Derby Cathedral has announced The Venerable Peter Robinson as the next Dean of Derby.

Peter is currently the Archdeacon of Lindisfarne in the Diocese of Newcastle, a position he has held since 2008.

There, he holds responsibility as chair of the Newcastle Diocesan Board of Education, as lead for community engagement in Northumberland, and for rural delivery of the diocesan vision.

Peter worked in the oil industry before being ordained in 1995; he trained for ministry at Cranmer Hall in Durham and served his curacy in North Shields.

Following his curacy, he became priest in charge at St. Martin’s, Byker - where he was highly successful in bringing together a challenging inner-city community, designing a new church building and attracting a visit from the home secretary to showcase the community’s achievement. He has also been director of the Urban Ministry and Theology project in Newcastle before his current role.

Peter said: “I feel honoured to have been appointed Dean of Derby. I look forward to working with new colleagues and to engaging with the all Derby Cathedral’s stakeholders in the city, across Derbyshire, the whole diocese and beyond.

“I am only too aware that my arrival coincides with a time when we are having to imagine new ways of worshiping and relating to each other as Christian people.

“My hope and prayer is that we will be able to reimagine the life of our cathedral in the years to come, to deepen its local impact and to serve the communities and parishes of the diocese.”

He will take up his new position in the summer, as the coronavirus restrictions allow.

The Right Reverend Libby Lane, the Bishop of Derby, said: “I am delighted to welcome Peter as Dean of Derby. He is a man of inspiring faith, with a remarkable breadth of ministerial and professional experience. Peter is someone with a combination of deep love for people and place, and the capacity to think and act with strategic clarity. I look forward to working with him in the city and across the diocese.

“We are very blessed that God has called him to serve among us. I ask you to join me in praying for Peter and Sarah as they prepare to move, and for ourselves as we seek God’s Kingdom together.”

The news was also welcomed by the Bishop of Newcastle, The Right Revd Christine Hardman: “Peter Robinson has served the Diocese of Newcastle as Archdeacon of Lindisfarne with outstanding dedication, and I am delighted that the Church has discerned God’s call on him to be Dean of Derby, he will be a blessing to the Diocese of Derby. His contribution to the senior leadership team and to the life of the Diocese of Newcastle over the last twenty-five years has been significant, and deeply appreciated. Peter will be greatly missed, and he and Sarah leave us with our love and prayers as they move to Derby.”

Peter is married to Sarah, and they look forward to making the family home in Derby. They have two sons in their late 20s, Charles and Richard. In his spare time Peter will be found in the arts and cultural areas of Derby, or reading contemporary fiction, or listening to all types of music. Otherwise, you will see him on his mountain bike, at Derbyshire County Cricket Club, at Pride Park or even trying to improve his golf!

Peter joins Derby Cathedral at a time when the Cathedral's place at the heart of the community, responding to the present crisis, is more important than ever.

The Cathedral has developed new ways to reach and engage with people and is looking forward to continuing that and to being able to reopen as a gathering place and a focus of meaning for the people of Derby and Derbyshire.

In the building there are exciting plans for reshaping the interior as a place of worship and a community hub, for refurbishment of the Compton organ to further the Cathedral's role as a centre of excellence for music-making, and for using digital technology to help visitors discover the historical and spiritual riches of the Cathedral.

Derby Cathedral School will be starting its third year when the new dean arrives, and Peter will continue to build the relationship of both the cathedral and the school with the city.

There is much about the future that is hard to predict but Peter's role will be pivotal in the future of the cathedral and the city of Derby.