Nick Baines announced as new Bishop for Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales

Churches across Huddersfield and beyond will have a new bishop from Easter.

The Rt Rev Nick Baines, the current Bishop of Bradford, will be heading up the newly created Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales, writes Suzanna Bain.

The Diocese, which comes into being on Easter Sunday (April 20), will replace the current dioceses of Bradford, Ripon & Leeds and Wakefield.

It will cover the largest geographical area in the country and will be formally known as the Diocese of Leeds.

Nick Baines has been Bishop of Bradford for three years and before then he was Bishop of Croydon in the Diocese of Southwark in London.

He read German and French at Bradford University and worked for four years as a Russian linguist at GCHQ before becoming ordained.

‘Bishop Nick’, as the Archbishop of York calls him, has 8,000 followers on Twitter and a blog entitled ‘musings of a restless bishop’, which is read by more than 5,000 people a week.

He says it is an honour and a privilege – as well as an enormous responsibility – to be nominated to the post and is confident the new diocese will thrive.

“This unprecedented organisational change in the Church of England will facilitate the church’s mission, combining the intimacy of the local with the advantages of scale,” said Bishop Nick.

“It will enable the Church of England to have a coherent regional voice while also paying attention to distinctive local character.

“We have been given a unique opportunity to look afresh at what we do and why we do it, at who we are and for whom we exist.

“I look forward to working with my colleagues across the diocese as we help shape the mission of the wider church across West Yorkshire and the Dales.”

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, said: “I am delighted and am rejoicing in the nomination of Bishop Nicholas Baines to be elected as the first Bishop of Leeds, in West Yorkshire and the Dales.

“Bishop Nick brings a well-grounded understanding of the area he will serve, together with the vision, energy and experience in strategic change to equip him for his ministry leading the church in mission across the new diocese.

“He is well known as a communicator of the Gospel, connecting with people outside the church as well as with parishioners. We have a lot to look forward to in Leeds, West Yorkshire and the Dales.”