New Priest in Charge at St Michael’s

The PCC of St Michael's Emley are delighted to announce the appointment of a new Priest in Charge.

Rev Julie Anderson will take up her new post early in the New Year.  Julie is currently Area Dean of Almondbury and Kirkburton Deanery and her new Benefice will include the churches of Kirkburton, Lepton, Emley and Flockton.

We look forward to welcoming Julie to Emley.

Below, Rev Julie Anderson writes to all her new parishioners:

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Many of you may already know that I will be moving to take up the post of Priest in Charge in the parishes of Kirkburton, Emley, Lepton and Flockton in early January and will then be licensed on 16th January 2024 by Bishop Smitha. 

I am very excited about coming and working with you all and looking to see how we are going to further the Kingdom of God in our parishes!  So ‘who are you?’ I hear you say.  Well I am a north-eastern lass – born just outside of Durham City – where mum and dad still live.  I am over 60 – that’s about as far as I’m prepared to go with that and I am a daughter, a sister, a mother, a mother-in-law, a grandmother, an auntie and a friend and I am a widow.  I was married to Pete for nearly 17 years but have been a widow now for nearly 17 years. 

My late husband was in the RAF and so we moved around quite a bit and I have had many jobs including Air traffic controller, running a pub, practice manager in a doctors’ surgery, a hydrology assistant at the National Rivers Authority and a till operator in a supermarket.  We eventually settled in Cambridgeshire where I built (single handedly) the now not so new A1(M) between Peterborough and Huntingdon. 

After Pete died I changed my job and worked at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge as a PA to 2 gynaecologists, where I helped to run the uro-gynaecology department. 

I have been a churchwarden and a Reader before I was called to ordination and I trained at St John’s College Nottingham.  I was ordained in 2011 and served my curacy at Christ Church Norris Green in Liverpool and then served 3 years as Team Rector in 5 villages in Cambridgeshire, and am leaving the Emmanuel Team in Newsome, Armitage Bridge and South Crosland to come and join you.

I love to cruise and I would love to learn how to ballroom dance.  I hate gardening and sand with a passion but love spending time getting to know people.  The other thing you should know is that I am passionate about telling folk about Jesus.  I just want everyone to know the love he has for them and I will do my best to get that message across any way I can.  What I don’t do however is preach the Bible at people willy nilly!  I just try to love others and show them by my actions that Jesus loves them too. 

So, once I am licensed and settled I would love to come and have a cup of tea with you and get to know you. 

Please pray for me as I prepare to leave these lovely people here in the Emmanuel Team and move up to meet all you lovely people in my new parishes.

Thank you

Julie Anderson