THE New Year Honours list, published on Monday evening, includes well-known churchpeople. Among them are the chief executive of the Children’s Society since 2019, and previously chief executive of the Church Army, Mark Russell, and the LGBTQ+ campaigner Jayne Ozanne, the founder and director of the Ozanne Foundation. Both have been prominent figures on the General Synod, and both are appointed OBE, as is the Revd Dr Sylvia (Dee) Dyas, Emerita Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of York.
Professor Dyas founded the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture, where she served as its director for almost 25 years. She also established the Centre for Pilgrimage Studies at York.
The former chief executive of NHS England Amanda Pritchard becomes a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She is now the chief executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Dame Amanda’s father is a former Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd John Pritchard.
Charlotte Manley, lately Chapter Clerk of the College of St George, at Windsor Castle, is appointed a Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (DCVO). Among others receiving honours in the King’s personal gift is Michael Wheatley, lately verger of St Mary Magdalene’s, Sandringham. He is awarded the silver Royal Victorian Medal.
Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to young people, to interfaith relations, and to Holocaust remembrance is Neil Martin OBE, chief executive of the Jewish Lads’ and Girls’ Brigade.
MELANESIAN MISSION UKKatie Drew, a recipient of the BEM for her work with the Melanesian Mission, seen visiting the Solomon Islands in February
Among other OBEs are the chair of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, David McDonald, for services to the historic built environment and to charity; and the Chief Guide, Tracy Foster, for services to Girlguiding; and Alison Alcock, lately the British Deputy Consul General in Jerusalem, for services to British foreign policy.
Appointed OBE for services to education are Gaynor Rennie, previously head teacher of All Souls C of E Primary School, Heywood, in Lancashire; Paul Rickeard, executive officer of the Durham and Newcastle Diocesan Learning Trust, who is an ecumenical canon of Newcastle Cathedral; Thomas Tapping, chief executive of Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear; and Anita Bath, chief executive of Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust, Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland.
The Vice-Chancellor of Birmingham Newman University, Professor Jacquelyn Bridget Dunne, is appointed MBE for services to higher education.
The recently retired Rector of St Luke’s and Christ Church, Chelsea, in London, the Revd Dr Brian Leathard, is also appointed MBE, for services to the community in Kensington and Chelsea. He became a Prebendary at St Paul’s Cathedral in 2005, and retired this year. Among his acitivities was chairing the charity Glass Door, which operates London’s largest emergency winter night shelters.
Among others in the MBE list are the executive director of the Railway Mission, William Johnston, for services to the Rail Workforce; the previous CEO of the Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust, Anne Dellar, for services to education; the director of the Pilgrim Trust, Susan Bowers, for services to heritage; a professor of counselling psychology at York St John University, Dr Divine Charura, for services to inclusion and to the advancement of counselling and psychotherapy in research and practice; and Keith Bowley, the chair of trustees at the Christian charity Bridgnorth Community Trust, which runs a foodbank and offers debt advice.
Those appointed MBE for interfaith work include Dr Nasser Kurdy, who was stabbed while entering his mosque in 2017. He achieved recognition for forgiving his attacker and for calling for calm and understanding. Originally from the Middle East, he has lived in the UK since 1977, and is an orthopaedic surgeon.
A professor of chemistry at the University of York, Professor Avtar Matharu, is also appointed MBE, for services to equality, diversity and inclusion, and to interfaith and community cohesion.
The previous deputy director of the Europe Division of the Scottish Government, William Strang, is appointed MBE for services to intercultural dialogue and interfaith relations.
Charity leaders recognised include Angela Salt, a former chief executive of Girlguiding, who has been appointed a CBE; and Emma Revie, the chief executive of of Trussell, who has been awarded an OBE for services to the eradication of poverty.
Gillian Marriott is awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the Church and to the community in Long Eaton, Derbyshire. Rachel Williams, a volunteer at her church and in her community, is also awarded a BEM for services to the community in Toddington.
Among other BEM recipients are the music director of Nantwich Choral Society, John Naylor, a lay canon of Lichfield Cathedral, who, besides having conducted many choirs, is a former General Synod member and former chair of Lichfield diocesan board of finance; the Revd David Ireland, a URC minister until recently chief executive of Francis House Children’s Hospice, for services to children’s hospices; Ruth Flynn, director of the sixth form at La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls School, Lambeth, London, for services to further education; Dudley Martin, the volunteer lead force chaplain of the West Yorkshire Police, for services to the policing community; Alice Potter, a police volunteer of Surrey’s Christian Police Association, for services to policing and to the community in Surrey; Brenda Wright, a volunteer at St Issey C of E Primary School, Wadebridge, in Cornwall, where she has been a foundation governor; and Frances Walker, chair of the Worksop Priory and Gatehouse Community Trust, for services to the community in Bassetlaw.
Mercy ShipsRuth Walne, of Mercy Ships, with a patient, Djimby, from Senegal
In the Isle of Man, Gerald Callister receives the BEM for services to the community in Port Erin and to the Church. He is a long-serving altar server, churchwarden, and liturgical assistant at Rushen Parish, and gave a decade of service at Bishopscourt Chapel. He is a former Maundy Money recipient.
Overseas, the director of the Tansen Mission Hospital, Nepal, Dr Rachel Karrach, who is a daughter of the late the Revd Dr Herbert Karrach (Obituary, 12 February 2021), is appointed OBE for services to healthcare in Nepal.
Also in the overseas and international list are MBEs for Mark Collier, a missionary, board member, and trustee of Friends in Action International Northern Ireland, for services to the provision of drinking water in Africa; Robert Hoy, of Christian Engineers in Development, Solace Ministries, Faith Centred Ministries Church, the dioceses of Cyangugu and Byumba, and The Safe Water Trust, for services to water engineering in Rwanda; and Fr Elison Vahi for services to the Anglican Church and community in the Solomon Islands.
Recipients of the BEM for work overseas include Christopher and Rosey Shelbourne, the directors and founding trustees of Christian Partners in Africa, for services to disadvantaged communities in Uganda and Ethiopia; Ruth Walne, a nurse and plaster technician with Christian charity Mercy Ships, for services to children in Africa; and the executive director of the Melanesian Mission UK, based n Feniton, Devon, Katherine (Katie) Drew, for services to UK/Solomon Islands relations. Her connection began in 2011 when she and her husband, Ian, volunteered for three months with the Mission. He supported IT work for the Anglican Church of Melanesia, while she helped the Mothers’ Union with administration.
