Eleven new Canons were collated and installed at a special service in Blackburn Cathedral last weekend. 

The full list of all the new Canons is as follows:

Revd Dr Anderson Jeremiah
Revd Cindy Rigney
Revd Tracy Charnock
Revd Jon Scamman
Revd Andy Froud
Revd Cath Brooks
Revd David Arnold
Pam Daunton
David Gascoigne
Ruth Haldane
Claire Greenway

The service received some media coverage including: 

• Lancaster Guardian
• Clitheroe Advertiser

Biographies, where provided, are below, with more to come if/when we get them …

Revd Dr Anderson Jeremiah

Anderson H M Jeremiah is a Senior Lecturer in the department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at University of Lancaster. Anderson was ordained as a priest in the Church of South India (an Anglican Province), Diocese of Vellore.

Having worked as a parish priest and hospital chaplain for few years, Anderson moved to Edinburgh to pursue doctoral research in the field of Contextual Theology. During his research he also served in the Scottish Episcopal Church for over six years before moving to Lancaster in 2012 to take up an academic position in Lancaster University.

Anderson’ research interests and publications focus on the lived facet of World Christianity, and its theological and missional engagement with other faith communities and the wider society. Anderson is deeply passionate about social and environmental justice as a Gospel imperative. His passion for working towards justice and peace as central to Christian Discipleship stems from his early experience as a Dalit Christian in India, which he strives to translate into global context, be it racism, religious hatred, xenophobia and environmental crisis.

Anderson has been contributing to affirmative action through his work with Church Urban Fund, NearNeighbours and other positive environmental initiatives within the church. Having experienced overt and covert racism, at every sphere of social and religious life, Anderson makes a sincere effort to find ways to work for racial justice through his academic writing, membership in the Bishop’s Leadership Team and General Synod, most recently taking leadership in the Archbishops Anti-Racism Task Force. 

Anderson is also committed to interfaith and ecumenical theological education within the church; hence he is currently involved in number of theological initiatives within the Church of England and across the Anglican Communion.

Anderson enjoys serving alongside Revd Dr. Rebecca Aechtner, the Vicar of St. Pauls Scotforth, Lancaster, who also happens to be his wife. Anderson’ optimism and hopefulness is grounded in the love of Christ as captured by Paul in Romans 8:38-39, “Nothing can separate us from the love God that is revealed in Jesus Christ”.

Revd Cindy Rigney

Cindy was born in Bolton and, though she's known, these days, for her passion for rural communities, she actually spent her childhood on the Wythenshawe Estate in Manchester, which was most definitely not rural! Her family later moved to North London and she attended High School there. As a teenager, she had a part time job working at Wembley Stadium Guided Tours Department, which is where she met her husband, Graham. 

Cindy studied for an honours degree in English and Theology with RE at Ripon and York St John and was married at Ripon Cathedral in 1988.

The couple moved briefly to Sheffield and then to Southport shortly after graduation and Cindy completed a PGCE at Edge Hill College before taking up a teaching post at Bishop Rawstorne CE High School in Croston. She had a wonderful time teaching English, some RE and coaching the School's mixed hockey team, as well as having various pastoral and departmental responsibilities during her 10 years there. 

In 2000, she left teaching to become Lancaster Priory's Education Outreach Officer. Having had a sense of calling for a number of years, time at the Priory allowed space to test her calling further and Cindy began training for ordained ministry, through CBDTI, whilst still at the Priory. 

In order to balance work, a young family and training demands, Cindy moved from the Priory to a part time post at St Martin's College (now University of Cumbria) where she taught on the QTS, PGCE and BA programmes.

Following ordination in 2006, Cindy served her curacy at St Chad's, Poulton le Fylde, with Carlton and Singleton and absolutely loved her time there. During this time she also began serving as a Vocations Adviser for the Diocese - a role that she found very rewarding and a great privilege. 

Having discovered a passion for rural ministry whilst training, in 2010 Cindy moved to be Vicar of the very rural United Benefice of Dolphinholme, Quernmore and Over Wyresdale. She has remained in the Benefice since that time but has held a number of additional offices over her 11 year period there. She has a passion for supporting rural communities and ensuring that their voice is heard, at both Diocesan and National level. 

Over the years, Cindy has been very involved in the life of the Diocese, as follows:

• Honorary Advisor in RE and Worship to our Church High Schools;
• Assisted in planning of Youth; Laity ; Vocations  and Rural Conferences;  
• Member of the Diocesan 'Treasures Within' spirituality team; 
• Vocations Adviser for 6 years, before becoming Assistant Director of Ordinands.
• Most recently, Area Dean of Lancaster and Morecambe and Chair of the Diocesan Rural Focus Group, having a strategic role in supporting rural communities within the Diocese. 
• She is a member of the Northern Dioceses Rural Group and the Rural Theology Association. She serves on Diocesan Synod and is a governor of two Church Primary schools, being Chair of Governors at one of them. 

Revd Tracy Charnock

Tracy moved to The Diocese of Blackburn in 2011, when she became the Vicar of Holy Trinity and St Peter’s Churches, South Shore, Blackpool. Prior to this, she served her curacy in a diverse, multi-ethnic parish on the south side of Manchester City Centre.  Having trained at The College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, Tracy was ordained in Manchester Cathedral, as deacon in 2008, and priest in 2009.

Born and raised in Wigan, Tracy first explored God’s call to the priesthood as a teenager. She moved to Leeds to study for a degree in history. As part of this, under the Erasmus Scheme, she studied history for a year in France, at the University of Tours.

Upon graduating, she went on to explore vocation on a scheme overseen by The United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG). Placed in Salford, Tracy and three other young Christians were commissioned to live in community, working alongside the local Methodist and Anglican Churches. Inspired by the commitment of the local churches to ministry in this highly disadvantaged part of the city, Tracy chose to live there for another five years; engaging in youth work and lay ministry in her spare time.  

Tracy served for ten years in the Civil Service in Salford and Manchester, beginning in administration, and working her way up to management. In 2006, she moved from secular employment to Mirfield, West Yorkshire, to train for the priesthood. She was blessed with two years of formation and prayerfulness at a theological college that shaped its life on the monastic community there.

Tracy has a keen interest in sacramental theology and liturgy. In the diverse and highly deprived parishes in which she has served, she has sought to share the Gospel message in ways that are accessible; especially to those on the margins. In 2016, Tracy and a team of lay people established a new congregation at St Peter’s on Fridays, attracting many who were socially isolated or homeless.

Tracy’s spiritual life is grounded in a pattern of daily prayer and the Eucharist. Though at times challenging, Tracy delights in ministry in South Shore; commenting that no two days are ever the same. She has welcomed and supported lay and ordained in training for ministry or exploring vocation. She has served on Diocesan Synod and other committees across the Diocese.

Tracy celebrates her northern roots and is a keen follower of Wigan Athletic Football Club and Wigan Rugby League. A passionate cyclist and keen walker, she adores the great outdoors, finding spiritual enrichment in the beauty of God’s creation. She is a devoted aunty to three energetic little boys who live in her hometown of Wigan.

Revd Jon Scamman

Jon Scamman was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and moved to the UK at the age of 13.  Having completed his schooling in Edinburgh, Jon supports England and Liverpool at football, Scotland at rugby, and the Steelers in American football. 

Jon grew up in a Christian home, but went through a faith crisis in his teenage years.  After discovering a renewed Christian faith while studying English Literature at St Andrews and Oxford universities, Jon trained for ordination at Ridley Hall in Cambridge, where he met and married Helen. 

They shared their curacy at Christ Church in Winchester, and after a stint in St Barnabas Cambridge, now minister together in St Thomas Church in Lancaster, where they live with their four children, a tortoise, a rabbit, and a Golden Retriever named Toffee. 

When not walking the dog, running, drinking decent coffee, or climbing hills, Jon also serves as Governor at Ripley St Thomas CE Academy, co-leads the New Wine Lancashire network, and has recently completed the Church of England’s Strategic Leadership Development Programme.  Jon has served on the Diocesan Synod in the past, and is now a member of the Deanery Synod Standing Committee and Mission and Pastoral Committee in Lancaster and Morecambe. 

Jon has been vicar at St Thomas’ Church in Lancaster since 2010: an evangelical charismatic Anglican church in the city-centre. 

Upon arrival, he felt God was calling him not just to run a church, but reach a city.  In recent years, St Thomas’ Church has therefore invested not only in children, youth, student, and worship ministries, but in ministry to Asylum Seekers and Refugees, and supporting those living with dementia through establishing a small but growing national network of Lyrics and Lunch groups. 

The church is currently developing a Family Life Centre to offer early intervention help to families under pressure in the city, and is nearing completion of a £2.5 million building project for a new church and community centre.  The church aims to build on its recent Eco-church Bronze Award by attaining Silver by 2023.  Jon wants to see nearby parishes revitalised through sharing of people and resources, as has been happening with St John’s Ellel since 2016.  Now aged 48, Jon is looking forward to bringing the church’s latest Mission Action Plan to life, called Vision 2025.

Revd Andy Froud

Revd Cath Brooks

Revd David Arnold

David is Vicar of the United Benefice of Accrington St Andrew, St Mary Magdalen and St Peter, and Church Kirk, as well as Area Dean of Accrington, roles he took on earlier this year.

Alongside these roles, he is also Assistant Director of Ordinands, working with candidates, preparing them for the Church’s discernment procedures as they explore a call to ordained ministry. Linked with this work, he is also a Bishops’ Advisor for Selection, and an Examining Chaplain within the Diocese, as well as serving on the College Council at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield.

Prior to moving to Accrington, he was Vicar of Adlington St Paul for 9 years, serving also as Priest in Charge of Chorley St George for one of those years, and as Area Dean of Chorley for three of them. Before that, he served as Domestic Chaplain to the Bishop of Blackburn, after completing two curacies: in Ribbleton, and Hawes Side and Marton Moss, Blackpool.

He is committed to working with Schools, and serves as a Director on the Diocesan Board of Education, where he chairs the Schools’ Strategy Committee, as well as working on a number of School Governing Boards, where he particularly enjoys the opportunity to engage with pupils in leading collective worship.

In his spare time, David enjoys spending time with his nephews and niece. On a day off, he can often be found walking, either in the West Pennine Moors or in the Lake District, where he appreciates being able to enjoy the view from the top of the fells. He is also a Fencing coach with Preston Fencing Club, and sings tenor with the Chorley Guild Singers.

David was born in Whiston, and grew up in Haydock, before moving to Chorley with his family at the age of 10. After attending St Michael’s High School in Chorley, and Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Blackburn, he read Divinity at the University of St Andrews, before spending a year with the Mission to Seafarers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands prior to training for ordination at the College of the Resurrection in Mirfield. He was ordained Deacon in Blackburn Cathedral in 2003, and priest in 2004, at St Annes on Sea, St Anne.

Pam Daunton

Pam Daunton grew up in Cheshire in a family of four siblings. She took a degree in Applied Biochemistry and eventually trained as a chemistry teacher. She became a Christian in her twenties when she returned to church attendance after years of absence.

At first she expressed her faith by helping with Sunday school but in the nineties she felt called to train as an LLM (Reader) and was licenced in 1999. She has served the same parish of St Leonard-the-Less for over twenty years and is now involved in the wider benefice of Balderstone, Mellor and Samlesbury.

Due to an illness in her mid-life Pam retrained to work in the primary sector and has worked part time for Samlesbury primary school and then in a much larger RC primary school in Ribbleton; where she became RE coordinator.  She is passionate about sharing the Good News with children both through church services and schools.

Since she has retired, Pam has regularly taken collective worship at Samlesbury primary school and posted free RE resources online for teachers. She leads a monthly All Age Worship service at Samlesbury which is as noisy and interactive as the team can make it. Pam has also written a Christian children’s novel, The Dove Stone, (about to be published by Dernier Publishing) and is working on a second book.

Along with her parish duties Pam has been a member of the Reader Executive and worked with the Diocesan Vocations Team. Recently she was invited to be one of the Assistant Wardens for Lay Ministry with the responsibility for Preston and Leyland Deaneries.

Family is the foundation of Pam’s life. She has been married to Paul for 40 years and they have two grown up children. Paul worked as an officer at sea with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary which required him to be away from home for long periods. This made for an interesting and unusual life-style which meant they had to be imaginative about being a family together.

Pam and Paul are great supporters of Keswick Ministries, attending the convention each year and volunteering. They have always been strong supporters of Fairtrade. They enjoy walking and developing their garden and get great pleasure from creative crafts.

David Gascoigne

David is married to Lee, they have three daughters and live in Poulton-Le-Fylde, Lancashire.

David was licensed as a Lay Reader in 1995 and has since worked with four vicars at Christ Church with All Saints Church in Blackpool (now known as Beacon Church, Blackpool): Rev Philip Gascoigne; Rev Peter Warren; Rev Alan Byrom and Rev Adrian Wolton. 

For 10 years David has been a trustee of Keswick Ministries which runs the Keswick Convention, an annual non-denominational bible teaching convention held for 146 years under the banner All One in Christ Jesus.  David is closely involved with the current Derwent Project which will refurbish the famous Cumberland Pencil Factory to expand the convention facilities for more all year round bible teaching and training events with the aims of: Hearing God’s Word; Becoming like God’s Son and Serving God’s Mission in the World.

Between 1981-84 David studied Economics at Cardiff University and was the President of The Christian Union.  In 1983 he represented the UK Universities’ Christian Unions at the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students SE Asia Regional conference in Bangkok, Thailand.  While there he met Christian leaders and students from countries where to be a Christian risked persecution, and this created a long-lasting impression and interest. 

In 1984 David joined KPMG in Preston and trained as a Chartered Accountant.  KPMG is one of the world’s largest accounting and business consulting firms.  In 1996 David became a KPMG partner focusing initially on audits and then on mergers and acquisitions. After several years based in Manchester, David is now based in London.

In 2014 David was delighted to invite Bishop Julian to speak at a KPMG conference at which 250 executives from 40 countries toured The Houses of Parliament, had dinner together and later heard Bishop Julian ‘in conversation with’ the CEO of one of the UK’s largest energy companies discussing the moral issues facing the energy industry. Bishop Julian made a compelling Christian case for compassion for vulnerable customers and concern for the planet.  

David leads Christians in KPMG, a workplace fellowship that arranges weekly prayer and bible study meetings, evangelistic talks and annual Carol Services in or near local KPMG offices.

David has regularly worked with schools on a voluntary basis:

• firstly he worked as a mentor with a primary school headteacher in Ribbleton, Preston;
• then for ten years he was a governor of St Chad’s CoE Primary School in Poulton-Le-Fylde and
• he is currently a governor of Blackpool Sixth Form College which has approximately 1,900 students.

For the last three years David has been a member of the Blackburn Diocesan Budget Scrutiny Group which examines and reviews the annual Diocesan Board of Finance budget before it is presented to the diocesan synod.

David and Lee currently host a bible study group in their home each week. This summer they volunteered as assistant cooks on a CPAS Ventures camp for young people.  David is looking forward to retirement from KPMG in 2022. 

Ruth Haldane

Ruth has a passion for lay ministry, to enable people to be equipped and envisioned to fulfil all that God has purposed for their lives. Both Ruth and her husband Graham are active members of St James Church, Clitheroe.

Born in Leeds, Ruth’s family moved to Scotland when she was 2, and her father was a Baptist minister in Cambuslang, Glasgow throughout her childhood. After attending University in Edinburgh, Ruth and Graham married and settled there and had three sons, Chris, Jon and Ben. While the children were still young, Ruth and Graham moved to Godmanchester, Huntingdon.

Ruth was Chair of Governors of the local primary school and later vice Chair of the secondary school, as well as administering a local part time Bible College. Sadly, Jon died in a tragic accident in 2008, and since then Ruth and Graham have been befrienders for Care for the Family Bereaved Parents Network.

Ruth worked for 9 years in a senior role in social housing in Huntingdon, before moving to Clitheroe in 2011. Ben is a Baptist Minister, and Graham, Chris and daughter in law Anna all work in responsible roles for Christians Against Poverty. Ruth and Graham delight in their three grandchildren, Zoe, Erin and Callie.

Ruth has always known that preaching and teaching is a major part of her ministry as a lay person, and in 2015 she was licensed as a Reader in Blackburn Diocese.

In 2016 she was appointed Deputy Warden of Readers, and in 2020 Warden of Lay Ministry in the diocese. In addition to this Ruth has been involved with lay ministry nationally, working for the Central Readers Council for two years to develop lay training, and then working as a Lay Ministry Consultant.

She is a member of the national Lay Ministry Advisory Group, as well as working on lay ministry projects instigated by Bishop Martyn, Bishop of Leicester. Envisioning others about the new vision for Licensed Lay Ministers, and helping all lay people to be equipped for 21st century ministry is really important to Ruth.

Ruth sees becoming a Lay Canon as an honour, and is looking forward to joining the College of Lay Canons.

Claire Greenway

Claire Greenway is the headteacher of St. James’ Church of England Primary School and has served there for the last 11 years, shaping the school vision, “Committed to excellence; inspired by Christ.” Claire has been married to Paul for over 20 years and they have two teenage sons: Joseph and Samuel.

Having followed her vocation to teach and attending St. Martin’s College in Lancaster, she graduated as a teacher with a BA QTS in 1995 and began her career in Manchester. Claire completed an MSc in Educational Leadership and Management from Manchester University in 2005.

Due to career progression, she moved to Wigan authority in 2000 and became deputy headteacher of Britannia Bridge Primary School in Wigan in 2002. Throughout this time Claire has worked in areas of high deprivation and continues to have a desire to fully support both children and families within the schools in which she works. Her experience of improving standards to improve children’s life chances is an integral part of enabling these schools to flourish. 

Throughout her life, Claire has attended church and church schools as a child including Canon Slade High School in Bolton. When her children were small, both Claire and Paul made the decision to return to church and began to attend a local church on a weekly basis.

On being appointed as head teacher Claire then began to attend worship at St. James’ Church in Chorley and moved her family to the new church in 2014. With sound Gospel teaching from Rev. David Phillips and being surrounded at both church and school by Christian role models, Claire was able to explore her own faith. She attended Bible study, prayer meetings and through which made a commitment to the Lord. 

Claire has a passion for education and an unrelenting desire to secure the very best for the children within her care, their families, staff and the wider community.  St. James’ School has been transformed over the last 11 years. Standards of education are high and all learners make excellent progress.

Children are all valued and learning opportunities have a range of ‘Promises’ embedded within the curriculum. Every person within the school is valued and the school endeavours to find all their God-given talents and skills. The pastoral support for all members of the community is far reaching. The St. James’ community is united as one. SIAMS and Ofsted (Feb 2020) recognised the clearly distinctive nature of the school with Christian values at the core. St. James’ is valued by all members of the school community. 

As an experienced head, Claire and all staff are able to share their expertise and support other faith schools within the Diocese and beyond. Claire coaches other headteachers to enable school improvement.

The children's ethos group ‘The Ark' is well established and best practice is shared via the annual children’s conference. St. James’ School is a special place to be. Despite many challenges for children and families , the school is a haven of Christian love and is a beacon of light within Chorley.

Ronnie Semley, September 2021