The Bishop of St Asaph and the Cathedral Dean will formally collate and install new Cathedral Canons on Sunday (9 March 2025).

The Canons will include a new ecumenical appointment as Honorary Canon. The Head of the Evangelical Alliance in Wales, Tim Rowlands, becomes a Canon for the first time. He is also senior pastor of Festival Church, which has congregations in North and Mid Wales and Chester. Tim will join other ecumenical canons, Jennifer Hurd, Chair of Synod Cymru of the Methodist Church of Great Britain, Canon Richard Peers, former Dean of Llandaff Cathedral and Sr Gemma Simmonds, a sister of the Congregation of Jesus, director of the Religious Life Institute and senior lecturer in pastoral theology at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, Cambridge.

In addition, three clergy who currently serve in the Diocese of St Asaph have been appointed as Honorary Canons. They are:

• The Revd Christine Owen from Aled Mission Area
• The Revd Paulette Gower from Pool Mission Area
• The Revd Sarah Hildreth-Osborn from Aberconwy Mission Area and LGBTQIA+ Chaplain.

Two current clergy who were previously Honorary Canons have moved to join the Greater Cathedral Chapter. They are:

• The Revd David Lewis from Bryn a Môr Mission Area
• The Revd Trish Owen from Offa Mission Area.

They will be joined by a new appointment to the Cursal Canonry. The Revd Jayne Coxall from Aber-Morfa Mission Area will become a Cathedral Canon for the first time, along with the Revd Josh Askwith, who has recently been appointed to the diocese. Josh will join the Chapter as Canon Pastor.

The Dean of St Asaph Cathedral, the Very Revd Nigel Williams, said: “We look forward to welcoming all the new Canons to the Cathedral. The appointment of ecumenical canons affirms their friendship and support of the Cathedral, and we are delighted to welcome them and their gifts, skills and experience to St Asaph.”

The collation and installation will take place as part of the service of Evensong at St Asaph Cathedral on Sunday 9 March at 3.30pm. All are welcome.

St Asaph Cathedral is named after Asaph, the successor to St Kentigern who built his church on the banks of the River Elwy in AD560. Today, the Diocese of St Asaph extends from Llandudno in north-west Wales to Newtown in mid Wales and across to the English border. St Asaph is one of the six dioceses in the Church in Wales, an independent province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.