A well-travelled priest has come home to two North Yorkshire parishes after sixteen years in a Florida church close to the USA’s Kennedy Space Center.

The Revd Peter Roberts will be instituted as Rector of Monk Fryston and South Milford on the 1st October by the Bishop of Selby, the Right Reverend John Thomson, in a service beginning at 7.30pm in St Mary’s Church, South Milford. He succeeds the Reverend John Hetherington who retired in 2017.

Peter is married to Ann, who plans to return to her work as a speech and language therapist.

From 2003 to 2019 Mr Roberts was Rector of St Luke’s, Merritt Island, Florida, which is the closest Episcopalian (Anglican) church to the Kennedy Space Center; many of his congregation worked at the Center and about twenty times a year he could watch launches from his garden at about five miles’ distance.

Born in the UK in 1959, Peter Roberts gained degrees from Northern Illinois and from Leeds before training for the priesthood at Mirfield, West Yorkshire. He was ordained in 1988 and served as Curate at All Souls, Leeds.

From 1992 to 1994 he became a missionary with Anglican mission agency USPG (United Societies for the Propagation of the Gospel) working in Orange Walk, Belize.

Returning to the UK as Rector of Collingham with Harewood, Leeds (Harewood House was in his parish) from 1995 to 2001, Mr Roberts was also World Mission Officer for the Church of England’s Diocese of Ripon and Leeds. He served as Anglican Chaplain in Dubai for two years before moving to Florida.

“I’m coming home to Yorkshire,” said Peter Roberts, “I wanted to come back and the time was right. Things came together – that’s how God works.”

“I’m getting used to a lot of change in the British way of life after sixteen years away – nothing is obvious; mundane details have changed – it’s like going home after your parents have moved house!”

He looks forward to getting to work: “Although many people may not seem very religious there is a great spiritual hunger and we need to meet that. Two years ago I spent some time at the Monastery at Mount Athos in Greece and came away thinking about spiritual gifts – the Church has great knowledge about how to pray, and meet spiritual hunger, and we can help to feed people this way.”

Stuart Wroe, Churchwarden of St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston, said, “The two Church Families at St Wilfrid’s Monk Fryston and St Mary’s South Milford are relieved and very pleased to welcome Ann and Peter back to Yorkshire.”