David, who has spent the last five years as Director of Education, has already had a spell as Acting Archdeacon of Carlisle in the north west. "I have greatly enjoyed the rural challenges that the diocese of Carlisle has presented and I am looking forward to using that experience in a similar rural county like Suffolk," he says.
With a doctorate in early medieval Church History, David has been a priest for twenty years, serving in the dioceses of Ely, Oxford, Blackburn and Carlisle. He has held a variety of posts including Vicar of a large parish in Blackpool and of a substantial parish in Preston which straddled suburban housing and a rural area.
Welcoming David's appointment the Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich the Rt Revd Nigel Stock says, "David comes to us with a wealth of experience in parishes and complex diocesan organisations. His research in Church History means he has real understanding of the heritage of our faith in Suffolk, but he has energy and enthusiasm to build the work of the of the church in our times. I very much look forward to working with him.".
David will be licensed as Archdeacon of Sudbury at services in west Suffolk and at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in mid February 2010. He succeeds the Venerable David Brierley, who died suddenly of a heart attack in August 2009.
