A message from Rev Rob, our priest designate

Greetings from Morton and Riddlesden and a very Happy Easter to you all!

We are very excited and really looking forward to coming and joining you in Almondbury and Farnley Tyas. It was wonderful to meet some of you during my interview day and we look forward to meeting you all soon – June seems to be coming quickly! We have begun to organise our move and we hope to be moving in mid-June. We would value your prayers at this time. 

I wanted to write to let you know a little bit about our family as you await our arrival. Katie, my wife, and I met at Huddersfield University while both studying music before going on to become teachers. Katie is now the Headteacher at Baildon Church of England Primary School and up until I trained for ordination, I had been a secondary school music teacher and senior leader at various schools in Bradford. Katie and I have always had a love of church music and we have led and developed music and church choirs in the places where we’ve lived. 

I trained for ordination at St Hild College in Mirfield where I completed a degree in Theology, Ministry and Mission. While training I took on a placement in Keighley Parish, a very different context and setting, before serving my three-year curacy in Morton and Riddlesden. Morton and Riddlesden is a Benefice comprising of two parishes with wonderful people and communities. 

Katie and I have two children, Will and Lottie. Will is studying music at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and is a percussionist with the Hammonds Brass Band. Although he is a first study percussionist, Will is also a great pianist and is studying jazz piano too. 

Lottie is also a musician – we didn’t force them, I promise – and she is studying at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester where she will be taking her GCSEs this summer. She plays regularly for the City of Bradford Brass Band and plays baritone horn and trombone. 

Before Easter we managed to fit in a quick holiday to France where we spent time in Paris and Disneyland, and we are looking forward to our summer break, which this year will be in Italy. We like to get out and about as a family and are looking forward to coming and exploring the local area by you. 

I send this with great affection and excitement, and please be assured of my prayers as we all prepare for this transition. See you all very soon! 
​
Every blessing, Revd Rob 

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