New appointments in the Minor Canons team
Tuesday, 29th October 2024
Following the announcement that the Reverend Mark Birch is to become a Canon of Westminster and Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, new appointments have been made in the Minor Canons team at Westminster Abbey.
Mark, who has been a Minor Canon at the Abbey since 2015, takes up his new appointments on 7th November. He will be succeeded as Minor Canon and Precentor by the Reverend Robert Latham, who has served as Minor Canon and Sacrist since September 2021. The Reverend Helena Bickley-Percival, Minor Canon and Chaplain since April 2024, becomes Sacrist. Both also take up their new positions on 7th November. The process to recruit a new Chaplain will begin shortly.
The Minor Canons are responsible to the Dean of Westminster for all worship and liturgy in Westminster Abbey and in St Margaret's Church, including the celebration of the Eucharist and the provision of Sunday worship. The Precentor is Head of Department, and the Sacrist assists him in working on the many special services that take place here. The Chaplain shares that responsibility, but has a distinctive role in a ministry to staff and volunteers.
Commenting on the appointments, the Dean, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, said:
'The Abbey is a shrine, and a house of memory. It is holy space, common ground and much more besides. Above all though the Abbey is a church, a place of daily prayer and a sanctuary of praise. It is the Minor Canons who sustain that crucial, defining offering to God of the very best that we can do. We have been wonderfully served in the past and I look forward with confidence, knowing that, in Bob and Helena, we have colleagues of great skill and focussed dedication.'
