Diocese of Leeds

The Diocese comprises five Episcopal Areas.  This is now one of the largest Dioceses in the country and its creation is unprecedented in the history of the Church of England.  It covers an area of around 2,425 square miles and a population of around 2,642,400 people. 

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The three former Dioceses were created in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to cater for massive population changes brought about by industrialisation and, later, extensive immigration.  The Diocese comprises major cities (Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield), large industrial and post-industrial towns (Halifax, Huddersfield, Dewsbury), a spa town (Harrogate), market towns (Skipton, Ripon, Richmond and Wetherby), and deeply rural areas (the Dales). 

 

The Diocesan Bishop, the Rt Revd Nick Baines, is assisted by five Area Bishops (Bradford, Huddersfield, Kirkstall, Wakefield and Ripon) and five Archdeacons (Bradford, Halifax, Leeds, Pontefract, Richmond & Craven). 

 

St. Oswald's is in the Harrogate Deanery within the Ripon and Craven Archdeaconry, under the leadership of the Bishop of Ripon, the Rt Revd Anna Eltringham.

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The Diocesan vision is one of “Christians and clergy, growing churches, transforming communities and so helping share the Good News of Jesus Christ across our Diocese”.