Give us a bishop for North Kirklees!

The new Yorkshire Dales Diocese with nearly 500 Parishes includes more than 600 churches and an estimated 300 plus schools, covers half of Yorkshire ( excluding York and Sheffield Dioceses ) and is bigger than the Dioceses of York or London. It is on a par with Lincoln, and second only to perhaps Oxford which covers three counties - according to Wikipedia.

The Diocesan accounts, which exclude Parish funds and schools, show a combined balance sheet valuation of £ 170 million of assets (£140 m) and Investments (£30m).

It has a combined annual expenditure of £24m, but still an annual income shortfall of £ 1 m.

The new Diocesan Bishop will have five area bishops, including on a local note a Bishop of Kirklees and Calderdale - but where should this local area bishop be based ?

Twenty years on from the fist local authority/Diocesan regeneration partnership in the country, the “Kirklees Churches Partnership” which I helped forge and whose flagship joint venture was the re-establishment of Dewsbury Minster, the original church locally -what better affirmation of this on-going Partnership than to base the new area bishop in Dewsbury?

Kenn Winter

Lindley

(formerly of Thornhill)