“We want someone who will fall in love with Wakefield”: Wakefield Cathedral on how it will select its next dean

Applications for the role closed earlier in July, and the panel, which has convened with the specific purpose of selecting a new dean, is currently creating a shortlist of candidates who will then progress to the interview stage in early September.

Canon Jane Evans, who is also Vice Chair at Wakefield Cathedral Chapter, said selecting the new dean is a “highly confidential process”, with the amount of applications received and the questions candidates will be asked at interview kept private.

The appointment itself will be kept secret by both the panel and the new dean until it is officially announced in early November.

Unlike other, secular, jobs, the new dean is expected to be “called by God” to the role.

To help discern if this is the case, candidates are asked about their spiritual lives and their daily prayer routine, as part of the interview.

Jane said: “We have got to know that they look after their own faith and spiritual welfare.”

Part of the interview also includes delivering a short sermon.

Also separating a dean’s role with a secular one is that the dean receives a stipend, rather than a salary – at an amount which is set nationally.

Jane said the idea of a stipend is that, rather than money which is exchanged for work you have done, it is an amount which is “just enough to help you live” while you carry out the role you have been called to do.

Jane said being a clergyperson can be “very taxing and draining.”

“For all clergypeople, not just deans, you are doing a job that is effectively your whole life,” she added.

Accommodation – at 1, Cathedral Close – is also provided as part of the role, which includes three reception rooms, a ground-floor kitchen and shower room, four bedrooms and a first-floor bathroom.

Clergypeople are also expected to take holidays – usually immediately after very busy periods, such as Christmas – as well as one rest day a week.

Deans can remain in their role for as long as they wish, or until they reach age 70 – at which point they would be expected to retire from being a full time clergyperson.

The people that make up the selection panel is set nationally by the Church of England.

This includes the panel’s chair being a public figure, which in Wakefield’s case has been filled by Canon Derek Twine, the chair of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Other members include the Bishop of Leeds, the Dean of Peterborough, two people elected from the Cathedral Chapter (one of which is represented by Jane), a member of the Board of Trustees of the Diocese of Leeds, and a person elected from the College of Canons.

The diverse group of people who make up the panel is intended to reflect the diverse aspects of the role of the dean.

This is illustrated in the job’s ‘person specification’, which, alongside being a “prayerful, theologically astute, empathetic and resilient priest”, also lists qualities such as “entrepreneurial”, a “natural collaborator”, an “innovative and creative leader”, and a “gifted communicator.”

This is because, as leader of the cathedral, the dean’s role extends further than spirituality, with the cathedral also having strong links to the civic life of Wakefield.

The new dean will be expected to, among other things: “develop and encourage the staff team”; encourage growth in the congregation; review the cathedral’s provision of services for young people and families; work with experts to review the cathedral’s next phase of redevelopment, which refers to an ongoing three-stage project to reorder the inside of the cathedral; and to improve the cathedral’s financial resources.

As one of the poorest cathedrals in the country, improving its finances will be one of the dean’s major challenges.

On this issue, Jane said: “We have financial challenges in common with most cathedrals; we don’t pay our way at the moment.”

This is something which has been bolstered in recent years, however, by an increased events programme, which frequently includes music concerts, performances, and activities.

Despite its challenges, Jane said the cathedral has “plenty of positives” and that it is “very much a part of Wakefield life.”

“We want someone who will fall in love with Wakefield, and love and nurture Wakefield as a community,” she added.

Once the panel’s selection is announced, an induction process takes place, with the new dean unlikely to be installed in their role before February 2026.

Throughout this process, Jane said there is “a lot to learn about running the cathedral itself,” and the new dean will be supported by people in cathedral, the bishop and other deans.

The previous dean, The Very Revd Simon Cowling, retired in July.

It is a time of significant change elsewhere in the Diocese of Leeds, with a new Area Bishop of Wakefield – The Rt Revd Malcolm Chamberlain – being consecrated in June, and the current Bishop of Leeds, – The Rt Revd Nicholas Baines – set to retire at the end of November.

Wakefield Cathedral, which sits on a site where people have worshipped for more than 1,000 years, is unique in that it is one of three – along with Bradford and Ripon – to serve one diocese.