Dean’s retirement

I’m well into my nineteenth year as Dean and am now 67, so am sure it is high time I handed on to another priest, who will lead the cathedral into what will, inevitably, be a new and different chapter of its life and ministry. I had expected to finish at the end of the Cantilupe celebrations, in October this year, but because of the extraordinary difficulties of the past few months, with the COVID pandemic, I feel it right that I continue just a little longer. So my final Sunday will be 31 January, the feast of Candlemas. This seems an appropriate feast for a retirement – one which looks both back and forward: back to Christmas and forward to Holy Week and Easter, and I guess that’s what we’ll be doing together – looking back at all that has been, and looking forward to all that the future holds for our community.

My new home will be in Presteigne – another country but still in the diocese of Hereford! It will be hard to leave Hereford after all these years, but the time now seems right. I’m announcing now, giving good notice, so that the process for the appointment of my successor can begin without delay. There remain several more months before I leave, so we shall continue to work for the coming of the Kingdom in this place and will seek, together, to find ways of rebuilding and sustaining our cathedral life.

 

With my prayers for you all,

Michael

 

11 September 2020

Download a pdf of the press release announcing the Dean's retirement here.