AS you may have read, Bradford's new Area Bishop is spending five weeks living in different parts of the region as part of an innovative programme of visits to get to know his area better.

Between now and July Bishop Toby Howarth, who became the new Area Bishop of Bradford last November, will be getting out and about in each of the five deaneries or administrative areas which make up the Bradford Episcopal Area: one of the five areas of the recently created Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales.

Bishop Toby's purpose is to acquaint himself directly with the needs of the needs of the area, hold meetings with clergy and people of the churches of the deaneries, stay in local homes, meet community and faith leaders, visit local businesses and meet councillors and civic leaders.

Rather than waiting for people to come to him, he is going out, on mission as it were, to meet the people, at least as many of them as he can manage in such a crowded schedule.

Much of his early life as an academic and Christian minister took him to America, Pakistan, Uganda, India and Holland. Getting out and about to see things for himself is not a novelty.

He said: “As a new bishop in my first few months in post my priority is to make my way around parishes in Bradford and District, getting to know people and seeing for myself what Jesus is doing in the different communities."

The in-depth visits began on Sunday in Ilkley Deanery. Until Thursday of this week, Bishop Toby will be staying with families on two local farms. For the first two nights of his stay he was guest of the James family in Menston.

Hosts, Mike and Val James said: “Staying with parishioners will allow more time for the Bishop's engagement with the local community - and should also increase the chance for some quiet reflection in undemanding surroundings.”

Commenting on his stay on two farms during the week, Bishop Toby said: “The perception outside of Yorkshire can be that the Bradford Episcopal Area is predominantly urban, forgetting its many rural communities, villages and smaller towns.

“Having lived most of my life in cities, this week in the Ilkley Deanery will be a great introduction for me to God's church in some of the most beautiful countryside that England has to offer.”

During his week in Ilkley, Bishop Toby will also visit three schools, meet clergy in their homes and churches, take part in seven church services, visit projects for young people and those with learning disabilities as well as see leaders of other Christian churches in the area - and even visit a local gardening club.

The week concludes on Thursday evening with a service of celebration and an open meeting for the whole deanery at St Margaret’s Church, Ilkley.

Vicar of St Margaret’s and Area Dean of Ilkley, the Reverend Canon Philip Gray, said: "We are delighted that Bishop Toby is going to spend this concentrated time living and meeting so many of us in the Ilkley Deanery, and we are looking forward with great anticipation to welcoming him. The visit shows Bishop Toby's real desire to be a true shepherd to us all."

Other dates announced for the deanery visits are: Keighley Deanery: 19-23 April; Bradford North Deanery: 3-7 May; Airedale Deanery: 21-25 June; Bowling and Horton Deanery: 5-10 July.

panel

Toby Howarth was born in Kenya and went to school at Haverstock Comprehensive School in North London. He received scholarships to study at high school and Yale University in the United States, including a summer teaching Afghan refugees in northern Pakistan.

Returning to Britain, he was a research assistant for the Reverend Dr John Stott for two years before becoming a postman in London's East End.

After ordination training for the Church of England in Oxford, Birmingham and Uganda, combining Christian theology with an MA in Islamic Studies at the University of Birmingham, he served in an inner city parish in Derby.

He moved to India with his family where they lived for five years, during which he researched Islamic preaching for a PhD from the Free University of Amsterdam.

Back in Europe, he worked in inter-faith relations in Rotterdam before moving back to Birmingham where he taught Islamic studies and served as a tutor and then vice principal at Crowther Hall in Selly Oak.

In 2004 he took up parish work again as Vicar of St Christopher's, Springfield, a church in a majority Muslim area of the city. In addition to the parish role, he was the Bishop of Birmingham's Adviser on inter-faith relations until April 2011.

Toby is married to Henriette, who is also ordained and they have three children. He was consecrated as Bishop of Bradford in York Minster on October 17, 2014.

MORE BEHIND THE NEWS HEADLINES