SALISBURY Cathedral has announced two new priests will be joining its team next year.

In spring, Canon Nigel Davies and the Revd Pete Atkinson will be joining the team as Vicar of the Close and Minor Canon for Young People respectively.

Canon Nigel Davies will be welcomed to the cathedral on April 26, 2020, taking up his role as Vicar of the Close after almost 12 years as Team Rector of Kendal Deanery’s Beacon Team, based in Burnside, Cumbria. He succeeds the Revd Canon Ian Woodward, who left the Cathedral earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the Revd Pete Atkinson, who is currently working in St Helens within the Diocese of Liverpool will be joining the cathedral team next year as its first Minor Canon for Young People. He will be welcome on Mothering Sunday on March 22, 2020.

Speaking about the new appointments, the Dean of Salisbury, The Very Revd Nicholas Papadopulos said: “Nigel is a gifted priest who will come to Salisbury after long years of parish ministry, with considerable wisdom and skill in pastoral care. We look forward to welcoming him and his family to the Close.

“I am thrilled that Pete is to be the Cathedral’s first full-time priest for all the young people who gather in the Close or who worship here. His appointment reflects our determination to care better for them, and he will bring huge energy to what is an exciting, pioneering role for Salisbury.”