Published on: 01/07/2026
After a thorough appointment process the Bishop of Sheffield is pleased to announce the appointment of the Father Simon Fern as Priest in Charge of St Catherine of Siena, Richmond Road, and Oversight Minister in the A2 Mission Area.
Father Fern is currently the Curate of the Benefice of the Priory comprising Grimethorpe with Brierley, Ryhill and South Kirkby. His licensing is expected to take place in the Autumn, and he will be joined by his wife and her younger daughter next year as they seek to make the move into the benefice in the near future.
In the first instance, Father Fern will be based at St Matthew’s, Carver Street as part of a graft support to St Catherine’s which is currently being reroofed and refurbished. The congregation at St Catherine’s have mainly been worshipping at the Shrewsbury Hospital with Fr Richard Parker.
Father Fern is a fan of fantasy and science-fiction and particularly enjoys the works of H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, August Derleth and Lord Dunsany, as well as J. R. R. Tolkien. He enjoys painting and modelling small scale figures both as a way of relaxing and, when time allows, as a serious artistic pursuit. Musically, Father Fern enjoys heavy metal, having a love of classic artists such as Black Sabbath, Motōrhead, and Dio as well as more modern bands such as Bolt Thrower, Crypta, and The Hu. He also collects cacti, naming them all because, ‘They grow better with an identity…’
Father Fern said:
‘I am very much looking forward to serving as Priest-in-Charge of St Catherine of Siena, Richmond Road, and striving, as a part of the Church of God in Sheffield, to make Jesus Christ, the innermost depth of the Father’s goodness, who displayed in Himself the very goal for which we received the beginning of our existence, known to the people of Sheffield.’
Father Grant Naylor, Parish Priest of St Matthew’s Carver Street, said:
‘I’m really delighted by the appointment of Father Fern to this post. He comes highly commended from Leeds Diocese. St Catherine’s is a wonderful parish with great people. With the building works taking place and the investment in the parish, I believe, under God, it has a very bright future’.
