Andrew Caspari, Diocesan Secretary and Chief Operating Officer today shares a letter to the diocese as he announces that he will be leaving this role in November. Read it below, along with a message from Bishop Robert. 

Dear Friends

The Diocese in Europe is not just the biggest Diocese of the Church of England, it is remarkable in many other ways.  It is hugely diverse and vibrant. It is pioneering, it is growing.  We work on a model of sustainability at Chaplaincy and Diocesan level that is the envy of many across the Church.  The Diocese is served by clergy, at all levels, of great resilience and independence and by lay people who give generously in every possible way.  It is an honour to work here alongside a central team that is both uniquely small and uniquely dedicated.  Together we are moving forward in very many ways and refuse to be derailed by Covid, Brexit or economic crisis. We are both inspired and humbled by the faithful example of our community in Kyiv.

It is a privilege to work here and I hope I have made some meaningful contribution to the welfare of the Diocese.  I have reflected carefully in recent months about the right time to leave and I have decided to move on from my position as Diocesan Secretary and Chief Operating Officer in November 2025.  By then I will have been here for 7 years, and now is a good moment to hand over to a new senior leader.  We will have new staff in place or joining, a strategy will be with the Archbishops’ Council for discussions about funding and a new DBF chair will be in place.  We will also be back in the refurbished Tufton Street. 

Words like resign or retire are not in my vocabulary but change is good.  I am not retiring or leaving for a new job and will be very sad to move on but there are a number of new and exciting things I want to do, many of which are voluntary. I look forward to having time to pursue these.  There are a range of organisations inside and beyond the church that I hope to be able to help.  Many of you will know of my love of the arts, education and sport. 

As a Diocese we have lived through remarkable and challenging times together. The continuing emergence of a more secular and nationalistic continent adds to these.   The Church of England plays a key role shining light into the darkness and I am delighted that our chaplaincies do just that by creating rich and diverse communities of faith and care and telling the good news to all.  The diocesan operation exists only to support that endeavour and I believe we do it remarkably well with limited resources. I am proud to have been a small part of that.

There will be time to share thank yous and farewells in more detail in November but I do want to thank all the staff here in London and in Brussels and the Bishop’s Staff team for your amazing warmth, tolerance, hard work and support.  I also want to thank everyone in our chaplaincies across this amazing Diocese for what you do.  You are a very special and hugely dedicated group of people working through tough challenges with great good humour.  Thank you for listening to me so much and for doing so many necessary and tricky tasks that I have asked of you.

My particular and very special thanks at this point, though, are to Bishop Robert who is the most supportive leader and, if I may use the word, ‘boss’, anyone could wish for.  Seldom, if ever, have I met someone with such an infinite capacity for hard work and for confronting new issues or challenges whilst caring for the people of the Diocese at every level.  I am very lucky indeed, as is the whole Diocese.

For now, it is absolutely business as usual.  We have synods to run, a new strategy and funding bid to agree, new staff to recruit, finances to keep afloat, people to keep safe and maybe even a new office in Tufton Street to occupy.  It is going to be a busy and exciting 6 months. 

The recruitment agency Green Park is starting work immediately on the search for a new Diocesan Secretary. The details will be on their website and ours in the next couple of days. 

If you have any questions about any of this, do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

With my warmest good wishes for the continuing celebration of Easter

Andrew

Bishop Robert said: ‘We are enormously thankful for all that Andrew has contributed to our Diocese during his seven years in post. It has been a personal joy for me to work with such an able and talented colleague. I am grateful for the characteristic care that Andrew has given to arrangements for his departure and what comes afterwards. We wish him well in his remaining months with us over the summer.’

The process to recruit the new Diocesan Secretary has begun, and details can be found here