Farewell to St Chad's: the Rector's Last Supper

This is my last Rector's Feast after eight years in this office. It's a time for farewells and above all, for saying thank you.

 

What I want to say comes from the heart. You've made me so welcome here in this wonderful college community. As Rector, I've wanted to be a good friend and champion of St Chad's in the University, the city, the church and beyond. It's been a huge privilege. But more than that, it's been enormous fun. As I often say, in this honorary role you get all the nice bits to do while the Principal, governors and staff bear the burden and the heart of the day. They deserve our recognition.

Jenny and I have loved being part of the College for almost the whole of our time in Durham, first as Visitor, then as Rector and, to my surprise when Joe Cassidy thrust a college hood over my head on his last College Day, as a Fellow. I'm so grateful that the green St Chad's hood means that I can continue to enjoy this precious relationship with St Chad's after today when I become superannuated.

Being a friend means sharing dark times as well as light. All of us who knew and loved Father Joe still miss his loss very keenly. It was Joe who invited me to become the College's first Rector. He gave everything he had to this college that he loved. He was to all of us an inspiration, a truly transformative leader who took the long view and worked incredibly hard to make it a reality. We could not have wished for a better successor in Dr Margaret Masson who prized the aims and values for which St Chad's has stood in recent times, but who has put her own imprint on them as we move into the future. I loved working with Joe and I've loved working with Margaret. I've loved working with their colleagues, both staff and governors, people of exceptional ability and calibre.

And I've loved getting to know students too. Sadly, not enough of you, and not as deeply as I'd have wanted, though I was always heartened to get many a cheery wave when we passed one another in the Bailey. This college has always emphasised the importance of being a good community that prizes friendship. I've always felt that I was among friends in this college, and that means more than I can say. Your excellence not only academically but also in the arts, sport, volunteering and promoting social justice in the wider community has been truly inspiring. Durham University is rightly proud of you. We all are.

I'd like to wish Dean Andrew Tremlett well as he follows me in this role. It's good to know that as my successor at Durham Cathedral, he now has his feet well installed under the table with so many exciting developments to celebrate, not least the completion of the cloister project Open Treasure which I hope you will visit when the treasures of St Cuthbert are installed in their final resting place next month. I hope Andrew enjoys being Rector of St Chad's as much as I have.

So I shall follow the fortunes of the College from across the hills, in the Tyne Valley where we now live. It goes without saying that we shall miss our regular trips to Durham. However, we shall be back from time to time, knowing that behind the green front door on the Bailey, there is warmth and friendship and the stimulus of good conversation and a generosity of spirit that has no equal in Durham. Thank you for all of it.

Finally, let me anticipate and congratulate you on the dazzling results I'm sure St Chad's will have achieved** in final exams this year. Indeed, congratulations on all the success you have enjoyed as members of this college. If you are coming back in October, or your work is keeping you here, have a very good summer. And if this summer is a time for farewells, well, you and I have that much in common. There's no denying that it's poignant to say goodbye. So go with my very best wishes and prayers for the future, wherever it will take you. You and I know that we shall always prize the fact that we belong to the St Chad's family.

 

This isn't the parting of friends, but an opportunity to discover how friendship enters a new dimension; not adieu but au revoir. Thank you again. God bless you. God bless St Chad's.

**Abundantly fulfilled when the results were published the following week, the best ever for St Chad's.

A New Cohort of Chadsians: Welcome!

First of all, I want to welcome you all tonight. Welcome to the UK if you are from overseas. Welcome to North East England if you are from another part of the country. Welcome to Durham, this precious little city with its wonderful cathedral that is loved by people across the world. 

And welcome to Durham University, so much a part of this ancient place, shaped by a long history of scholarship and learning in the city yet a hugely successful and forward-looking institution. You have done well to get into Durham: its standing among world universities has never been higher. You are among the privileged few and you will have had to beat off a lot of competition. So you're allowed to feel proud of yourselves. You have arrived. You are here, on the threshold of what may be the most important and formative time of your life. You are now Durham people.

And most of all, welcome to St Chad's. I'm proud to be the Rector of this college, and I want to say to you tonight that you could not have chosen a better Durham College. Chads is famous for its achievements academically, in sport, music, the arts, and for creating a wonderfully warm and generous community of students and staff. I hope you've already begun to feel that as you've been welcomed in the last few days. 

Perhaps you are wondering who our college is named after. St Chad was one of the Christian saints of seventh century England. He began his career up here in the North East where he was educated by the great St Aidan on Holy Island. He soon travelled across the country with the gospel he had given his life to, bearing witness to his faith in words and actions. He founded Lichfield Cathedral in Staffordshire, so if you are from the Midlands, then you'll feel especially at home at St Chads.

Not everyone in this college comes from a Christian background. We pride ourselves in being an inclusive college for people of every faith or of no faith. Whatever your beliefs, they will be honoured and respected. But it's good to debate and learn from one another. That's one of the primary values of this college: listening, reflecting, intellectual curiosity, being open to new insights. So is the awareness that life is about more than simply achievement or success - though I am sure you'll enjoy lots of that. I mean the softer values of being human: integrity, awareness, sensitivity, kindness, and a real passion for social justice in our community and in our world. All these things would have mattered to St Chad, I think. As our college motto puts it, it's not what we have but what we are that matters. Non vestra sed vos.

The Rector is the titular head of St Chad's (we are the only Durham College to have one, so there's a unique selling point already!). It's the Principal Dr Masson and her colleagues who lead the life of the College, and the Council that sets its direction. I'm simply an honorary senior member. But as a friend and champion of the college, I'm here to wish you all well from my heart as you set out on this great adventure. 

So let me end by assuring you that you will be in the best possible hands during your time at St Chads. Seize the day. Make the most of the opportunities you will have here. I hope you flourish here and enjoy every minute of your time in Durham. It will change your life - be sure of it. And when you leave (and how soon that time will come, believe me!), you will be ready as tomorrow's leaders to make a difference in a world that so much needs the gifts and expertise and skills you will bring. 

God bless you. 

The Rector's Address at St Chad's College Matriculation Ceremony, 2 October 2016