John Packer: Boundary changes will help the church minister to all

IN 1836, the diocese of Ripon was created by the Church of England in order to serve the growing industrial areas of the West Riding. Today proposals are being discussed to restore that historic diocese, with almost the same boundaries, to enhance the mission of the church in West Yorkshire and the Dales.

The proposals as they stand will create a single diocese, based on Leeds, with five areas, each with its own bishop and archdeacon providing leadership and working to respond to the needs of local communities. Those areas will be Bradford, Huddersfield, Halifax, Leeds, Wakefield and Ripon/Skipton.

There will be a single diocesan administration, and the three existing cathedrals at Bradford, Wakefield and Ripon will retain their full status as cathedrals of the new dioceses. The bishop of Leeds will be “first among equals” as diocesan bishop.

Why make the changes?

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A single diocese will bring some economies of scale, while the five areas will be able to concentrate on their local mission and ministry. Bradford will have its Cathedral, bishop and archdeacon working to enhance the life of the church in the city.

So will Wakefield. The parishes of Leeds will come together, largely, in a single area (at present they are in four dioceses). They will be able to work together to serve their communities, and Leeds Parish Church will have an enhanced role in the city. We already have the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Leeds, so there is no proposal to create another Cathedral there.

Huddersfield and Halifax will be a new mission area for the Church of England, with a Bishop of Huddersfield, who will provide leadership in the Pennine areas of the diocese. Skipton and Ripon, with the Cathedral in Ripon, will be able to concentrate on rural mission and issues which relate to the Dales. So this area will no longer tend to be dominated by the concerns of the cities.

Since moving from Ripon to Leeds, I have recognised still more the need both for Leeds to have its own Church of England bishop, and for the Dales to have theirs to concentrate on rural ministry.

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The three cathedrals will have their own distinctive roles. Ripon has developed a ministry to the Dales, and increasingly to North Yorkshire as a whole. Bradford has an unrivalled reputation both for its ministry to the city and its development of inter-faith mission and ministry. Wakefield relates not simply to its city but to the whole of civic West Yorkshire, as befits the historic county town.

There are other benefits. The new diocese will have boundaries which better fit those of our Methodist and Roman Catholic colleagues (though not perfectly). The larger diocese will provide more opportunities for clergy to move parishes across the region.

At present, for instance, we in Ripon and Leeds can find it hard to find the appropriate parish for a priest finishing his or her curacy. We shall be able to appoint people to work in education, young people’s ministry, urban and rural issues, or ministry with the deaf or disabled, for example, over a wider area.

What are the risks? Dioceses, like all organisations, develop a culture of their own. We should be able to share what is best in all our cultures – but we could find ourselves at odds on policy in an unhelpful way. The finances of the three dioceses will need to be brought together, which is a complex operation, and there will be cost in establishing new systems.There could be elements of competitiveness between people who have worked with particular colleagues and now need to learn and establish new relationships.

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For me the opportunities far outweigh the threats.For the majority of us there will be in one sense little change. Parish churches, their worshippers and clergy will continue to serve their local communities.

It is the local church which God uses to show his love for people and encourage them to respond to that love. The particular ministries to the night-life of Leeds, for instance, or the “Near Neighbours” projects developing in Bradford will continue to grow, supported now by a wider group of praying Christians across West Yorkshire and the Dales.

We shall all be given the opportunity to encourage each other across the county, as well as relating to our particular towns, cities and villages. The Church of England has a historic mission to serve the whole area spiritually and culturally.

We do this alongside others, gaining from them and sharing with them. I believe the proposed changes will help to grow that mission, and I pray for all of us – churchgoer or not – that we may serve and be served as we take on the task of bringing the best out of these proposals.

John Packer is the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds.