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 Gill
Henwood is the new priest in charge of St James Riding, after her licensing
on Friday 3rd April 2009 by the Rt Revd Martin Wharton, Bishop of Newcastle
and installation by the Ven Peter Robinson, Archdeacon of Lindisfarne. Joining
parishioners from St James' and representatives from Shepherd's Dene and the
Diocese were family and friends from all over the country; from Cornwall and
London, Preston and Middlesbrough.
Gill is also Chaplain of Shepherd's Dene, the retreat house for Newcastle
and Durham Dioceses which is in Riding Mill parish, and Adviser in Spirituality
for Newcastle Diocese. She is half time as priest in charge and half time as
chaplain and adviser.
Prior to coming to Riding Mill and Shepherd's Dene, Gill served as Vicar of
Nunthorpe in York Diocese, on the southern edge of Middlesbrough and just north
of the North York Moors National Park. She has also been Associate Priest of
St James's, Piccadilly (London); Rural Chaplain and Chaplain of Myerscough College
(Lancashire) and served her curacy in two rural parishes in the Forest of Bowland.
Ordained in 1997/98, Gill had trained on a course based at Rydal Hall in Cumbria,
the retreat house for Carlisle Diocese. She has been with parish groups to the
retreat houses for Leicester (Launde Abbey) and Blackburn (Whalley Abbey) as
well as staying on various occasions before and during her training in other
dioceses.
As well as her long-term involvement in exploring spirituality with different
parish groups, Gill has experience alongside couples preparing for marriage and
parents (and young people or adults) preparing for Baptism (Christening). In
her previous parish, children and young people enjoyed all sorts of exciting
activities and the Youth team ran events as well as Youth Alpha courses. Gill
has been a school governor in Lancashire and looks forward to getting to know
the families and staff of Broomhaugh First School.
Gill's sponsoring parish for ordination was St Wilfrid's, Ribchester (Lancashire),
where the family lived from 1992 after moving north from London. Her interest
in the Northern Saints began as she followed Wilfrid's history to Hexham and
Ripon as well as Holy Island, during her training for ordination. Since then,
she has explored 'Celtic' spirituality and enjoyed reading about Aidan, Cuthbert
and Hilda and their contemporaries.
Gill is married to Stephen, who was born in Newcastle and lived in the vicarages
of St Aidan's Elswick and St Paul's Whitley Bay before the family moved to Ripon
Diocese in the 1960s. Their son Peter lives and works in Manchester; daughters
Kathleen in Leeds and Clare studying in York. Gill and Stephen are looking forward
with enthusiasm to getting to know everyone in the parish of Riding Mill and
beyond.
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