In 2020 St Peter’s Birstall celebrated 900 years of worship on the site of the present church. Now they are looking for their next priest -in-charge to lead them as they begin to work towards achieving their mission priorities and serving their community during the next 900 years.
St Peter’s Church and its vicarage lie at the heart of the ancient village of Birstall, now on the outskirts of Leeds, and home to Yorkshire’s IKEA Store. Birstall is within easy reach of Leeds City Centre, the neighbouring cities of Bradford and Wakefield and the towns of Huddersfield, Halifax and Dewsbury. There are excellent links further afield via the M62/M1 motorways and Leeds railway station has a good train service to London, Manchester and beyond.
The closing date for this post is 15th May 2021
Interviews will be held on 1st June 2021
If you require further information please do not hesitate to contact The Ven Dr Anne Dawtry, Archdeacon of Halifax by email initially on archdeacon.halifax@leeds.anglican.org . She will then arrange to have a telephone or Zoom conversation with you.
Introduction
The congregation at St Peter’s are looking for a priest-in-charge who can guide and nurture the church family, leading them to achieve their key priorities as they bear full witness to Christ’s teaching and seek to become the very best community that they can be.
The current priorities of the church are:
Main Responsibilities
The parish is looking for a pastor, filled with the Holy Spirit, who will help them to:
In return the parish commits to supporting their priest-in-charge through both prayer and practical action, using their skills in the service of God and his Church and working together with the new priest-in-charge to proclaim the Good News of Jesus to the people of Birstall.
In addition to these priorities above the Diocese expects the new priest-in-charge to seek opportunities to work with the neighbouring parish of Brownhill, its clergy and people, finding opportunities for mutual working together and the development of shared priorities where that is possible. Pastoral reorganisation between these two parishes remains a possibility for the future.
The Candidate
The ideal candidate will be:
Please see the Person Specification attached for further details of the essential and desirable qualities we are seeking in relation to this post.
About Us
The Anglican Diocese of Leeds comprises five episcopal areas, each coterminous with an archdeaconry. This is now one of the largest Dioceses in the country and its creation in 2014 is unprecedented in the history of the Church of England. It covers an area of around 2,425 square miles with a population of around 2,642,400 people. The Diocese comprises major cities (Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield) large industrial and post-industrial towns (Halifax, Huddersfield and Dewsbury), market towns (Todmorden, Harrogate, Skipton, Richmond, Ripon and Wetherby) and deeply rural areas especially in the Dales. The whole of life is here, along with all the richness, diversity and complexities of a changing world.
Five area bishops (Bradford, Huddersfield, Kirkstall, Ripon and Wakefield and five archdeacons (Bradford, Halifax, Leeds, Richmond and Craven and Wakefield. assist the Diocesan Bishop (The Rt. Revd Nicholas Baines)