The Bishop of Chester is delighted to announce that in the new year, the Reverend Richard Walker will be taking up the new post of Bishop’s Adviser for Diocesan Discernment of Ordained Ministry, and Residentiary Canon Diocesan at Chester Cathedral.
As part of the Ministry Team, Richard will be working with those people exploring a call to ordained ministry, as well as working with the rest of the team on encouraging the calling of all God’s people into a wide variety of service and ministry.
The Reverend Simon Chesters, Director of the Ministry Department, says “It will be great to welcome Richard into this new role. We’ve had about 9 months without a DDO, and I’m hugely grateful to my colleagues in the department and the team of Assistant DDOs and Deanery Vocations Listeners for keeping things moving during that time – we’ll all be very glad to get the team back up to full strength in this vital area of encouraging and discerning those God is calling into ordained ministry. Richard is an experienced Assistant DDO in York Diocese as well as being part of the team involved in national selection panels for ordained ministry and will bring a wealth of experience and skill to this new role. He has had a hugely fruitful ministry as a vicar in Scarborough and I know he will be greatly missed there. I and the rest of the team very much look forward to welcoming him into this role in the new year and working together to grow the number of people serving God in ordained and other ministries.”
Bishop Sam, who chairs the Committee for Ministry in the diocese, says “I am very much looking forward to Richard joining us in the crucial tasks of encouraging and resourcing discernment for ordained ministry across the diocese. Richard will bring both experience and passion to the role, and will join us at a significant time as we build and develop the Ministry team.”
Richard will be sharing the ordained vocations role with the post of Residentiary Canon Diocesan at Chester Cathedral. The Very Revd Dr Tim Stratford, Dean of Chester, says, “I am really pleased that Richard’s appointment demonstrates a growing partnership between the Cathedral and the diocese. The Cathedral will offer Richard a community to which he can belong and with which he will pray and worship. As a Residentiary Canon, he will share in all of the Cathedral’s leadership and ministry. We particularly look forward to his contribution here as someone who will enable the whole people of God to grow in their Christian discipleship.”
If you’re interested in exploring a call to ordained or other types of ministry, do book for our Called to Serve event on January 27 at Foxhill – Richard will be there along with the rest of the team.
The announcement of Richard's appointment has also been published on the Chester Cathedral website.
Introducing Richard Walker
Richard grew up in Bridlington on the east coast of Yorkshire and came to know Jesus during his time as a chorister at Bridlington Priory. Studying fisheries at Hull, and public health engineering at the University of Leeds equipped him for a thirteen-year career as a scientist in the water industry. Answering a long-term call to the priesthood, he trained at Cranmer Hall, was ordained in 2004, and served his curacy within the Diocese of York at St. Mary’s, in the seaside town of Scarborough.
Richard’s ministry continued as vicar in a multi-parish rural benefice near the Humber Bridge, then as vicar of St. Nicholas, in the market town of Beverley, where he was also part-time Archdeaconry Training Adviser. He returned to Scarborough in 2017 as the vicar of St. Mary’s. Richard has been an assistant DDO since 2011 and a Bishop’s Adviser for three years. Since 2021, he has served as the Chair of the House of Clergy, Archbishop’s Council, and York Diocesan Synod. Rich-ard is married to Elizabeth, and they have three children who have all flown the nest. He enjoys classical music, the outdoors, particularly walking and pursuing his love for geology and fossil hunting.
Richard is passionate about following Jesus and journeying with others as they explore their calling. He sees this as a wonderful and creative time to join the Diocesan Ministry Team in its vision of growing and broadening the discernment of vocations. He is delighted to be joining the Cathedral community in Chester and is looking forward to supporting the Bishops and the Dean in developing the connection between the Cathedral and the diocese.