The Bishop of Bradford received a warm welcome in towns and villages across the diocese as he visited llkley Grammar School, said open air prayers in Yeadon and led a special church service near Keighley.

The Right Reverend Nick Baines, who took up his role in Bradford in 2011, said he was keen to spend time in all parts of the diocese and to continue being “thoroughly involved” in those communities.

With that in mind, he attended and led a service at St Mary’s Church in Riddlesden to celebrate the centenary of its organ, which had undergone a full refurbishment to mark the milestone.

Roger Lane, organist at St Mary’s for the past 33 years, masterminded fundraising for the work to be carried out. He said: “John Barnes, the organ repairer, has done a fantastic job. It is playing better than ever and will have many more years in it.”

The Rt Rev Baines then travelled to Ilkley, where he visited Ilkley Grammar School.

He ate lunch in the dining hall with pupils and met sixth form philosophy students in the afternoon.  His next stop was in Yeadon, where he said open air prayers on the Town Hall steps.

He also enjoyed a behind-the-scenes trip to Morrisons and a visit to Britain’s Sweet Shop on the High Street.

The bishop, who talked to staff and visited the fishmongers and delicatessen at the Yeadon supermarket, said he tried to spend time in each of the diocese’s eight deaneries.

He said: “We are thoroughly involved in the communities, but we need sometimes to see where people are Monday to Saturday – not just where they are on a Sunday.”

He stressed the importance of trade, commerce and the life of the high street to local communities – and he told worshippers outside the Town Hall that if they limited their faith to spirituality they were “missing the point of the Word becoming flesh”.

Among the small band of worshippers joining in the prayers was Michael Wardman, who emigrated from Yeadon to Canada in 1968, and was back in the area to visit family. Mr Wardman, who used to go to Yeadon’s parish church and to Sunday school when he was growing up in Yorkshire, decided to attend the event after hearing about it.

The vicar of St John’s Church, the Rev Richard Walker, accompanied the bishop during his visit. Last year his church launched its God Bless Yeadon campaign.

As well as offering to pray with people in the town centre, the congregation gave seasonal gifts to shoppers.

He said: “We were discussing what we could do with the bishop while he was with us and we thought we would do something on the back of God Bless Yeadon.”