Chaplain and Refugee Projects Officer in Pas-de-Calais appointed
CANON Kirrilee Reid, the Rector of All Saints’, Glencarse, in the diocese of Brechin, has been appointed Chaplain and Refugee Projects Officer in Pas-de-Calais. The diocese of Europe began recruiting for the new post, a partnership with the diocese of Canterbury and USPG, this year (News, 13 April). It is a response to the rising numbers of migrants around the Channel ports. Canon Reid was born and grew up in Australia, and was ordained in Canberra in 2006. Before ordination, she worked on projects that were focused on children, families, and refugees. Canon Reid has also served as both Director of Ordinands and Ministry Officer for the diocese of Brechin. She has just completed a sabbatical working with refugee agencies in Lesbos. Canon Reid will be licensed on 9 November.
Newly ordained deacon dies of cancer
The Revd Jeannette Hayward, who was ordained deacon in Portsmouth Cathedral this Petertide, and who had suffered from terminal cancer for more than a decade (News, 6 July), has died. Shortly before her ordination service, she said: “My prognosis is: I’m dying. But I’m at peace. I’m in God’s hands.” She died, aged 61, at Queen Alexandra Hospital, in Portsmouth, on Monday of last week, more than ten years after being diagnosed with bowel cancer, which had spread to her lungs. Born in Kenya in 1957, Mrs Hayward returned to Britain with her family after Independence in 1963, driving all the way in a Land Rover — including crossing the Sahara. They settled in Portsmouth, and became part of the community of St Jude’s, Southsea, where she was serving as an assistant curate.
Divorce consultation welcomed by C of E
COUPLES wishing to divorce will no longer be “forced to blame each other” for the marriage breakdown, under proposals confirmed by the Justice Secretary, David Gauke, this week. The proposals are set out in a Government consultation, published on Saturday, and will apply to marriages and civil partnerships. Currently, even if the separation is mutual, couples can file for divorce only on the grounds of “unreasonable behaviour”, adultery, or desertion; or if they can prove that they have been separated for a minimum of two years. A policy adviser to the Church of England Mission and Public Affairs division, the Revd Martin Kettle, said: “Divorce is always a sad process, and it is right to keep the law under review. However, we want to support and strengthen marriage, because, in its challenges as well as its joys, it is an amazing gift from God.”
Winners of £2000 Ecclesiastical prize announced
SIX volunteers in churches across the UK are to receive £2000 from the Ecclesiastical Insurers in celebration of their “little deeds” that made a “big difference” in the community. The top six of more than 300 entries to the “Little Deeds, Big Difference” competition were: Sharon Blair of Holy Trinity, Combe Down, in Somerset; Freda Gibbons of St Mary’s and St John’s, Lamyatt, in Somerset; Mary Hughes of St Michael and All Angels, Bishop’s Cleeve, in Cheltenham; Betty Keywood of St Stephen’s, Tonbridge, in Kent; “The Friday Men” of Christ Church, Thornton-Cleveleys, in Lancashire; and Roger Townsin of All Saints’, Kettlestone, Fakenham, in Norfolk. The overall winner — who will receive £10,000 — will be announced at a prize-giving on 1 November.
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Christ in all: A new life-sized icon of the crucified Christ, created by students from the Bethlehem Summer School, hangs in the nave of Lichfield Cathedral. The Dean of Lichfield, the Very Revd Adrian Dorber, said: “Icons are said to be gateways through which heaven meets earth, and I am proud to support this ancient art form to create an image of Christ who fills all things with new life” The cross was dedicated at a service on Holy Cross Day
Canon Oakley to judge Ted Hughes Award 2018
CANON MARK OAKLEY has been selected by the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, to be one of the three judges of the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry 2018. The other judges are poets Clare Shaw and Linton Kwesi Johnson. The £5000 prize, funded by the Poet Laureate and organised by the Poetry Society, recognises “excellence in poetry”, and “outstanding contributions” made by poets to the cultural life of the UK. It is an industry award; members of the public are not eligible. Canon Oakley is the former Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral, the new Dean of St John’s, College, Cambridge, and the author of The Splash of Words (Canterbury Press). He is thought to be the first priest to judge the prize in its near ten-year history. The 2017 winner was Jay Bernard for the performance piece Surge: Side A. poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/ted-hughes-award/
Tim Peake spacecraft boosts Peterborough Cathedral visitors
VISITORS to Peterborough Cathedral have soared to more than 66,000 since the Soyuz Spacecraft, which took the British astronaut Tim Peake to the International Space Station and back, was installed in the cathedral in August. A spokesman for the cathedral said that the figure, which continues to increase, is calculated by welcomers who “click in” visitors to the exhibition as they enter. “They are asked as they enter if they are there to see the spacecraft,” he said. The capsule will remain at the cathedral until 5 November.
SALVATION ARMYNever too old: Harry Read, aged 94 and a great-great-grandfather, prepares to skydive from a plane at Old Sarum airfield in Salisbury, last Friday. This was his first high-level skydive since parachuting into France on D-Day, 1944. He did the dive to raise funds for the Salvation Army, of which he has been a lifelong member. www.justgiving.com/fundraising/harry-read
Clarification: in our story “Older ordinands praised” (News, 7 September) we incorrectly gave the Revd Wendy Bray the title of Assistant Curate of All Saints with St John, Clifton. She is in fact the Associate Priest. We apologise for the mistake.