GREETINGS FROM OUR NEW CANON CUSTOS
“It’s a great joy to join you all at Lichfield Cathedral, even if the current situation means that we won’t see each other for a while. Until recently I was the Bishop of Repton in the Diocese of Derby. Having been ordained nearly 30 years, and having been among the first female priests and bishops, it feels right to be taking early retirement and to begin to live life at a different pace, with more time to do the priestly things for which I was first ordained – pastoring, preaching, praying – and perhaps some more writing. I’m delighted to be your new Canon Custos and also to be helping Bishop Michael as an Assistant Bishop in the Diocese. I am Stoke-on-Trent born and bred, and was ordained at Lichfield Cathedral in 1993, serving my curacy in the Stafford Team Ministry. Since then I’ve served in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Derbyshire, and I very much feel as if I’m coming home. I’ll be living in Vicars Close with my husband Andrew, who is a retired television cameraman, and our dog – a Miniature Schnauzer called Edith.”
Biog: Jan McFarlane was Bishop of Repton in the Diocese of Derby from 2016-2020. Born in Stoke on Trent, and a former Speech and Language Therapist, +Jan trained for ordination at Cranmer Hall, Durham, and was ordained in 1993. She served her curacy in the Stafford Team Ministry, later moving to Cambridgeshire to be Chaplain of Ely Cathedral. In 1999 she moved to the Diocese of Norwich where she combined her role of Director of Communications first with Chaplain to the Bishop of Norwich and then with Archdeacon of Norwich. She was Consecrated as a bishop in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 June 2016. She writes for the Church House Publishing ‘Reflections for Daily Prayer’ and has written a couple of books in the ‘Pocket Prayers’ series.