Peterborough graffiti removal expect to cost £1000-plus
MARKINGS made on Peterborough Cathedral’s Norman Gate will cost £1000 to remove, as specialist conservation work will be required, a statement from the cathedral says. “This isn’t just stonework — it is part of a remarkable building that has stood for more than 900 years, surviving wars, fires and the passage of time. Today, it has been damaged by a thoughtless act of vandalism.” The incident has been reported to Cambridgeshire Police.
New director of Faith and Public Life appointed
THE Church of England’s new Director of Faith and Public Life is to be Dr Linsay Cunningham, it was announced on Tuesday. She is director of strategy and partnerships at NHS Humber Health Partnership and previously worked in the House of Commons and for the Girls’ Brigade. She will take up the post on 14 September. An Interim Director, Richard Chapman, has led the team since Richard Sudworth’s death at the end of last year.
Rowland Jones to hand over cathedral reins
THE Dean of St Davids, the Very Revd Dr Sarah Rowland Jones, has announced that she will step down in August. A visitation report published last month suggested that the cathedral could be insolvent within two years (News, 28 May). A statement from the cathedral says Dr Rowland Jones “will hand over the reins to a successor to formulate and deliver the next phase of the Cathedral’s development plan over the next five to eight years, which extends beyond her retirement date”. The Dean said that she wanted to return to priestly work in a parish ministry for a couple of years and “seize the opportunity that is fast closing before I turn 70”.
Former DUP leader found guilty of child sexual offences
A FORMER leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, was convicted at Newry Crown Court on Monday of 18 counts of sexual abuse, including one count of rape, committed against two women when they were children. Sir Jeffrey, a Presbyterian, had pleaded not guilty to the offences, which occurred between 1985 and 2008. The jury found that Mr Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor, had aided and abetted her husband’s offending. Sir Jeffrey is expected to be sentenced in September.
Update given on David Tudor review
INDEPENDENT reviewers have completed the first draft of the Safeguarding Practice Review relating to the David Tudor case, Church House announced on Tuesday. This followed the second lifetime prohibition imposed on him earlier this year (News, 18 February). The review is “now in the final process of due diligence”, and survivors have been informed, the statement read. The review was temporarily halted owing to new police information. Publication is expected towards the end of the year.
Salvation Army captain to chair Cytûn
THE leader of the Salvation Army in Newport, Captain Kathryn Stowers, has been is to chair Cytûn, Churches Together in Wales, it was announced last Friday. She succeeds the Revd Dr Jennie Hurd, a senior Methodist minister. Captain Stowers is the Salvation Army’s ecumenical officer for Wales, and is an Ecumenical Canon of Newport Cathedral.
Yorkshire housing conference calls for urgent action
THE Dean of Ripon, the Very Revd John Dobson, hosted more than 150 participants in the Rural Housing Conference in Ripon Cathedral last Friday. It “concluded with a clear message: urgent action is needed to address the shortage of affordable homes and prevent the hollowing out of rural communities”, a statement from the cathedral said. In attendance were representatives of local government, housing associations, community groups, developers, and policymakers. A recurrent concern was that younger people and families could no longer afford to remain in the communities in which they grew up.
Correction: a story last week about the Bishop of Leicester and the charity Spear referred to the charity by its former name, Resurgo.