King appoints Cambridge chaplain to Westminster Abbey

A Cambridge University assistant chaplain and welfare officer has been appointed by King Charles III as a canon of Westminster Abbey.

The Reverend Jennifer Adams-Massmann currently works at Peterhouse and will take up her new post in central London in the spring.

As canon steward, she will "take a leading role in overseeing and shaping the welcome and hospitality offered to the many worshippers, pilgrims, tourists and other visitors who come to the abbey".

Ms Adams-Massmann said leaving Peterhouse would be "a bittersweet goodbye to a community I've loved being a part of since 2019".

In a message to Peterhouse staff and students, she said: "Serving as chaplain and welfare officer has been an immense joy and honour and I'll treasure countless memories of our time together.

"Most of all, I've loved getting to know so many of you - students, staff and fellows - serving in this extraordinary 700-year-old community."

Announcing the appointment, Westminster Abbey said Ms Adams-Massmann would "also serve as archdeacon, with responsibility for the pastoral care of staff, volunteers, residents, worshippers and visitors".

The chaplain grew up in the United States and France and studied English and American Literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, before completing a Master of Divinity degree at Duke University.

Since her ordination in 2007, she has served in overseas chaplaincies, hospital chaplaincy, and college chaplaincy in both Cambridge and Princeton.

The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, said: "I am delighted to welcome Jennifer to the abbey as a priest, a member of chapter and a colleague.

"She will live in the precincts, and she will quickly help to shape the common life that is so important to us. Her ministry in Cambridge has been much admired."

Ms Adams-Massmann said she was "deeply honoured to be appointed".

"I am very much looking forward to nurturing the life of the abbey as a place of prayer and praise and to promoting the wellbeing of the whole abbey community," she said.

"Being able to live and work in such an extraordinary place and with such wonderful new colleagues will be a joy and delight."

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