Anglican meeting moves forward ‘super diocese’

Synods in the dioceses of Ripon and Leeds and Bradford met to debate plans put forward by the Dioceses Commission to create a larger merged diocese covering West Yorkshire and a large part of North Yorkshire.

The proposals are still at an early stage but church leaders in Bradford agreed a draft scheme to reorganise the dioceses of Bradford, Wakefield and Ripon and Leeds should be produced but at this stage did not vote on any of the specific proposals.

Church leaders in Ripon and Leeds gave a qualified green light to the proposals, agreeing in principle to the creation of a single diocese but called for a full financial risk analysis of the costs involved before such a scheme could go ahead and rejected proposals for a name for the new diocese.

It is proposed the merged diocese would be known as Wakefield and would be led by the Bishop of Wakefield – with four other area bishops. But Ripon and Leeds church leaders called for the new diocesan bishop to be the Bishop of Leeds and for the new diocese to be named either Leeds or West Yorkshire and the Dales.

Clergy and lay leaders from across Ripon and Leeds diocese also rejected proposals for the principal Cathedral of a new diocese to be in Wakefield.

The Bishop of Knaresborough, James Bell, said: “The creation of a single diocese for West Yorkshire and the Dales, it seems to me, significantly enhances the capacity of the Church to speak to the region and its institutions with a degree of authority.”

The Archdeacon of Bradford, David Lee, said: “This is still very much an enquiry and consultation stage; we were not obliged to vote on anything at this point, simply to let the Dioceses Commission know whether we think it is worthwhile for them to go ahead and draw up a draft scheme. So Synod is saying that the diocese is open to change, but we think that more work needs to be done, including a financial analysis, before we can begin to vote on any specific proposal.”

The Dioceses Commission is expected to decide in June whether to draw up a draft reorganisation scheme. It would then be considered again by the relevant diocesan synods before any such scheme could be submitted to the General Synod.