He will succeed Lord Morris of Aberavon, who retires later this year, at the University of South Wales (USW).

Now Lord Williams of Oystermouth, he grew up in the Swansea Valley and was archbishop for 10 years until last December.

He said he felt “quiet pride” at the appointment and the new university was “a major force for positive change”.

Lord Williams, currently master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, said: “It gives me both personal pleasure and a sense of quiet pride to become the formal head of the University of South Wales.

“This is a vigorous academic community of many nations and beliefs brought together by a shared commitment to the transformation of lives through knowledge and education.

“I think people need to be told from very early on in their educational lives that it’s possible for them to think about a university education and I think if they’ve got a first-class institution on their doorstep that’s even more likely,” he added.

USW was formed by the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport, in April, and has more than 33,000 students and 3,500 staff.

Outgoing chancellor Lord Morris said Lord Williams was a “most distinguished person” and a “son of Glamorgan”.

He said the university’s main challenge was to “provide the kind of education required for the changing needs of today’s society”.

The appointment was announced at the Wales Office, where the minister Baroness Randerson said: “His drive and expertise will be a real boost for the university and I cannot think of anyone better to fulfil this role and take the university forward on its path to becoming recognised as a global presence in the higher education community.”

Lord Williams was given a life peerage after retiring as archbishop, and his title comes from the village of Oystermouth in Mumbles, near Swansea.

Born in 1950, he grew up in Ystradgynlais in the Swansea Valley and was educated at Swansea’s Dynefor grammar school before going on to Christ’s College, Cambridge.

He was granted the freedom of Swansea in 2010.

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Leadership Education at Duke Divinity, News & Ideas, June 18, 2013

The University of Manitoba has been chosen as the host site for the National Research Centre (NRC) on Residential Schools, which will house the permanent record of Canada’s Indian residential school system.The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) and the University of Manitoba will seal the partnership at a signing ceremony scheduled on Friday, June 21, in Winnipeg, said a press statement issued by the university.  The event will begin at 8 a.m. with sacred pipe and water ceremonies at the Migizii Agamik (Bald Eagle Lodge) at the Fort Garry campus, to be followed at 10:30 a.m. by the signing ceremony at the Engineering Information and Technology Complex Atrium.

The establishment of the NRC is in keeping with the mandate of the TRC, which was created as part of the revised 2007 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement involving the federal government, residential school survivors and churches that managed these schools. For more than 150 years, about 180,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were removed from their homes and sent to federally funded schools managed by Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian and United churches. There were students who suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse in these schools.

“The NRC will be a permanent resource to educate all Canadians on what happened within the residential schools,” said the TRC when it issued a call for submissions for hosting the NRC.  The NRC will “ensure that a national memory is preserved and recognized for future generations of all Canadians.”

Justice Murray Sinclair, TRC chair, added: “When the work of the commission is complete, we will ensure the whole world hears the truth about residential schools, so that generations to come—aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians alike—will hold to the statement that resonates with all of us: This must never happen again.”

As host, the University of Manitoba will work with the TRC to “preserve and archive millions of records,” including statements made by school survivors, documents, photographs and digital records from government and church archives, and other materials received by the commission in the course of its work.

In its statement, the University of Manitoba said it had submitted its proposal to host the NRC “in keeping with its deep commitment to human rights research and promotion and to ensure oral and written material collected by the TRC is respectfully preserved, helps contribute to the healing of our society and is accessible for use in teaching and research so the grave mistakes of the past are not repeated.”

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Anglican Journal News,  June 18, 2013

Nancy Hurn, General Synod archivist of the Anglican Church of Canada, is this year’s recipient of the Membership Recognition Award of the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA).

During the nomination process, Hurn was described as displaying “exceptional dedication…exemplifying the attributes this ACA award represents: personal commitment to the development of the profession, faithful integrity in archival practice, pushing the bar in terms of archival contribution to society, fostering support and appreciation of the records with our sponsoring institutions and research public.”

Hurn received the award in Winnipeg on June 14 at the ACA’s annual conference. It was presented by Nichole Vonk, General Council archivist of the United Church of Canada.

“This means a great deal to me, as it covers recognition for the work I have done over my career as well as during the past nine years with the Anglican church,” Hurn said. “I am dedicating this award to the survivors of the residential schools and the diocesan archivists.”

Of her chosen profession, Hurn added: “We are a humble but important group and I appreciate your interest in acknowledging this work.”

Over the past several years, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, has often publicly recognized that Hurn has worked tirelessly to make available the Anglican church’s photographic and written records of the residential school system. Before joining General Synod, she served as an archivist with both the Canadian National Exhibition and the City of Toronto.

Established in 1975, the Ottawa-based ACA was incorporated in 1978, after operating for a number of years as the Archives Section of the Canadian Historical Association. Today it represents more than 600 archivists across Canada.

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Anglican Journal News,  June 17, 2013

From the Church of England

Moving on in Ministry: RS Thomas poetry and the film Of Gods and Men guide priests through the S-curve of change

Priests working through the ‘S curve’ of change in their ministry should seek inspiration from 20^th Century poet and priest RS Thomas and the film Of Gods and Men, suggests the book Moving on in Ministry. Being launched this week at the Seventh Annual Faith in Research conference at Church House, London, the book comprises essays focusing on transition and change by respected authors in their fields*.

Realising that development can slow down then speed up in an ‘S’ shape , and can actually take place without moving to a new role, the book encourages priests to make  reflective and practical responses to moving on in ministry. It begins with an  essay by Tim Harle on the ‘S Curve’, to help priests identify where they are in the process of accommodating the change they are experiencing; and also to help them “live comfortably out of control”.

Mark Pryce uses the poetry metaphors for priesthood of RS Thomas to analyse change, looking particularly at the “self-in-relation to God” and the “mystery of God disclosed or hidden in others”; Thomas’s poem The Moor, for example, is quoted from: “There were no prayers said. But stillness of the heart’s passions – that was praise enough.”

Justin Lewis-Anthony then uses cinematic art via the films The Way, which depicts “the connection between parental bereavement and moving on”, and Of Gods and Men, to look at feelings of despondency; the latter tells the story of eight French Cistercian monks who live in a monastery in the remote Atlas mountains of Algeria.

Three essays analyse the results of research projects that listened to the voices of clergy. These projects focused on the changes associated with becoming a priest, beginning and incumbency, and with  changing career perceptions. Other essays study the challenges associated with the mixed-economy church, and unpack Scripture to attend to the themes of imagined identities, vocation and transition, and how they relate to mentoring and Ministerial Development Reviews.

Recommending Moving on in Ministry, the Rt Revd Steven Croft, Bishop of Sheffield, said: “Moving on in Ministry covers essential areas of transition and change for all clergy.”

The Ven Julian Hubbard, Director of the Archbishops’ Council’s Ministry Division, said: “This is a stimulating read for all those involved in the continuing development of the Church’s ministers.”

Moving On in Ministry: Discernment for Times of Transition and Change, edited by the National Continuing Ministry Development Adviser Tim Ling, is the latest in the Explorations series from Church House Publishing, which aims to stimulate debate and challenge the thinking and practice of the Church at large. It is available now (ISBN 978 0 7151 4329 2, £16.99) direct from the CHP website or from local Christian bookshops.

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Anglican Communion News Service,  June 17, 2013