Canon Precentor
Some background information
These notes should be read in conjunction with
the cathedral website (www.wakefield-cathedral.org.uk)
the Role Description and Person Specification
our Mission and Improvement Plan 2015-19
the Cathedral Handbook for Clergy on Common Tenure
the report on Church Growth from the Church Commissioners: “From Anecdote to
Evidence”, and the dedicated report resulting from this on Wakefield Cathedral (by Canon
John Holmes)
“Transforming Tourists into Pilgrims” by Ben Klutzier
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The 2012 report from the Theos think tank: “Spiritual Capital: the Present and Future of English
Cathedrals” gives important insights into contemporary cathedral life.
Wakefield Cathedral - a place that is changing
Wakefield Cathedral is a Grade I listed medieval church, which was extended eastwards in 1905 to
celebrate its having become a cathedral in 1888 - when the Diocese of Wakefield was created. In
2014 it was transferred to the Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales, where we now work
alongside our sister cathedrals in Bradford and Ripon to support our Bishop’s ministry, and serve
the people of the diocese and region.
In recent years, Wakefield Cathedral has experienced considerable change. During 2012/2013, the
nave was closed for 12 months, for a £3 million refurbishment/restoration. This has provided a
bright and flexible space, which has begun to transform, not just our worship, but also our daily
life, and the welcome we are able to provide to our visitors and the wider community. Our
musicians have been delighted with the new acoustic, which has further enhanced their already
outstanding work: the cathedral choir surprises congregations and audiences by performing at a
standard which far surpasses that which might be expected of a small cathedral.
The Chapter has worked equally hard at transforming our mission and outreach. We have a
creative learning department, which does ground-breaking work with schools, and also stages a
variety of activities to work with asylum seekers and refugees, and many local people and groups
who might not normally feel at home inside the cathedral. We have seven members of staff,
funded by the Local Authority, who work to support homeless people. And for the past three
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years we have benefited from the services of a Community Missioner, Heidi Moore, funded by a
special grant from the Church Commissioners. In November 2013, she helped us run a Cathedral
Mission in conjunction with the Scargill Movement of North Yorkshire. Building on this
experience, and the positive response to our new labyrinth and ‘Messy Cathedral’, both of which
featured in the course of the Mission, we are seeking to grow our congregations, to experiment
with new, additional forms of worship, and to take cathedral life outside our doors to make
maximum advantage of our city centre location. We were pleased that our efforts and successes
were recognised with a full-page case study in the Church Commissioners’ report on Church
growth “From Anecdote to Evidence”.
Our latest mission initiative is our ‘Pop-up Cathedral’ – a small caravan which allows us to serve
hot drinks, refreshments and broken bread with people in the city centre, and indeed all around
our new diocese. Its purpose is to allow us to go out and converse with people who might not
naturally want to come inside the cathedral.
Wakefield Cathedral – current building works
At the opening service for the renewed nave, in March 2013, it was immediately clear we couldn’t
stop there. “What about the other half of the cathedral?” was the question on everyone’s lips. So
Project 2015 was born, to perform a similar transformation of the East End and the crypt. The
area from our Rood Screen east is now shut off, while the quire and surrounding aisles together
with the crypt are undergoing major refurbishment. This is largely funded by the Heritage Lottery
Fund. There is accompanying funding to clean and restore most of the stained glass in this part of
the cathedral.
The project is due to be complete by April 2016. By then, the building will be beautiful, secure and
fit for service as a cathedral in the 21st century. That does not quite fulfil the Chapter’s longerterm plans for the building. There are two further hopes: to clean and restore the stained glass in
the nave; and to build a northern extension to include a new music school, education centre,
coffee shop and cathedral shop. We recognise that both these projects may take some while to
realise.
We have recently completed the new roof on the quire and nave, thanks to the Governmentfunded First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund.
Wakefield Cathedral – finances
We are one of the poorest cathedrals in the Church of England, though we work hard of necessity
to break even year on year. This is thanks in a large part to a generous grant from the Church
Commissioners’ Section 23 funding. We have virtually no historic reserves, and although Chapter
has prioritised the need to make our finances more sustainable, and to reduce our dependence on
the Commissioners, this has not yet been possible because of our need in recent years to fund
major capital works. The renewed nave has considerably increased our visitor numbers and
activity levels, but the cost of running the cathedral has also increased with these extra users. We
actively promote Stewardship to improve congregational participation and giving, alongside our
capital fundraising. Chapter has in mind the possibility of establishing a commercial social
enterprise to provide long-term financial support for the Cathedral’s ministry.
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The Clergy Team
Following the departure of Andi Hofbauer who has been our Canon Precentor for the past six
years, the remaining clergy will be:The Dean: The Very Revd Jonathan Greener (since 2007)
The Sub-Dean and Pastor: The Revd Canon Tony Macpherson (since 2015 - though previously
part-time Canon Missioner, since 2007)
The Librarian: The Revd Canon Dr John Lawson (since 2005) – approx. 1/3 time
The DDO: The Revd Canon Derek Walmsley (starting 1 November 2015) – part-time
Priest Vicar: The Revd June Lawson – who works full time at the Mirfield Centre
This summer, we shall be joined by an assistant curate in his title post.
We work closely together as a clergy team, and much appreciate our complementary skills and
insights. We meet briefly each Thursday morning, monthly for a ‘long clergy meeting’ and
annually for a residential, which allows greater reflection, review and planning.
Cathedral Staff and Volunteers
Given the number of services and events that take place, we are a relatively small staff team of 20
people, with seven more working for the Wakefield Rent Deposit Scheme (our charity that works
with homeless people). There is necessarily a real sense of working together and back-filling for
each other when life is pressured. There are also a large number of volunteers, who support our
worship and our fundraising, and work as welcomers, guides and in our bookshop each week day.
Wakefield Cathedral Churchmanship and Tradition
The Cathedral stands firmly within the liberal catholic tradition of the Church of England. This is
upheld by clergy, choir and congregation alike. There is a daily Eucharist (at least), and incense has
been used for Sunday worship since the 1930s. We keep a traditional Holy Week. We are keen to
experiment with new forms of worship and spirituality, but for the foreseeable future, we see
these as additional to our regular services.
We seek to be an inclusive community, where everyone is welcome, although as the seat of the
Bishop, we are especially mindful of our need to adhere to the Canons and guidelines of the
Church of England. We are also keen as a cathedral to welcome the whole community, including
those people whose theological or political views we may not share.
Wakefield Cathedral Music Department
The music department at Wakefield Cathedral has enjoyed a long period of success, largely due to
the quality and commitment of the choristers and lay clerks over the past 5 years, and the hard
work of the music staff during this period. We continue to sustain independent top lines, and the
back row of the choir is currently fully occupied with 12 men plus many available deputies. We
frequently involve voluntary singers at times when the cathedral choir is on holiday, so Sunday
worship is always choral in some way shape or form.
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The cathedral choir (meaning the boys, girls and lay clerks of the choir) has a very large and wide
ranging current repertoire of over 30 Masses, 60 sets of morning and evening canticles, and well
over 300 anthems and carols. Choral services during term time take place on Tuesdays,
Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, with the choir serving 3 services on Sundays.
The cathedral organ is a 5 manual Compton of 1951, incorporating some pipework from the late
1800 and a small amount from the 1980s. The instrument has been renovated in stages over the
last 10 years, meaning that it is in very good order. Most recently, the Tuba blower was
overhauled, and the Swell Soundboards were restored, at which time two new ranks of reed pipes
were added. The cathedral’s organ builder is David Wood of Huddersfield.
The choir has had numerous notable successes over the last few years in addition to maintaining
the regular worship at the cathedral. Two of our choristers have recently reached the finals of the
BBC Chorister of the Year competition, and one of our girls was selected for the Diamond Choir.
Two former choral scholars have been awarded choral scholarships in Cambridge, one going to
Eton prior to assuming a position in the choir of King’s College choir. Recently one of our girl
choristers was awarded a music scholarship to study at Chetham’s. Collectively, the choir has
recently been to sing at the 360th Anniversary of the Sons of the Clergy service in St. Paul’s
Cathedral, and in 2014 recorded two CDs on the Priory label. The choir is a regular contributor to
BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensong broadcast, and has also been involved in recording 3 programmes
for BBC television in the last two years. In 2013, the FCM awarded the cathedral the sum of £40k
to help endow chorister scholarships in the future.
Choir tours take place frequently, and in the last few years we have been to New York City,
Belgium, Edinburgh, the Isle of Man and the Netherlands. The choir also travels more locally, and
trips out into the diocese occur at least once a term on average. The choir takes part in two choral
festivals each year, which seek to bring together neighbouring choirs with choral foundations. To
assist in the funding of the music programme, there is a Choir Association, and the Wakefield
Cathedral Music Trust. These two bodies give invaluable assistance to the functioning of the music
department. The Music Trust pays for the Organ Scholar, who is normally an undergraduate at
Huddersfield University.
The choir is greatly valued by the cathedral community and many supporters farther afield.
The Canon Precentor
As a Commissioner’s Canon, the Precentor plays a full part in the governance and daily life of
Wakefield Cathedral. He or she will take the lead role in the design and implementation of our
worship, (although this remains ultimately the Dean’s responsibility) and in managing the staff and
volunteers who help deliver this (including the music department, the vergers in their liturgical
capacity, and our volunteer servers, bell ringers, stewards and sidespeople). The Precentor takes
principal pastoral responsibility for the choir and the bellringers.
The role can be pressured, because of the constant flow of different services, all of which need to
be prepared and facilitated, along with the need to perform up-front for a significant number of
big occasions. Following the refurbishment of the nave in 2013, the cathedral is a natural choice
for community ‘one-off’ services, delivery of which falls under the remit of the Precentor.
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We hope our new Precentor will be able to sing (at least moderately well). Wider musical ability
coupled with an appreciation for a broad range of musical styles is a distinct advantage in the
creation of our worship and in building good relationships with the choral foundation and
volunteer musicians. To facilitate our choral worship, it is usual for the Precentor to take holidays
outside the choir terms, and to ensure that musical cover is in place while the choir is away.
We believe that all three cathedrals (Wakefield, Bradford and Ripon) have a responsibility towards
and within the wider diocese, and therefore the Precentor is encouraged to participate in a
number of local musical and liturgical committees, and to resource diocesan events as
appropriate.
Our choristers are drawn from a number of different schools, but the Wakefield Grammar School
Foundation is our main source and the Precentor is traditionally a Governor of the Foundation.
The Precentor’s work is not restricted to the facilitation of worship, and he or she can, and will
need to, participate in many other parts of our daily life: pastoral, spiritual, educational,
administrative, commercial, etc. As we develop the project to build a new Music School, it will be
important for the Precentor to play a full part in helping to drive this forward.
Although our tradition is distinctively catholic, we are always looking for new ways to develop our
mission and further grow our congregations. A willingness to be bold and try new styles of
worship even for high profile services will be essential: we don’t mind being pushed nearly to the
edge of our comfort zone. The rededication of the cathedral in May, following the works in the
East End, will provide an opportunity for creativity.
The enthronement of our Bishop last year was a time when experimentation was particularly
successful. Since the new diocese was created for mission, we wanted the service to reflect this.
The chairs were removed from the nave, and the bishop, surrounded by clergy and people,
progressed from the tower where he undertook the necessary oaths, to the Rood Screen, where
he was anointed, to the throne next to the High Altar. We went outside for the readings, sermon
and blessing of the city, with the 700-strong congregation seated at the foot of the cathedral
steps, before returning to the nave for the party. Our hopes were fulfilled when a number of
passers-by joined in the service and stayed for the party too.
We hope this post will appeal to a wide range of clergy. You may be someone who has an
enthusiasm for worship and would like to try out your ideas on a bigger canvas. You may be
someone fairly young in orders (though by law necessarily ordained 6 years at the time of
installation - counting from the day of your deaconing), who would like to work in an enthusiastic
clergy team and play a part in shaping our cathedral for the future.
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Worship and Residence
We do not operate a pattern of residence. The leading of worship is organised by rotas, put
together by the Precentor, according to the dates that people are available. There are a number
of other clergy (including the archdeacons) who help conduct services here.
It is expected that the Commissioners’ Canons will make every effort to attend the Daily Office,
unless it is their day off, or they are working elsewhere. The regular pattern of worship (which can
alter according to the seasons) is...
Sunday
8.00am
9.15am
11am
3.30pm
Eucharist (BCP)
Eucharist and Messy Church (with congregational singing)
Eucharist (full choral eucharist, using traditional language)
Evensong
Monday
8.15am
12.30pm
4.30pm
Morning Liturgy (Morning Prayer, followed by the Eucharist)
Eucharist
Evening Prayer (said)
Tuesday
8.15am
5.00pm
Morning Liturgy
Evensong (sung by the boys)
Wednesday
8.15am
10.30am
6.00pm
Morning Liturgy
Eucharist (BCP)
Evensong (sung by the girls)
Thursday
8.15am
6.30pm
Morning Liturgy
Evensong (sung by the men and boys or girls)
Friday
8.15am
12.30pm
4.30pm
Morning Liturgy
Eucharist
Evening Prayer (said)
Saturday
8.15am
10.30am
3.30pm
Morning Liturgy
Eucharist
Evening Prayer (said)
There is also a regular Eucharist, Missa (described as simple, peaceful and radical), and two
monthly Illumine Services (which is based around the labyrinth). Lazy Compline (lazy, because the
congregation is invited to sit on the floor) is sung once or twice a term. The Cathedral also has
responsibility for the Chantry Chapel, where two services take place each month: a Eucharist (BCP)
and a lay-led prayer service.
Full details of our current worship pattern will be found on the Cathedral website.
Housing
The Canon Precentor will live in a modern 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom house in Cathedral Close,
behind Wakefield College, and about a 7 minute walk from the cathedral. The house is next to
that of the Sub-Dean/Canon Pastor, and close to the Deanery and the Assistant Organist’s house.
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Although the houses are close to each other, residents tend not to encroach on each other, except
by invitation, and the clergy and their families enjoy a reasonable amount of privacy.
There is a study in the house, but the Commissioners’ Canons (Dean, Canon Pastor and Canon
Precentor) tend to work much of the time from the Cathedral Office, since this provides a clerical
presence on the cathedral site, and allows the clergy to play a full part in the day-to-day running of
the cathedral.
Three cathedrals in one diocese
The new Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales is breaking new ground in having three
cathedrals - in Bradford, Ripon and Wakefield. Each is the Seat of the Diocesan Bishop, and each
provides a seat for the Area Bishops and the Archdeacons. So all three have a diocesan-wide
ministry, as well as a particular relationship with the episcopal area in which we are
located. Diocesan services are shared between the three cathedrals on the basis of an agreed
rota.
Regular friendly meetings take place between the cathedrals to help develop our thinking on
questions of theology and ecclesiology, alongside the practical implications of three in one.
Further information
For any further information, or an informal conversation about the role, please contact the Dean
on 01924 373923 or at jonathan.greener@wakefield-cathedral.org.uk
Application
Completed application forms should be returned to Neil Holland, Office Manager and Dean’s PA,
by 12 noon on Monday 8 February 2016. Applications will be welcome by email to:
neil.holland@wakefield-cathedral.org.uk or by post to: Cathedral Centre,
8-10 Westmorland Street, Wakefield WF1 1PJ.
The interviews
It is planned that the panel will consist of the Bishop of Leeds, the Dean, the Dean of Bradford, the
Sub Dean, Mr Danny Wilks (chapter member) and Miss Elaine Frecknall (HR).
Interviews and assessments will take place on Monday 29 February and Tuesday 1 March at a time
to be arranged. Overnight accommodation will be provided. Over the two days, there will be an
opportunity to meet the music department and others, and to visit the cathedral and view the
house.
January 2016
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