On Saturday 31 January 2026 eight people were made honorary canons and three candidates were admitted to the Order of St Frideswide during Evensong at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford.
Each person was recognised for the distinguished service to the church and the mission of God in the diocese of Oxford.
Congratulations to The Revd Andrew Blyth, Dr Annie Cooper, The Revd Jon Salmon, The Revd Keith Dunnett, The Revd Margreet Armitstead, The Revd Margaret Dixon, The Revd Peter Day, Dr Peter Foot, Mr Richard Ashfield, The Revd Sami Watts, Ms Sue Powell.
Bishop Steven said: “These are all people who have served faithfully for many years, sometimes in quite challenging situations. They are people who go above and beyond and have had big impacts on the communities they serve. It is very good to be able to recognise their ministry in this way."
The awards recognise the dedication of lay and ordained people to the Diocese of Oxford and the wider church across a variety of areas of ministry and mission.
The Order of St Frideswide is named after the patron saint of Oxford. Founded in 2001, by the then Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Richard Harries, it admits just a small number of people each year. Honorary Canons become part of the Cathedral’s College of Canons, playing an important role and bringing experience and wisdom to promote the life and mission of the Cathedral.
View the photos from this year’s service on Facebook.
Meet the Canons and award recipients
The Revd Andrew Blyth
Returning to the Diocese of Oxford for the Revd Andrew Blyth also means he has been invited to return to the honorary canonry.
Andrew first served in the diocese as vicar at Holy Trinity in Aylesbury for 12 years, and as Area Dean for eight of those years. He served on Bishop’s Council for a number of years and stepped up as Acting Archdeacon of Buckingham for a time to cover a vacancy. He was active in many different groups and committees including taking part in arrangements for diocesan activities to celebrate the London Olympics in 2012.
In 2017, Andrew left the diocese to lead Trinity Church in Cheltenham, and in doing so left his role as honorary canon. Now, as he has returned to become our Director of Mission and Ministry, happily Andrew has been invited to rejoin the canonry.
Andrew said: “There are two things I think are special about it. One is that hopefully as a senior clergy person, there is a sense that you might have some experience to offer to others. And secondly, the sense of connecting between cathedral and diocese, and across the diocese.
“It is very much a personal honour as well. It is lovely to be appreciated as someone who has done some things of value and might have a bit of wisdom to share. It is a real honour to be able to take up the role again.”
Dr Annie Cooper
A desire to share with her young children the faith she knew, led Dr Annie Cooper to almost a lifetime of support for the church.
It began, as these things do, with a spot on the Parochial Church Council, and grew into service on a number of deanery and diocesan committees.
She said: “Every time him upstairs gave me a job, He moved on and gave me another one.”
Annie has been part of the Mursley Deanery Synod for many years, serving as lay chair until 2007 and for a second term since 2023. This service is all the more admirable, against the backdrop of several serious family illnesses which Annie and her husband have had to negotiate in recent years. In addition to this, Annie has been an LLM in the Cottesloe Team, which comprises 7 parishes, 8 churches, north of Aylesbury since 2014. One role which was particularly important to Annie was her time as a prison librarian, something she did for 14 years.
Annie completed nine years on Diocesan Synod and was part of the Department of Mission Board in the Bucks area from 2009-2010 and then for the diocese from 2010-2013. She was vocations advisor for Buckinghamshire for 15 years and for many years supported this work as Bishop’s Selector for the Bishop’s Advisory Panels.
On hearing of her nomination to join the Order of St Frideswide, Annie said: “Recognition has never been important to me. I did all that work because it was important to me and I felt called to it. It is lovely to know that somebody noticed!”
The Revd Jon Salmon
Hong Kongers were first welcomed to Trinity Church, a local ecumenical partnership in Lower Earley, when their regular meeting place was double-booked pre-Christmas 2021. This chance offering of a new venue has grown into a worshipping community and ministry of around 500 Hong Kongers. Trinity has become a Diocesan resourcing hub with several Hong Kong church plants planned.
At the centre of this welcome is the Revd Jon Salmon who has worked with the Hong Kongers to try and ensure they feel welcomed, valued, and with a sense of belonging.
He said: “When they arrived, it was amazing how they felt very much at home spiritually. Nothing to do with us other than the fact that we were welcoming and said, ‘come in, let's talk, let's pray together, let's see what happens. And it’s been amazing how Trinity has embraced this, which has been significant in the life of a small local church but as an ecumenical partnership I can see why God brought us together.”
“In my heart it's not about structures, it's not about making the Hong Kongers Anglicans. It's about building relationships, building trust, encouraging a sense of belonging, building unity, building one church so we can influence and impact our neighbourhood through a stronger little bit of the Kingdom that's possible because of the Hong Kongers.”
Jon’s work as Vicar at Trinity includes the development of the Hong Kong ministry and sits alongside involvement with the Reading-wide prayer network Transform Reading, and the Torch Help Hub which provides support to those who fall through the gaps left by other service providers.
On the news he was to be made an honorary canon, Jon said: “It means a lot, for sure. I don’t feel worthy of it. The last few years I put down to God, guiding and leading and I’m extremely grateful for the willingness and wisdom of the folk around me.”
The Revd Keith Dunnett
When Keith came to faith at the age of 18 in Ipswich at a Billy Graham event, he had no idea where that decision would take him.
Keith spent the first part of his career as a water engineer based in Cambridge but after 11 years he began training at Trinity College in Bristol to be a vicar. At 34 he was ordained and moved to Felixstowe in Suffolk for his curacy.
Keith said: “The reason I'm a vicar is because God's love was revealed in Jesus and he gave his life for us. So, my main motivation is serving God, wherever I am called.”
After his curacy Keith moved to Bradford in Yorkshire for his next role as a vicar. His most recent move brought him to the Diocese of Oxford in 2011 to be Associate Vicar at Christ Church in Abingdon – Dorchester’s largest church. There he led a church plant in Long Furlong until he became the Vicar of Christ Church in 2018.
Under Keith's leadership the church has four congregations and 29 home groups, with a total of 600 adult members. He has been passionate about evangelism and encouraging people to live faithful to Jesus in their everyday lives. The church meets the needs of local communities through foodbanks, schools work, children and older people ministries, and a cafe. More recently, Keith has dedicated some of his time to training curates and investing in the next generation of church leaders.
“I’ve had loads of fun in my ministry. There’s so much going on with hundreds of people coming through the church building each week. The church runs on everyone being involved, it’s about God’s people doing mission and ministry together.
On receiving news of being nominated he said: “It’s a real honour to be given this. But it's not about what I do, it's what we do as a church together. I want my church members to feel this is also affirmation for them of serving God with the gospel.
The Revd Margaret Dixon
Serving her peers as well as the parish in which she ministers is at the heart of the Revd Margaret Dixon’s work.
Currently the vicar of North Leigh, and Community Link Worker at North Leigh School, Margaret has also served as Area Dean for the past four years and as Associate Area Dean for a few years before that.
She says: “Sometimes it can be quite a lonely role being clergy, especially if we do not have other priestly colleagues in our own ministry teams, and then who do you go to, to ask for support? That’s where the Area Dean role comes into its own in that it's someone you can go to who you can listen, give advice, information with help and support or to help cover services when their own vicar is poorly or on annual leave.”
Alongside this, Margaret has been a great supporter of our Care for Creation work, serving on the Diocesan Environment Task Group for several years. She has also recently returned from a sabbatical looking at outdoor worship, subsequently supporting a few schools and church groups in developing this area alongside their existing congregations
On hearing she will join the honorary canons, Margaret said: “It was a real, pleasant surprise which came completely out of the blue.
“It’s a real boost to know people acknowledge the work that you're doing, which presumably, they consider to be slightly above and beyond the normal role of being a vicar. It’s lovely to know people have appreciated the support I’ve given them.”
The Revd Margreet Armitstead
A desire to work alongside the people in the community of Littlemore, has seen the Revd Margreet Armitstead transform the church and its people.
Margreet joined the parish as curate 22 years ago and has been there ever since. Among the projects she has established are a mental health group and a Christmas Day lunch event which has run for the past 22 years.
Margreet added: “We also realised the need to transform the church building to become a warm welcoming space that is now used all through the week, including for the arts. This building project was an intense journey of faith for the whole church and showed us that with God unexpected things still happen”
Following a transformational Ignatian 30-day retreat during her first sabbatical, Margreet trained as a spiritual director and has been involved in spiritual development ever since. She runs an interfaith Scriptural Reasoning group with people from the city and her parish and she works with the inspiring Dialogue Society.
On being invited to become an honorary canon, Margreet said: “It's been hugely rewarding to work with the people here in the community and in the Diocese. I was surprised and honoured to be asked to become an honorary canon of the cathedral.”
The Revd Dr Peter Day
Dozens of curates have been supported by the Revd Peter Day through his work with the diocese in their initial ministerial education.
Peter, who serves as Vicar of Christ Church in Reading, has been an assessor for this training for many years, giving feedback on curates’ portfolios and is also part of the steering committee which advises on the training. Peter has a PhD in Theology, and is a former RE teacher and university lecturer, and the desire to teach and mentor is still very much within him.
He said: “That’s why I feel the call to help curates, vicariously, not directly but even so it is still part of the process.”
As well as being an Associate Area Dean for Reading, Peter coordinates deliverance ministry for the Diocese working alongside the Ven Stephen Pullin, Archdeacon for Berkshire, Peter has helped implement a training and safeguarding framework to support those seeking this ministry.
On joining the honorary canons in the diocese, he said: “I was very touched to hear I’m going to be a canon, but I don't intend to change anything I do. I'm just going to carry on doing what I do as ever, being a theological educator, however that manifests itself now, but also just being the best parish priest that I can be.”
Dr Peter Foot
Sharing regular prayer across the Deanery he serves is the way Dr Peter Foot seeks to put prayer at the centre of his life. He heads up a weekly prayer group in his deanery, bringing Christians together in fellowship to pray.
Peter explained: “There is always a certain amount of scepticism in many dioceses about what is a deanery actually for? And my thought was, if we make prayer the central business of the deanery, then the question disappears.
“We have six benefices, parishes and so on in our deanery. So every week we pray for one of them, and we pray by name, the wardens, the treasurers, the incumbent, the LLMs and PTOs. Anyone who is carrying a load or in some way serving that particular church or parish knows that they are being prayed for as a regular thing.” Far from being just parochial, prayers are also offered linking the deanery to the Area, Diocese, national church, Anglican Communion, and churches and believers everywhere.
Peter has been a faithful supporter of the diocese, as lay chair of the Vale of White Horse Deanery Synod since 2017, serving on Diocesan Synod since 2018 and as Bishop’s Reviewer for the Dorchester area since 2021. He is an Anglican member of Oxfordshire’s Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education. Most recently he has joined the Oxford Diocesan Committee for Interfaith Relations.
On hearing he will be admitted to the Order of St Frideswide, he said: “I feel immensely privileged to be asked, and not least because of the people who are already on the list. Quite a few of them I know and the idea that I should in some way be sitting alongside them, I find humbling.”
Mr Richard Ashfield
Providing a safe space for people to experiencing Jesus through generous hospitality, compassion, and care is at the core of Richard Ashfield’s ministry as Verger of Reading Minster.
Richard started as a voluntary verger in 2005. With a background as a builder and carpenter he was the right person to be looking after the fabric of the building. However, Richard brought more than his knowledge and skills, he understood how the building could support the ministry needs of the community. Over the years the role grew, he took on the full-time job in 2014. Ever since, Richard has been an integral part of developing how the building can be used. His highlights include Sanctuary, where the church is open Friday and Saturday nights to help those in need who are part of the nighttime economy, and the first Pride Service hosted in Reading Minster in 2018.
On hearing of his nomination Richard said: “I am gobsmacked and blown away about receiving the award. 30 years ago I wouldn't have believed it if someone told me I would have been made an honorary canon. My four children are all so proud of me.
"I always wanted to help people and I get to do that through my work. No one day is the same and there’s always a challenge to work through. To be a canon in Christ Church is very special to me. I'm not a theologian, but I feel this is what God has called me to do: to be Christ-like, inclusive, caring, and compassionate.”
The Revd Sami Watts
For Revd Sami Watts, faith has come full circle as she volunteers for the teens holiday camp which first saw her come to faith. Sami has been supporting 14-18-year-olds to take part in the CPAS Ventures holidays at Danehill ever since she herself answered God’s call when she was 14.
Alongside that work, Sami has been a school chaplain for the past seven years at St George’s School in Ascot. Sami’s passion for ministry to young people comes from a desire to show them a different way, God’s way.
Sami explained: “I think young people, perhaps even more than ever, are being given such a toxic narrative of what life is like and what life is about. I think you need hope and meaning and purpose and a sense of being loved and grace and all of those things that God offers us through Christ.”
Sami’s work sees these young people explore and grow in their faith which is something she also looks at in her parish role in Marlow. Her mentoring and support for leaders at CPAS has supported many young people putting their faith into action.
On becoming an honorary canon, Sami said: “It came completely out of the blue.
“It’s a mix of emotions as it doesn't quite go with the Christian virtue of humility and seeking to serve. Jesus didn't look for those kind of honours, did he? But on the other hand, it is really nice to feel like somebody's noticed what I'm doing.”
Ms Sue Powell
Twenty years ago, the then Archdeacon of Buckingham asked for Sue Powell’s help to identify all the clergy widows in the county. Sue has been supporting them ever since having established a Widows’ Association.
In 2006, Sue found 35 widows and one widower and spent the summer visiting them all. She found widows who, having supported their husbands in their parish work, were now facing financial hardship.
She explained: “I was made very welcome, but came away saddened that many struggled with financial issues especially when heating or equipment broke down. I fed back their needs to the Bucks Archdeacon’s Trust so that Trustees could respond with financial grants.”
Sue began to build a team of visitors to help her reach all areas of the county and established an annual event, now a lunch date, where visitors and widows can meet with the Bishop of Buckingham.
On hearing the news she was to be admitted to the Order of St Frideswide, Sue said: “I was astonished to be given this award as I believe it is an important Christian duty to recognise the work carried out by clergy wives, and I hope this endorsement will ensure the continued support of the Oxford Diocese.”