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Installation of the Dean
St George’s Cathedral

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Installation of the Dean of St George’s Cathedral

by The Ven Kathy Barrett-Lennard | Senior Canon

Great celebrations accompanied the installation on 1 February, of The Very Revd Chris Chataway as St George’s Cathedral’s 18th Dean. After an extensive and lengthy search, we believe God’s hand was firmly on the election process and we welcomed Dean Chris and Heather amongst us with much joy and anticipation.

Chris is South Australian born and educated, and he would describe himself as a delegator, facilitator, good listener, hard worker, resourceful and committed to building community.

In 1985 Chris was ordained deacon in St Peter’s Cathedral, Adelaide, and priested the following year. He has been in full-time ministry for the last 28 years, serving as parish priest in four parishes, as an Archdeacon in Adelaide while Rector of the Parish of Walkerville, and as both Dean of Ballarat and Archdeacon of Ballarat, Victoria.

Dean Chris holds degrees in both music and theology. Musically, Chris is a gifted composer and skilled performer who understands how musicians exercise their gifts for the good of the Church, and values the role that music plays in mission, especially the mission of a Cathedral.

Theologically, Chris has a broad grounding in Catholic Christianity while having genuine openness to the gifts of evangelical and charismatic Anglicans. He is experienced in planning and leading cathedral-style worship and as a Liturgy Commission member for 14 years, has contributed much to the development of many authorised Australian liturgical resources. He both treasures tradition and works to expand it, so that it can be handed on to future generations enriched and in conversation with the movements of today’s multi-cultural Australia.

Dean Chris is married to Heather Wray, a music teacher and accompanist, and they have four adult children: Anthony 29, Jonathan 24, and twins, Gillian and Francis, aged 18. Gillian and Francis will remain in Ballarat to study at the University of Melbourne. Jonathan is an engineer in Adelaide and Anthony plays viola for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Our warmest welcome is extended to the family.

The Cathedral is delighted to recognise in our new Dean, a leader who will add to our resources through his experience, spiritual maturity, creativity and diligence. As a discerning senior priest of the Australian Church, Chris’s ministry will enrich the ministry and mission of the Cathedral, both within the City of Perth and within our Diocese.

Please pray for the Cathedral as we form our new team, working constructively with Dean Chris, as we bring Christ’s presence alive in this sacred place and in the Diocese of Perth.

Chris Chataway

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