Her Majesty the Queen has approved a name change to create a new Bishop’s title in the Anglican Diocese of Leeds.
The seat of Kirkstall has now received the royal seal, which enables a change of title for the suffragan Bishop of Richmond, the Rt Revd Paul Slater, which will better suit his role serving the episcopal area of Leeds.
“The job remains the same, but the name Kirkstall makes much more sense.
“It’s a place that Leeds people know and it’s a place of ancient worship and service within such a modern, go-ahead city,” Bishop Paul said.
The move, supported by Bishop of Leeds Nick Baines and the Archbishop of York John Sentamu, was voted through by the Church of England’s General Synod in London in February.
Bishop Nick said: “I’m delighted that the Bishop responsible for the Church of England in the city of Leeds now has a title that locates him here.
“Kirkstall reminds us of our Christian history and calls us to be faithful to the people, churches and communities of Leeds.”
The suffragan ‘See of Richmond’, a title last used in 1921, was revived in 2015 to provide a swift means of creating an additional and much needed area bishop for the then newly formed Church of England Diocese of Leeds.
Paul Slater was consecrated as Bishop of Richmond in Ripon Cathedral on 19 July 2015 with his main responsibility becoming pastoral oversight for Leeds itself, one of five Episcopal Areas in the diocese, the others being Ripon, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Bradford.
But with Richmond itself lying in North Yorkshire, 56 miles north of Leeds, it was then proposed to change the Bishop of Richmond title to Bishop of Kirkstall, the seat of an ancient monastic foundation at Kirkstall Abbey in the City of Leeds, not far from Headingley Cricket Ground.
Bishop Paul said “I first got to know Leeds in the 1980s when I worked among homeless men at St George's Crypt; Leeds is an exciting place to live, with ambitious plans for itself, and I believe the church has an important role to play in fostering its wellbeing and welfare."
A new project is supervising a £3 million grant from the Church of England’s Strategic Fund to develop five Resource Churches in the Leeds Episcopal Area which will then each help revitalise other churches.
Before the creation of the Anglican Diocese of Leeds, Paul, who is 60, had served all his ministry in the former Diocese of Bradford, including being Rector of Haworth, Bishop's Officer for Ministry and Mission and Archdeacon of Craven.
He attended Bradford Grammar School and after graduating in Chemistry from Corpus Christi, Oxford, trained for the ministry at St John’s College in Durham.
Paul is married to Beverley, a manager in the NHS leading service improvement, and they have two grown up sons.
His interests include tennis, cricket and cooking and is pictured in 12th century Kirkstall Abbey.