The Ven Jonathan Gough, former Assistant Chaplain General to the Army, has been installed as the new Archdeacon for Richmond and Craven.
At a service presided over by Bishop of Kirkstall, the Rt Revd Paul Slater, Archdeacon Jonathan made his Declaration of Assent and swore oaths of allegiance before a congregation of family, friends, clergy and the Diocesan Secretary, Debbie Child.
Speaking afterwards, Jonathan said: "I am looking forward to meeting and working with people in this wonderful area.
"My wife and I have lived here twice before, and when this opportunity arose I had to answer a calling."
Pictured left with Bishops Paul, Toby, Helen-Ann and Dean John, he is married to Canon Flora Winfield, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Representative to the Commonwealth and an Army reserve chaplain, who gave the Old Testament Reading on Nineveh from the book of the prophet Jonah.
In the absence of Bishop Nick Baines, who is on sabbatical, Bishop Paul led the service and gave the sermon in which he welcomed Jonathan to his role in our young diocese.
Drawing on the reading from Jonah, he joked:
"This is a big area to cover - I don't know if you could walk across it in three days or not.
"It's not got a Nineveh...although it does have Harrogate!"
Bishop Paul, pictured right and a former Archdeacon of Craven, said how the "glorious Archdeaconry of Richmond and Craven" was looking forward to Jonathan bringing a new period of stability and urged everyone to cherish him and Flora as they progress both its identity and that of the Diocese of Leeds.
Jonathan grew up in rural Devon and trained for ordination at Lampeter and Oxford.
He was a curate in Braunton, North Devon.
He is deeply committed to supporting ministry in rural areas aand his interests include the countryside, history, ecumenism, classical and baroque music and fly fishing.