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Members of the Church Buildings Commission

The Church Buildings Commission team brings together a variety of experts in their field, church officers and those with a keen interest and care for historic buildings. There is an independent chair and a mix of members with an active faith and those with none.

Members of the Church Buildings Commission

Name Role
Laura McGillivray MBE (Chair) Pro Chancellor University of East Anglia, Board member Sainsbury Centre and Norwich Theatre. Formerly Chief Executive Norwich City Council with a background in local authority senior management and community based economic development
The Venerable Steven Betts Archdeacon of Norfolk for 10 years with around 300 churches, almost all of which are grade 1 or 2* listed, sits ex-officio on Norfolk Diocesan Advisory Committee. Instrumental in setting up Diocesan Churches Trust and now chairs the trustee body. Day by day contact with Churchwardens and clergy who see their buildings as both gift and burden and try to help and advise.
The Revd Peter Cook Rector of the Docking Benefice, Priest in Charge of Snettisham and Rural Dean of the Heacham and Rising Deanery.
The Revd Miriam Fife Rector of the Launditch & the upper Nar group benefice, comprising 19 medieval church buildings in 17 rural parishes situated in mid-west Norfolk. Miriam served for four years as assistant curate in the benefice before recently being appointed as Rector.
Margaret Henderson Churchwarden and PCC in the parish of Hempstead with Lessingham and Eccles in the coastal group of parishes. Previously deputy Principal at Paston College, school governor for twenty years, and member of the Parish Council for forty years, Chair but now on point of retiring. Member of the Church PC for several years. As numbers decline and individual members age I have become Churchwarden, Secretary, and Assistant Treasurer.
Professor Sandy Heslop Emeritus Professor of Visual Arts, medieval art and architecture UEA
Peter Goddard Retired as a partner from law firm Birketts in 2021, lead of the Social Housing Team for 15 years. Previously a member of the firm’s Management Board, also Board Member and Committee Chair of Hereward Housing Association and later Sanctuary Hereward. From 2009 to 2012 Chair of Norwich City Council’s Housing Improvement Board.
Helen Lunnon Museum and heritage professional specialising in learning and participation. Honorary Research Associate at UEA investigating medieval church art and architecture in East Anglia and the mutual influences of people, places, and things.
Ian Newton Churchwarden and PCC member, Field Dalling church near Holt. Previously a member St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocesan Board of Education
John Maddison Chair of Norfolk Churches Trust. Previously Victorian Society Northern Caseworker and then Architectural Adviser in London. Ten years with the National Trust as their Historic Buildings Representative for East Anglia based at Blickling and member of several Diocesan Advisory Committees. Also a trustee of the Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust. Recently involved with a Lottery Heritage Fund project to repair William Morris’s Oxfordshire home, Kelmscott Manor.
Helen Wilson New Anglia Culture Board, National Lottery Heritage Fund regional board member. Formerly BBC Radio 4’s controller.
Dr.Andrew Tullett Church Buildings Commission officer, Heritage and Learning Outreach Officer, Norfolk County Council.

Advisory members

Name Role
Claire Cullens Chief Executive Norfolk Community Foundation
Francesco Brusatin Architect specialising in church buildings
Jeremy Burton Norfolk association of local councils
Pofessor Paul Greenhalgh Director Zaha Hadid foundation
Steve Miller Director of Culture and Heritage, Norfolk County Council
Darren Barker MBE Managing Director of Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust, and the Heritage, Culture and Design Manager for Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

Diocesan Support

Name Role
Margaret Mallett Minutes and meetings
Julie Smith Diocesan Strategy
Nicholas Cannon Church Care and Development Manager (DAC Secretary)
Elizabeth Humphries Communications and press