Discipleship

The Personal Growth and Leadership Programme

Personal Growth and Leadership development are very much linked. Over the past four years, a training team in Bradford have created a space for clergy and lay church teams to explore these areas together, out of the rush of parish ministry, to learn, share, and put into practice some key principles around growth and leadership, encouraging confidence among lay and clergy teams. Personal Growth and Leadership is not just for people who are already leading; it’s about people who have the potential to lead but perhaps lack the confidence.

Baptism and Confirmation

In baptism, we thank God for his gift of life and publicly acknowledge his love. We are often baptised as babies, though anybody of any age can be baptised. Confirmation is a celebration of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, a time of personal commitment and recognises the value of each person within the body of Christ.

Those who are called to be Licensed Lay Ministers or members of clergy would be required to be baptised and confirmed within the Church of England. If an individual has been confirmed in another Christian tradition, they will need to be recieved into the Church of England during a service by a Bishop.

Deaf Ministry

The Ministry with Deaf People in the Diocese of Leeds serves the Deaf community in the areas around Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Ripon, and the Yorkshire Dales.

The Minister with Deaf People in the Diocese of Leeds is the Revd Tracey Raistrick, currently based in Keighley. We have other active licensed clergy in the Diocese with excellent sign language skills.

There are groups meeting in across the Diocese who worship using British Sign Language (BSL). These worship services are led by Deaf people and hearing friends fluent in BSL. We are often joined by friends who don’t sign but wherever possible we still provide access as our services are interpreted into spoken English.  

Spiritual Direction

The Living Ministry research project showed that 97% of clergy who had a spiritual director found this ‘highly beneficial’ or ‘moderately beneficial’. 

Many clergy find their own spiritual director. However, the diocese also has a database of trained spiritual directors (clergy and lay) who are available to help.

You can access this list, along with other resources, here. 

Jesus-Shaped People

Jesus Shaped People is a discipleship programme for churches who see Jesus’ ministry as a model for their own church development. It suggests that those who want to be disciples of Jesus need to identify the key priorities of his ministry and seek to positively adopt these as they develop a strategy for their own church. JSP therefore assists churches to:

Identify what was vital to Jesus in his three year ministry, and encourage ownership of a vision for this, both at leadership and a congregational level in a local church.
Embark on a JSP programme that will enable the above to be more deeply embedded into the life of a local church. A wide and effective range of resources are available to enable this – for children and adults.
Steadily develop a vision for the local church that is based upon the above priorities, and ensure that the mission of the church is wholly based upon this vision.

The above will be tackled in a way the captures the imagination and commitment of church members. Careful evaluation is encouraged to ensure that good progress is being made.

JSP was originally devised and adopted by the Parish of Tong and Holme Wood in Bradford. Following a period of support by the Archbishop’s Commission it is now a separate Charitable Trust. JSP is proving to be particularly helpful to churches that serve substantial areas of social housing, but other churches are also benefiting from it, both in this diocese and more widely.

Canon Gordon Day is overseeing the development of JSP, and can be contacted on 01274 674565 or emailed at gordon1@gmail.com

Information about JSP can also be found at www.jesusshapedpeople.net