This year will see several clergy changes in City of London churches.
The Ven Lyle Dennen
This week Lyle Dennen has said farewell to the congregation at St Andrew’s Holborn. He arrived from Brixton in 1999 when he was appointed not only guild vicar but also Archdeacon of Hackney. He stepped down from the latter position after just over a decade.
Looking after St Andrew’s is a much bigger job than it may at first appear. He has opened the crypt and taken St Gervais in Paris as the inspiration for the worship upstairs.
Outside, the area has changed with the arrival of Sainsbury’s HQ and its supermarket on the former Daily Mirror site opposite.
The Ven Peter Delaney
Peter Delaney, priest-in-charge of St Stephen Walbrook, will retire after the Easter Vigil in April. He will have completed ten years there having taken over during the time he was Archdeacon of London.
“I have tried to build on the enduring example of my predecessor Dr Chad Varah,” says Peter Delaney. “His views of an inclusive church have underpinned all that we have done to rebuild the Walbrook community.”
The former Archdeacon of London adds that the City is a very different world from that of the time when Chad Varah began his ministry at Walbrook.
“It is a different City of London; still international but much more difficult to penetrate through security systems and the dense world of electronic communications. You are more likely to gain access to a local business community through your iPhone or iPad than by calling at the door or picking up the telephone.”
Chad Varah’s Samaritans landline telephone is on display in the church.
Peter Delaney was Vicar of All Hallows-by-the-Tower from 1977 to 2004.
The Ven David Meara
Also retiring at Easter is David Meara, Rector of St Bride’s Fleet Street.
He was appointed to the journalists’ church in 2000 and leaves just as the spire reappears after vital restoration. The church has completed a successful £3.5 million re-endowment appeal as well as the restoration project.
For the last five years David Meara, a contributor to The Times, has also been Archdeacon of London and will relinquish that post in July before moving to Oxfordshire.
Bishop Stephen Platten
In July Stephen Platten, at present Bishop of Wakefield, will become Rector of St Michael Cornhill. He will also be an honorary assistant Bishop in the Diocese of London and chair of the Hymns Ancient and Modern charitable trust.