Cathedral evensong to install four new honorary canons
In one of his last acts before leaving the diocese, Bishop Philip will be installing four new honorary canons at Truro Cathedral on Sunday.
Starting at 4pm, the special choral evensong will see Revd Steve Morgan, Revd Chris McQuillen-Wright, Esme Page, and Sarah McLachlan admitted to a stall.
A diocesan bishop can create honorary canons in recognition of an individual’s exceptional service and contribution to the Church and their communities.
Each canon occupies a stall in the cathedral quire. The clergy canons’ stalls are named after Cornish saints, and the lay canons’ stalls named after the Apostles.
The Right Reverend Hugh Nelson, Bishop of St Germans, said: “We are blessed by many gifted, creative and prayerful people in Cornwall and the new honorary canons are four of the best. I am delighted that they will be part of the Cathedral’s ministry in this way and pray for God’s blessing on each of them.”
The new clergy canons are:
- The Reverend Steve Morgan is former Rural Dean of West Wivelshire and Rector of Liskeard with St Keyne. Before that, he served as a vicar and rural dean in the Diocese of Salisbury. A keen sailor who has spent time at sea both in Tall Ships and in the Royal Navy, he now works as European Director of the Mission for Seafarers. He lives in Millbrook in east Cornwall, where he holds permission to officiate. Having previously worked with homeless people and refugees, he describes himself as being “passionate about bringing the life changing love of Jesus to those on the margins”. He says he feels “honoured and daunted” at becoming a canon of Truro Cathedral, and that he is “looking forward to meeting and getting to know a new community of people who are passionate about serving Jesus”.
- The Reverend Chris McQuillen-Wright serves as vicar to the Benefice of Towan Blystra, which includes St Michael the Archangel Church in Newquay, St Colan Church, St Columba Church and St Newlina Church. He was educated in St Austell, Canterbury and Cambridge, and has previously served in team ministries in Hayle and Bodmin. Before his ordination in 1995, he worked for the National Children’s Home. A former Rural Dean of Pydar, he is currently a member of Diocesan Synod, the Bishop’s Diocesan Council and the Diocesan Vacancy in See Committee, and Chair of the House of Clergy at the Diocese of Truro. In 2019 he launched “Kerdh” an online faith-based presence. Less than six months later, the country went into lockdown and Kerdh was uniquely placed to be at the forefront of online initiatives. As lockdown created its own problems for pastoral care, he developed the “EzraHub”, an online free-to-access self-supporting health and well-being app. Chris says he is honoured to be made an honorary Canon in the Diocese that originally sponsored his training back in 1992.
The new lay canons are:
- Sarah McLachlan has been actively involved in the life of Truro Cathedral for some years. She serves the Church as a volunteer across a range of areas – from the Pastoral Care Network Team to Truro Cathedral Music, and (as she puts it) “everything in between”. She describes herself as feeling “shocked but beyond thrilled” to have been nominated for the role of lay canon at the Cathedral. “It is a joy, a blessing in my life, and an enormous privilege to work with staff and other volunteers, and to serve God here in the ways that I do,” she says. “It’s a very real honour and I am deeply grateful.”
- Described by the national press as an “inspirational champion”, Esmé Page is founder, trustee and chair of Cornwall Hugs, a charity originally established to offer respite breaks in Cornwall for the bereaved, survivors and firefighters from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and which during the pandemic sourced accommodation for care workers, in order to help to protect their families and care home residents and staff. The former CEO of a pan-European PR agency, and a chorister parent, Esmé has designed innovative outreach projects for Truro Cathedral Choir. These have included the global ‘Sing2G7’ initiative, UNICEF CrowdFunders and ‘Chorister Mega Zoom Assemblies’, gathering thousands of children to sing and explore faith together online. “It was a shock to receive the Bishop’s invitation and very humbling,” she said. “I’m excited by Dean Simon’s vision for the cathedral as a hub for the whole of the Cornish community. I’m also also passionate about the choir’s capacity to bridge into that community, touching people across the county, and beyond, with its heavenly music. I look forward to joining the other canons, learning from them and uniting in prayerful support of both the cathedral and the choir’s missional work within it.”
The service will be available to be viewed live on Sunday:
