NEW SECRETARY OF FORWARD IN FAITH

After 19 years as Director of Forward in Faith Stephen Parkinson is to retire and is to be succeeded by Dr Colin Podmore, who is currently the Clerk to the General Synod of the Church of England. In a Statement Bishop Jonathan Baker F-in-F Chairman said:”It is thanks to the tireless work of Stephen Parkinson that Forward in Faith has been able to make such an impact on the life of the Church of England. As its Director, he has played a pivotal role in building Forward in Faith into the distinctive and dynamic organisation that it is today. It is a tribute to Stephen’s achievement that we have been able to attract so distinguished a successor.’

‘Colin Podmore will bring to the role a wealth of experience at senior level in the Church of England. He is passionate about the faith and order of the catholic Church as received by the Church of England and has long been committed to the visible unity of the one Church of Jesus Christ,’ Bishop Jonathan added.

Dr Lindsay Newcombe, Vice-Chairman of FiF, said: ‘Forward in Faith gives hope and confidence to the many young Anglicans of orthodox faith who need a structure in the Church of England within which they can thrive and share their faith with others. Colin is well equipped to support us in making that vision a reality.’

Colin Podmore, a Cornishman, read history at Keble College, Oxford, and trained as a teacher at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He taught German at S. Michael’s Church of England High School in Chorley, Lancashire, before returning to Keble to research for his Oxford DPhil in church history. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His publications include Aspects of Anglican Identity (2005) and articles on Anglican ecclesiology. On the staff of the General Synod from 1988, he was successively Deputy Secretary of the Council for Christian Unity, Secretary of the House of Clergy, Secretary of the Liturgical Commission, and Secretary of the Dioceses Commission. He was also secretary of groups that reviewed the processes for choosing diocesan bishops and making senior church appointments and oversaw the publication of the Common Worship liturgy. As well as being Clerk to the Synod, Colin is also the Director of the Central Secretariat of the Archbishops' Council and Director of Ecumenical Relations.