According to a news release from the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds: Ripon and Leeds votes yes to a new ‘super-diocese’.
The Synod (or ‘parliament’) of the Ripon and Leeds diocese which met this Saturday March 5th at St Aidan’s Church High School in Harrogate ‘agreed in principle’ to the creation of a single diocese for West and North-west Yorkshire, but called for a full financial risk analysis of the costs involved before such a scheme could go ahead.
The meeting rejected proposals, contained in the 120 page Dioceses Commission report, concerning the name for the new diocese and the choice of the new diocesan bishop…
The proposals are explained by the diocese here.
Also, the Diocese of Bradford considered the proposals, see Synod Discusses Proposals for a New Diocese.
the Synod heard the different responses to the proposals by the Dioceses Commission last December to create a larger diocese covering the whole of West Yorkshire and a large part of North Yorkshire. The Synod agreed to a draft scheme being produced, which is the next stage in the process, and it proposed that the scheme should be drawn up with the help of all three dioceses. The Synod did not, at this stage, vote on any of the specific proposals, including the principal one of creating one larger diocese out of all three dioceses.
The Archdeacon of Bradford, the Venerable David Lee, says, “This is still very much an enquiry and consultation stage; we were not obliged to vote on anything at this point, simply to let the Dioceses Commission know whether we think it is worthwhile for them to go ahead and draw up a draft scheme. So Synod is saying that the diocese is open to change, but we think that more work needs to be done, including a financial analysis, before we can begin to vote on any specific proposal. Once the consultation period is over the Dioceses Commission will be able to see what sort of draft scheme can be produced.”
I can’t find any information on the Diocese of Wakefield website about its Diocesan Synod. But I am told that the Wakefield process involves a joint meeting with the two other Yorkshire dioceses, further consultations, and then a special synod in early May to respond to the proposals by 9 May.
If a group of dioceses are to be merged, it is surely a wholly unnecessary attack on local sensitivities, to name the new diocese for one of those already existing.
I am sure that a satisfactory geographic name incorporating the whole of the new area, would not be beyond the powers of even a rudimentary power of reasoning.
The urban center of the proposed new diocese is the Leeds/ Bradford area. The proposals from Leeds and Ripon thus have merit. Leeds is the logical center. Wakefield is on the very edge of the proposed diocese and has little to do with the rest of the area. It is a small insular catholic island. This scheme does little to further mission. It would be better to merge the Huddersfield and Bradford areas and have a separate diocese for Leeds. Ripon may be better served as part of York with which it has much in common.