Just having got used to minus 19 degrees Celsius (at Topcliffe this week), comes the equally chilling news for some: that three Yorkshire dioceses are to be combined if the Diocesan Commission recommendations are accepted by Diocesan and General Synods. The proposal combines Wakefield, Bradford and Ripon and Leeds with one See based in Wakefield and a diocesan office in Leeds. Bradford and Ripon would retain its cathedrals and there would be five area bishops and one fewer archdeacon.
The demography of England‟s greatest and largest county has changed several times over the centuries since the Archdeacon of Richmond made a visitation to Bridlington Priory with a retinue of 90 men and horses and 12 dogs, arriving unannounced and “eating the Priory out of house and home”. Industrialisation has created major conurbations in Sheffield/Rotherham, Leeds/ Bradford, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Wakefield and so on, leaving Ripon and York much different from their medieval status.
The report says the proposals are “mission-driven and not finance-driven” and we can assume the early impact would be amongst the administrative staff of the various diocesan offices. We might also wonder whether the five area bishops would run “lean and mean” local offices. Just how radical would the proposals turn out to be, when we would still have cathedrals in Wakefield, Bradford and Ripon. It is difficult for the Church of England to reduce its stock of medieval treasures but Wakefield and Bradford are not in the same league as Ripon and their status might change over time.
Another major change over the last fifty years in the area in question has been the big influx of immigrants, especially from the India sub-continent. Many local communities are almost completely non-Christian and schools (including Church of England schools) are dominated by people from the ethnic majorities. Mission in Bradford is different from mission in much of the southern shires. As industrial Yorkshire has changed again with the loss of manual jobs, mission must respond and face new challenges. Let us hope the Chadwick Review will provide a sound base for 21st Century challenges.
Roy Thompson, former Secretary OSG
