Welcome to the Enews for May 16

The latest resources, news and more.

Click on headlines or pictures for more details.  

Contact enews@leeds.anglican.org with your news. 

The 30th anniversary of women priests has been celebrated at a recent service at Bradford Cathedral. The service on Saturday, May 4, also included the commissioning of five new Women’s Ministry Advisers for the diocese, one in each episcopal area. Read more here

The Ven Cat Thatcher has been installed as the new Archdeacon of Pontefract. At a service at Wakefield Cathedral on Sunday, May 5, Archdeacon Cat was installed by the Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Revd Nick Baines, with the service attended by people from across the diocese and civic dignitaries including the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Ed Anderson. Read more here

More than 400 people celebrated all things bright and rural at Ripon Cathedral in a special service as part of our diocese’s 10th anniversary year. The “Rivers of Life” service focussed on the significance of a decade of rural life and Christian ministry, with guests representing key areas including farming, tourism and conservation. Read more here

After pledging some £46,000 already, the Diocese of Leeds is pleased to announce the second round of our Diocesan Church Buildings Grant Scheme is open. The first round of funding saw projects including fabric repair, physical access improvements, kitchen facilities and LED lighting funded, helping churches be well set up for their ministry and mission. Read more here

People from across the diocese and beyond sang their hearts out at Bradford Cathedral this weekend at a Come and Sing service. The Choral Evensong included music from Richard Ayleward, Charles Wood, Elgar and more, with a selection of hymns also sung. Read more here

The Diocese of Leeds is pleased to be able to invite churches to take part in the second round of Give To Go Green. This match-funding pilot project from the Church of England supports churches with carbon cutting building projects. In round one, 11 churches from the Diocese of Leeds took part, and raised £57k using digital giving, which was matched by the GTGG scheme to enable a variety of carbon-cutting building projects to take place. Read more here

A service to celebrate the life of Fiona Beevers and her special contributions to our diocese and our link diocese of Sudan has taken place at Bradford Cathedral. Fiona was a longstanding member of the Bradford Cathedral congregation, head teacher, schools adviser for the diocese, and Principal of Unity High School in Khartoum, who died on 11th April. Read more here

The Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust have announced the date for Yorkshire Churches Day 2024. Taking place on Saturday, September 14, Yorkshire Churches Day is a chance for every place of worship in the county, including across our diocese, to open up and showcase the history and heritage found inside their buildings. 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 shuna.hartley@leeds.anglican.org.

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. 

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.

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, 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 22 - Da Vinci Code: Faith and History

For more information email admin@wakefield-cathedral.org.uk 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 childrenyouth@leeds.anglican.org.

Find out more here.

Ever thought about becoming a School Governor - many professional skills and expertise are in demand by Schools and Academies looking to grow their Governing Boards.

Join Inspiring Governance for this 45minute session to find out more about becoming a School Governor and how Inspiring Governance can support you to find a vacancy and get you started on your journey to become a School Governor.

Click here to sign up.

The Diocese of Leeds subscribes to an online funding portal to assist parishes in searching for grant funders. Idox, the company that runs this funding database, is offering all current users a free space on a 'Bid Writing Workshop’ through the organisation Get Grants on Tuesday, June 4 at 1pm. As a database user, you will receive an email from Idox asking if you want to sign up and attend. Please note this is a separate offer from the Diocese's delivered by Get Grants and is free but only to those registered with the platform. If you would like to attend this webinar please register here.

What does the Great Commission mean for us in the light of other faith traditions? As we live out our Christian lives in a multi-faith context, this is a vital question.

This session will offer opportunities to explore theological issues and practical ideas for sharing our Christian faith with those who are followers of other faiths. John Bavington grew up in Pakistan and his first experience of interfaith evangelism was when his school friends tried to convert him to Islam!

To book a place and receive the Zoom link, please email jenny.ramsden@leeds.anglican.org. Find out more here.

A fantastic opportunity to take time out to think more deeply about God’s call on your life, with time and space in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside. Is Vocation just something for ministers, monks and missionaries? How do we discover God’s purpose for our lives? What does the Bible have to say? Can we take the stories of the great Bible characters and apply them to our situation? Over the weekend, we’ll try to get some answers to these vital questions.

We’ll be led by Derek Walmsley, who is the Director of Ordinands and Vocations for the Diocese of Leeds.

Find out more here.

A six-week lecture series introducing the study of Church Music is taking place at St Peter’s Church, Horbury (WF4 6AS), from Thursday, April 18. Accessible to anyone who is interested, and offering valuable teaching and stimulating ideas for singers, organists, musicians, ordinands, and clergy, the course runs from 7pm to 8pm and will be delivered by Director of Music, Prof Leonard Sanderman, who is Associate Professor at Leeds Conservatoire, Visiting Lecturer at the University of York, and Organ Adviser to the Diocese of Leeds in the Church of England.

• 18th April: How do we think about church music?
• 25th April: Must we sing in church?
• 2nd May: Is all sacred music liturgical?
• 16th May: Why do we sing what we sing?
• 23rd May: Who thought organs were a good idea?
• 30th May: Towards a catholic philosophy of church music

All welcome. For more information please contact the Vicar, Fr Christopher Johnson, fr.christopher.johnson@gmail.com or via our website.

How do faith and reason go together? If you're interested in some of life's big questions, come to watch some videos led by experts in their field and discuss their ideas with Revd James and others in our community. We'd love to have you along!

Sessions will run on Mondays from 7pm at Kirklington Village Hall on the following dates:

• April 22: Why am I still a Christian?
• May 6: Do I have to bypass my brain to believe in God?
• May 20: Does the Christian faith make sense of science?
• June 10: Why does God allow suffering?
• June 24: What's the evidence for Jesus? Can we trust the Gospels?
• July 8: Did Jesus really rise again?

A performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Find out more here

Firm Roots Cancer Support is a small Christian organisation in the UK, offering prayer and spiritual support to people affected by cancer. Firm Roots was started by Helen Jones in 2012, following her cancer diagnosis. Helen has worked in NHS cancer services for ten years and is now an ordained minister in the Church of England. Firm Roots runs a network of Cancer Prayer Support Groups and Christian Retreat Days for anyone affected by cancer, either as a patient or supporting someone through it. Several face-to-face cancer prayer support groups exist around the country and an online monthly cancer prayer support group started in January 2024, so that people can join from anywhere in the UK. A Firm Roots Retreat Day is also planned for Saturday, May 18 in Leeds. Find out more at www.firmroots.org.uk or book onto a retreat day here.

Featuring the Kirkby Lonsdale-based Kirkby Jazz Kollactive, the Windermere-based award-winning South Lakes Acapella, and introducing The Ghosts of Groove! - KJK's rhythm quartet project. Also - the musical stylings of the Fab Two.

£10 including light refreshments. For tickets please contact Gill Ford on 07534 570 698. Proceeds to the Church Building Fund.

Sacred and secular variety featuring Charles Villiers Stanford, 100 years after his death, and contemporary composers. Music director is James Bowstead. Admission at the door is £12; tickets available online here.

All donations from the event will go directly towards humanitarian work in Ukraine.

A Read-A-Thon where a group will read the Book of Acts. It's an exciting story of adventure, murder and intrigue telling about the tumultuous beginnings of the Church. Martin Parrott, a fabulous folk singer, will provide a musical interlude. There will be scones with fresh cream and strawberry jam with tea/coffee for refreshment throughout the morning. It starts at 10am on Saturday, June 1, and should finish about 1pm. All are welcome for any length of time.

Emma Johnson MBE is a clarinettist who has made a name as a best selling soloist and recording artist. She won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition when she was 17 and has since recorded over 30 albums and given concerts all over the world.

Johnson is a published composer too and during lockdown she wrote a clarinet concerto, Tree of Life, inspired by a need to express something in music about the climate crisis.

Evoking birdsong and the natural world, the music is accompanied by striking images by Edward Hutchison. It ends on an optimistic note that by working together we can effect change.

Music by Holst, Vaughan Williams and Paul Reade helps to complete this musical celebration of the natural world. We also mark the 100th anniversary of Puccini with his exquisite Crisantemi inspired by flowers. The concert ends with music that comes straight from the heart, Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece, the Serenade for Strings.

This event marks the pinnacle of our season of work at Bradford Cathedral exploring environmental issues.

Find out more here.

A conference to encourage, equip and empower women to become all that they were born to be.

With guest speakers, live music, refreshments and a buffet lunch included in the ticket price of £20.

Find out more here

Two days of study, prayer and practise around the themes of spirituality, creation and reconnecting with nature.

• Day one: 'Earthing our spirituality': drawing inspiration from the mystics
• Day two: Living an 'earthed spirituality': moving into engaged action for our planet

Bring your own lunch, and suitable clothing for outdoor worship. Suggested donation £10 per day.

To book either or both days please email Steve Parkin at sparkin1955@gmail.com.

Bishop Nick Baines and his wife Linda are opening their beautiful garden to raise funds for St Gemma’s Hospice. Tea, coffee and home baked cakes will be available to buy and enjoy.

A new festival of faith and hope for rural mission in the north. Salt and Light aims to be an opportunity for those leading and working in the church to gather and explore the opportunities and joys of northern rural contexts.

Partnering with dioceses including Leeds, Carlisle, Durham, Newcastle and York, Salt and Light will be the beginning of a pattern of sharing and learning for the church in the rural north.

Click here to find out more and to book.

An exhibition of historic parish records from the Record Office collections in Northallerton, featuring items spanning a period of over 500 years.

They include images and information about all the material on display, and much more to provide further detail and context, and to demonstrate the wide range of records to be found in Anglican parish church archives.

Click here to find out more.

We are living in turbulent times. In so many ways it seems that as a species we have forgotten how to live in well with each other and the rest of creation. And yet, in the depths of who we are, there is a wellspring of love that is always calling us to an original harmony, to replace competition with collaboration, rivalry with friendship.

1,500 years ago, St. Benedict wrote a Rule for monastic life which has been one of the most influential texts in the history of Western Europe. In a world facing so many challenges, Benedict’s simple guide for a school of love in community offers us a wealth of transformative wisdom.

With help from Benedictine teachers across the centuries, we will explore key aspects of this timeless wisdom tradition which are of huge importance for our time, including:

• Listening: as key to spiritual growth in community
• Humility: the path of self-knowledge, equality and peace
• Attention and Awareness: the path of balance, harmony, wholeness
• The Monastic Vision for today: a priceless gift for a suffering world.

Find out more here.

A taster retreat day led by Revd Dr. Linda Robinson and Revd Shena Moray. An immersive, holistic day including reflective spaces, worship and adventure into the living word of God. Please email lindarobinson@talk21.com to book. Cost is £25 including lunch and refreshments.

The Rt Revd Smitha Prasadam, Bishop of Huddersfield, will be leading a pilgrimage to Taizé this summer.

The pilgrimage for young people and adults is taking place from Saturday, August 17 to Monday, August 26, and the Most Revd Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York, will join pilgrims for part of their journey.

Click here to download the brochure.

To help us mark our diocesan 10th anniversary, the Archbishop of York visited our diocese from Friday, April 19 to Sunday, April 21, and saw people and places all across the diocese.

Watch a video of what he got up to here.

We are looking for someone to join our Property Team to take on the role of Property Support Officer. If you are an enthusiastic and highly motivated person who likes to do a good job and work as part of a team with an interesting property portfolio then we would like to hear from you. We are a flexible organisation who have an opportunity within our Property Team for a Property Support Officer. Our team undertake all property management functions for a portfolio of circa 400 residential properties and 800 acres of land mainly used for farming and development opportunities. Individuals will be responsible for working with our Property Managers in the management of a wide-ranging portfolio of mainly residential properties across the Diocesan Area. Find out more about this role here

Ripon Cathedral is looking to appoint a part time Finance Officer. The post holder will work with the Chief Finance Officer to provide financial support, especially in relation to the associated charity Ripon Cathedral Development Campaign. 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 May 30. All news stories to communications@leeds.anglican.org. Many thanks!