A letter sent to all members of the Leeds diocesan synod asks for prayer as senior staff tackle a £3 million deficit.

The diocese was formed four years as a merger between the diocese of Bradford, Ripon and Leeds, and Wakefield.

It’s headed up by Rt Rev Nick Baines (pictured), employs 110 people and serves 460 parishes.

In a statement acknowledging the financial difficulties, a spokesman said: “The measures needed to deliver a balanced budget will impact on the organisation and staff in different ways – we are deeply concerned for all members of our staff teams and all impacted by the decisions we need to take.

“A strong future demands strong action now.

“We are grateful for the understanding and support of colleagues as we work through the challenges before us.”

Although part of the Church of England, each diocese is financially independent.

The difficulties faced by Leeds have led to some calling for a change.

Writing on Twitter, Bishop of Burnley Rt Rev Philip North said: “A northern diocese ‘in crisis’ because of a debt of less than 1% of the funds held by some southern dioceses.

“This ‘crisis’ is no more than a symptom of a much deeper financial and spiritual institutional sickness. The solution is in Acts 2.”

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Salman Abedi was 19 when he boarded the HMS Enterprise in Tripoli in August 2014 with his younger brother Hashem and more than 100 other British citizens.

It is understood Abedi’s name was on a list of stranded citizens handed to the crew in charge of the evacuation.

The vessel took them to Malta where they caught a flight back to the UK.

In May last year, he killed 22 people including seven children at an Ariana Grande concert with a homemade suicide vest.

Handout photo issued August 2014 by the Ministry of Defence of HMS Enterprise evacuating Britons from Tripoli, Libya

Dr Hilton, who blogs through the Archbishop Cramner website told Premier it’s a sad and tragic situation, but people should not use this as grounds to categorise all refugees.

“What we can’t do from this is extrapolate how we should treat all of those seeking any kind of asylum. We must not forget he was a British citizen, we had an obligation toward him and his family,” he said.

“It wasn’t a case of no we can’t take you, stay in Libya – we were obliged to do so.

Dr Hilton added that the Bible gives the perfect example of how asylum seekers are supposed to be treated.

“The parable of the Good Samaritan is unequivocal in its view and advice to us on this,” he said.

“We shouldn’t discriminate against people on the grounds of ethnicity, or…

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the creation of a Religious Liberty Task Force on Monday.

He said the task force will make sure the US Government practices what is preaches.

“The Task Force will help the department fully implement our religious liberty guidance by ensuring that all Justice Department components are upholding that guidance in the cases they bring and defend, the arguments they make in court, the policies and regulations they adopt, and how we conduct our operations,” he said.

“That includes making sure that our employees know their duties to accommodate people of faith.”

Mr Sessions said the task force will help make sure that America does not depart from policies that promote “peace, prosperity, freedom, lawfulness, and clarity”.

The announcement came after Mr Sessions claimed the West has become more intolerable to people of faith.

“In recent years, the cultural climate in this country-and in the West more generally-has become less hospitable to people of faith. Many Americans have felt that their freedom to practice their faith has been under attack,” he said.

“And it’s easy to see why. We’ve seen nuns ordered to buy contraceptives.

“We’ve all seen the ordeal faced so bravely by Jack Phillips.

“Americans from a wide variety of backgrounds are concerned about what this changing cultural climate means for the future of religious liberty in…

Public services provider, Serco, announced it planned to remove people from their homes in the city who they claim have been denied asylum by the UK Government. The firm has said it was forced to issue a seven-day lock change notice as the Home Office has stopped paying it to provide accommodation.

Rev Dr Richard Frazer, convener of the Church and Society Council, said in a statement that the development was “unacceptable”.

“Whilst these are individuals and families who have had their right to remain in this country turned down, past evidence suggests that half will win their appeal against that decision,” he explained.

“In the meantime, we have a clear moral responsibility to be providing housing. Many of those facing eviction have already needed to flee their homes in the past from appalling violence, terror and war.

“It is unacceptable that this should be happening. We are a welcoming nation – Glasgow has the reputation across the world of being a friendly city.”

The Church of Scotland is backing a new campaign to challenge the UK Government’s approach to illegal immigration.

Rev Frazer said the Bible demonstrates why asylum seekers deserve better treatment.

“Our Scriptures contain the regular refrain to care for those at the margins of society,” he added.

“Indeed, in St Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is recorded as stating that how we care for those in need, including…