THE next Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons is to be the Revd Mark Birch, Downing Street announced on Thursday morning.
Fr Birch has also been appointed Canon Rector of Westminster Abbey, with a specific task of promoting ministry in the general public square.
Since 2015, he has been a Minor Canon on the Abbey. After training for the priesthood at Westcott House, Cambridge, was ordained to a title at St John the Baptist, Cirencester, in 2000.
Much of his early ministry was spent in chaplaincy posts: at Exeter College, Oxford, where he was also a Fellow, and at the kids’s hospice Helen and Douglas House, in Oxford (Features, 5 January 2007); and at Treloar’s School and College, Alton, in Hampshire, which provides education and look after young individuals with physical disabilities.
From 2012 to 2014, he was Priest-in-Charge of St Faith’s, Winchester, and Chaplain of St Cross Hospital, before taking on his current post at Westminster Abbey.
In March 2023, Fr Birch was appointed a member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) for his part in organising the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. He also assisted in preparing for the Coronation.
The Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, said of Fr Birch’s appointment that “it could be hard to seek out a kinder, more empathetic person.
“I’m certain that his experience, warmth, and smart counsel will offer a spiritual lift to MPs and staff, who work so hard within the service of our national life.”
The Dean of Westminster, the Very Revd Dr David Hoyle, said that Fr Birch can be “an impressive pastor to those that have made the usually costly commitment to public service.
“He will even be an efficient and fascinating presence because the Abbey continues to make the case for the place of religion at the center of the nation. He won’t draw back from difficulty and he’ll give voice to our hope.”
In May, it was announced that the previous Speaker’s Chaplain, the Ven. Patricia Hillas, was to be the following Bishop of Sodor & Man (News, 16 May). She will likely be consecrated with the brand new Bishops of Selby and Whitby in York Minster on 10 October, and enthroned in Peel Cathedral on 16 November.
Fr Birch is as a consequence of take up his recent appointment in November.
