New Priest Administrator for Walsingham

THE new Priest Administrator of the Anglican Shrine of our Lady of Walsingham is to be the Vicar of St Mary’s, Horden, the Revd Kevin Smith. The Shrine is currently overseen by interim Priest Administrator, the Revd Philip Barnes, whom the Bishop of Chichester, Dr Martin Warner, thanked for “sensitive care and generosity of spirit”. After studying at Westminster College, Oxford, Fr Smith trained for the priesthood at Chichester Theological College, and was ordained priest in 1993. He served in parishes in Worksop and in South Yorkshire before moving to the north-east in 2003. “I am both daunted and excited,” he said. “It is a huge responsibility. But it is certainly a challenge I feel ready to take on.” He will move in early autumn.

Church investors: 'act on women target'

A LETTER to the Financial Times expressing disappointment that progress towards having women hold a third of FTSE-350 board positions by 2020 has been signed by the Church Investors Group. The letter commends those companies that have achieved “strong levels of gender diversity on their boards”, but speaks of “regrettably slow progress”. It calls on companies to “step up their efforts”. The percentage of women on FTSE-100 boards is currently 26.

Vicar marries his partner

The Vicar of St Saviour’s, Peckham, the Revd Paul Collier, has converted his civil partnership to marriage, with a celebratory service in London. “My personal reading of the situation is I am unlikely to obtain any other positions within the Church of England,” he told Christian Today. But he said he would continue to serve as a priest at his current church. A spokesperson for the diocese of Southwark said: “We can confirm that the Revd Paul Collier has exercised his rights under civil law and entered into a civil marriage. The Bishop of Woolwich has been in formal contact with him and acted strictly in accordance with the pastoral guidance issued by the House of Bishops in 2014 on these matters.”