Diocesan Secretary, John Preston, has announced that he will be moving on from the role later this year.
John has been in the post for just over four years and during that time has led the DBF in moving from a £1million deficit to a break-even position, supporting the team through a transformation journey which has included introducing a new share system, changing the deaneries and proposing priorities for the next few years which were agreed enthusiastically by Synod and are the basis of a funding bid with the national church.
John said:
“When I joined the DBF team in autumn 2018, I felt called to the role for an initial thousand days – which I interpreted as a thousand working days (or about four and a half years, once holidays and weekends are considered). As I went through 2022, I began to have a definite sense of it being time to move on. This was partly as a result of a health blip at the start of last year and a feeling that much had been achieved over the last few years and that the DBF probably needs a different kind of leader for the next stage. It has been a real privilege to serve you as Diocesan Secretary over these past four and a half years.”
John will remain in post until early Autumn to enable a new Diocesan Secretary to be recruited and ensure that other DBF roles are filled.
Bishop John said: “I give heartfelt thanks that God called John to us for a season. He has achieved an enormous amount while he has been with us. His time as Diocesan Secretary has been transformative, and I am very grateful to him. John now feels it is time to move on and our gratitude and prayers will go with him when he leaves us later in the year. In the meantime, we will continue to work together on our priorities as we begin the process to find his successor.”
Please pray for John and his family as he moves onto the next stage of his journey.
