on Sunday, 4 October 2020 at 11.07 pm by Peter Owen
categorised as Church of England
The Dean of Sheffield, the Very Revd Peter Bradley, has announced his resignation from the role of Dean with effect from 31 December 2020.
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Jane Thomas
3 years ago
This is not the time for a post-mortem, but to assure Peter Bradley of our prayers and good wishes. Those of us who know Sheffield Cathedral well will be only too aware that this decision will relieve the Dean of an escalating personal burden that must have made life unbearable. It will also allow for an imaginative process of resolution to the unhappy (and, still, to many of us) inexplicable decision to disband the Cathedral choral foundation. Personally, I can only hope that this will now provide the impetus for diversity and inclusivity that builds on excellence and takes forward… Read more »
Robert Ellis
3 years ago
Who’d be a Dean?………Sheffield, Ely, Derby, Bradford, St Paul’s, Birmingham, York, Lincoln and Oxford!
St Paul’s: the Dean (the Rt Revd Graeme Knowles) resigned in 2011 in the wake of the ‘Occupy’ protest outside the cathedral. (He is now an assistant bishop in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich.) York: the Dean, Viv Faull (now the Bishop of Bristol) was strongly criticised over the sacking of the bellringers in 2016, related to an alleged safeguarding issue. Lincoln: the Dean, Christine Wilson, stood down in April 2019 (since reinstated) over a safeguarding issue. She was re-instated by the acting bishop, the Rt Revd David Court, in March 2020. Oxford: the Dean, the Very Revd… Read more »
I was just responding to Dominic’s question. Robert Ellis had not mentioned Peterborough, but you are right to refer to it. It was the ‘Reflections for the House of Bishops and National Church Institutions’ in Bishop Donald’s ‘Visitation Charge’ of 6 January 2017 (http://www.peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/userfiles/bishops-charge.pdf), coupled with the episcopal visitation at Exeter Cathedral, that prompted the proposed reforms in cathedrals governance contained in the new Cathedrals Measure, now making their way through the synodical process and programmed for ‘Final Drafting and Final Approval’ at General Synod on Tuesday morning, 24 November 2020. As the final report of the Cathedrals Working Group… Read more »
Derby has lost several Deans after only a short time in office dating back to 2004. Bradford was taken to the brink of bankruptcy in the early 2000s. Relationships at Birmingham were dysfunctional about a decade ago. Ely’s assistant organist was convicted of child abuse offences about a year ago.
So did I. I can only imagine the others are wishful thinking!
Dominic Barrington
3 years ago
Peter most certainly should be assured of prayers. And so should the cathedral foundation, which I hope is equipped to weather his fairly sudden departure. Glancing at the website suggests there is only one residentiary on staff, and that reminded me that the decision about the choir was taken without a precentor being in post. One wonders what the timing and order of appointments will be to bring the cathedral back up to full strength. For a diocese not associated with the traditionalist end of the C of E (and who can forget the issues around the appointment of its… Read more »
This is not the time for a post-mortem, but to assure Peter Bradley of our prayers and good wishes. Those of us who know Sheffield Cathedral well will be only too aware that this decision will relieve the Dean of an escalating personal burden that must have made life unbearable. It will also allow for an imaginative process of resolution to the unhappy (and, still, to many of us) inexplicable decision to disband the Cathedral choral foundation. Personally, I can only hope that this will now provide the impetus for diversity and inclusivity that builds on excellence and takes forward… Read more »
Who’d be a Dean?………Sheffield, Ely, Derby, Bradford, St Paul’s, Birmingham, York, Lincoln and Oxford!
I’ve missed the significance of that particular selection of cathedral churches….?
St Paul’s: the Dean (the Rt Revd Graeme Knowles) resigned in 2011 in the wake of the ‘Occupy’ protest outside the cathedral. (He is now an assistant bishop in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich.) York: the Dean, Viv Faull (now the Bishop of Bristol) was strongly criticised over the sacking of the bellringers in 2016, related to an alleged safeguarding issue. Lincoln: the Dean, Christine Wilson, stood down in April 2019 (since reinstated) over a safeguarding issue. She was re-instated by the acting bishop, the Rt Revd David Court, in March 2020. Oxford: the Dean, the Very Revd… Read more »
What about Peterborough where the previous Dean resigned after delivering a Mighty Word from the cathedral pulpit?
I was just responding to Dominic’s question. Robert Ellis had not mentioned Peterborough, but you are right to refer to it. It was the ‘Reflections for the House of Bishops and National Church Institutions’ in Bishop Donald’s ‘Visitation Charge’ of 6 January 2017 (http://www.peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/userfiles/bishops-charge.pdf), coupled with the episcopal visitation at Exeter Cathedral, that prompted the proposed reforms in cathedrals governance contained in the new Cathedrals Measure, now making their way through the synodical process and programmed for ‘Final Drafting and Final Approval’ at General Synod on Tuesday morning, 24 November 2020. As the final report of the Cathedrals Working Group… Read more »
Derby has lost several Deans after only a short time in office dating back to 2004. Bradford was taken to the brink of bankruptcy in the early 2000s. Relationships at Birmingham were dysfunctional about a decade ago. Ely’s assistant organist was convicted of child abuse offences about a year ago.
So did I. I can only imagine the others are wishful thinking!
Peter most certainly should be assured of prayers. And so should the cathedral foundation, which I hope is equipped to weather his fairly sudden departure. Glancing at the website suggests there is only one residentiary on staff, and that reminded me that the decision about the choir was taken without a precentor being in post. One wonders what the timing and order of appointments will be to bring the cathedral back up to full strength. For a diocese not associated with the traditionalist end of the C of E (and who can forget the issues around the appointment of its… Read more »