Revd Cake gets bigger slice of the action with new role

A hospital chaplain has been appointed as the new rector/priest at a key mission centre by the Scottish Episcopal Church.

The Revd Simon Cake has been based in West Cumbria for four years where he worked as a vicar.

As part of his pastoral role, Mr Cake was also lead chaplain at West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.

While working there, he assisted patients, staff and visitors at times of crisis, offering spiritual support to those most in need.

His role also saw Mr Cake bolster the work of the church as part of the Egremont and Haile team ministry.

Mr Cake, who was previously a curate in Jarrow in the Diocese of Durham. joined the ministry after previous service in the British Army.

A Church Army evangelist, he will take up a new post as rector/priest in charge and lead evangelist at the A7 Centre of Mission in the Diocese of Edinburgh

The centre of mission will bring together St Cuthbert’s in Hawick, St John’s in Selkirk and St Peter’s in Galashiels and hundreds are expected to attend Mr Cake’s last service in Egremont will be on February 10.

In a statement on the Scottish Episcopal Church website, Revd Cake said: “I am very much looking forward to this new opportunity and being part of the next step of these churches’ journey.

“The added bonus is that of coming to live in such a beautiful area of the country.

“Please can I ask for your prayers for the A7 Centre of Mission and all three churches as we step out together in faith to share God’s love to all we serve, and please also pray for my son Oliver and I as we prepare to move.”

In a statement, the Scottish Episcopal Church, Diocese of Edinburgh, said: “We are delighted to announce the forthcoming launch of a new mission initiative in the Scottish Borders. In early spring the three Episcopal Churches of St Cuthbert’s Hawick, St John’s Selkirk and St Peter’s Galashiels will work together to create a new Centre of Mission under the leadership of the Revd Simon Cake and with the support of the Church Army and the Diocese. Simon is an ordained Church Army Evangelist and is joining us in Scotland from the Egremont and Haile Team Ministry in the Diocese of Carlisle.”

The church, formerly headed by Bishop Richard Holloway, is one of those experiencing growth in Scotland, and Episcopalians have been involved in chaplaincy work in universities, colleges, hospitals, hospices and places of work.

Members and clergy have also supported people with Aids across Scotland from the 1980s, supporting a number of charities and doing outreach work.

The Diocese of Edinburgh played a pioneering role in women’s ministry with the first deaconess ordained in 1978, Pam Skelton, the first priests in 1994 and the first female Dean, Susan Macdonald, appointed in 2012.