Find here reflections written by bishops, members of clergy and laity from across our diocese. Many of these reflections are produced for Leeds Diocesan News, which is released the first Friday of every month.
Monthly reflections
What shall I do with my life? | Revd Canon Derek Walmsley | July 2023
So the annual ordination services have taken place and we have another “batch” of deacons and priests serving in the diocese. Could you be joining them in a few years’ time? What would it take for you to offer yourself to explore ordination?
The passage of time | Bishop Tony | July 2023
I recently came across a book of pictures from my home town of Bedford. It shows many images from 100 years ago in the Edwardian era. One of the pictures shows a family group walking along a street and I reflected on the fact that in their wildest dreams they couldn’t possibly have imagined how that street would look in 2014.
On the shoulders of giants | Bishop Toby | Windrush Day 2023
I’m grateful for the opportunity to speak here this afternoon on this historic occasion when we mark the 75th anniversary of the Empire Windrush docking at Tilbury with that pioneer generation, the giants on whose shoulders we stand.
To fix our eyes on Jesus | Revd Philippa Slingsby-Lunn | June 2023
“Change” is often heard as a negative word for many parishes. Whether it’s because we inherently look for stability in a fragile world, or because our experience of change is often challenging, when that word is uttered it’s almost like a shiver goes through people.
Thank you for the music | Bishop Toby | June 2023
Welcome to June, and we’ve got a busy month ahead of us! Our current deacons will be ordained priest at the end of this month in the Episcopal Areas, and Bishop Nick will ordain this year’s new deacons at Bradford Cathedral on Saturday, July 1.
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A Christian King serving the good of all | Dean John Dobson | May 2023
Like monarchs before him, back through the centuries to William the Conqueror, King Charles III comes to Westminster Abbey to be crowned. He does so as a twenty-first century Christian King with a clear sense of God’s calling to serve the wellbeing of all within his nations and realms - Christians and people of other faiths, those with no faith and even those not supportive of monarchy.
The head that wears the crown | Bishop Nick | May 2023
Shakespeare puts it perfectly: “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” (Henry IV, Part 2, 3.1.31) Or, perhaps, uneasy should lie the head that wears a crown?
Actions speak louder than words | Ian Grange | April 2023
“In the spring-time seed is sown … Spring is hope”. Words from the pen of a great English lyricist and wit W S Gilbert. In the novel Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy writes "Spring is the time of plans and projects." These two very different writers encapsulate for me perennial truths about this time of year.
Limping Towards the Sunrise | Bishop Nick | April 2023
The key to Easter is to journey to and live through it as if we didn’t know the outcome. This way we walk with those caught up in those terrifying and bewildering events of two thousand years ago.
Flying and Falling | Revd Sam Crook | March 2023
Unlike for Icarus, God is there to catch us, to strengthen our wings and increase our resolve. By his love we are transformed little by little into creatures that can fly further and faster, buoyed up by the winds of the Spirit and the healing touch of God.
