A former solicitor who has been appointed Archdeacon of Norwich said she is looking forward to coming to work in a 'historic and beautiful part of the country'.
The Bishop of Norwich has announced that The Revd Canon Karen Hutchinson, currently Vicar of The Bourne and Tilford United Benefice in the Diocese of Guildford is to become Archdeacon of Norwich and Warden of Readers.
Revd Canon Hutchinson, who succeeds The Rt Rev Jan McFarlane after she was made the Bishop of Repton, visited the Diocese of Norwich last year as part of a leadership course. She said: 'From my first visit to the Diocese of Norwich last year I have felt strongly drawn to return. It's a diverse diocese in a historic and beautiful part of the country, led by a senior staff team who greatly value their clergy and lay people.
'I will be sad to leave the people in my current benefice and Diocese, but am very much looking forward to working with new colleagues and parishes in Norwich and taking forward the renewed Mission Strategy.'
Born in Lincolnshire in 1964, she studied Maths at the University of Oxford and qualified as a solicitor in 1989, working for a decade in litigation.
The mother of two trained for ordination at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, serving a curacy in the Diocese of Winchester whilst studying for an MA in Applied Theology through the University of Kent at Canterbury.
The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham James, said: 'She has won the hearts of the people of her present benefice by her strategic leadership and pastoral imagination. I am confident she will soon come to love this diocese and its people and be greatly appreciated for the gifts she will bring.'
• She will be collated and installed as Archdeacon of Norwich and Warden of Readers in a service at Norwich Cathedral at 3.30pm on Sunday, November 13.
• There will be a farewell service to Jan McFarlane in Norwich Cathedral tomorrowat 7pm. Everyone is welcome.
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