New from Church House

• Conversations Day
• General Election Health and Safety guidance
• Energy Footprinting Tool - deadline for completion is Wednesday, July 31
• Place Audits
• Change to accessing diocesan email accounts while outside of the UK
• Diocesan Intern Scheme - now recruiting!
• TEND 2024 – final event Saturday, September 7 – there’s still time to book!
• Whole Church and Outdoor Worship
• Resourcing and supporting parishes
• Ministry with Children and Young People course
• Online workshops
• New Growing Faith Learning Community
• Staying connected with our Children, Young People and Families Team
• Annual Visitations 2024
• Churchwarden training events
• Benefact Group Charity Heroes Awards
• Lay Training courses
• Treasurer Forum webpage
• Start planning your Generosity Week for 2024 and book a one-to-one planning session
• Give to Go Green Round 2
• Money for Mission: Issue 59

Key Dates for 2024

Resources

Vacancies

Other Useful Links and Information

Conversations Day

People say to me that they struggle to create the time and space to think about what the future could hold for their churches and communities.

In July the Diocese of Leeds will be partnering with the Northern Mission Centre in the Diocese of Carlise to host a day that is there to help take down barriers between ourselves and mission. It’s a Conversations Day with lots of time to talk, a keynote from Paul Bradbury and time to try some helpful tools to remove barriers and give us space to imagine again.

This is for anyone - lay or clergy - whether you are trying something new or just want to think about what you currently do in a new way.

Please contact me if the cost is prohibitive.

Click this lin to find out more and to book: Conversations Day Tickets, Church House, Penrith

Revd Jude Smith

Director of Church Revitalisation

General Election Health and Safety guidance

Ecclesiastical Insurance are suggesting PCCs of churches using their premises as polling stations during the imminent General Election may wish to review their fire safety and health and safety arrangements and also check if any valuables need to be locked away. This would be useful as many people who will enter the buildings may not be familiar with the surroundings. Ecclesiastical’s risk management guidance may be found via the links below:

• Self Assessment for Churches | Risk Management
• Church Slips & Trips | Risk Management | Ecclesiastical
• Fire risk articles for churches | Risk Management | Ecclesiastical

Energy Footprinting Tool - deadline for completion is Wednesday, July 31

The Church of England’s Energy Footprint Tool, part of Online Parish Returns, is now open for churches to enter their fuel and power use in 2023. The data collected from the tool will help your church understand its carbon footprint and will mean you may be eligible for grants to help kickstart your building projects for investing in the future (such as work on church lighting, insulation, guttering or heating). This work is an essential part of caring for God’s Creation, by helping to combat global heating and climate change. Find out how to complete the Energy Footprint Tool here. The deadline for completion is Wednesday, July 31.

Place Audits

We would like to say a very big thank you to all the parishes that have completed their place audits. We really appreciate taking the time to complete this.

Place audits are sent out once a year, and is a request for a list of parish roles that is used to keep the diocesan database up to date. This information is vital to make sure the diocese only contacts the relevant people in parishes. Even if there have been no changes, it is very helpful to know that the information is still correct.

An individual link was sent to the PCC Secretary, clergy and or administrator back in March. If parishes can’t find the link, have any questions, or would rather complete it over the phone, please get touch with Nicola Thurlow on 0113 3535 0205 or at database@leeds.anglican.org, and she will be very happy to resend the link or help in any way.

Change to accessing diocesan email accounts while outside of the UK

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the cyber-security posture of the diocese, we have recently implemented a new policy that, by default, blocks access to Leeds email accounts while outside of the UK. 

We have seen an increasing number of malicious attempts to access diocesan email accounts from various locations around the world, so by implementing this policy we hope to mitigate some of the risk of accounts being compromised.

If you know you will be travelling outside of the UK and will require access to your diocesan email account during that time, please raise a support ticket with our IT provider Mansys – support@man-sys.co.uk - to request temporary access. They will require your return date so that the access can be reset once you return to the UK.

Diocesan Intern Scheme - now recruiting!

Our Diocesan Intern Scheme has been running for a number of years, and at this time of the year we are always looking to see who God might be calling to be an intern. If you know of someone who would benefit from a year of training and discipleship as they service in a local church then please put them in touch with Katharine Greathead, our Intern Co-Ordinator - katharine.greathead@leeds.anglican.org.

TEND 2024 – final event Saturday, September 7 – there’s still time to book!

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, September 7 at St Matt's Leeds

Please click here for more details and to book.

If you require any specific help or information, please do contact us at childrenyouth@leeds.anglican.org.

Whole Church and Outdoor Worship

• Saturday, September 21, 9.30am - 2pm, St Stephen's West Bowling

Many churches are exploring what it means to worship together as the whole family of God – all ages, all backgrounds and abilities – and gathering outdoors to encounter God in nature is wonderful way to do this. If you are interested in creation care, using your church yard space for worship or gathering all the generations together to worship God, the Children, Young People and Families team have invited Engage Worship to lead a day’s workshop ‘Whole Church and Outdoor Worship’ to inspire and equip you to develop this in your churches. The tickets are £10 each and include a delicious lunch. Click here to find out more and to book.

Starting a conversation about children and young people (open for enquires, online)

This is a workshop for parishes wondering about starting something for children and young people. Please contact the team if this would be helpful in your context.

Ministry with Children and Young People course

• Thursday, October 10, 9.45am - 1pm, Church House Leeds

This is an in-person course designed for everyone; whether you’ve been working with children and young people for a long time or you are just starting out, and it aims to help you develop and refresh skills and knowledge so you can serve children and young people well.

For more details, and to register your interest for the course, see here.

If you require any specific help or information, please do contact us at childrenyouth@leeds.anglican.org.

Online workshops

Youthscape Essentials – YSE Monthly Mondays (Starting Monday, September 9, 7pm - 9pm, online)

We are delighted to be offering the Youthscape Essentials course with sessions beginning on Monday, September 9. This course is ideal for anyone involved in work with young people.

New Growing Faith Learning Community

This is a new online learning community for exploring opportunities to develop stronger links between church, home and school to enable children, young people and families to grow in faith and discipleship. Click here to find out more, or contact childrenyouth@leeds.anglican.org.

Staying connected with our Children, Young People and Families Team

If you would like to receive the Children, Young People and Families Team newsletter, please subscribe to the Digital Learning Platform here and be sure to tick the ‘Children & Youth’ and ‘Sign me up’ boxes! In addition we host a Facebook group for anyone involved in children, young people and family ministry where people share details of events, resources, activities and training and also ask questions, debate ideas and learn together. As always, if you require any specific help or information, please do contact us on childrenyouth@leeds.anglican.org.

Annual Visitations 2024

The dates for the Annual Visitations from the Archdeacons have been published, and can be found here.

Churchwarden training events

We are hosting online training events for Churchwardens across the diocese.

• Basic training for new churchwardens: Thursday, July 11, 7pm - 9pm
• Experienced training for churchwardens: Wednesday, October 16, 7pm - 9pm

Please contact the Archdeacon's PA for your episcopal area to book onto this training and to recieve the Zoom link.

• Bradford: carmel.dylak@leeds.anglican.org
• Huddersfield: christine.bleasdale@leeds.anglican.org
• Leeds: helen.allison@leeds.anglican.org
• Ripon: chloe.drummond@leeds.anglican.org
• Wakefield: heather.ricks@leeds.anglican.org

Benefact Group Charity Heroes Awards

The Benefact Group are thrilled to launch some new awards, dedicated to celebrating and supporting excellent charities who work tirelessly to make positive change. In this inaugural year, They’ll be recognising those who have made a significant contribution, and it would be brilliant to see some church nominations in categories that cover the work of individuals and organisations. Please click here to find out more, and to make a nomination!

Introduction to Theology (ITT)

What’s Next in Your Discipleship Journey? Ever wondered what theology means and how to study it? Need some guidance on how to dig a bit deeper? Don’t know where to start? This free and updated course is for you!

A 12-session journey looking at the Christian faith, thinking about your own faith journey and developing theological skills. This is a great place to start when considering where God is calling you. Attending this course is a pre-requirement for Licensed Lay Ministry training in the diocese of Leeds and is also useful for those considering any of our other Lay Ministry pathways.

Three courses for 2024-25 are advertised on the DLP. Follow the links for further information and booking details:

• Autumn 2024: in-person at the Mirfield Centre
• Winter (Jan –Mar) 2025: online
• Spring (Mar – Jun) 2025: in-person @ The Trinity Centre, Bingley

If you require any specific help or information, please contact the School of Ministry administrator at shuna.hartley@leeds.anglican.org.

Treasurer Forum webpage

The first Treasurer Forum meeting took place online on the evening of Monday, June 10 and was attended by 56 of our treasurers from across the diocese. Topics covered included the results of our treasurer training questionnaire, information on different bookkeeping systems, setting up a buddy system for treasurers, an invitation to become a Treasurer Ambassador and a Q&A section. The presentation slides delivered at the Forum are now available to download from the new Treasurer Forum webpage via the link here.

The next Treasurer Forum meeting will take place in September and all treasurers will receive a direct email invitation.

Diocese of Leeds Synod:

• Saturday, October 19

Church of England General Synod:

• Friday, July 5 - Tuesday, July 9 
• Monday, November 18 - Wednesday, November 20



General Election: Thursday, July 4

Creationtide: Sunday, September 1 - Friday, October, 4

Yorkshire Churches Day: Saturday, September 14

Diocese of Leeds Generosity Week: Sunday, September 22 - Sunday, September 29

COP 29: Monday, November 11 - Friday, November 22

First Sunday of Advent: Sunday, December 1

Christmas 2024: Wednesday, December 25

Diocesan Director of Vocations - Diocese of Leeds

The Diocese of Leeds is seeking to appoint an experienced priest to join the Ministry and Mission team as the Diocesan Director of Vocations, this is a senior role within the team. The successful candidate will lead the Diocesan Vocations Team, working with ADDOs spread across the five episcopal areas. The DDV will play a leading role in ensuring vocations to lay and ordained ministry are promoted throughout the varied contexts of the diocese, combined with ensuring discernment processes are wisely administered and well-aligned with diocesan ministry opportunities and the national discernment framework. Find out more about this role here.

Chief Officer - Wellsprings Together

As our Chief Officer has moved on, we are looking to recruit to help take Wellsprings Together to the next level. We're looking for a new Chief Officer (35 hours). Find out more about this role here.

The Revd Harriet Johnson has been appointed as House for Duty Vicar in the Ingleborough Team with key responsibility for Burton and Thornton in the Lonsdale Benefice in the Ripon area

The Revd Canon Raymond Hutchinson, residing in the Diocese of Liverpool and a regular visitor to the Ripon area, has been granted PTO in the Diocese of Leeds

The Revd John Knott, residing in the Ripon area, has been granted PTO in the Diocese of Leeds

The Revd Grzegorz Ruszczynski, residing in the Wakefield area, has been granted PTO in the Diocese of Leeds

The Revd (Michael) Paul Sturgeon, residing in the Ripon area, has been granted PTO in the Diocese of Leeds

The Revd Paul Harford has been appointed Assistant Area Dean of the Ripon Deanery in the Ripon area

The Revd Margaret Gallagher, currently serving as Vicar of South Elmsall and North Elmsall in the Wakefield area, has been appointed part-time Vicar of Welton and Melton in the East Riding Archdeaconry in the Dioceses of York

The Revd Tony Cantlow is to be licenced as Distinctive Deacon at Bolton Priory parish in the Ripon area

The Revd (Olasupo) Supo Ogunyinka, currently serving as Team Vicar at St Andrew’s Church, Bruntcliffe Morley, has been appointed as House for Duty Interim Priest in Charge of the Benefice of Middleton in the Leeds area

The Revd Helen Hodgson, who currently holds PTO in the Diocese of Leeds, is to be appointed Associate Vicar (0.5) of the Benefice of Tong and Laisterdyke in the Bradford area

The Revd Paul Wheelhouse, currently serving as Vicar of John’s, Bierley in the Bradford area is to be appointed as Associate Priest (0.25) of the Benefice of Tong and Laisterdyke and will remain at St John’s Bierley on a 0.75 basis

The Revd Jonathan Fleury, currently serving as Assistant Curate in the Priory Benefice, Pontefract Deanery in the Wakefield area, has been appointed as Interim Priest in Charge of East Leeds Revival – Cross Green, Richmond Hill, Leeds St Wilfrid in the East Leeds Deanery in the Leeds area