Announcement of the appointment of our new Rector

Official announcement

Subject to the usual checks, The Bishop and Patron are pleased to announce the appointment of Rev Lydia Cook as the new Rector of the parish. After giving the required 3-month notice period to her current Bishop, Lydia will move into the Rectory in August. Her institution and collation service will be on September 8th at 7pm at St Luke’s church to which everyone is cordially invited.

A Message from Lydia

I am delighted to be moving to Chelsea and very much look forward to getting to know you and experiencing a very different context to my current role. We have 2 family connections to the parish. To our surprise we discovered that my husband Simon’s 3x great grandfather was buried at St Luke’s, and a more up-to-date connection is that our son Josh loves Café Portico and often has Sunday brunch there. Our older son Ben lives in Dorset and due to the nature of his special needs will only be visiting occasionally.

Please pray for us as we prepare for this move, and for the Otter Vale Mission Community as they enter vacancy. As we start a new chapter in the life of St Luke’s and Christ Church, may we discern together God’s will for us, trusting in his faithfulness and rejoicing in his love.