The Dean of Southwell

A Channel Islander, who is currently the Archdeacon of Winchester and Vice Dean, is to be the new Dean of Nottinghamshire’s historic cathedral – Southwell Minster.

The Venerable John Guille has been appointed as Dean following the retirement of the Very Revd David Leaning last year. John Guille will follow in the footsteps of five cathedral provosts who have overseen the mission of the Minster in the last century. He will be installed into the new post at a special service at the cathedral on Saturday 8th September 2007.

He said: “I’m very excited about being appointed as Dean of the historic Minster within the Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham where the sense of history and a deep desire for mission is clearly evident. I am looking forward to being part of this vibrant community and diocese.”

John Guille (57) has been Archdeacon for the past eight years, with responsibility for 193 churches and more than 80 clergy. He is also a Residentiary Canon at Winchester Cathedral, where he was acting dean for six months.

John Guille describes himself as passionate about networking with people both inside and outside the church. At Winchester Cathedral he was instrumental in helping to set-up the ice rink and Christmas market in front of the cathedral last year which helped attract hundreds of people, especially the young, who would not normally come into a church.

John was brought up on the Island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands and is proud to date his family routes back to William the Conqueror! He left the islands as a student and trained as a Religious Studies teacher at Christ Church College, Canterbury. He went on to teach for three years before training for ordination at Salisbury and Wells Theological College. His first post was a curacy in the Parish of Chandler’s Ford – a large suburban parish between Winchester and Southampton, where he was also involved in local schools and hospital radio. He went on to spend the next nine years from 1980 to 1989 as Priest-in-Charge and then vicar at St John with St Michael in Bournemouth, where his parish included a full range of parishioners across the social spectrum, from urban priority to wealthy residential. While there, he was part-time school chaplain and helped to develop one of the churches for improved community use. In 1989 he returned to his native Guernsey as Rector of St Andre de la Pommeraye, where he spent 10 years and was able to help set up a new residential hospice and establish an ecumenical chaplaincy team. He chaired the group which set up an ecumenical retreat and conference centre for the Island called Les Cotils..

In 1999 he was appointed as Archdeacon. He helped establish a new process for managing parish vacancies and in his role as a cathedral canon, he has been a governor of the Pilgrims’ School, where he has been responsible for recent financial oversight of new building developments. John has also been chair of the Diocesan Retreat and Conference Centre, which is currently being totally refurbished and combined with the diocesan offices into a new multi-purpose centre. He been closely involved in developing the Winchester Cathedral’s links abroad with its twinned cathedrals in Norway and Florence.

John is married to Susan, who he met while training to staff the Samaritan’s helpline. They have three grown-up children – Elizabeth, who is studying in Southampton; Rose, who is a teacher and Peter who is a student at Nottingham Trent University.

John describes his main hobbies as gardening, walking and exploring genealogy and general family history.

He will take up his new post on Saturday 8th September.2007

You can visit the Minster's website at www.southwellminster.org.uk