Keighley’s Mormon Church leader has been promoted to head 3,000 worshippers across West Yorkshire and Craven.
James Stewart is bishop of the Keighley congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The 36-year-old preacher will now preside over ten congregations, including people living in Bradford, Leeds, Skipton and the Wharfe Valley.
James will become the president of an area called a ‘stake’ – similar to a Catholic diocese – in addition to his day job as an engineer for an international oil and gas company.
He said: “Being a member of this Church is wonderful – it changes and improves lives, adding to the good we already have.”
James has lived in Keighley most of his life, and now lives in Riddlesden with wife, Annette, and two-year-old daughter, Eva.
As stake president, James will be supported by two ‘counsellors’, including Evan Kitsell, 58, from Silsden, who has been involved with the Keighley church for about 30 years.
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