Editing Cosmo Gordon Lang (section)

===Leeds===

After a year's study at [[Ripon College Cuddesdon|Cuddesdon]], Lang was ordained as [[deacon]]. He rejected an offer of the chaplaincy of All Souls as he wanted to be "up and doing" in a tough parish.<ref name= L87>Lockhart, p. 87</ref> Lang identified with the [[Anglo-Catholic]] tradition of the Church of England, in part, he admitted, as a reaction against his [[evangelical]] upbringing in the Church of Scotland.<ref name= L62/> His sympathies lay with the progressive wing of Anglo-Catholicism represented by the ''[[Lux Mundi (book)|Lux Mundi]]'' essays, published in 1888 by a group of forward-looking Oxford theologians. Among these was [[Edward Stuart Talbot]], Warden of [[Keble College, Oxford|Keble]], who in 1888 had become Vicar of [[Leeds Parish Church]]. Talbot had contributed the essay entitled "The Preparation for History in Christ" in ''Lux Mundi''.<ref>{{cite ODNB|last= Rowell  |first= Geoffrey|title= Talbot, Edward Stuart |url= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36409?docPos=2 |year= 2013|doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/36409|access-date=21 September 2017}}</ref> On ordination Lang eagerly accepted the offer of a [[curacy]] under Talbot, and arrived in Leeds in late 1890.<ref name= L87/>

Leeds Parish Church, rebuilt and reconsecrated in 1841 after an elaborate ceremony,{{sfn|Teale|1841|p=}} was of almost cathedral size, the centre of a huge parish ministered by many [[curate]]s. Lang's district was the Kirkgate, one of the poorest areas, many of whose 2,000&nbsp;inhabitants were prostitutes.<ref name= L94/> Lang and his fellow curates fashioned a clergy house from a derelict [[public house]]. He later moved next door, into a condemned property which became his home for his remaining service in Leeds.<ref>Lockhart, pp. 89–90</ref> In addition to his normal parish duties, Lang acted temporarily as Principal of the [[Leeds Clergy School|Clergy School]], was chaplain to Leeds Infirmary, and took charge of a men's club of around a hundred members. On 24 May 1891 he was ordained to full priesthood.<ref name= L94>Lockhart, pp. 94–99</ref>

Lang continued to visit Oxford when time allowed and on a visit to All Souls in June 1893 he was offered the post of Dean of Divinity at [[Magdalen College]]. Other offers were open to him; the [[Bishop of Newcastle (England)|Bishop of Newcastle]] wished to appoint him vicar of the [[Newcastle Cathedral|cathedral church in Newcastle]] and Benjamin Jowett wished him to return to Balliol as a tutor in theology. Lang chose Magdalen; the idea of being in charge of young men who might in the future achieve positions of responsibility was attractive to him and, in October 1893, with many regrets, he left Leeds.<ref name= L101>Lockhart, pp. 101–04</ref>