At Southwark Cathedral on Sunday 7 May, at 3pm the Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Rev Dr Thomas Butler and the Dean of Southwark, the Very Rev Colin Slee Collated and Installed one Residentiary and two Honorary Canons.

The Rev. Dr Robert Titley was Collated and Installed as Canon Treasurer and Diocesan Director of Ordinands. Robert was formerly the Vicar of West Dulwich, All Saints, and has taken up his new post after overseeing a huge restoration project to reopen the church after it was gutted by a fire in 2000.

He said ‘I am very much looking forward to this new challenge, and to helping people across the Diocese discover more about what God might be calling them to do, and to be.’

At the same service, the Rev. Christopher Davies and the Rev. Gary Jenkins were Collated and Installed as Honorary Canons of the Cathedral

The Rev. Christopher Davies who is Team Rector in the Wimbledon Team Ministry and also an Examining Chaplain to the Bishop was installed into the John Merbecke stall and the Rev. Gary Jenkins, Vicar of Redhill, Holy Trinity, was installed into the Anthony Thorold stall.

In his sermon, Rt Rev Dr Tom Butler, spoke of the outstanding work of the three and spoke of the links between the stalls into which the Honorary Canons were to be put and the men themselves. Thorold, he said was a vigorous Bishop of Rochester who worked hard to ensure the beginning of the Diocese of Southwark, to alleviate ‘the spiritual desolation of South London’ and Gary Jenkins was no stranger to hard work as he preached the Gospel.

Bishop Tom went on to say that John Merbeck was a church musician who helped to make worship rich and vibrant and inspiring worship had been the bedrock of Christopher Davies’ ministry here in Southwark.

As a Residentiary Canon Robert Titley was to take part in the care of the building, a task to which, Bishop Tom said, he was admirably suited having almost literally had care for the church of God burned into his soul as he and his congregation had rebuilt their church following a tragic fire. His care for the restoration of that church, said Bishop Tom, was a ‘symbol in stone’ of his new work as Diocesan Director of Ordinands in which he would be encouraging a new generation of priests to find new and innovative ways to minister to today’s world.

Ends.

Notes:

Canon Treasurer
The Canon Treasurer is a Residentiary Canon of the Cathedral, whose responsibilities are almost entirely Diocesan. He is, however a member of the team which runs the Cathedral on a day-to-day basis and will be ‘in residence’ for a month in the year.

Honorary Canons
An Honorary Canonry is an honour conferred by the Diocesan Bishop as an expression of appreciation of service to the Diocese. The new Canons, who are each allocated a stall in the Choir Stalls, will assist in the governance of the Cathedral in an advisory capacity and promote it in the wider Diocese. Each Canon is invited to celebrate the Eucharist in the Cathedral on the day allocated to their particular stall.

John Merbecke
John Merbecke was an English theological writer and musician who is probably best known for producing the setting of the Eucharist used in the Book of Common Prayer. He was tried and convicted of heresy in the Retrochoir of Southwark Cathedral in 1543 but received a pardon owing to the intervention of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester.

Anthony Thorold
Anthony Thorold was the Bishop of Rochester in 1877 when the area that was to become Southwark Diocese was added to the Diocese of Rochester. He was a man of strong Evangelical faith, who became determined that the religious life of South London should have its own firm identity. Thanks to his vision, a Suffragan Bishop of Southwark was appointed in 1891 and an ancient parish church in Southwark was restored to become a pro-Cathedral in 1897.