Four cathedral choirs, an eight-piece brass ensemble and modern worship band, will be leading worship at the inauguration service for the new diocese on Pentecost Sunday in York Minster.
The format of the service at 4pm on June 8th is unprecedented. It will combine both a Eucharist for Pentecost and the Confirmation of Election (when Bishop Nick Baines legally becomes the Bishop of Leeds) – usually these are separate events.
The Archbishop of York, Most Revd Dr John Sentamu, will be the president and preacher and the service will be sung by the choirs of Bradford, Ripon and Wakefield Cathedrals as well as the choir of York Minster. The worship band from St George's Leeds will also be participating.
Canon Sam Corley from Bradford Cathedral, who is on the design team for the service, says, “There’s been a conscious effort to include a range of musical items, representative of a range of styles and traditions. But I have to say that the spatial considerations are complex given that we’ll need to accommodate four cathedral choirs, an eight-piece brass ensemble and a worship band!”
Most of the legal process will take place before the service (which begins at 4pm), but when the court hearing resumes, Bishop Nick will take his oaths, the Vicar General will declare that he has become the Bishop and the Archbishop will instruct the Deans to install him in their Cathedrals.
Sam adds, “We’re very sorry that we’ve had to make the service a ticket-only event. There are space and safety issues and we wanted to ensure that all parishes in the diocese could be represented. But the enthronements in the three Cathedrals in July obviously provide another opportunity to welcome Bishop Nick and to celebrate our new life together.”
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Some spare tickets are available for the event. If you are interested in attending, please contact Vicki Barrière in the Programme Office for the Diocese of West Yorkshire & the Dales (email: vicki.barriere@westyorkshiredales.anglican.org or tel: 0113 2000541/07808 041 539) or leave a message with Jane on 0113 2000567 before Tuesday, 3 June.