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The Chapter of Canterbury are responsible for all aspects of the day-to-day management of the Cathedral. Chapter comprises the Dean, the Residentiary Canons, and four additional persons appointed by the Archbishop.
The Very Reverend Dr David Monteith
Dean of Canterbury
David was installed in December 2022 as the 40th Dean of Canterbury (post Reformation) heading up a staff of 250 and over 500 volunteers; leading the mother church of the Anglican Communion.
He chairs the College of Deans for the Church of England. Prior to this he was Dean of Leicester in the East Midlands where he was responsible for the re-interment of King Richard III after his find in a ‘car-park’ and the redevelopment of the cathedral in one of Britain’s most diverse cities where he also chaired the inter-faith ministry of the diocese. He also served as Associate Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London and as an Area Dean in Wimbledon first being ordained in the Diocese of Birmingham in 1993. His interests focus on faith in the public realm, change, culture and the arts.
He grew up in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland and shares his life in a Civil Partnership with David Hamilton and their lurcher dog Barney.
The Venerable Dr Will Adam
Archdeacon of Canterbury
The Archdeacon of Canterbury combines the responsibilities of being a Residentiary Canon of Canterbury Cathedral with that of an Archdeacon – supporting the life and ministry of deaneries and parishes in East Kent.
Will Adam is the current holder of this position that dates back at least to 1080. Will came to Canterbury in 2022 having been Deputy Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, where he was also responsible for supporting the relationship between Anglican churches and other Christian churches and communions around the world. He was ordained in 1994 and has spent more than 20 years in parish ministry.
Will read theology at Manchester University, graduating in 1991, trained for ministry at Westcott House, Cambridge and the Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches in Geneva and, later on, read for an LLM and a PhD in Canon Law at Cardiff University. He is married to the Revd Lindsay Yates and has three daughters and a Welsh Terrier who has as many followers on Twitter as he does.
The Revd Dr Tim Naish
Canon Librarian
The Canon Librarian has responsibility for the educational work of the Cathedral, including among much else the two annual Conferences, for Seminarians/New Priests, and for New Bishops, from around the worldwide Anglican Communion, held in the Cathedral’s International Study Centre. Tim is also the Director of Curate Training (IME 2) for the Diocese of Canterbury.
Tim came to this role in Canterbury in April 2018, from twelve years spent in theological education at Ripon College Cuddesdon, directing the Oxford Ministry Course. He has also had six years as a parish priest, and eleven years in South India, the Congo and Uganda, working in leadership formation with the Church in those countries. Academically his special interest is in missiology; he is also a keen armchair sportsman, book collector, music lover and walker. He and his wife have three grown children and (so far) three grandchildren.
The Revd Dr Emma Pennington
Canon Missioner
Reverend Dr Emma Pennington is the Cathedral’s Canon Missioner and was installed by the Archbishop of Canterbury in March 2019. Emma has been Vicar of Garsington, Cuddesdon and Horspath in the Oxford Diocese since 2008 before which she was chaplain of Worcester College in Oxford for five years. She has also been a prayer and spirituality adviser for the diocese and an area dean.
Emma, who trained at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, from 1997 to 2000, has been a tutor for the Initial Ministerial Education Reflective Practice: Ministry and Spirituality courses and a co-founder of the successful Festival of Prayer day conference run in association with the Bible Reading Fellowship. She has a doctorate from the University of Oxford on the fourteenth century devotional writer Julian of Norwich.
The Canon Missioner is a residentiary canon role and has the tasks of the former Canon Pastor position together with the ministry of outreach and welcome opportunities offered by the Cathedral’s restoration and development project The Canterbury Journey.
The Reverend Andrew Dodd
Canon Treasurer
The Canon Treasurer is a Residentiary Canon role, which involves the stewardship of resources and the protection and restoration of the fabric of the building, its artefacts and the care of those who work in these areas of Cathedral life. A key element of the present role is the oversight of The Canterbury Journey project as it enters its final phase.
The Reverend Andrew Dodd comes to the Cathedral from Great Grimsby, where he had been Team Rector and Area Dean of North East Lincolnshire since 2011. Whilst in this role he established Grimsby Minster as a centre of civic life and a hub for arts and community activity in the town.
Andrew trained as a Civil Engineer, working for Surrey County Council for seven years before training for ordination at Westcott House, Cambridge. He was ordained in Southwark Diocese in 2000, serving his curacy in New Addington and then as Rector of St Mary’s Newington at the Elephant and Castle.
As well as enjoying family life, Andrew is learning to play hockey, is an artisanal baker and enjoys international cinema. He and his wife Louise, who is also a priest, have two school age children, Miriam and Benedict.
Miss Jane Ibbotson
Non-Executive Member of Chapter
Appointed as a Non-Executive Member of Chapter in January 2022, Jane is risk manager with over thirty years experience in the financial services sector. After an early career as a banking and markets regulator at the Bank of England, Jane has held a number of senior compliance roles in major UK and International banks.
Jane is active in church life and worships at St Mary Riverhead with Dunton Green, where she is a member of the church choir and the Parochial Church Council. Singing is a particular passion and Jane enjoys performing regular concerts with a Kent based chamber choir which sings repertoire from the Renaissance to the present day.
She lives in Sevenoaks, where she is a keen gardener and nature lover who enjoys spending time looking after her garden and encouraging the wildlife in. Jane is also a Trustee of Kent Wildlife Trust.
Mr Richard Oldfield
Non-Executive Member of Chapter
Richard Oldfield has been involved closely with the Cathedral since 2006 when he began chairing the fund-raising appeal, stepping down from this role in 2014. He has been a trustee of the Cathedral Trust from 2009 to 2021 and chair of Council from 2012 to 2022, and is seneschal of the Cathedral.
He was High Sheriff of Kent in 2008-9 and Vice Lord Lieutenant 2011-2021. An investment manager all his working life, he semi-retired in 2016 from the firm that he founded and did a theology diploma at King’s College London. He read History at New College, Oxford.
He is the chair of Shepherd Neame Ltd and a trustee of the Prince’s Trust. He lives in Doddington, near Faversham.
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