Sister Judith joins Abbey as new Chaplain

She said this week:

I am so looking forward to becoming part of this wonderful, ancient yet vibrant and ever-new institution.

Though she was born in Sydney, Australia, to a Scots father and an English mother, Sister Judith has been in the UK for 50 years. ‘I call myself an Aussie Pommie,’ she said.

She joined the Community of the Sisters of the Church in Melbourne. The CSC was founded by Emily Ayckbowm, the daughter of a Chester vicar, in 1870, and now has houses in England, Canada, Australia and the Solomon Islands.

When Sister Judith joined the Community, novices came to England to complete their novitiate. ‘Somehow I never went back,’ she said.

After studying in London, she went on to teach at St Hilda’s School in Liverpool where she was head of religious education, then moved to London to become Novice Guardian at the Community’s house at Ham Common in Richmond.

She was Sister-in-Charge and assistant to the Mother Superior at Ham Common before becoming Mother Superior herself for ten years.

During that time she visited all the Community’s houses around the world.

She has spent the last 4½ years working as part of a team ministry in Kent.

As she settles into her Dean’s Yard flat she said she admitted to looking forward to:

…the beauty and the worship here as well as being alongside people.