the local community to celebrate this significant milestone in the life of the church. Read more here

Priest, writer and regular BBC Radio 2 contributor Revd Matt Woodcock, is visiting the Dales to put a little laughter into Lent. Kettlewell is the venue on Saturday, March 23 and Revd Matt will be around the following day, Palm Sunday, as guest preacher at Hubberholme Church. Read more here

One of our Ripon area churches is highlighting the beauty and preciousness of God’s creation, by hosting a Wild Flower Festival. Coverham Church are holding the Wild Coverdale Flower Festival starting in May 2024, which will be the backdrop for a fun and thought-provoking programme of events. Read more here

Exactly a year since the announcement that the Bishop of Huddersfield, Rt Revd Smitha Prasadam would join our diocese from her role as Chaplain of Copenhagen, she attended a special International Women’s Day event hosted by West Yorks Mayor, Tracey Brabin. Women of West Yorkshire, was organised by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Bishop Smitha was there with Revd Canon Rachel Firth, Women's Advisor for the Huddersfield Episcopal Area and Kaneez Khan of Wellsprings Together. Read more here

During the 50 days from Easter to Pentecost, you can subscribe to receive a daily devotion to help mark the 10^th Anniversary of the Diocese. Each day a reflection, written by a different member of our diocese, will be emailed to you. As we journey through the Book of Acts, every reflection will be linked to one of the areas of focus in our Rhythm of Life initiative: encourage, share, create, pray, rest, celebrate, reflect. There will also be ideas for activities and links to good news stories.

To sign up, click here. For more on the Rhythm of Life initiative, click here.

No further applications for LLM training starting in September 2024 will be accepted. The application process for LLM training starting in September 2025 will begin during the autumn of 2024. More details can be found here.

If you require any specific help or information, please contact the School of Ministry administrator at [email protected].

A 12 session journey looking at the Christian faith, your own faith journey and developing theological skills. All students will be encouraged to create a portfolio showcasing their new skills. Attending an ITT course is a pre-requirement for Licensed Lay Ministry training in the Diocese of Leeds. Further information about the Introduction to Theology can be found here.

If you require any specific help or information, please contact the School of Ministry administrator at [email protected].

A day training course exploring Prayer Ministry. Suitable for pastoral care teams and other lay leaders who may be asked to pray alongside those in need.

More details and booking information can be found here.

Why not join us for this most special week of the year. The programme will be led by our chaplain, Canon Graham Bettridge, taking time to reflect on the significance of Holy Week, and celebrating the triumph of Easter Day.

The cost is £370. per person, this includes all your meals and accommodation.

To book please call the office on 01756 720213 or email [email protected].

This day is aimed particularly at leaders and worshippers in smaller local churches (typically 15-55 worshippers on a regular Sunday). Facilitated by Revd Jolyon Trickey, Ven David Picken and others, with teaching on Ephesians 1 from Bishop Mark Ashcroft, we will encounter God afresh, renewing our confidence in the inextinguishable power of biblical hope. We will also have time to worship, to reflect, and to wrestle together with the practicalities of living hopefully in our own little local and ‘ordinary’ churches. For further information and to book a ticket please click here. 

You can also sign up to find out more about our ministry and upcoming events at www.resourcingrenewal.org.

Personal Growth and Leadership is a course for clergy and lay church teams to explore how we can grow personally and in our leadership - to learn, share and put into practice some key principles around growth and leadership - encouraging ‘Confident Christians’ and building ‘Leadership Pathways’. The next six month course is starting in late September. To give you an idea of how Personal Growth and Leadership might support your church, we will be running a number of taster sessions in April at the following venues, with the additional option for participants to join via a livestream:

• Thursday, April 18, 7pm - 9pm, St Andrews Church, High Street, Starbeck HG2 7JE
• Tuesday, April 23, 7pm - 9pm, St Barnabas Church, The View, Alwoodley LS17 7NA
• Wednesday, April 24, 7pm - 9pm, Pudsey Parish Church, Church Lane, Pudsey LS28 8BE

Please email [email protected] to find out more and book onto a taster session.

There will be a service at Bradford Cathedral at 3pm on Saturday, April 20, attended by the Archbishop of York and invited guest from across the diocese. The service will also be livestreamed, with details to follow.

There will be a service celebrating ten years of rural ministry in the diocese at Ripon Cathedral at 3.30pm on Sunday, May 12. Bishop Anna and Dean John, with the support of the Bishop of Leeds, are inviting people from all parts of the diocese to share in this celebration of rural communities, parishes, businesses and organisations, not least farming and land management.

More details on other services marking the anniversary will be shared in due course.

Find out more about Leeds @ 10 here.

Come and join us in a conversation about finding and working with interns.

This is an opportunity to:

• hear about our Diocesan intern scheme which equips young adults for life, work and leadership as disciples of Christ through placements in churches and training;
• find out about the process of finding and recruiting potential interns and how we can support this, what it looks like to invest in an intern over a year and what your church would need to commit to.

Whether this is something you are considering now, have a vision for in the future, or maybe have personal experience of, we would be delighted to welcome you in the conversation as we look to grow more disciples and leaders across all parts of the Diocese through the internship scheme.

To join the conversation, please email the Internship Co-ordinator [email protected] for a Zoom link.

We very much look forward to hearing from you.

We are delighted to invite all children, young people and families workers, leaders and volunteers to attend one of our TEND events this year.

This year’s theme is Encouraging Confidence and the days will include workshops, speakers, worship, reflection and the opportunity to meet others involved in ministry with and to children, young people and families. The dates and venues are:

• Saturday, April 27 at Holy Trinity Ripon
• Saturday, June 8 at Dewsbury Minister
• Saturday, September 7 at St Matt's Leeds

Please click here for more details and to book.

We may struggle with believing ourselves, or if we do believe find it hard when others have difficult questions. Whether you are struggling with believing yourself and/or talking with others who find it hard, these three introductory talks by Canon Philip will explore some of the common problems people have with Christianity. You can come to some or all, ask questions or just listen, and you’ll be very welcome!

Three Wednesdays in May at Wakefield Cathedral

• May 8 - Darwin and Dawkins: Faith and Science
• May 15 - Disaster: Faith and Suffering
• May 22 - Da Vinci Code: Faith and History

For more information email [email protected] or call 01924 373923.

A workshop from Urban Saints considering accessibility, inclusion and belonging for all. How can parents, churches and children’s/youth workers, not only understand more about the children we are working with, but also change the way we work with them so to be more inclusive and create belonging for all? This training session works through all of these important questions and equips and enables participants to be agents of change in their own group. To book your place for this session, please email [email protected].

Find out more here.

The intention of this retreat is to respond to Jesus’ invitation: ‘Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’ There will be space to rest and to receive from God, and opportunities to be nurtured by Scripture, other spiritual resources and prayer. The retreat will spiritually nurture those who need a short break from the busyness and stresses of life. Led by Henriette Howarth. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Find out more here.

Come and join a friendly, ecumenical Lent course, based on the book 'How to Hear God' by Pete Grieg. More details and booking information can be found here. If you require any specific help or information, please do contact us at [email protected].

Matthew Coleridge directs a liturgical performance of his Requiem. Join Bradford Cathedral Choir for a Come and Sing Requiem for Palm Sunday. We'll spend the afternoon rehearsing this sublime work, before singing in a Palm Sunday evening service co-directed by Matthew and the Cathedral's Director of Music, Graham Thorpe. Find out more here.

Mark’s Gospel presented as a high-octane eye-witness account. Memorised from scripture, word for word, and told with urgency, excitement, and good old northern grit, this is a compelling ninety-minute rollercoaster of a ride through the speediest of gospels!

Scripture comes to life, as the written word is heard not read, in one flowing narrative, with no chapter breaks. Relive the healing of the man with a withered hand, the calming of the storm, and feeding of the 5000 as if you were there.

Seen and heard in one sitting, actor, Matt Britton, animates the stories of Mark as if eye-witness to it all. Alone on stage, no gimmickry, no elaborate staging or props, simply a storyteller armed with the greatest story ever told, this touring piece brings whole new meaning to ‘living epistle.’ Find out more here.

A talk on the history and significance of plainchant with an opportunity to learn the chant and sing it in worship. Led by chant expert Fr Peter Allan CR, Community of the Resurrection, Mirfield. Free and all are most welcome.

The Eco Group from Wakefield Cathedral are taking part in an Earth Day event at the Hepworth gallery on the weekend of the 20/21 April. We are hoping to publicise how the church as a whole is working towards the 2030 Net Zero challenge, many through the A Rocha scheme.

To this end we would like to invite churches in the diocese to contribute photos and an explanation of any work done which might be of interest to the general public. We will display the materials in the cathedral for the following week as the Earth Day theme is the focus of a Family Fun Day in the cathedral on Saturday, April 27.

Please contact on [email protected] FAO Eco Group if you can send over some photos and text.

Lunch will be provided. Everyone is welcome. Please bring your own robes. New members will be most welcome. Please let us know if you wish to be admitted at any of these services. If you need any further information, please contact Secretary Sue Middleditch on 0113 2643946 or 07976 209127, or [email protected].

When Jesus calls us to follow him, he is inviting us into a lifelong journey of transformation and renewal. How are we living that out as disciples of Christ? On Fire Mission is inviting you to come as you are and join us at OFM onsite 2024 for a time away to recharge, to discover fresh perspectives and insights, and to become part of a Spirit-filled, creative, sacramental community; equipping Christians to become agents of renewal in their local context. We will be joined by a host of great contributors, from across the OFM network and beyond, offering great teaching, inspiring workshops, dynamic worship and much more. Find out more here

As we talk about Parish Share in 2024, hear a message from Bishop Nick giving a big thank you to all those who give their money generously, individually and through their parishes, which pays the Parish Share.

Watch the video here.

We are looking for a full-time Co-ordinator to join our Barnabas team at the Diocese of Leeds on a 3-year fixed-term contract. The Diocese has undergone a significant period of change since its formation in 2014. As part of its aim to ensure long-term sustainability and financial stability, the diocese has applied for and received funding to increase spiritual and numerical growth, in line with its vision for confident Christians, growing churches, and transforming communities. In 2023, the diocese launched: Barnabas: Encouraging Confidence which is designed to accelerate that development, make possible the diocesan vision, and provide a framework for total strategic change. The postholder will be part of the team delivering Barnabas and will help to enable the wider vision of supporting churches to thrive across the diocese. Find out more about this role here

We are looking for someone to join our Safeguarding team to be our Safeguarding Administrator. The Safeguarding Administrator will be an integral part of the Safeguarding team and as part of the team, you will share in the responsibility to keep children and vulnerable adults safe. Supporting the Safeguarding Team by leading the administration of the department’s work, including the administration of policies and procedures, the maintenance of casework documentation, content management for the safeguarding webpages and providing administrative support to the Diocesan Safeguarding Team. Find out more about this role here

We are looking for a new 3 day a week, 18 month fixed term Fundraising Officer to join the passionate, vibrant and friendly team in the Diocese of Leeds. We cover a wide geographical area in Northern England including Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Wakefield and the Yorkshire Dales. In line with the Church of England’s Routemap to Net Zero Carbon, the Diocese of Leeds has an ambition to achieve net zero carbon (NZC) by 2030 across our diocesan estate. To deliver this ambition, a detailed net zero carbon programme has been developed is being implemented to decarbonise the 587 churches, 57 school and 451 domestic properties for clergy within the diocese. To support this extensive programme of work we are seeking an experienced Fundraising Officer to work alongside a growing vibrant and committed diocesan team of NZC officers. The diocese has gained national Church of England funding to support this role for 18 months. Find out more about this role here

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 April 4. Area news stories to [email protected]