6 January 2025
The Very Revd Dr Jessica Martin was welcomed to the Diocese of Chelmsford and installed as the Dean of Chelmsford at a special welcome service held yesterday (Sunday 5 January) at Chelmsford Cathedral.
The service which marked the beginning of Dean Jessica’s new ministry, was attended by church leaders and church communities from across Chelmsford Diocese as well as civic leaders and Jessica’s former colleagues from Ely Diocese.
During the service, Dean Jessica made her Oaths and Declarations to His Majesty the King and the Bishop of Chelmsford, and she was Collated and Inducted as Dean. As a symbol of her office, the Venerable Jonathan Croucher, the Archdeacon of Chelmsford, placed Jessica’s hands on the key to the west door of the Cathedral, after which she rang the bell to signify beginning of her ministry to the Cathedral, City and Diocese. Jessica was also presented with her Cathedral Cope and symbolically placed in the Dean’s Stall at the Cathedral.
The service featured music and readings of personal significance to Jessica that also reflected the Feast of Epiphany and Chelmsford Cathedral’s Assistant Director of Music, Sam Bristow, wrote a new piece especially for the occasion.
Speaking ahead of the service, Bishop Guli said:
“We are very much looking forward to welcoming Jessica to Chelmsford Diocese with this special service at the Cathedral to mark the beginning of her ministry as the next Dean of Chelmsford. Please join me in praying for her, and her family, as she prepares to take up her new ministry alongside the team at the Cathedral and as a member of the Bishop’s Leadership Team. Jessica’s extensive Cathedral experience together with her considerable skills and wisdom, will be a great blessing for the whole diocese.”
Looking forward to the welcome service, Canon Jessica said:
“It’s wonderful to be coming to the Diocese and to the Cathedral as the new year begins. I and my family are so thankful for the prayers and support we are already receiving from Bishop Guli and others, and both Cathedral and Diocese are regularly in my own prayers. I am eagerly anticipating working, praying and living in this new and exciting community as its new Dean.”
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Dean Jessica was officially welcomed to the Diocese of Chelmsford and installed as the next Dean of Chelmsford at a service at Cathedral Cathedral.
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The Venerable Jonathan Croucher, the Archdeacon of Chelmsford, placed Jessica’s hands on the key to the west door of the Cathedral as a symbol of her office.
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Dean Jessica rang the the bell to signify beginning of her ministry to the Cathedral, City and Diocese.
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Chelmsford Cathedral’s Assistant Director of Music, Sam Bristow, directed the Cathedral Choir and wrote a new piece especially for the occasion.
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The service featured music and readings of personal significance to Jessica that also reflected the Feast of Epiphany.
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The service was attended by church leaders and church communities from across Chelmsford Diocese as well as civic leaders and Jessica’s former colleagues from Ely Diocese.
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Dean Jessica with former colleagues from the Diocese of Ely.
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Dean Jessica is pictured with Bishop Guli and members of the Cathedral community.
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Dean Jessica is pictured with her new colleagues on the Diocese of Chelmsford's Bishop's Leadership Team.
The Right Reverend Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, the Bishop of Chelmsford, announced Jessica as the next Dean of Chelmsford on 28 June 2024 at Chelmsford Cathedral, where she spent the day meeting people from the Cathedral community, and from churches across Chelmsford Diocese. Canon Jessica also met local civic leaders and visited the Chelmsford Cathedral School to meet with pupils and staff.
Dean Jessica joins us from the Diocese of Ely where she served as Residentiary Canon at Ely Cathedral since 2016. During 2024, Jessica also served as one of the two theological advisers to the bishops of the Church of England.
Dean Jessica succeeds the previous Dean of Chelmsford, the Very Rev Nicholas Henshall, who left post in February 2023, after which the Very Rev Paul Kennington served as interim Dean until December 2024.
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About Jessica Martin
Jessica Martin grew up in the Surrey commuter town of Woking. She studied literature at university, which she later taught at Trinity College in Cambridge. Following her ordination in 2004 she served as a priest alongside her life as a lecturer, until 2010 when she became the vicar of three country parishes in South Cambridgeshire. Her southern most church was just two hundred yards away from the Essex border. Gradually taking on other responsibilities, Jessica served on the Bishop of Ely’s senior staff and contributed to the Church of England’s ongoing reflections on sexuality. Since 2016, she has been a Canon of Ely Cathedral, with special responsibility for learning. She has written two religious books (as well as some academic ones): Holiness and Desire, which is about sacred and profane loves and how they fit together and which was longlisted for the Michael Ramsey Prize, and The Eucharist in Four Dimensions, about the way that Holy Communion uses place and space and time. During 2024 she has been one of the two theological advisers to the bishops of the Church of England. She plays the oboe and the piano, and is married to the writer Francis Spufford. She has two daughters, Stella and Theodora.
The Revd Canon Dr Jessica Martin will begin her ministry as Dean of Chelmsford in January 2025.
About Chelmsford Cathedral
Chelmsford Cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Chelmsford and the seat of the Bishop of Chelmsford. The Dean of Chelmsford leads and directs the life and work of Chelmsford Cathedral in the Diocese of Chelmsford.
