I am very pleased to announce that the Very Reverend Dr Philip Plyming, Dean of Durham, has accepted the Governors’ invitation to be the next Rector of St Chad’s and he has been duly elected.

Philip will be the College’s third Rector, following in the footsteps of the Very Reverend Michael Sadgrove and the Very Reverend Andrew Tremlett. The Rector of St Chad’s is the guardian of the foundational Anglican character of the College, and we look forward very much to our association with Philip as we aim to live out our Christian principles and ethos, with integrity and imagination, in the 21st century. He will bring keen support to our ethics of the love of learning, service, justice, and an equal place for all.

Philip hails from Sussex. He studied German and Russian at Cambridge University and Theology at Durham where he also trained for the Anglican ministry at Cranmer Hall within St John’s College. From 2017 to 2023 he served as Warden of Cranmer Hall, where he also taught New Testament and Christian Leadership. He became 41st Dean of Durham in September 2023 and thus is also an ex officio member of the Council of Durham University, of which St Chad’s forms an integral part.

Fr Mark Woodruff, College Chair of Governors

Philip Plyming said, ‘I am honoured to have been asked to serve as the next Rector of St Chad’s College.  I appreciate the distinctive ethos that makes St Chad’s such a special place and I look forward to supporting the College as this ethos is rooted in, and nourished by, a life-giving Christian faith.  It is also good to see the longstanding relationship between St Chad’s and Durham Cathedral go from strength to strength.’

Margaret Masson, Principal, said ‘I am very much looking forward to working with Philip as our new Rector. It was a pleasure to get to know him when he was Warden of Cranmer Hall and college officer in our neighbouring college, St John’s, where his thoughtful perceptiveness, pastoral kindness and considerable energy and vision were greatly valued.  I know he will be a wise and generous guardian of our Anglican founding values, summed up in our motto, Non Vestra Sed Vos – ‘Not what you have, but who you are yourselves’.’

David Rushton, Chaplain, said: ‘I am delighted that Philip has agreed to take on this role. I have no doubt that the whole College community will be blessed by Philip’s infectious enthusiasm, humour, and wise counsel.’