This is a text-only version of an article first published on Monday, 11 May 2020. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
10 Downing Street this morning announced the appointment of a new Sub Dean of Christ Church Cathedral . A new Sub Dean of Christ Church Cathedral has been appointed in succession to Canon Edmund Newey who is leaving to take up the post of Rector of Rugby in the Diocese of Coventry. The new Sub Dean is the Revd Richard Peers, who is currently Director of Education for the Diocese of Liverpool and CEO of Liverpool Diocesan Schools Trust.
Father Richard, who is 54, trained and worked as a teacher before being ordained in 1993.
He has exercised a combined ministry in teaching and as a priest ever since. Before moving to Liverpool in 2016, Father Richard was Head Teacher of Trinity All Through School, Lewisham.
He has served in parishes in the Dioceses of York, Portsmouth and Southwark, and at the moment has Permission to Officiate in the Diocese of Lichfield where he is assistant priest in a rural benefice of six parishes.
In addition he is Superior of the Sodality of Mary, Mother of Priests, a dispersed religious community with sixty members around the world. The role of Sub Dean is a wide-ranging one and extends across the joint foundation of Christ Church.
As well as having responsibility for the day-to-day life of the Cathedral and overseeing the pastoral care of the congregation, the Sub Dean serves as Vice Chair of the Cathedral School, has oversight of the 80 Christ Church livings, and is a full member of the Governing Body of Christ Church. Welcoming the appointment, the Dean of Christ Church, the Very Revd Professor Martyn Percy, said "Richard's combined expertise and experience in education and the Church will prove to be a rich resource for us all at Christ Church, and for the many and varied constituencies that we serve more widely.
"His broad spirituality - involvement in New Wine, a minister and priest in his local rural group of churches, and the Superior of a company of priests in the Anglican Catholic tradition - will bring us considerable depth and breadth.
We look forward to welcoming Richard and his partner Jim to the life of our community here. "Father Richard said: "Learning, prayer and community have woven themselves into my work and life.
I am looking forward immensely to working, praying and learning as part of the community at Christ Church and am grateful to be called to be part of this institution that balances them in its life. "Having spent my teenage years in Reading I am delighted to be returning to the Diocese of Oxford and to serving in the Cathedral as it serves the whole diocese. "Father Richard is expected to take up his new post later this year, but arrangements are yet to be formalised because of the pandemic.
Father Richard's interests include contemporary music, poetry, economics and politics.
He also enjoys visiting gardens.
He is a keen blogger and tweets as @mission_priest .