The Rothwell District C of E Churches Team

The Team, officially known as The Benefice of The Rothwell, Lofthouse, Methley with Mickletown and Oulton with Woodlesford Team Ministry, was legally inaugurated in December 2015 by the Bishop of Leeds, Nicholas Baines. This service, which licensed the Team, came about as a culmination of many years of discussion and prayerful debate as to how the four parishes could work more closely together and pool resources where possible and appropriate.

Our constituent parishes are as follows: Holy Trinity Rothwell; Christ Church Lofthouse (which incorporates Lofthouse, Carlton, Thorpe and Robin Hood); St. Oswald's Methley and St. Margaret's Parish Hall Mickletown; St. John the Evangelist Oulton and All Saints' Parish Hall Woodlesford.

We are located within the area of the world famous Rhubarb Triangle and conveniently situated for easy access to Leeds, Wakefield and Castleford and motorways M1 and M62.

Please do pay one or all of our churches a visit...we'd love to see you!

Our Team Rector and Vicar of Rothwell Holy Trinity is
The Revd Canon Arun John.

Arun was born and brought up in North India in Jodhpur in Rajasthan. He married Bina in 1978 and they have two sons and four grandchildren. He worked as Presbyter-in-Charge in the Diocese of Delhi for sixteen years (1977-1995) with ancillary responsibilities as Youth Director, Director of Religious Education and Secretary of Delhi Diocesan Council in the Church of North India.   From 1988-1990 he represented the Church of North India as member/consultant in the Interfaith sub-unit of the World Council of Churches and liaison between the Episcopal Church in the USA and the Church of North India.

In 1996, he was invited by the Church of Southern Province of South Africa in collaboration with the Church Mission Society and the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to initiate south-to-south sharing of missional leadership. He worked as Rector of Christ the Saviour, Lenasia (1996-2004), and Archdeacon of Klipriver (1999-2004) in the Diocese of Christ the King, and continues to be a visiting canon in the Diocese.

In 2005, he was invited by the Diocese of Bradford to work as Team Vicar of St. Paul's Church, Manningham, and Chief Executive Officer of the Inner Ring Group of Churches (the Inner Ring Group assignment came to an end in 2008). He was given other responsibilities in the Diocese: Evangelist; co-ordinator of South Asian Christian Ministry; Interfaith Advisor to the Bishop on the Hindu and Sikh religions; Trustee and Tutor of Bradford Centre of Dialogue and Diversity:  Chairman of Bradford Interfaith Forum; member of the Archbishop's Task Group on Presence and Engagement. At St. Paul's Manningham he established the project ‘Sharakat’ (Muslims and Christians working together for the common good), and a drop-in café; both of which are still continuing.

In 2011, he joined the Diocese of Blackburn as Priest-in-Charge of the United Benefice of St. James with St. Stephens, Blackburn, and in 2015 he was licensed as Vicar of the same. In 2015, he became Area Dean of Blackburn with Darwen.  He initiated the Pilgrim Project, a training programme about Muslim-Christian relations, and strengthened the Presence and Engagement Project in the Diocese. 

Arun took his first three graduate degrees in Arts, Religious Education and Divinity in India (during the years 1977-1987). He did his post-graduate studies in Missiology from Birmingham University in 1992. In 2007, he completed his Doctor of Theology (DTH) from the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

Arun has lectured on courses on Third World Leadership, and on Cross Culture Mission and Evangelism. He has produced gospel music in Urdu and Hindi as part of his research on the lyrics written by early converts, testifying to their experience of Jesus as their Saviour and Lord. Arun’s research in Bradford, "The Listening Leaders", was published by FCLS and was released by Bradford University in 2005.

Contact Details

If you wish to contact Arun on any subject, then he can be reached by post, telephone or email on the details below. 

Rothwell Vicar and Team Leader: The Revd Canon Arun John.

Telephone:  0113 805 0558    Email: rothwell.vicar@rothwelldistrictcofechurches.org.uk

The Vicarage, 1 Beech Grove, Rothwell, Leeds. LS26 0EF

Parish Office: Mrs. Sue Franks

TEL: 0113 282 1416  or 07369-214985     Email: office@rothwelldistrictcofechurches.org.uk

Office Hours:

Tuesday 10 am to 12 noon

Thursday 10 am to 12 noon and 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm

1st Saturday of the month 10 am to 12 noon

Our Team Vicar of Christ Church Lofthouse is Mandy Rhodes.

Mandy arrived as Parish Priest of Lofthouse in 2011 after serving her curacy at Kippax with Allerton Bywater. She has been married to Chris, a locum pharmacist for 36 years and they have an adult son and daughter. In her spare time she likes visiting family and friends, going to the cinema and theatre and spending time outdoors, appreciating all aspects of God's Creation. Her favourite places are the Isles of Scilly, Scotland and the North Pennines Contact Details If you wish to contact Mandy, then she can be reached by telephone or email on the details below.Her usual day off is Friday.

Lofthouse Vicar : The Revd. Mandy Rhodes

Telephone:  01924 823 286    Email: lofthouse.vicar@rothwelldistrictcofechurches.org.uk

Our Vicar for St. John the Evangelist Oulton & St. Oswald's Methley is Sarah Hancox.

The Rev. Sarah Hancox is Team Vicar of both St. John the Evangelist Oulton with Woodlesford  and St. Oswald's Methley with Mickletown. She enjoys teaching the churches new songs with her guitar and laughs at herself quite a lot! Sarah trained at Cranmer Hall Theological College, Durham, and before arriving here in September 2014 she was curate in the parish of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Kirk Sandall with Edenthorpe, Doncaster. In her spare time she loves walking Taffy the dog around the paths of Methley and along the canals of Woodlesford, stargazing in the garden with her telescope and she's finally learned to ski at the local indoor ski slope. Contact Details

If you wish to contact Sarah on any subject, then she can be reached by post, telephone or email on the details below.

Lofthouse Vicar : The Revd. Sarah Hancox

Telephone:  01977 515 686    Email: methley.vicar@rothwelldistrictcofechurches.org.uk   or Email: oulton.vicar@rothwelldistrictcofechurches.org.uk