Wulfstan Cross presented to Dick Johnson

Bishop Hugh has presented the Revd Dick Johnson with the Cross of St. Wulfstan. This award pays tribute to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the Church’s ministry in the Diocese of Worcester.

Dick has worked in the Diocese since 2006, most recently as Development Officer for the workplace chaplaincy ecumenical partnership Faith at Work in Worcestershire, as well as Lead Chaplain for West Mercia Police and Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service.

Dick was ordained in 1990, after working in Japan with CMS, and served his curacy in Southeast London. After three years in the Philippines, working in economic development programmes of the Philippine Independent Church, in 1997 he was appointed town centre Chaplain in Bexleyheath.

When Dick moved to the Diocese of Worcester, his role as Industrial Missioner included serving as chaplain to the Fire Service and to Qinetiq in Malvern, and recruiting, training and supporting volunteer workplace chaplains. He also served as Team Vicar in the Holy Trinity Team in Redditch and Chaplain to Redditch Town Centre. In 2017, Dick left the parish to work directly, part-time, for the Fire Service and West Mercia Police as their joint Lead Chaplain, as well as continuing with Faith at Work in Worcestershire.

Dick was Area Dean of Bromsgrove from 2008 to 2012 and has served on a number of diocesan boards and committees, including as a member of Diocesan Synod. He has also served nationally as a trustee of the Just Money Movement (previously called the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility), and as Chair of Trustees of the national association of industrial and workplace chaplains, Workplace Chaplaincy Mission UK.

Dick said, ‘It is an honour to join the fellowship of those who have been recipients of the Cross of St. Wulfstan, and one which I see as recognition of the ministry of all those who have been industrial and workplace chaplains in Worcestershire with me over these twenty years. It has been an amazing team to work with, and a great Diocese to be part of’.

Bishop Hugh said: “I was delighted to be able to award my first Wulfstan cross to Dick Johnson. Dick has been a great proponent of chaplaincy in this diocese and nationally and has been a Christian presence for those who might not otherwise encounter our faith. It is obvious that he has a strong commitment to being at the interface between the Church and the world and throughout his time in our diocese has ensured we continue to focus on those outside of our buildings as well as those inside.”

St. Wulfstan/ Wulstan lived c. 1008 - 1095. He served as Bishop of Worcester under the last two Saxon kings and the first two Norman kings. After the Norman Conquest he was responsible for the dismantling of the old Saxon cathedral and the building of a new one, of which the crypt is the main part still surviving today. He was at once venerated as a saint by the people of Worcester, though he was not formally canonized until 1203. Alongside the tomb of St. Oswald, his shrine was a place of pilgrimage until the Reformation.  Wulfstan found a special place in local people's affections. He took his pastoral duties very seriously, caring for the poor and preaching widely. He was famed for his healing and prophetic abilities. He even preached against the slave trade in Bristol, then part of his Diocese, and thankfully managed to end this practise for a long while.

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