New Dean for Aberdeen & Orkney
THE new Dean, and the first woman to hold the post, has been appointed for the diocese of Aberdeen & Orkney. She is Canon Jennifer Holden, who succeeds the Very Revd Dr Dennis Berk, who resigned the post in 2021, around the time that allegations of bullying were made against the diocesan Bishop, the Rt Revd Anne Dyer. Canon Holden worked in community engagement, education, and communication before her ordination. She is a former Senior Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, where she explored the impact of digital technology on rural communities, and she has a doctorate. She will continue to be an Adviser for Christian Life, whose ministry is to encourage discipleship.
Cathedral first to join Bloomberg Connects App
LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL has become the first cathedral in the UK and Europe, and the second in the world, to join the Bloomberg Connects App, it was announced on Tuesday. The app, a global digital guide to arts and culture, offers more than 40 languages. A cathedral Facebook post said: “This milestone puts us alongside world-renowned institutions like The Met in NYC, Guggenheim, and National Theatre, as well as local legends like FACT Liverpool and National Museums Liverpool.” The Dean, the Very Revd Dr Sue Jones, said the collaboration “allows us to welcome even more visitors, both in person and virtually, and to share the beauty of our sacred cathedral in a new and engaging way”.
Salvationist to head Spring Harvest
THE new Head of Spring Harvest, the Christian teaching holiday, is Major Jo Moir, a former midwife and hospital chaplain, who joins from the Salvation Army. She has managed events at the Royal Albert Hall and ICC Birmingham and Wales, and been a regular writer and presenter of Sunday Worship on BBC Radio 4. She took up her post on 21 July, and succeeds Abby Guinness, who held the position for 11 years. Spring Harvest will be in Skegness (30 March-3 April) and Minehead (6-10 April).
Clergy fraud alert in Chester diocese
THE diocese of Chester has issued a fraud alert after reports to the People System Support and Clergy Payroll teams that “fraudulent text messages have been sent to clergy claiming that they must submit their HLC return online or their stipend will be stopped.” A notice on the diocesan website says that these teams do not send text messages about HLC returns or stipend payments, tells clergy not to click on any links in text messages purporting to be from them, and always to log in directly to their People System account. Fraudulent messages can be reported to: clergy.payments@churchofengland.org or report.fraud@churchofengland.org.
Happisburgh may have to give up its dead
MORE than 100 sailors shipwrecked before they could join Nelson in 1801 and buried in a mass grave look set to be reinterred, together with hundreds of others of bodies buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, Happisburgh, in Norfolk, North Norfolk News reports. Coastal erosion means that there are now only 80 metres of land between the crumbling cliff edge and the churchyard. The diocese of Norwich, Happisburgh Parish Council, and North Norfolk District Council are working with the Coastwise scheme, which seeks to prepare coastal communities threatened by erosion and offer guidance on burial grounds at risk.
Church Army commissions evangelists
NINE new Church Army evangelists were formally admitted and commissioned in Sheffield Cathedral on 19 July by the Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, who chairs the Church Army Board. Lawrence Bellew, Meg Borges, Sarah Clayton, Bing Liu, Anna Mansbergh, Rachel Marlow, Tracey Needham, Hannah O’Neill, and Jack Wright will be deployed across the UK and Ireland (Letters, 25 July).
