The Archbishop of Canterbury is pleased to announce that he has appointed the Revd Canon Dr Richard Marsh to be Canon Residentiary and Director of the Education Centre at Canterbury Cathedral in succession to Canon Peter Brett. Canon Brett retires in February 2001.

Richard Marsh has been Principal Ecumenical Secretary to the Archbishop since 1995 and a member of the Archbishop's staff at Lambeth Palace since 1992. He will continue in post until he moves to Canterbury. Speaking today of his prospective move to Canterbury, Canon Marsh said:

"I am delighted to accept the Archbishop's invitation to be Residentiary Canon and Director of the Education Centre. I believe my international work with the Anglican Communion, the World Faiths Development Dialogue joint venture with the World Bank and my ecumenical experience will prove to be a most useful base from which to develop the Education Centre. The Archbishop has asked me to set aside a portion my time to assist him and I shall be happy so to do. I and my wife and family are looking forward eagerly to living in Canterbury."

Canon Marsh is an honorary Canon of Canterbury Cathedral and of Gibraltar Cathedral. He is married to Liz and they have two children, Phoebe 12, and Sebastian, 10. Biographies of Richard and Liz Marsh are attached.

The Revd Canon Dr. Richard Marsh

Archbishop's Secretary for Ecumenical Affairs

The Revd Canon Richard Marsh was born in 1960 and is holder of a degree in Theology from Oxford University and a PhD in English Literature from the University of Durham.

After leaving Oxford he worked in Australia where he met his wife Elizabeth.

Following Ordination in 1985, he served a curacy in Runcorn before moving to Durham University as Chaplain and Research Fellow at University College. While at Durham he served as the British Representative on the European Student Chaplains' Conference. He joined the staff of the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1992 as the Assistant Secretary for Ecumenical Affairs.

For many years he has retained a keen interest in the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christian traditions and travelled widely in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the South Pacific and the United States. His Grandfather, Wilfred Carter Marsh, was Archdeacon of North Dakota.

After joining the Archbishop's staff he bore responsibility primarily for relations between the Archbishop and the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches. This included being Anglican Co-Secretary of the International Commission of the Anglican Orthodox Theological Dialogue. He has also served as Co-Secretary of the Anglican /Oriental Orthodox Forum.

In 1995 he was asked to become the Archbishop's Secretary for Ecumenical Affairs and added membership of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission to his responsibilities.

In the last eight years issues to do with the relationship between faith traditions in the Balkans has been high on the Archbishop of Canterbury's agenda. Canon Marsh has been particularly concerned in the setting up of the inter-faith reconciliation project based in and around Sarajevo. Further, Canon Marsh acts as a Governor of the Anglican Centre in Rome.

He is a Canon of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Gibraltar and a Provincial Canon of Canterbury.

He is the author of Black Angels: The Art and Spirituality of Ethiopia (Lion 1998), and a contributor to Ink and Spirit (Canterbury, 2000)

More recently, he has been responsible, on the Archbishop of Canterbury's behalf, for the World Faiths Development Dialogue, which brings faith traditions from around the world into dialogue with the World Bank and other development actors on questions of international development.

He and his wife Elizabeth have two children Phoebe (12) and Sebastian (10).

Elizabeth Marsh

Elizabeth Marsh was born in Albury, New South Wales, Australia in 1961. After studying Music and Drama at Melbourne State College she came to England in 1984.

She has worked in local radio (Radio Merseyside) and in an administrative capacity in ICI.

In 1987 she moved to Durham with her husband where she studied for an MBA, specialising in Arts Administration. Subsequently she worked for Arts Marketing (Newcastle) Ltd.

After moving to London she became Marketing Manager for the religious division of the Cassell Publishing Group.

In 1997 she became Marketing Manager and Commissioning Editor for Tufton Books, a small religious publisher.

She is currently a commissioning editor at SPCK.

She and her husband Richard have two children Phoebe (12) and Sebastian (10).