It gives us great pleasure to announce that, following a national search, the Bishop of Coventry has invited the Revd Canon Kate Massey to take up the role of Canon for Arts and Reconciliation in Coventry Cathedral. This is a Bishop’s appointment, and we were delighted that Bishop Sophie could play a full part in the recruitment process, which saw a strong field of candidates, many with international backgrounds. The Cathedral sits at the heart of our diocese, and provides a welcome for all, and Kate will play an important part in continuing to make that a reality, especially within our ministry of Reconciliation.
Kate is presently vicar of Stockingford, in the north of the diocese, where she has been in post since January 2015, and was installed as an Honorary Canon at the Cathedral in 2022. She was ordained in Coventry Cathedral in 2011, after qualifying and working as a doctor in the NHS, specialising in mental health and psychiatry. She brings a wealth of practical and pastoral experience, in both diocesan and national as well as parish contexts. She has a particular passion for the arts and reconciliation, as part of which she is already engaged in study for a PhD on the reconciliation work of the Cathedral.
Kate will take up her post in June 2025, and will have a particular responsibility for gathering together the arts and reconciliation teams in the Cathedral, and taking forward our work both nationally and internationally, as well here in the diocese in collaboration with diocesan colleagues. She will share in the leadership and ministry of the Cathedral with the Dean, Very Revd John Witcombe, Canon Nitano Muller, Canon for Worship and Welcome, and Simon Danks, our Chief Operating Officer.
Bishop Sophie says:
“Kate emerged from a rigorous discernment process with a clear call to be the next Canon for Reconciliation and the Arts. Given the priority of reconciliation for both the Cathedral and the Diocese, I am confident that Kate will bring her extensive skills and experience to help us move forward together and inhabit Christ’s ministry of reconciliation in a way that helps all to flourish and grow. I very much look forward to working with her.”
Dean John says:
“I am delighted to be welcoming Kate to the senior leadership and ministry team here in the Cathedral. I am looking forward to all that she will bring, the challenges and the encouragement, and her immense heart for people, and the reconciliation ministry as a way of offering God’s love to all.”
Kate says:
“I am grateful to Bishop Sophie and Dean John for their invitation to become the next Canon for Arts and Reconciliation. In an increasingly polarised world, Coventry's vocation to reconciliation is more timely than ever, and the arts offer powerful ways to explore the tensions, costs and deep rewards reconciliation involves. It will be a joy and an honour to serve both the Cathedral and the diocese in this unique role, as - guided by the ever creative and reconciling Spirit of God - we explore ways to heal the wounds of history, celebrate difference and build a culture of justice and peace.”
Subject to the usual formalities, Kate will be licensed and installed in the Cathedral by Bishop Sophie at Evensong on Sunday June 15th at 4pm.