The Area Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Revd Tony Robinson, has announced the speakers who will be leading this year’s Follow Me 3 – a series of five evening teaching sessions in Wakefield Cathedral for lay people and clergy to explore faith and discipleship.
The event was introduced in October 2014 and this third set of talks follows the success of the last two years.
In its introductory year, the first session saw over 130 people gather to explore fresh ways to read the Bible, while the second session attracted almost 150 people who joined discussions about ‘Jesus-shaped people’.
Image (right) shows the audience from the first year's Follow Me talks.
About Follow Me 3, Bishop Tony said: “The 'Follow Me' evenings are an opportunity to invite some excellent speakers to Wakefield to encourage and inspire us to deepen our faith and discipleship.
“As well as hearing a good speaker we are also able to share food together and join in Choral Evensong and hear our wonderful choir.
“I would like to encourage anyone in the Wakefield Area to sign up and come and join us in Follow Me 3.”
Follow Me 3 begins on Thursday 29 September with the final talk taking place on 27 April 2017, with the following sessions booked:
- 29 September 2016: Bishop John Pritchard will discuss ‘The Shape of Discipleship’, explaining that one way of understanding discipleship is to see it as having four dimensions: Life in God, Life in the world, Life in the church, Life in ourselves.
The Rt Revd John Pritchard held the position of Archdeacon of Canterbury in 1996 and retired as both the Bishop of Oxford and the Chair for the Church of England Board of Education in 2014. He is the author of a number of publications including Why Christianity Makes Sense, God Lost and Found, How to Explain Your Faith, among others. The Rt Revd John Pritchard has been involved in a number of talks across the Diocese including three evenings held in February at Ripon Cathedral where he discussed his book Living Faithfully and what this means in relation to death, in a Scientific World and when faced with difficult ethical decisions.
The Rt Revd John Pritchard (above). Image thanks to The Guardian.
- 17 November 2016: Bishop Nick Baines will question about 'Recovering our scriptural nerve for today's world?'.
The Rt Revd Nick Baines became the first Bishop of Leeds in June 2014. He was previously the Bishop of Bradford between 2011 and 2014 and, before that, he was the Bishop of Croydon in the Diocese of Southwark. Bishop Nick is known for his engagement with the media with his blog, Musings of a Restless Bishop, attracting between 500 and 2,000 views daily. He is frequently asked to comment nationally on topical issues and is regularly heard on the Chris Evans Show on Radio 2 and Thought for the Day on Radio 4.
The Rt Revd Nick Baines (right).
- 26 January 2017: Revd Canon Angela Tilby will discuss ‘prayer without pretending’.
Revd Canon Angela Tilby studied theology at Cambridge University before working at the BBC for 22 years where she was involved in producing Religious TV Programmes. She was appointed to her present post as Diocesan Canon at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford in 2011 and works as the Continuing Ministerial Development Advisor to the Diocese of Oxford.
Revd Angela Tilby (left). Image thanks to Church Times.
- 23 February 2017: The Very Revd Lister Tonge will lead a talk titled ‘Listening God: hearing his voice in your own life’.
The Very Revd Lister Tonge has been the Dean of Monmouth since 2012 and was previously chaplain to a convent at the Community of St John Baptist, Oxford. He trained for priesthood at King's College London and St Augustine's College, Canterbury. In 1978 he was responsible for all aspects of Johannesburg Cathedral ministry during the apartheid era.
The Very Revd Lister Tonge (right). Image thanks to South Wales Argus.
- 27 April 2017: Bishop Philip North will discuss ‘How do we tell others about Jesus?’.
The Rt Revd Philip North was born in London and became Priest Administrator of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in the Diocese of Norwich in 2002. He later moved back to London where he served as the Team Rector of the Parish of Old St Pancras and since 2015 he has held the position as Bishop of Burnley. He has also served on General Synod and on the Liturgical Commission and is a member of the Archbishops' Task Group on Intentional Evangelism.
The Rt Revd Philip North (left). Image thanks to the Diocese of Blackburn.
Each of these evening talks will begin with Evensong at 6:30pm with food being served at 7:15pm and the Follow Me teachings taking place from 7:45pm until 9:15pm.
If you would like to attend, please RSVP to: caroline.asquith@leeds.anglican.org