It was announced in the Parish of Wanstead on Sunday 10th January, that the
Rector, Canon Robert Springett, has been invited by the Bishop of Gloucester
to be the next Archdeacon of Cheltenham. A similar announcement is being made
in the Diocese of Gloucester on Monday 11th January.
The Archdeaconry of Cheltenham is one of two Archdeaconries in the Diocese of
Gloucester and covers the towns of Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, as well as Cirencester
and much of the Cotswolds.
As Archdeacon, Robert will be part of the senior staff of the diocese, working
closely with the Archdeacon of Gloucester to support the Bishop of Gloucester
in his leadership of the diocese and to oversee the routine management and the
clergy and parishes in collaboration with the Area Deans.
Robert will bid farewell to the Parish of Wanstead at services on Sunday 25th
April which is also the day of the Annual Meetings. He will however be effectively
ending his public ministry on Easter Day to allow time for a brief holiday and
preparation for his new ministry which will begin when he is formally made Archdeacon
on Friday 30th April at 19.30 at Tewkesbury Abbey. He will be installed in the
Cathedral in Gloucester at 15.00 on Sunday 2nd May.
Robert’s wife Helen, who is Head Teacher of a Church of England Primary
School in Essex and their children Charlotte (16) and Alice (11) will continue
to live in Wanstead until the end of summer term to complete school and exam
commitments.
Robert said ‘I, and we as family, will enormously miss Wanstead and the
parish which is such an important part of our lives. It has given us a place
to belong, so many friends, and it has been so good to see the parish and school
grow in so many ways. I am excited about my new ministry, but know this can
only be so because of the firm foundations I have been given here in the parish
and deanery and in the Diocese of Chelmsford’.
For more information about the Diocese of Gloucester see http://www.gloucester.anglican.org
Robert
Springett has been Rector of Wanstead since 2001. Prior to that he has served as
a curate in Colchester and Basildon and as a Parish Priest and Area Dean in
South Ockendon and Thurrock.
Born in 1962, Robert is married to Helen, a primary school head teacher. They have two children. When not busy in the parish they enjoy working in the Rectory garden and when they can get away they enjoy gite holidays in France.
