RESIDENTIARY CANON: CANON PRECENTOR & VICE-DEAN Candidate Information Pack June 2018 Contents 2 3 Welcome letter 4 Information for Candidates 9 Role Description 11 Person Specification 12 Terms and conditions 13 How to apply and timetable 14 Statements: (i) Equality (ii) Safeguarding 15 Further Information 16 Map of the Diocese Appendices 17 Appendix 1: Diocese of Durham - Plan on a Page 2018 18 Appendix 2: Durham Cathedral Governance Structure 19 Appendix 3: Durham Cathedral Strategic Plan 2018-2020 Welcome letter 3 Thank you for your interest in the role of Canon We inhabit a treasured sacred space set in the natural Precentor and Vice-Dean at Durham Cathedral. and human landscape of the World Heritage Site. The Bishop and Chapter are embarking on the next stage of our development and are looking for an And this is the heart of our purpose: experienced and skilled liturgist as Canon Precentor To worship God, share the gospel of Jesus Christ, in succession to Canon Dr David Kennedy who has welcome all who come, celebrate and pass on our been appointed as Vicar of Corbridge after 17 years rich Christian heritage, and discover our place in at Durham, serving the Cathedral, Diocese and civic GodȂs creation. community with great distinction. We are seeking a colleague who will flourish and thrive in Durham’s This is not only a special opportunity to be part of the rich tradition of worship and liturgy, and will shape Cathedral community, but a rare privilege to be able to our life of corporate prayer. contribute to shaping and leading the future growth and impact of Durham Cathedral by sharing the love Being a key member of our team of nearly one of God in Jesus Christ. We invite you to explore the thousand clergy, staff, volunteers and business treasures of Durham Cathedral, and we hope that you partners, you will have the opportunity to work in the will be captivated by this holy and beautiful place and environment of one of the truly great buildings of what it stands for. Europe. Set high on a rocky promontory next to the Castle with the medieval city below and the River Please take a look at our new website which I Wear sweeping round, Durham Cathedral is part of hope whets your appetite. If it does, I very the Durham UNESCO World Heritage Site. much look forward to hearing from you. Here is what we believe about our identity down Yours sincerely, the centuries and today, and how we – as the Cathedral’s living community – understand our role as its guardians: Durham Cathedral is a Christian Church of the Anglican Communion, the shrine of St Cuthbert, the The Very Reverend Andrew Tremlett, seat of the Bishop of Durham and a focus of Dean of Durham pilgrimage and spirituality in North East England. Information for Candidates 4 Diocese of Durham to the Sea’, but continues a close working relationship with the Diocese of Newcastle (the other half of the The histories of both the Diocese and Cathedral of ancient See). The contemporary diocese (map) Durham are inextricably linked with the story of the includes the metropolitan boroughs of Tyne and Wear origins of Christianity in the North East of England and south of the River Tyne (South Tyneside, Gateshead of Holy Island, Lindisfarne, where the bishopric was and the City of Sunderland); the towns of Darlington, created in 635. Following Viking incursions, the See was Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool; together with the removed from Lindisfarne in 875 and translated to rural areas of Teesdale and Weardale, larges parts of Chester-le-Street in 882, together with the body of St which are located in the North Pennines Area of Cuthbert and the Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon Outstanding Natural Beauty. Treasures (including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Treasures of St Cuthbert). After a brief sojourn in The Bishop of Durham, The Rt. Revd. Paul Butler, Ripon, the See and Shrine of St Cuthbert found their has led the diocese since 2014, developing a clear final resting-place in Durham in 995. vision for growth within some of the most challenging communities in the country. The key priorities of Uniquely in England, the Norman kings recognised growing churches, of ministry among children & the remoteness of Northumbria and its strategic young people, and of addressing poverty issues, are importance in relation to Scotland, and gave political, underpinned by innovative training in Missional military and taxation rights to the ‘Prince Bishops’ of Leadership and a determination to work towards Durham, creating the Palatinate. These rights were financial sustainability. These priorities are set out on finally dissolved in 1836. the ‘Plan on a page 2018’ (Appendix 1) under the Today, the Diocese covers the area of historic County diocesan vision of ȁblessing our communities in JesusȂ Durham, ‘From the Tyne to the Tees, from the Dales name for the transformation of us allȂ. Information for Candidates 5 Durham Cathedral The tomb of the Venerable Bede, situated in the Galilee Durham means a Cathedral, a Castle, a City and a Chapel, is of equal importance, commemorating ‘the University. In The Buildings of England: County Durham, father of English History’ and foremost European theologian, poet, scientist and biographer of his day. the celebrated historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as ‘one of the great architectural As a Cathedral for the world of today, we are building experiences of Europe’ or more recently, as the upon major development projects, designed to renowned author Bill Bryson puts it, ‘the best enhance the quality of our welcome. ‘Open Treasure’, a Cathedral on planet earth’. The development of the world-class exhibition experience revealing the story medieval city and the founding of the University in of Durham Cathedral, with interactive exhibits for 1832 owe everything to the increasingly powerful visitors of all ages and a rolling exhibition programme, Benedictine community of monks established on the seeks to do justice to the Cathedral’s incomparable peninsula in 1083, shortly after the Norman Conquest. collections of manuscripts, books, and historic It was they who built the Cathedral as a shrine for St artefacts, including three copies of the Magna Carta. Cuthbert to replace the original ‘White Church’ and later ‘Great Church’ of the Anglo-Saxon monks. The Chorister School has been established at Durham Cathedral for over 600 years. Set in the Durham Cathedral is acknowledged globally for its magnificence of The College, it provides the outstanding architecture and beautiful landscape security and intimacy of a school small enough for setting, often cited as the finest Romanesque church in every child and family to be known and cared about. Europe. It is not surprising that the Durham World It is served by a committed, skilled and qualified Heritage Site was one of the first in the UK to be professional staff and strives to be a centre of inscribed by UNESCO in 1986. excellence across the curriculum with a particular It is not only heritage and landscape that touches so specialty in music. The school is a coeducational day many people. There are few places in England that are and boarding school with children from 3-13 years. The school was rated Excellent in the most recent more imbued with the spirit of the saints, in Durham’s case the holy men and women of the Anglo-Saxon ISI inspection in January 2017. North. St Cuthbert’s Shrine is the spiritual heart of the Cathedral and an inspiration for our life as a community. Information for Candidates 6 Cathedral Governance anticipated that a third full-time residentiary canon (‘Canon Pastor’) will be appointed in due course. While the Cathedral Council provides general oversight and advice, it is Chapter, consisting of the Day to day responsibility for the Cathedral’s life is Dean, up to five Ordained and four Lay members, devolved to a number of committees, some of which which is legally the Cathedral’s governing body. are required by the Cathedral statutes or by national Similar to a Board of Trustees, Chapter provides legislation (The Cathedrals Measure 1999). Some are strategic leadership and direction, decision-making statutory independent bodies, such as the Fabric and scrutiny. The College of Canons is the third Advisory Committee that has a planning role in element of Cathedral Governance, providing a vital relation to the Cathedral, and the Finance Committee link with the Diocese of Durham and with key that oversees financial and investment strategy. ecumenical partners. The Chapter Clerk and Chief Operating Officer is the The Dean, who is appointed by the Crown, is the head senior member of staff at the Cathedral and is of the Cathedral Foundation and chairman of Chapter, responsible to Chapter for administrative support and and on its behalf directs the life and mission of the functionality, and for matters of statutory compliance Cathedral as well as being its public face in the wider across the Cathedral’s operation. The Dean, community of the city, diocese and region. Commissioners’ Canons and Chapter Clerk meet weekly to progress operational matters (D4). The other members of Chapter are appointed by the The Cathedral’s governance structure is set out in Bishop: of the five residentiary canons, two Appendix 2. (‘Commissioners Canons’) hold full-time responsibilities at the Cathedral, while the remaining The Cathedrals’ Working Group (appointed by the three are diocesan (0.25) or university (0.2) Archbishops) has reviewed the governance and appointments. Three Lay Members of Chapter, also operations of all Cathedrals, and has reported to the appointed Lay Canons by the Bishop, carry full Archbishops’ Council. It is likely that significant governance responsibility including Finance, HR and changes will be recommended, though this will be Risk.