In December last year, I had the pleasure of attending a meeting of the Chapter of Sheffield Cathedral.
During the meeting I reviewed with Chapter members the progress which has been made in implementing the Determination I issued in March 2021, following a Visitation.
In preparation for the meeting, the Chief Operating Officer (Mr Jason Carr) had prepared a report, evidencing progress against each of the 32 points in my Determination on the basis of work undertaken by Chapter through 2021 and 2022. I was heartened that in the majority of cases, Chapter was able to demonstrate that my directions have been fully implemented and the necessary actions completed. At those points where Chapter acknowledged that implementation was ongoing, I was consistently reassured by the progress to date and by the reasons why the particular direction was not yet complete. In particular, it is clear to me that considerable culture change has been achieved.
I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to the members of the Chapter for the urgency and thoroughness with which they have responded to the Determination. In relation to some aspects of the Determination, Chapter members have in fact gone impressively beyond the call of duty. By the end of the meeting, I was left in no doubt that the governance of the Cathedral is currently safe and sound and on that basis, I consider the Visitation now closed.
Bishop Pete
Easter 2023
In response to the Bishop, the Dean of Sheffield, the Very Revd Abi Thompson said:
There is no doubt that Sheffield Cathedral has gone through a tough few years. Since my arrival as the new Dean in November 2021, I have been privileged to meet and work with a Chapter and Congregation who have been warm, welcoming and deeply committed to living out our call to be ‘a place for all people.’ Amidst the many joys, we have paid careful attention to looking at ourselves and pondering together what lessons needed to be learnt following the 2021 Bishop’s Visitation.
I am grateful for Bishop Pete’s support over these past 18 months and I know that I and the whole of Chapter are very glad to have had the opportunity to describe to him the work we have done to attend to the matters raised in his Determination. The work continues and as we look forward in hope to the development of our work with young people following the appointment of Tom Daggett as our Director of Music and Schools Singing Programme, we will keep on doing our best to reflect the love of God for all God’s people in everything that we do.
The Very Revd Abi Thompson
Dean of Sheffield