Items filtered by date: Monday, 02 September 2019

Bishop Libby is pleased to announce that the Revd Canon Dr Elizabeth Thomson will be Acting Dean of Derby from 1 October 2019.

Canon Elizabeth has been at Derby Cathedral since 2014 as Canon Missioner, and was appointed sub-dean by the outgoing dean, the Very Revd Dr Stephen Hance.

On making the announcement, Bishop Libby said: "We are very thankful that Elizabeth is willing to take on this crucial role during the vacancy. Elizabeth has a proven track record of leadership and creative ministry in the cathedral. I am confident she will not only love and support the cathedral through this time of transition, but bring her gifts and experience to enabling the Cathedral to flourish and grow during this time."

>> Stephen Hance bids farewell to Derby Cathedral

The task of selecting a new dean is already underway. The Archbishop of Canterbury will appoint someone who knows Derby and Derbyshire well to chair the panel that will oversee the process.

The panel for the interviews represents the diversity of the diocese, the cathedral and the wider community, reflecting the wide-ranging nature of the role of a dean. The panel works with the Bishop to make this appointment.

Consultations will be in mid-September. Individuals and groups have been contacted who can give the panel a really broad and deep sample of views about what the diocese, the city of Derby and the county needs in its dean, and there will be an open meeting for the congregation on Tuesday, 17 September.

All these conversations and other contributions will be drawn together to create a profile of the role, the cathedral and the kind of person who might be called to become Dean of Derby.

Both Derby Cathedral Chapter and Bishop Libby will submit their requirements and vision for the new dean, to complement a statement of needs and role specification.

It is intended to interview before Christmas, in the hope that an appointment can be made, and the new dean installed in 2020.

The full text of Dean Stephen Hance's farewell sermon at Derby Cathedral

So, we have come to my farewell service, the last chance I have to preach from this pulpit, and I want to thank you for being here to share in this act of worship as we say our goodbyes to one another today. It’s good to see you.

Cathedrals have been in the news again this summer. First of all, it was Rochester Cathedral with their mini golf course. Then it was Norwich with the helter skelter in the nave. And both of these had the predictable response from the usual people. This was, apparently, a desecration of holy ground, further proof that the Church of England, which for hundreds of years had thought that worship and prayer and pastoral ministry was sufficient, had now entirely lost the plot and was obsessed with gimmickry to get people in.

The Dean of Derby, the Very Revd Dr Stephen Hance, said a fond farewell to the congregation at Derby Cathedral at a special service on Sunday, 1 September 2019.

Dr Hance leaves the Diocese of Derby later this month to take up the post of National Lead for Evangelism and Witness for the Church of England.

In his final sermon at Derby Cathedral, he said it had been a privilege to serve as the Dean of Derby for the past two years and that good progress had been made in that time.

>> Stephen Hance's farewell sermon in full

He also talked about "getting the foundations right as a Christian community" and that cathedrals should continue to strive to find new and exciting ways to engage with people who might not always see a reason to visit them. 

The Dean concluded by thanking everyone for their prayers and their giving to the cathedral.

At the service, the Bishop of Derby, the Right Revd Libby Lane, announced that sub-dean, the Revd Canon Dr Elizabeth Thomson, will assume the role of Acting Dean of Derby from 1 October.