The Revd. Anne Roberts has been appointed to the newly formed role of Palace Pastor. Based at the Bishop’s Palace, Anne will offer pastoral and spiritual care to visitors, volunteers and staff. She will move from Cumbria to take up the post. She will be joined by her husband, the Venerable Kevin Roberts, Archdeacon of Carlisle, who has been appointed to the role of Director of ReSource, a Wells-based charity working to support the growth of the Church nationally.
Anne and Kevin will live at the Bishop’s Palace. Anne’s role is the first appointment in the diocese to be made under the Bishops’ Mission Orders, a form of Church legislation. Bishops can use the order to endorse and provide recognition and oversight for new forms of Church ministry alongside more traditional roles.
The Revd. Anne says: “I am delighted to have been appointed to this exciting new role within the Diocese of Bath and Wells and to work at the historic Bishop’s Palace. I look forward to meeting with the great many different people who work and visit here. I am particularly excited by the opportunity to help look at how the site and gardens can be interpreted spiritually and to journey with others to uncover the qualities of the Bishop’s Palace that make it the unique place of Christian heritage it is today.”
Bishop Peter Hancock, says: “I’m thrilled to appoint Anne into the new role of Palace Pastor. Her passion and enthusiasm for sharing the Gospel with others is clear to all who meet her. She has a kind heart and a listening ear and will be a great addition to the Bishop’s Palace community. I look forward to welcoming both Anne and Kevin into the diocese when they arrive in the spring.”
Anne joins the diocese from North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust where she has worked as a full time Chaplain to a busy hospital in Carlisle since 2011. Her husband, the Venerable Kevin Roberts has been Archdeacon of Carlisle since 2009. Anne and Kevin have three grown up children, two of them married and now two young grandsons. Free time is most often spent visiting family, walking the dog or getting stuck into a good novel by the fire. They both love to travel and support the Church overseas. As a couple they sometimes lead retreats and Church Weekends and they both have a heart for Africa.