The Revd Sharon Bavington
Leeds
House of Clergy
Email: [email protected]
Rev. Sharon Bavington - Candidate for House of Clergy
Assistant Curate Fountains Church Bradford
Nominated: Revd Tim Thomas – Vicar St. John’s Bowling and Area Dean of
Inner Bradford Deanery
Seconded: Revd Leah Leighton – Priest in Charge of St. Margaret’s
Frizinghall and Assoc. Leader Fountains Church
Dear Clergy Colleagues,
I’m excited to be offering myself to stand for the next General Synod for the Diocese of Leeds.
I’ve worshipped, served as an LLM and worked within the Bradford Episcopal area for over thirty
years, sitting on the area leadership team, mission and pastoral committee and deanery synods
for several years. I have recently been ordained (2023) having felt called to priesthood through
the covid season following some fairly intense funeral ministry, very much standing in that
‘priestly’ space on behalf of our church congregation when very few could join in. I am currently
serving as curate in Fountains Church Bradford.
Who I am.
Prior to ordination I worked within the Diocesan Lay Training Team, developing and delivering
courses to encourage and equip lay ministry across our areas. Equipping the whole body of
Christ for the mission and ministry of the church is still what gets me out of bed in the morning. I
have also held roles for Church Urban Fund as a Grants Officer for their Near Neighbours
Project and ran our church community outreach program for 11 years, where we offered English
classes, craft groups and gardening projects for the people of our inner-city Bradford Parish. I
am passionate about the local church, one of the beauties and the uniqueness of the CofE
parish system is its commitment to the local community.
I’m married to Alastair, a retired GP, and we have three adult children. I enjoy reading, playing
the clarinet and tennis and walking in our beautiful Yorkshire countryside.
Key areas of Interest
Supporting parish ministry
My husband and I have lived, worked and ministered within our parish for over 30 years, and I
believe a parish focus should remain at the heart of the Church’s presence and mission. We
have a wonderfully rich and diverse diocese, and I would want to advocate for policy and
decisions that still put parish first, recognising the importance of local context, and giving
parishes the freedom and resources to respond faithfully and creatively to the communities
they are called to serve.
Email: [email protected]
Equipping Lay leadership
I still deliver occasional training sessions within the Lay Training team and am one of the trainers
for the Barnabas ‘Personal Growth and Leadership’ course. I believe raising up confident lay
leaders who delight in the gifts God has given them, and flourish in the ministry they are
uniquely called to is essential to a healthy and growing Church. Strengthening pathways for
excellent lay formation and training, with clear authorised and commissioned roles would
ensure clergy, with increasing parish oversight, are appropriately supported. I’m interested in
learning about, and advocating for, a more nationally cohesive approach to lay ministry. I believe
this would reduce pressure and workload on diocesan structures, deliver clarity around training
parameters and facilitate smoother transitions into lay roles for those moving dioceses.
Widening Participation in Ordination Training
I was encouraged by the motion approved early this year by synod to address structural, social
and cultural barriers to widen participation in ordination training. During my ordination training I
sat on the National Ordinands Association board, where we addressed inconsistencies in
financial/maintenance support across the TEIs leading to financial hardship for some. I have
also experienced cultural differences in learning and past educational attainment being barriers
to even just getting through selection. Pathways into ordination should not be only for those who
can afford it or those who can navigate the system. Training that is both theologically rigorous
and pastorally sensitive but can embrace diversity with more accessible pathways is essential
for increasing participation to ordained training and ministry.
Human Sexuality
As the formal LLF process has concluded, much remains unresolved. I hold to a more
traditional position on sexuality and to the Church of England doctrine on marriage. My hope for
this next quinquennium is that we can continue to address more deeply issues around
discipleship of all positions, enabling fruitful debate/disagreement that doesn’t seek to
legitimise one theological position over the other, but seeks to disagree well in a way that
maintains unity of heart.
I, weirdly, love governance and strategy and am genuinely excited and willing to get stuck into
the range of issues synod will bring, and the paperwork! I would be hugely grateful for your
support, and if I am not your first-choice candidate would ask you to kindly consider me for your
second or third choice. Do be in touch at the email address below if you would like to speak to
me about anything.
Yours in Christ,
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