Dean of Sheffield: Warm welcome for Abigail Thompson

The installation service was at Sheffield Cathedral, in front of a congregation made up of representatives from across the Diocese of Sheffield, Diocese of St Albans and many other friends and family.

The Dean gave her first sermon in the Cathedral, speaking of the losses experienced during the pandemic, the need for space to mourn, the power of music to express our deepest emotions and change the course of history.

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The occasion brought together singers from Sheffield Cathedral, Doncaster and Rotherham Minsters for the first time post-Covid. Also singing were Cantamus Girls Choir from Mansfield, which Abi was a member of between 1988 and 1993.

The music chosen spanned seven centuries. On Sunday November 7, the Dean led her first services for the Cathedral congregation and will begin her new priestly ministry in earnest this week.

She particularly looks forward to the forthcoming Light show: The Beginning, which runs November 30 to December 5, the Christmas Tree Festival and the daily prayers that will be said in the Cathedral for local people and their concerns.

Her diary includes induction with her senior team and early meetings with the Archer Project, a charity supporting the homeless which operates from the Cathedral building. She is keen to get stuck in.

A personal priority is a focus on mission through music. She brings an array of musical talents and plenty of joy and laughter to her new role.

No stranger to South Yorkshire, the Dean was previously parish priest at Clifton in Rotherham, and Dean of Women’s Ministry in the Diocese of Sheffield. She joins Sheffield Cathedral from St Alban’s Cathedral in Hertfordshire where she was the Sub Dean.

A keen football supporting family and Blades fan, Abi recognised that the 3pm Installation clashed with the Blackburn kick-off, which was not ideal for several family members.

When Abi was announced as the new Dean in June 2021 she said: “I am delighted to return to worship at Sheffield, the Cathedral church where I was both ordained and married.”