New Honorary Canons

On 3rd May 2026 (5th Sunday of Easter) at Choral Evensong, 13 Honorary Canons, (including our Rector here at S. Paul's), were installed at Southwark Cathedral by The Bishop of Southwark, The Rt Revd Christopher Chessun. 

Honorary canonries are awarded to clergy in recognition of dedicated service to the Diocese. Honorary Canons are granted a stall in the Cathedral Quire and take part in the life of the Cathedral through membership of the College of Canons. The new Honorary Canons are Michael Joseph Bailey, Paul David Butler, Alun James Ford, Nilanka Keith Gunasekera, Melanie Louise Harrington-Haynes, lan Neil Luke-Macauley, Jonathan Edward Gordon Macy, Tracy Margaret Marlow, Elizabeth Ann Newman, Stanley Njoka, Gillian O’Neill, John Anthony Pritchard and Joshua Barnabas Rey. You can find the order of service here.

“Be diligent so to take your part with your brothers and sisters of the College of Canons in the Government of this holy place, that here the word of God may be faithfully preached and the sacraments duly administered; and in all things, so uphold the honour and dignity of our Cathedral and Collegiate Church that it may be a true Mother to the Churches of our Bishopric.”

Our Rector, now Canon Paul Butler said: 

“I was deeply touched and surprised to receive Bishop Christopher’s invitation, and I humbly accept the appointment in thanksgiving for being able to play my small part in the Missio Dei in the communities in which I have been privileged to serve as a priest. I celebrated thirty years of parish ministry in the Diocese of Southwark a few days ago, ten years at S. Dunstan, Bellingham, seven of which serving as Area Dean of East Lewisham, and now well into my twentieth year here at S. Paul’s, Deptford. I’m a feet on the ground kind of parish priest and theologian, with a heart for the poor, the marginal and the outsider, seeking the kingdom of God and its justice, rooted in the practices of the daily Office and Mass, part of the sacramental socialist tendency within anglo-catholicism, spiced with Franciscan and liberationist traditions. I have always had a strong commitment to anti-racism and anti-fascism. I will try to bring my experience and commitment to this new appointment as an Honorary Canon of Southwark. Pax et bonum.”