Rev Canon Paul Maybury retires at the end of October 2026
Your roving reporter John Aldersley has been in touch with our Honorary Chaplain Rev. Canon Paul Maybury, the Rector of Leeds Minster, who will be retiring at the end of this month. Canon Paul has been a good friend and supporter of the association, welcoming our members annually to a service at Leeds Minster when the association is mentioned in the church notices. On behalf of the president, council and members we extend warm wishes to Canon Paul and his wife Sarah for a long and happy retirement…..
Canon Paul has invited the association to his last service:- https://leedsminster.churchsuite.com/events/ta8zcp4o
John writes…. Below is Paul’s resume, it’s very interesting, even for this god-fearing reporter :-
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“I came to Leeds in 1981 to work at St George’s Crypt as one of the small staff team managing the homeless shelter and managing a hostel for homeless men in Leeds 6. When I married Sarah in 1984 I had to move on from the Crypt as it was not considered appropriate for a married man to live in a hostel full of homeless men (I didn’t disagree!) We moved to Bramley where I became full-time Parish Administrator and Sarah taught at Ebor Gardens Primary School. When our first child came along the Local Authority required us to move from our Council Maisonette and so we moved to a ‘sink estate’ in Bramley with another Christian couple with young children seeking to be ‘an oasis in a desert’. We lived there for five years which proved very formative as our two other children were born. After three years working as a Parish Administrator I was invited to apply for the role of Assistant Diocesan Secretary for the Diocese of Ripon, based in St Mary’s Street, Leeds 9. I did this for nearly six years, supporting parishes and managing the diocese. Again this was a formative time and involved me in working with many different Christian churches and organisations. It was then, whilst worshipping at a Methodist Church in Bramley, that I felt ‘the call’ to explore the possibility of ordination. After a year’s exploration and a thorough selection process, my family and I moved to Bristol for 18 months intensive residential training at the end of which I became ordained and moved to Spon, Derby, where I was a Curate (apprentice Vicar) for four years. This was a very enjoyable time when I learnt how to work with a variety of community groups and schools and took many baptisms, weddings and funerals which, even now, always feels an immense privilege. We then moved to St Mary’s Gawthorpe and Chickenley on the outskirts of Dewsbury and then after a couple of years we closed that church and we moved everyone to Holy Trinity Ossett where I worked for a further 12 years. Ossett had a lot going for it and we developed lots of meaningful partnerships and developed a Childcare business working with four Primary Schools. Sarah retrained as a ‘Play Worker’ and managed this. We spent nearly a £1m on developing the church and centre over 10 years. We continue to have very good friendships from that time. However, I was ready for a change and we moved to Cyprus for a three year post working with a fledgling church in South East Cyprus and pioneering ‘Prayer and Spirituality’ in Anglican churches across the countries of the Arabian Peninsular. We have many fond memories of a warmer climate; blue skies and a warm blue sea! When that contract came to an end we moved to Bradford where I worked in the Cathedral for six years and in the last year as ‘acting Dean’. A Cathedral is like a parish church on steroids! There are 42 Cathedrals in England and all are funded from Central Church Funds and are expected to support the Bishop and the Diocese and to fulfil a regional role. I learnt a lot which made it possible for me to take the job as Rector of Leeds Minster. Leeds is the largest English city without a Church of England Cathedral and yet, as a Minster, does almost everything that a Cathedral would do but without the centrally funded infrastructure. As I look back over 44 years of work in the church I’m thankful for the opportunities to make a little difference in the places I’ve been and with the people I’ve met.”
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