The Diocese of Blackburn today announces a major new appointment as it continues to grow The Church of England in Lancashire in new and fresh ways.  

Rev Canon Anne Beverley (pictured) will be our Director of Ministry and will take up the significant new role in early March.  

As Director, Anne is determined to encourage as many ordained AND lay leaders of all ages and backgrounds as possible to come forward from across the County.   

In doing so, she will lead a ‘Growing Leaders’ team striving to ensure we properly reflect the communities we serve, as the Diocese continues to build ‘healthy churches transforming communities’ as part of our Vision 2026 work.  

Anne served both her curacy and incumbency in this Diocese and, most recently, she has been Area Dean of Kirkham; Dean of Women’s Ministry and has led significant turnaround as Vicar of Christ Church, Wesham.  

After a career in senior management in the leisure industry and establishing her own business Anne took a career break to have her children; prior to embarking on her own calling into ministry.  

Anne will start as Director of Ministry on March 1 - the same time as Rt Rev Dr Jill Duff, Bishop of Lancaster, begins episcopal oversight of the ‘Growing Leaders’ strand of our Vision.  

Speaking today Anne said: “I’m excited to begin this new role and to be raising up new leaders across the Diocese.  

“Everybody can have a calling into leadership and I want to build on the work of others’ before me to ensure the church here in Lancashire looks like the people it serves as much as possible.  

“That includes drawing out greater numbers of ordained and lay leaders from communities who are proportionately under-represented in church leadership; including people from global majority heritage backgrounds and other people from lower socio-economic groups.  

“We also want to raise up a new generation of young leaders right here in Lancashire and hope to secure money in due course from the national church to support that work … which will include the creation of youth leadership academies.” 

The Growing Leaders Team will work alongside the Diocesan Board of Education in identifying young leaders in the County.

Meanwhile, Anne will remain a member of the Vision and Strategy and Bishops’ Appointments Teams for the Diocese but, as the countdown begins to March 1; she will step away from her roles as Area Dean of Kirkham, Dean of Women’s Ministry and Vicar of Wesham. 

Consultations will begin soon regarding who succeeds Anne in each of the roles she is vacating.