THE vicar at St John's Church in Ben Rhydding has accepted an offer of early retirement in a bid by the Bradford Diocese to reduce costs.

The Rev Brian Gregory, in his 14th year at St John's, announced his retirement to the congregation at a recent service.

In a note written to parishioners, Mr Gregory said: "It is now less than three years to my 65th birthday and the time when, normally, I would be expected to retire.

"However, because the opportunity has presented itself, Corinne (his wife) and I have decided to bring my retirement date forward and the Bishop of Bradford has agreed to a retirement date of September 30, 2006."

Mr Gregory, who is the eldest and longest-serving stipendiary minister of the 13 Anglican churches in the Otley Deanery, is taking early retirement to help the Bradford Diocese's optimisation plan to reduce the number of stipendiary clergy in deanery by three by 2007.

He said: "My retirement does help in the negotiations that are going on to reduce the number of clergy in the Otley Deanery.

"What is going to be needed is the sharing of stipendiary clergy, and Ilkley will not be free from the pressure. The pressure is on stipendiary clergy because the money's not there."

Ironically, this week Bradford was named as one of 14 dioceses across the country that is seeing a growth in church membership.

Mr Gregory said that the parochial church councils for the three Anglican churches in Ilkley and one in Addingham are currently in discussions about how they can be best served in the future.

He said: "The important thing is to accept the challenge. There are positives in all of this. There are some good signs of working together."

As for his retirement, Mr Gregory will remain active in the church. He, Corinne and his daughter, Lely, 17, will move into a house in Silsden, and his family is planning to join the parish church there.

Mr Gregory said: "It's going to be difficult moving from a five bedroom vicarage and into a one and a half bed terrace. We have to lose most of what we own."

He added: "It's going to be hard for us to imagine life without St John's. We'll miss the sense of being part of a family.

"We'll miss the emotional maturity of the members. The breadth of spirituality is quite impressive at St John's. There are no narrow-minded people. Over the years, we've learned to accept and value differences."

In Silsden, Mr Gregory said he would have to get used to not working as a vicar.

"I think it's going to be very hard moving to somewhere where you have to learn to become part of a community."

The son of a Welsh coal miner, Mr Gregory came to Ben Rhydding from a church in Wigan, and he shared a couple of anecdotes about his time as a vicar, one being the number of Davids he worked for over the years.

"At St John's, I've worked under two Bishops of Bradford both of whom were Davids, and two arch-deacons named David. I was inducted by a Bishop named David and at Wigan served with another Bishop and arch-deacon, who were also Davids."

And when asked to recall a memorable moment during his time at St John's, Mr Gregory chuckled.

"One of the funniest moments hit the headlines in The Gazette a few years ago. On Sunday, April 1, I went into church and everyone was wearing a dog collar. That was an April Fool organised by my wife!"