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It is with great sadness that we announce the retirement of our Dean, the Very Rev’d Richard Peers. You can read the full statement from Bishop Mary below. Please hold Father Richard in your prayers as he begins his recovery.
The Dean of Llandaff Cathedral, The Very Reverend Richard Peers, has announced his intention to retire.
In a letter to the Bishop of Llandaff, Mary Stallard, which was read out during Easter Sunday services at the Cathedral the Dean said: “I wanted to confirm my retirement as Dean of Llandaff Cathedral, and to share my news directly with the congregation.
“It has been a privilege to work with Archbishop Andrew and Bishop Mary, and I am grateful to them and every member of the Church in Wales for welcoming my husband Jim and me with such kindness and warmth.
“It has been a great honour to serve as Dean of Llandaff and to share in the life of this congregation.
“Some of you may be aware that recent years have been challenging and at times distressing. A complaint was made against me, and a protracted Church of England process followed. This concluded with a Church Tribunal dismissing the complaint in full and ruling that my honesty and integrity were unimpugned.
“I continue to pray for all those involved in the process and that we may find healing and peace.
“While this has now been resolved, I have decided the time is right for me to retire. I look back with joy on my three decades of ministry. I have been blessed to be able to devote so much of my life to my faith and the communities in which I have lived and worked, and I wish my successor and all at Llandaff well for the future. Jim and I would be grateful for your prayers in this time of change and in the next season of our life.”
Born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, the Very Revd Richard Peers trained and worked as a teacher before being ordained in 1993. He became the Sub Dean at Christ Church, Oxford in September 2020; a joint foundation of a University of Oxford college, and the Cathedral church of the Diocese of Oxford. Before moving to Oxford, Richard was Director of Education for the Diocese of Liverpool and CEO of Liverpool Diocesan Schools Trust. He has long exercised a combined ministry in education and as a priest.
Father Richard has been the Dean of Llandaff since November 2022 and lives with his husband Jim, a garden writer, and their dog Teilo.
Bishop Mary writes that it is with great sadness that she has accepted Richard’s resignation. She said: “Richard’s instinct to (literally) open the doors of the cathedral and to grow a sense of prayerful welcome will remain with us as an important part of our on-going ministry. We will miss his friendship, his wise counsel in the diocese and his, and Jim’s, warm hospitality.
Further to this, Bishop Mary said: “I am working hard on a plan for the future leadership of the Cathedral, and we hope to be able to make an announcement about this very soon. I am so grateful for the hard work of the whole team here and I have asked Canon Jan van de Lely to step into the role of Acting Dean in the Cathedral for the next few months.
“We will talk with Richard about how we can offer an appropriate farewell to him and Jim in due course. Please continue to pray for Richard and Jim, for the Cathedral team and for the hope and peace of our Easter celebration to be known in all our hearts.”
Bishop Mary has asked Canon Chancellor, Canon Jan van der Lely, to be the Cathedral’s Acting Dean before a new Dean is installed.