PRESS RELEASE : Appointment of Dean of Canterbury [11 October 2022]

Her Late Majesty The Queen approved the nomination of The Very Reverend Dr David Monteith, Dean of Leicester, for election as Dean of Canterbury, in succession to The Very Reverend Dr Robert Willis following his retirement.

Background

David grew up in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. He was educated at St John’s College, Durham, and trained for ministry at St John’s College, Nottingham. He served his title at All Saints’, Kings Heath, in the Diocese of Birmingham, and was ordained Priest in 1994.

In 1997, David was appointed Curate at St Martin-in-the-Fields, in the Diocese of London, and in 2000 he became Associate Vicar. From 2002, David served as Priest-in-Charge at Holy Trinity, Wimbledon, in the Diocese of Southwark, additionally serving as Area Dean of Merton from 2004.

In 2009, he was appointed Team Rector for Merton Priory Team Ministry and additionally went on to serve as Canon Chancellor of Leicester Cathedral. He took up his current role as Dean of Leicester in 2013. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws in 2016, from the University of Leicester, which acknowledges his role in the community including overseeing the re-interment of King Richard III in Leicester Cathedral in 2015.

As Dean of Leicester, David has chaired the St Philip’s Centre for Interfaith Dialogue and led and chaired the Bishop of Leicester’s Rural Commission. He currently chairs the Church of England College of Deans.

David shares his life in a Civil Partnership with David Hamilton, a palliative care and bereavement counsellor.