It has been announced today that Revd Canon Ivor Moody will retire as Vice Dean and Canon Pastor at Chelmsford Cathedral in April. Canon Ivor has served the Cathedral since 1996 and has spent his 40 years of ministry in Chelmsford Diocese.
Commenting on the announcement, Canon Ivor said:
“'It is with profoundly mixed emotions that my retirement as Vice Dean and Canon Pastor is announced. I simply don't possess the words to summarise accurately and effectively what the Cathedral has meant to me and my family. During my fourteen years at the Cathedral, I have been a part of and seen through immense changes and developments which have helped bring the Cathedral to where it is today. I have laughed, cried with and ministered to at least two generations of people and shared their lives and deaths - an unbroken continuity of pastoral care and learning which is afforded to few ministerial colleagues. As I retire, I take with me a rich and vast storehouse of memories and relationships which will last to the end of my days, and for which gratitude is an impoverished and inadequate word, although deeply heartfelt all the same."
The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani has paid tribute to Canon Ivor, saying:
“Ivor has made an extraordinary contribution to the life of Chelmsford Diocese over more than forty years of ministry; as a parish priest, a chaplain and in a variety of roles at our Cathedral. It is in his current role as Vice Dean and Canon Pastor that I have had the privilege to get to know him and work alongside him. He will be missed by many people at the Cathedral and across our Diocese and I join them in giving thanks for his ministry with us as he prepares for his retirement.”
Thanking Canon Ivor for this ministry at the Cathedral, the interim Dean of Chelmsford the Very Revd Paul Kennington added:
“It has been a real joy to work alongside Ivor. Ivor is a profoundly sensitive, deep-thinking theologian, and I have personally relied on his experience and wisdom during my short time so far as interim Dean here at Chelmsford Cathedral. He is exemplary in his prayerfulness, loyalty and spirituality as is seen in his books and in so much that he does. All is done with great generosity of spirit and openness of heart. I know that he will be greatly missed by many people, both within the congregation and in the many social, civic and interfaith groups he has worked with. I know that I speak for all of us in wishing him all the very best for his retirement.”
Canon Ivor was ordained Deacon in 1982 and Priest in 1983 serving two curacies at St. Margaret’s Leytonstone and St. Margaret’s Leigh on Sea, and his first incumbency at St. John the Baptist Tilbury Docks. He was appointed Chaplain to the Chelmsford campus of Anglia Ruskin University in 1996 when he also became an Honorary Associate Chaplain of Chelmsford Cathedral. In 2010 Canon Ivor became Vice Dean and Canon Pastor of Chelmsford Cathedral.
You can read a reflection on his 40 years of ministry in Chelmsford Diocese on our website, news/canon-ivor-celebrates-40-years-of-ministry
All are welcome to join us for Canon Ivor’s farewell service at Chelmsford Cathedral on Sunday 21st April. Further information will be released in due course.