Christian Aid, a National Agency of Churches Together in England, has announced the appointment of their new Chair of Trustees, Rt Rev and Rt Hon Dr John Sentamu, former Archbishop of York. He replaces Dr Rowan Williams, who steps down at the AGM in October.
Dr Sentamu says,
“It is a great surprise and a delight to be invited to be a trustee and to chair the Board of Christian Aid. My first involvement with Christian Aid was in 1980, during Christian Aid Week, when, as an Assistant Curate at St Andrew, Ham Common, and Prison Chaplain at Latchmere House Remand Centre, I knocked on doors and left Christian Aid envelopes. The staggering response from the long street where I lived, as well as the prison officers, convinced me that the appeal for ‘Life Before Death’ spoke to the generous hearts of my neighbours.”
“To chair the Christian Aid Board, which is deeply committed to eradicating injustice, disadvantage, increasing mutual accountability and its prophetic voice in addressing issues of poverty and power, is a great honour and challenge for me. Please pray for me.”
CTE General Secretary, Rev Dr Paul Goodliff, who also chairs the Christian Aid AGM, says,
“When I first heard of the process to find a new Chair of Christian Aid’s Trustee Board, I privately wondered if Dr Sentamu might be approached, but was afraid that other organisations might appoint him to fill other significant roles, preventing him accepting a role with Christian Aid. I need not have been anxious, and believe that the call of God upon Dr Sentamu will be wholeheartedly acknowledged by the member churches of Christian Aid at the AGM in October. Dr Williams has been a superb Chair of Trustees, but I am sure that Dr Sentamu is more than capable of taking up that baton and running with Christian Aid into the future, with all of its challenges for the world’s poor. At CTE we will pray for him in this new role.”
Read Christian Aid’s announcement of Dr Sentamu’s appointment