Rev Canon Professor Sarah Foot PhD, FRHistS, FSA was installed as Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, on 8 July 2023. Sarah was welcomed by representatives of various communities of the city and county, church, cathedral school, and University, including the Bishop of Oxford, the Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, the Lord Mayor of Oxford and the Vice Chancellor of Oxford University.
Introducing the new Dean to the congregation, the Venerable Jonathan Chaffey said "It is with an enormous sense of pleasure that we install Sarah as Dean. Her brief biography recounts the facts of her credentials for this position to her academic excellence, her leadership experience and her deep knowledge of Christ Church in both the lay and ordained capacity. We will shortly hear confirmation of her suitability for this position through the Letters Patent, the confirmation of governing body and the blessing of God through the Bishop of Oxford. What it does not reveal is her passion for every aspect of our Foundation, which is school, college and cathedral. Nor does it highlight her own sense of vocation to this ministry, the respect with which she is held within and far beyond the Foundation, and the love and courage with which she exercises her ministry."
In her sermon, which can be viewed online, Dean Sarah reflected on the rich history of the Foundation: "Mounting this pulpit, I feel at least as nervous as I did when delivering my very first sermon here. Then at the service of matins on a cold winter morning, the congregation was very small. Today I am immensely touched, and more than a little overwhelmed that so many of you have come to mark this occasion, or are watching online. I am indeed surrounded by a veritable cloud of witnesses. I know that you will all assist and support me in running with perseverance, the particular race that is set before me and keep my sight fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
"When I first preached, as now, I had history on my mind, and the weight of responsibility of being the first woman in an historic role. Then I reflected on a figure from the distant past, one whose role involves reading and teaching, praying, preaching, and ministering, as well as high level administration, the Mercian Princess Friðuswīþ, known in modern English as Frideswide.
"Having escaped and unwanted marriage, Frideswide established a religious community on or near this site. She led her congregation in worship, and the search for wisdom and understanding while running their affairs and their landed estates. As a new member of the prayerful community at the heart of Christ Church in 2007, I found it profoundly humbling to reflect that prayer had first been offered here by women and by lay women, some of whom, like me, had once known as something of the world of marriage, and a family life.
"Even more humbling is the thought that it is about 1,200 years since a woman was last in charge.
"Frideswide is just one of many figures from Christ Church's long past commemorated in this building and its cloister. People whose faithful prayer for witness to the gospel continue to serve as examples and models for us today.
"There have been periods in the past when the institution has gone through extremely difficult times. But it has always recovered and restored itself. Everyone here is aware that Christ Church is just emerging from a notably painful period. Many who care deeply about this place have found the events of recent years profoundly distressing. Yet we too shall recover and restore ourselves. The governance review presents us with exciting opportunities to fashion price structure fresh, preserving our unique status as both a college and cathedral under a different sort of leadership, and with some new internal structures. I'm proud and honored to play a part in this process.
"In his address to those who are about to be ordained Deacon, in this place last Saturday, the bishop spoke to the candidates of the weight of their cooling, he asserted, you cannot bear this in your own strength, but only by the grace and power of God. So he urged the congregation then to pray earnestly for the gift of the Holy Spirit. The weight of my calling to discharge is also too great for me to bear in my own strength. But I know that God works through human agents, and that he works here through you, this congregation, this community, this great cloud of witnesses. This is not about me. It is about all of us. It is together as a community that we will go forward and continue to build this house of Christ as a temple fit for God and for all his saints."
Photography courtesy of Ian Wallman. L to R: Before the service the Dean-Designate makes the necessary oaths and declarations in the Latin Chapel | The Dean’s gold cope is removed, and she is vested in the Whittingham cope | The Sub-Dean places the Dean in her stall | the former Sub-Dean, Fr Richard Peers, now Dean of Llandaff cathedral, pictured with the Dean of Oxford.
Biography of the Dean
The Revd Canon Professor Foot has been Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History since 2007. She was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge (BA, MA, PhD), served as a Lay Canon at Christ Church from 2007–2017, and as a Residentiary Canon since her ordination in 2017, after training for ordination at Ripon College Cuddesdon. She served as Censor Theologiae from 2021. Previously, Professor Foot was a Research Fellow then Fellow and Tutor at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge 1989–1993, then successively Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Professor of Early Medieval History at the University of Sheffield 1993–2007, where she was Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts 2005–2007. She served as Chair of the Board of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford 2011-2014.
She writes on women in religion, medieval monasticism, and the early history of the Church in England. She is currently working on a study of the life and work of the Venerable Bede. Professor Foot is the first woman to be appointed Dean, and the first Canon Professor to become Dean since the 1950s. She commissioned the introit, Nisi dominus, for the service, which marks a new chapter in the history of Christ Church.