Wakefield Diocese
Celebrating 125 Years
Kate Taylor
© Kate Taylor 2012
First published in 2012 by the Canterbury Press Norwich
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
978 1 84825 253 0
Typeset by Regent Typesetting, London
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon
Front cover photographs: Wakefield Cathedral by Kate Taylor, children’s workshop in the Chantry by Ali Bullivent, landscape near Holmfirth by Brian Holding
Back cover: The Cathedral Sanctuary by Harriet Evans
Contents
Foreword by the Bishop of Wakefield
Part I: The First Fifty Years, 1888–1938
The Principal Administrative Bodies
New Churches, New Mission Rooms and New Parishes
Missionary Work Overseas and at Home
The Diocese in the First World War
District Visitors, Women Workers and Deaconesses
Moral and Social Responsibility
Anglo-Catholicism and the Gradual Acceptance of Ritualist Practices
The Sanderson Bequest
The Golden Jubilee and the Death of Bishop James Seaton
Part II: The Diocese between 1938 and 1967
The Bishops
New Churches and an Old Chapel
Bishop Hone’s Primary Visitation
The Impact of the Second World War
The Call to Worship and Witness
The End of the War, the Diocesan Appeal for £250,000, the Renewal of the Cathedral Bells, and Bishop Hone’s Retirement
More New Churches, Dual-Purpose Buildings, and Mission Halls
From Fire and Flood
Reordering at St Thomas the Apostle, Heptonstall
The Union of Parishes, and Redundant Churches
New Parsonage Houses
The Diamond Jubilee
Other Festivals and a Celebration of Television
The 250th anniversary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
The Industrial Christian Fellowship
Other Evangelizing Efforts
The Parish and People Movement
Christian Stewardship
Deaconess Aglen and the Board of Women’s Work
The Introduction of Further Anglo-Catholic Features and Practices
New Secondary Schools
Some Other Post-war Changes
Ecumenical Moves
The Wakefield Diocesan Committee for Religious Drama
Part III: Years of Challenge and Change, 1968–2013
The Bishops
Bishop Treacy’s Primary Visitation
The Change to Synodical Government
Local Government Reorganization
The Changing Position of Women: Readers, Deaconesses, Deacons