A NEW church leader has been appointed for southern Ryedale.

The Reverend Rachel Hirst, vicar of Norton – a role she will also retain – will be the area’s Rural Dean and a service led by the Bishop of Selby, the Right Reverend Martin Wallace, will be held at St Peter’s Church in Norton next Thursday to formally commission her, with the congregation including people from the churches she will be helping and friends and colleagues from other denominations.

Rachel said: “It’s a great honour to be asked to be a Rural Dean, and I’ll be helping to look after churches in southern Ryedale, assisting churches which haven’t got a vicar at the moment, working with the Bishop to care for the clergy in the area and helping all the churches serve their communities as best they can.”