Churches Together in Somerset has announced the appointment of Revd Canon Jonathan LLoyd as their new County Ecumenical Officer, taking up his role after Easter 2021.
A unique feature of church life in England, paralleled nowhere else in the world, has been the development of a network of Intermediate Bodies, including Churches Together in Somerset. Through these Bodies, County Ecumenical Officers support and encourage local ecumenism (churches working together).
Commenting on his appointment, Revd Canon Jonathan LLoyd states: “I am delighted to be appointed as the next County Ecumenical Officer for Somerset. I look forward joyfully to serving the ecumenical mission of God at local and county level, and meeting with and learning from local church communities across my home county of Somerset.”
Jonathan will be taking over the role from Major Alan Dixon, who retires in March.
More about Jonathan
Jonathan knows Somerset well. He was born in Wellington and went to Nynehead Church of England Primary School. In 2021, he will be returning to Somerset with his wife Sue, living in Wells. They have two adult daughters and are expecting their first grandchild.
Jonathan originally trained and worked as a psychiatric social worker in London, and was principal social worker at St Christopher’s Hospice.
He was ordained in the Church of England in 1990, serving as a curate in an urban multicultural South London parish and then as Director of Social Responsibility for the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. In 1997, he moved to Bath as Chaplain for the University of Bath and leader of the Ecumenical Chaplaincy Team, a new team of eight denominations growing together through a covenanting relationship.
Jonathan then served as Priest in Charge for two parishes in Bath, before moving in 2009 to the Anglican Diocese in Europe as Archdeacon of Germany and Northern Europe (based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and covering the Nordics, the Baltics and Germany). Here he was active in the Porvoo Communion and the work of the Meissen Commission bringing closer relationships between Anglicans and Lutherans.
In 2016, Jonathan moved to Vancouver, Canada, where he is Rector of a large parish and Regional Dean.
Jonathan is a Canon Emeritus of The Diocese in Europe, and a Tertiary of the Society of Saint Francis. His wife Sue is a Paediatric Occupational Therapist, and they have a chocolate Labrador called Bella.
Jonathan looks forward to returning to his Somerset ‘roots’.