New vicar for Penhill Benefice

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Above left to right: The Rev Tom Ringland, Bishop Nick, and the Rev Penny Yeadon

There was a party atmosphere at St Andrew’s Church, Aysgarth, on Monday (November 4) as members of the Penhill Benefice churches welcomed their new vicar, the Rev Tom Ringland.

His institution by the Rt Rev Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds, was witnessed by the Diocesan Registrar Peter Foskett, the Dean of Ripon Cathedral the Rev Canon John Dobson, Area Dean the Rev Canon Penny Yeadon, several local clergy, and the Readers and Churchwardens of Penhill Benefice.

The Rev Yeadon also deputised for the Archdeacon of Richmond and Craven, the Ven Jonathan Gough, as he was too ill to attend. It was she, therefore, who placed the Rev Ringland’s hand upon the handle of the entrance door  (pictured below) and officially inducted him into ‘the real and actual possession of this church and benefice with all its rights, responsibilities and opportunities for ministry.”

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He was then presented with the keys by the Churchwardens who, with the captain of the bell ringers Stuart Huntington, went with him to the tower where he rang one of the bells nine times to signify that he was taking up his pastoral charge.

The Rev Ringland had been welcomed not only by church members but also by representatives of the local communities served by Penhill Benefice. These included North Yorkshire County councillor Karin Sedgwick and parish council chairmen.

When the Churchwarden of St Martin’s at Desford in Leicestershire, Nev Hammonds, commended the new vicar to the benefice he pointed out that the Rev Ringland did face one particular challenge: “He is a keen cyclist and the hills here are a little larger…”

Quite a few from the Rev Ringland’s previous parishes at St Bartholomew at Kirby Muxloe and that at Desford attended the service although one group was left stranded in Leicestershire when the minibus it had hired did not appear.

During the service the Bishop told the large congregation that the teachings of Jesus, especially in the Beatitudes, showed that Christians don’t have to conform to the world. Instead they should have a prophetic witness.

“There’s only one measure of the faithfulness or the integrity of the Christian church and that is when people look at us, when they touch us, when they hear us, … they see some representation of Jesus. The church does not exist to save the church. The church exists to save the world out there,” he said.

He added that this might mean sacrificing the culture and ways of worship of the church so as to meet people where they were. And part of the job of a vicar was to enable that to happen.

After the service most of the congregation stayed to enjoy the homemade canapes and to chat with friends.

In his first letter to his new benefice Mr Ringland said he grew up near Canterbury. It was after he graduated in Geology from Durham University that he felt drawn to the Christian ministry.He volunteered in a church in the East End of London for a while and then spent a year in Sudan and Kenya in Christian relief work before beginning ordination training at Trinity College Bristol.

He met his wife, Bev, in Bristol and they were married during his first curacy in Crawley, West Sussex. The youngest of their four children is 19. During his ministry they have lived in Coalville and then, for the past 13 years, at Kirby Muxloe.

He wrote: “Bev grew up in Wharfedale, and it’s thanks to her that I’ve come to enjoy wide open spaces and long walks! We’ve also done a bit of cycling together, but the terrain in Wensleydale looks a little tougher than we’re used to.”One of their sons and their two Labradors, Islay and Skye, have moved with them to the Vicarage at Carperby.

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