St Chad’s in Far Headingley is marking its 150th anniversary in January with a 150-mile cycle ride, a three-hour ‘marathon’ peal of bells as well as special services
The church was declared open for worship by the Bishop of Ripon on 11 January 1868.
On Sunday 14 January at 10.30am, there’ll be “a rededication of hearts and minds” service with Bishop Nick - a civic occasion with the Lord Mayor and local MP attending. Past clergy and readers who've served at St Chad’s, and interfaith and ecumenical guests will also be present.
At 5.30pm there’ll be a festive evensong and torch lit procession around the church.
And on the actual anniversary day, Thursday 11 January, there'll be a special sponsored peal of bells.
SPONSORED CYCLE RIDE FROM LICHFIELD TO HEADINGLEY
Vicar Tom Lusty says, “It was thought by my Churchwarden, Simon 
Futers, a good idea to have a 150 mile sponsored cycle ride from Lichfield (where Chad was the first Bishop of Lichfield) to Far Headingley.
“The intrepid team will set off from Lichfield on Friday 22 June and cycle up the church drive to rapturous applause (I hope) on the afternoon of Saturday 23 June. By sheer good fortune this venture coincides with the St Chad’s Broomfield CC’s Beer Festival.
“We’re hoping to recruit potential cyclists from within the parish who'd be up for the challenge and who'd also be prepared to come along to a few training sessions. Please contact Simon on 07510 345978."
RINGERS MARATHON APPEAL
Bell ringer, Alan Futers, says, “On 11 January, just after 5pm, eight ringers from across Leeds will be attempting to ring a peal at St Chad’s. A peal is a length of ringing of just over 5000 different changes, which on bells the weight that St Chad’s have, should take just over 3 hours to complete, so a bit like the ringer’s version of a marathon. (There are sponsorship forms to aid church funds in church. Suggested sponsorship is £1 per 1000 changes completed, so £5 for the 5000+ at completion.)
“We don't know exactly what method (sequences) we're ringing yet, but likely to be something where musical sequences/variations come in groups. Some examples that might appear include 13572468, 14327658, 15263748 + any change where 1526 or 3748 come together in that sequence or any change where 5678 “ “ “ “ appear and likewise changes where 12345678 (called rounds, which is the start/end sequence) are hinted at but there is a switched pair (e.g. 12435678) so isn't rounds are all considered musical.”