Richard Trethewey is taking on the role of chair of the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC).
He will carry out this position alongside his current responsibilities as Rector of Glenfield and Newtown Linford, and Area Dean of Sparkenhoe East.
The DAC acts as an advisory body on matters affecting places of worship in the diocese, relating to aspects including architecture and history, use, care, planning and design.
Bishop Martyn said: “Richard takes over from Elizabeth Bryan, who has chaired the DAC for the last three years - I am very grateful to her for fulfilling this role so ably.”
Bishop Martyn also recorded thanks to all DAC members at this October’s Bishop’s Council meeting saying that: “A significant number of people give their time voluntarily to these significant matters and we do want to formally thank them.”
Richard is a third generation vicar, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, and was ordained in 2002.
His previous working life was in IT, back in the 1990s, when he built the first websites of NatWest, Railtrack, GlaxoWellcome and various other big companies.
Following his curacy in Biddulph, he spent 10 years as an Associate Vicar in Knowle, before moving to the Diocese of Leicester in 2016 and taking up his current role in Glenfield and Newtown Linford. He has been Area Dean of Sparkenhoe East for approaching a year.
No stranger to the redevelopment of church buildings, his dissertation as part of a pre-ordination Diploma in Ministry was on the effects of re-ordering church and chapel buildings on the worshipping life of the community.
In 2013 he was one of a small number of participants in a St George’s House Consultation, in partnership with the Church Buildings Council, called ‘Church Buildings serving Communities of Faith: Why, Where, How and What?’ helping larger churches engage with the new Faculty revisions.
He has also just seen through phase one of a re-ordering at All Saints’ (Newtown Linford) in the last year which involved complete redecoration, a new AV system and significant electrical works.
Richard is married to Ruth, and together they have a two-year-old daughter and another child due in November.
Under normal circumstance, he can be seen watching rugby at Welford Road, although usually supporting the away team (he’s a Gloucester fan), and he plays cricket for the diocese when possible.
He also visited all the cathedrals in England before his 40th birthday. “Deliberately, not by accident!” he confessed.
Speaking of his new role, Richard said: “Having been essentially brought up in church buildings, I have always been fascinated by them - partly simply as works of construction, but more importantly how they reflect and shape the community which worships in them.
“My hope is that as the entire diocese goes through the ‘Shaped by God Together’ process, the DAC will continue to fulfil its dual enabling purpose: to help parishes care for the buildings we have inherited, and the vital work of helping them flourish as centres of worship and of mission.
“Church buildings have always been adapted to meet the needs of each new generation and, maintaining a loving continuity with the past, I look forward to helping the DAC meet the challenge of responding to the current and future shape of the Church’s mission.”