Associate Pastor - United Kingdom - Church of England

Description

Batley sits in West Yorkshire, within easy reach of the cities of Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield and the larger towns of Halifax and Huddersfield.

There are excellent links further afield via the M62/M1 motorways and the rail network with good train services to London, Manchester and Leeds.

We are looking for a priest who is committed to helping our churches to grow in numbers, in spiritual commitment to God and in service to the local community as we deepen and strengthen the relationships across our united benefice of 4 churches.

In return we will offer you our support, prayers and practical help from the multi-talented people in our congregations who are, in true Yorkshire style, welcoming and friendly."He will then arrange to have a telephone or Zoom conversation with you.

The four churches of All Saints, Batley, St Thomas, Batley, St Andrew, Purlwell, and St Paul, Hanging Heaton formed a united benefice some years ago.

We are now seeking to appoint an Associate Priest, to work with the Priest-in-Charge in helping the parishes further develop their relationships, their shared mission to the community, and to grow their congregations.

collaborate in working across the churches and benefice, to encourage and enable clergy and laity to operate as one team;
achieve an appropriate balance between work with the four congregations, and links with the wider community, given the priority of church growth;
focus on evangelism and outreach to both new and established areas of housing in the benefice, in order to grow the congregations;
be a pastoral presence in the benefice, by engaging with parish outreach activities, pastoral visiting, etc;

maintain and grow links with local schools and uniformed organisations and to develop church-based activity and outreach to children, young people and families.

Please see the Person Specification attached for further details of the essential and desirable qualities we are seeking in relation to this post.

This is now one of the largest Dioceses in the country and its creation in 2014 is unprecedented in the history of the Church of England.

The Diocese comprises major cities (Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield) large industrial and post-industrial towns (Halifax, Huddersfield and Dewsbury), market towns (Todmorden, Harrogate, Skipton, Richmond, Ripon and Wetherby) and deeply rural areas especially in the Dales.

The whole of life is here, along with all the richness, diversity and complexities of a changing world.

Five area bishops (Bradford, Huddersfield, Kirkstall, Ripon and Wakefield) and five archdeacons (Bradford, Halifax, Leeds, Richmond and Craven and Wakefield) assist the Diocesan Bishop (The Rt.

The United Benefice of Batley lies in the Dewsbury & Birstall Deanery of the Huddersfield Episcopal Area, in the Archdeaconry of Halifax.

The Archdeacon of Halifax is The Venerable Bill Braviner.

Our vision as a Diocese is about confident clergy equipping confident Christians to live and tell the Good News of Jesus Christ.

For all our appointments we are seeking clergy who have a joyful and confident faith and with a commitment to church growth both numerical and spiritual.

#