The Archbishop of York leads Rotherham outdoor service

The event on Sunday (13) saw the Archbishop speak at the finale event of a four-day mission in the Diocese of Sheffield which saw 21 bishops from the Church of England lead teams in hundreds of events across the region.

Attendees of the event included the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress of Rotherham, the High Sheriff of South Yorkshire and the Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire.

The Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, Bishop of Sheffield opened the service by addressing the expectant crowd: "We planned some time ago for our final gathering to be in the centre of Rotherham, as we thought and prayed, there was nowhere else we wanted to be more than here at this particular time, to say to the town the love of the church, of Christian people and of God is with you.”

The Archbishop or York, Dr John Sentamu, added: “It is quite right to say that a final meeting should take place here.

“We are very glad to be here and I am delighted that we are ending our four days of mission in this particular place."

The Crossroads Mission took place from September 10 to 13 and is the first time so many Bishops have worked together in mission in this way in a single diocese in the long history of the Church of England.

Bishops and their teams visited schools, pubs, universities, colleges, hospitals, youth clubs, shopping centres, community centres, cafes and churches.