From a British-born apologist for Christianity to a founder of the gay-rights group Stonewall, and from a widely popular poet to Robert W. Radtke, who leads Episcopal Relief & Development, the 2023 Lambeth Awards highlight activists of various and sometimes conflicting perspectives.
Here are the 33 winners of this year’s awards, with excerpts from the official citations about each. Full citations, in alphabetical order, are available at the Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.
The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation
Peter is courageous in his readiness to stand up for right. He has built on this, working with Christian and Muslim colleagues and others to further cohesion. This includes various projects such as FACES (Faiths Against Children’s Sexual Exploitation).
Canon Linda Ali
The Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England
Since 2005, Canon Ali has been a member of the General Synod of the Church of England, serving as a member of the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC) between 2005 and 2015-16. Concurrently, she was actively involved in “Turning up the Volume,” a project that aimed to increase the number of minority ethnic clergy in senior positions, and as the CMEAC Diocesan Link Person for the Diocese of York.
Robin Baird-Smith
The Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship
Since 1968, when he joined Darton, Longman & Todd, Robin Baird-Smith has been one of the most significant and outstanding forces in religious publishing. … The recently published memoir by the politician Frank Field, Politics, Poverty, and Belief, … demonstrates the range of Robin Baird-Smith’s life as a religious publisher, as does his forthcoming list: a spiritual work by Rowan Williams, and a last work by Pope Benedict XVI.
George Barber
The Thomas Cranmer Award for Worship
George Barber was appointed as the Organist and Choirmaster at St. Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees in 1966 and has continued in the role to this day. … St. Peter’s Church is situated in a deprived area of the town and the choir has had a transformative effect on many children from the surrounding area.
Caroline Boddington
The Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England
Over 17 years Caroline transformed the process by which senior appointments were made — with a particular focus on ensuring greater diversity among candidates for senior roles. … Caroline has led the modernization of the processes that ensure that the recruitment for appointments to senior ecclesiastical office is fair and transparent — as well as grounded in prayer and guided by the Holy Spirit.
Dr. Paolo Cesare Coniglio, O.B.E.
The Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England
A prominent member of the Anglican community in Italy and a member of the Parish of Holy Cross, Palermo, Paolo Coniglio has been instrumental in the successful development and implementation of a strategy to achieve legal recognition of the Church of England’s churches and chaplaincies in Italy. This came to pass, after many years work, on 15 December 2021, when the Treaty between the Church of England in Italy and the Italian Republic came into force.
Ken Costa
The Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England
Ken served from 2014 to 2022 as the Chair of the Lambeth Trust, which supports the work and mission of present and former Archbishops of Canterbury. … As Chair of Alpha International, Church Warden of Holy Trinity Brompton, Chair of Worship Central and Dean of Leadership College London, he has consistently pointed people towards Jesus and inspired others to find their identity in Christ.
John Dean
The Alphege Award for Evangelism and Witness
Through his work with Scripture Union, John Dean has had a profound influence on a whole generation of Christian leaders. Starting in the Islamic context of Northern Nigeria, that influence extended all over English-speaking Africa before ultimately going global.
The Rev. Dr. John Deane
The Cross of St. Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion
As a leading thinker, John has shaped the vision of the Anglican Board of Mission (ABM) into a significant agency serving the global Church with partnerships throughout the Anglican Communion, and especially in Asia and the Pacific.
The Rev. Cortland Fransella
The Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England
Cortland Fransella has served two Archbishops of Canterbury and the palace community at Lambeth Palace since 2011, following his 40-year diplomatic career, coming initially to assist with correspondence and swiftly being noted by his colleagues for his ability to respond, on behalf of the Archbishop, to the whole variety of correspondents with unfailing courtesy, clarity, and pastoral sense.
The Rev. David R. Gould
The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation
In the West Midlands, the Rev. David Gould has formed and led the Faithful Friends interfaith group in Smethwick that brings together Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu representatives from across the borough. The group has pioneered a model of interfaith engagement based on visiting places of special spiritual significance which they call Faithful Friends on Tour. This has led to the group visiting key sites in the U.K., as well as Amritsar and Israel/Palestine.
The Rev. Dr. Malcolm Guite
The Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship
Guite recently was interviewed on The Living Church Podcast
Malcolm Guite is a well-known and widely admired poet whose sonnets in particular are a source of spiritual understanding. At a time when some may feel that Christian poetry is fading, he has helped to maintain the tradition of the priest-poet. … As an academic, he has taken as the focus of his research interests as the interface between theology and the arts, more specifically theology and literature, with special interests in British poets and in writers such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien.
The Rev. Raymond Hemingray
The Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England
Raymond Hemingray has devoted much of his professional life and retirement to the service of the Church, both as a lawyer and as a self-supporting priest. His particular gift and distinctive contribution [has] been the complete modernization of the reporting of ecclesiastical judgments. In the words of Professor Norman Doe, “He has, quite simply, revolutionized the practice and study of ecclesiastical law.”
Brother Christopher John, SSF
The Dunstan Award for Prayer and the Religious Life
Brother Christopher John is the Minister General of the Society of St. Francis. He has provided a lifetime of service through the Society of St. Francis. An irenic and careful leader, he is respected, very able, and intelligent. … He served in the chaplaincy to ACC-17 and the 2022 Lambeth Conference, leading international teams of members of different religious communities and providing pastoral support with grace and insight.
The Ven. Dr. Hirini Kaa
The Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship
His book Te Hahi Mihinare is a groundbreaking look at the birth, growth, struggles and ongoing life of the Maori Anglican Church — a first-of-its-kind look at the development of the Māori Anglican Church from the point of view of the Indigenous Māori Anglicans who were involved. The research is groundbreaking and provides never before seen insights into the struggle to establish the Māori Church and to appoint the first Māori Bishop.
The Rev. Canon John Kafwanka Kaoma
The Cross of St. Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion
The Rev. Canon John Kafwanka served as Principal of St. John’s Anglican Seminary, Kitwe, Zambia, before working for CMS as Regional Manager for Southern Africa, supporting churches and church leaders in Angola, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. Following that ministry in Zambia, John served at the Anglican Communion Office in London for some 14 years, 11 of these as director for mission.
Professor Amy-Jill Levine, Ph.D.
The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation
[Professor Amy-Jill Levine’s] work has been referenced in major reflections on Christian-Jewish relations, including the Church of England’s own 2019 God’s Unfailing Word. In 2020 she led an online teaching session for Church of England bishops. Her open, generous, and witty teaching style has gained her a hearing and influence across Christian traditions.
Clair Malik, Mother of Deaf in Egypt
The Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship
Deaf children in Egypt have traditionally faced serious obstacles when seeking an education because many come from poor families and rural areas far from the capital, Cairo. Clair Malik, an educator who founded and built the Egyptian diocese of the Episcopal Church’s Deaf Unit from scratch in 1982, said the school must work not only with deaf children, but also with their parents, many of whom come from poor and rural areas and are often uneducated. Almost half the teachers are deaf, while the rest are hearing. The students learn Egyptian Sign Language, Arabic and English and the school also teaches sign language to parents, families, and communities.
Lee Marshall
The Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England
Lee Marshall has worked tirelessly to promote and advocate for diversity and inclusion, both as chief of staff at the Church of England Pensions Board, and outside Church House as trustee, and often chair, of several charities over the past 35 years. This has included the Diversity Project Charity, promoting diversity and “putting inclusion into practice” through the investment world, the StandUp Foundation, an anti-bullying charity, and as cofounder of Stonewall.
Fiona Millican
The Cross of St. Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion
Keeping archbishops on the move, Fiona diligently researched, planned and delivered innumerable overseas trips, herself accompanying archbishops on several. Transforming and professionalizing the way that trips were prepared and administered — including an innovative way of briefing — Fiona ensured that time abroad was impactful. Archbishop Justin’s ambitious desire to visit every province of the Communion within 18 months was realized largely through Fiona’s work.
The Rev. Mark Yan Ying Sum Nam
The Langton Award for Community Service
The Rev. Mark Nam 甄英深 is one of the first British-born Chinese priests in the Church of England. During COVID, Mark founded The Teahouse network bringing together Chinese-heritage clergy. … The Teahouse has gone on to reflect this diversity by raising the profile and participation of Chinese-heritage clergy in the C of E, highlighting the unique concerns and issues facing the Chinese community in the U.K. and providing churches and community groups with the resources and training they need to respond.
The Rev. Canon Dr. Mark Oakley
The Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship
For nearly 30 years Mark Oakley has been a very popular speaker and writer on poetry and faith. He has toured Canada, Australia, the U.S.A., Europe and the U.K., ceaselessly and with enormous energy and skill, helping to build bridges between the Church and poets. Two Poets Laureate have praised his work. In 2010, the former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion wrote a poem dedicated to Oakley entitled “In Winter” and said of him: “It’s extremely unusual to meet anyone who isn’t a specialist who has such a subtle feeling for language as he does.”
Dr. Amy Orr-Ewing
The Alphege Award for Evangelism and Witness
Dr. Amy Orr-Ewing has been ministering as a full-time evangelist since 1998. In that time she has been used by God to enable many to turn and discover the beauty, goodness, and truth of the good news of Christ Jesus. She has done this particularly through apologetics, making the case for Christ and God’s ways for the world. Through her speaking and presenting, her writing and broadcasting, she has placed herself at the intersection of culture, theology, and the critical mind, advocating effectively for the truth of the faith.
Canon Elizabeth Paver
The Cross of St. Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion
Liz was first elected to the Church of England’s General Synod in 1991 and she continued to be re-elected as a lay member for the Diocese of Sheffield until her retirement from Synod in 2021. In 1999 she became one of the appointed members on the newly formed Archbishops’ Council, serving until 2002. … In 2009 she was elected as vice chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, serving until 2016.
The Rev. Andrew Piaso
The Langton Award for Community Service
For the last three decades, the Rev. Andrew Piaso, over and above his role as a priest, has been regarded by his Solomon Islander peers as the “dean of local Bible translators” in the country. He is very skilled in learning different languages — a skill which he has placed firmly at the service of the gospel and his community. … He was extensively involved [in] translation of the entire bible in languages apart from his own, the Anglican Prayer and Hymn Books, basic dictionary for local language speakers, and children’s literacy books.
Robert W. Radtke
The Cross of St. Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion
Read the announcement on ER&D’s website
Dr. Robert Radtke has played an outstanding role in building the capacity and effectiveness of the Anglican Communion in humanitarian relief, disaster resilience and sustainable development. As a thought leader in international development, Rob has shaped the vision of Episcopal Relief & Development into a major agency serving the global Church with partnerships throughout the Anglican Communion. The quality and professionalism of its work has provided a sector lead in faith initiatives, including in the fields of malaria, of early childhood development, of gender justice and of disaster resilience and response.
Margot Coleman Clotilde Riordan-Eva, M.A.
The Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England
For 13 years Margot has given outstanding service to Lambeth Palace as the Volunteer Calligrapher, producing works for the Palace without charge and frequently without reimbursement for materials or other expenses. 2023 will mark her 50 years as a calligrapher.
The Rev. Canon Terrie Robinson
The Cross of St. Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion
The Rev. Canon Terrie Robinson has left a remarkable legacy through her years of service at the Anglican Communion Office (ACO), latterly as Director for Women in Church and Society. Initially joining to support the ACO’s work in Unity, Faith, and Order with ecumenical and intra-Anglican dialogue, she then worked for many years facilitating the official Anglican Global Networks, helping these groups of committed individuals to become effective networks with governance and strategy.
The Rev. Canon Malcolm Rogers
The Lambeth Cross for Ecumenism
Malcolm Rogers’s interest in Russia began at school when, in an act of teenage rebellion, he decided to learn Russian. This has stood him in good stead for two periods of ministry in Russia in different but difficult times. In 1993, in the aftermath of the fall of the Iron Curtain and the opening up of Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe, Malcolm, accompanied by Alison, travelled to St. Petersburg as mission partners with the Church Mission Society. They lived and worked in the Orthodox Seminary there for two years, building up links with the Orthodox Church, as Christianity emerged from a period of suppression.
The Rev. Courtney Dale Sampson, M.A., Th.M.
The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation
As a former Provincial Executive Officer to the late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Courtney worked with dedication and passion in the anti- apartheid struggle. Courtney has made a mark in promoting the role of the church in bringing liberation, prophetic witness, justice, human rights, racial integration, religious and political tolerance.
Stephanie Taylor
The Cross of St. Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion
Stephanie Taylor arrived at the Anglican Communion Office as an experienced chartered librarian with a background in the charity sector. She knew the value and importance of that great Anglican maxim: that all things should be done “decently and in order.” Over eight years and in various roles, culminating in the newly formed position of director of administration and logistics, Stephanie provided outstanding support to the administrative and governance functions of the Anglican Communion. She leaves a legacy of a vastly improved archive of Anglican Communion documents and resources.
The Rev. Canon Huw Thomas, M.B.E.
The Cross of St. Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion
Canon Huw Thomas joined USPG [United Society Partners in the Gospel] in his 50s, having served in both the Church in Wales and the Church of England (latterly as Canon Treasurer of Liverpool). He went first to Addis Ababa, where his generous response to the plea by Sudanese refugees for support for establishing Anglican congregations in Gambella laid the foundations for tremendous church growth. Characteristic of his cultural sensitivity, he first obtained the blessing of the Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch for this mission. The region now forms a vibrant Diocese within the Province of Alexandria.
George Verwer
The Alphege Award for Evangelism and Witness
Born in New Jersey in 1938, George Verwer has spent his entire Christian life committed to the idea that everyone in the world needs to hear the gospel message at least once. … Operation Mobilisation (OM) began when George loaded up a truck with Christian literature and drove to Mexico with two friends. … In 2003 George stepped down as the director of OM, but he never slowed down. Known for his world-map jackets and handing out nearly one million free books — and writing 13 of his own — George remains personable and genuine in his interactions.
