Chapter, chaired by the Dean, is our governing body of trustees providing vision, strategic direction to the Cathedral.

Formal roles and responsibilities are set out in ecclesiastical law and enshrined in our governance documents.

Legislation and statutes were recently updated in the Cathedrals Measure which passed into law on receiving Royal Assent in July 2021.

Abi has been Dean of Sheffield since November 2021. Before that she was Sub Dean of St Albans Cathedral, but has spent most of her ordained life in the Diocese of Sheffield serving first as Curate of the Manor Parish and then as Vicar of St James, Clifton in Rotherham from 2010-2018. She as Dean of Women’s Ministry from 2015-2018.

Abi studied music at King’s College, London and sang professionally before going to train for ordination at Westcott House in Cambridge.

Neil joined Chapter in January 2024 after four and half years as Chair of the Cathedral Archer Project and having worked in Sheffield since 1995 in a number of senior roles in NHS leadership and management, bringing a wealth of experience with him. Prior to his retirement, he was Assistant Chief Executive at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals between 2002 and 2016.

Neil worships at Doncaster Minster and has a close connection with Ampleforth Abbey, both as an adviser and chair of the Governance review in 2017 and as an Associate of the Abbey. He is passionate about social justice and serves as a Trustee of the Doncaster Foodbank. Neil was educated in Blackpool and studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University.

Justin was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. He trained for ministry and was ordained in the Diocese of Johannesburg in 2007, serving his curacy at St Paul’s Parkhurst, before moving to London in 2009.

Experiences in South Africa, including the role of the local church in the fight against apartheid and the calling to work for reconciliation and justice in society has deeply informed Justin's faith and priesthood. As the Vicar of St Barnabas Ealing, he was actively involved in community organising and church planting.

Justin is passionate about working with colleagues, lay leaders and volunteers to build vibrant partnerships inside and outside the Cathedral, developing existing and new congregations and cultivating opportunities for evangelism and spiritual growth. 

Angela has worshipped at Sheffield Cathedral since 1989 when her son James became a chorister. Since then, she has been and continues to be much involved in cathedral life, initially as a choir parent and in recent years as intercessor, reader, Church Warden and Chapter member since 2019.

She very much enjoys involvement in the wider Cathedral life through a range of activities, whether serving refreshments, membership of the Mission and Ministry Committee, Chair of Friends of Sheffield Cathedral or governance. The latter has included the Sheffield Diocesan Board of Education, the Cathedral Archer Project, Bishop’s appointee to Whirlow Spirituality Centre and Cathedral representative on the Attercliffe Deanery. Most recently Angela was privileged, as a member of Chapter, to be on the discernment panel for the new Dean. These roles draw on considerable experience pre-retirement as a senior academic at Sheffield Hallam University where she continues to teach on post graduate teacher training programmes, provide 1:1 support for students with learning difficulties. Angela’s passion for learning and teaching also continues through her role as a school governor.

A love of travel has resulted in overseas work including leadership and management training in Pakistan for the British Council and the Aga Khan university, and voluntary work in Christian settings in the Philippines, Nepal and a variety of African countries (Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda). Hopefully when travel permits this will continue.

A devoted grandmother, Angela loves to spend time with her two young grandsons, son and daughter in law, her son being one of the three Extreme Cellists (whose roots began at Sheffield Cathedral) and a lay clerk at Chester Cathedral, where the 7-year-old elder grandson is following in his father’s footsteps as a probationer!

Sally first attended the Cathedral on coming to Sheffield in the mid '70s and was married here in 1978. After some time in a local parish, she returned in 1991 and has been a regular member of the congregation ever since.

Sally has experience of four Bishops and soon four Provosts/Deans. Over the years she has been; Sunday School Leader, Steward, member of the Serving Team, Lay Eucharistic Minister, member of the Mission and Ministry Committee and Secretary of The Friends of Sheffield Cathedral.

Sally’s career was in the Civil Service working for HM Courts and Tribunals Service. Her specialism was Probate and she was responsible for Probate Registries in Leeds, Sheffield, Lincoln and York. Sally was elected as Churchwarden and Chapter member in 2021. She retired in 2020 and in addition to Cathedral roles she is looking forward to sitting as a Magistrate.

Pam is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering with broad experience in the manufacturing and engineering industries. She has worked in large companies such as GKN Sankey and East Midlands Electricity plc but also has considerable experience of owning and managing small engineering businesses. She has served on the boards of a variety of companies including Chesterfield Royal Foundation Trust Hospital, Source BioScience plc and the Rainbow Seed Fund. She is currently a Director/Trustee of several organisations including Quest Investments Ltd, Sheffield Cathedral and Sheffield Assay Office.     

Pam served as a Governor of Sheffield Hallam University, Chairman of the Governors of Sheffield High School and a Trustee of the City & Guilds of London Institute. She was a visiting Professor to the Department of Engineering at the University of Sheffield, who named in 2014 the new Engineering Post Graduate building after her. She was the first woman to be elected as President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers as well as the first woman to be elected as Master of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire, where she is an active Member and chairs both the Halls and the Events/Hospitality Committees. She has served as High Sheriff of South Yorkshire and is a Deputy Lieutenant of that County. She was awarded the OBE for services to engineering and has a number of Honorary Doctorates.    

Julie lived in Bradford until she started training for the Church Army in 1981.  She then worked as a Deanery Training Officer before ordination training at Ripon College Cuddesdon. She was Deaconed in 1988 and priested in 1994.

After her curacy in Kirkstall, Leeds, the rest of her ministry has been in large teams including South London, Bramley in Leeds, a large rural team ministry in Suffolk, Manningham in Bradford and as Team Rector of Sheffield Manor Parish from 2010 to January 2021.

She also worked for 10 years in the voluntary sector, managing community projects and leading the development and national roll-out of a quality standard for organisations involving volunteers.

In Sheffield she has served as honorary Pastoral Tutor for St Hild’s College, trustee of the Urban Theology Union, a school governor and a board member of several community groups. She has been a Canon of Sheffield Cathedral since 2014 and a member of the Chapter since 2015.  In January 2021 she was appointed to one of the Associate Archdeacon Transition Enabler posts, working with Parishes and Mission Areas as they move over to the new model of Ministry in the Diocese. 

Managing change has been a passionate commitment in all these roles, along with building the capacity of individuals and organisations to recognise the benefits of working collaboratively.

John, who was born in Sheffield, is a Chartered Accountant with many years experience in financial management. He started his career in the profession and then he transferred to industry, where he was the Financial Director of both a public company and a number of private companies all based in Sheffield.

For seven years John was a member of the Council of Sheffield University and on retirement from that role, he was appointed to the Audit Committee of the University.

He has been involved with Church of England in Sheffield for many years. Firstly as treasurer to a number of parishes and then for 10 years as Chairman of the Sheffield Diocesan Board of Finance, where he worked closely with the then Bishop of Sheffield the Right Reverend Jack Nicholls.

John’s other Charity work includes an extensive period as a Trustee of Sheffield Museums. Following retirement from that role he was appointed as Chairman of the subsidiary company SGMT Enterprises Ltd, which manages the commercial activities of Sheffield Museums whose purpose is the create funds in support of the Museums.

John was High Sheriff of South Yorkshire in 2006/2007.