Published on: 11/09/2026
The Reverend Canon Ian Parkinson, former Associate Archdeacon Transition-Enabler (AATE) in the Deaneries of Hallam and Ecclesfield, has received The Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England.
Ian, who was AATE in the Diocese of Sheffield from 2021-2024, was presented with the award by Archbishop Sarah Mullally in the Great Hall today at Lambeth Palace. 27 people were presented with a Lambeth Award, recognising their extraordinary contributions to the Church of England, the Anglican Communion and wider society. From promoting interfaith relations and reconciliation, to demonstrating a commitment to serving the Anglican Communion, the awards span five different categories: the Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England; the Cross of St Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion; the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation; the Langton Award for Community Service and the Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship.
Ian was recognised for ‘outstanding investment in the leadership of others, in the parish, through New Wine, through the Church Pastoral Aid Society and as a founding Associate Archdeacon in the Diocese of Sheffield’. Ian Parkinson exercised an exceptionally fruitful ordained ministry for over 40 years from 1983 until a severe stroke enforced his early retirement in 2024. His ministry has almost entirely been exercised in the northern Province, in the Dioceses of York (as curate and incumbent), in Chester (as incumbent) and in Sheffield (as Associate Archdeacon). The exception was his period of service with CPAS as a leadership specialist between 2016 and 2021. During this time, Ian was in high demand at Theological Education Institutions, teaching on leadership.
He was a regular visiting lecturer at Trinity Bristol, St Mellitus, St Mellitus NW, St Hild, and Ridley Hall. This work is in his book, Understanding Christian Leadership, published in 2020. The golden thread running through these four decades of ministry has been the development of the leadership of others; as a curate, he developed young leaders in youth groups; as an incumbent, he nurtured vocations to lay and ordained leadership; as associate archdeacon, he coached incumbents to be the best leaders they could be. And his ministry at CPAS meant that he influenced hundreds of ordinands at a critical formative moment in their own development.
The cover of Ian’s book features the footwashing of Jesus. The version of Christian leadership he espouses in the book is precisely our Lord’s servant leadership. What has made the book, and Ian’s ministry more generally, so utterly compelling has been the extent to which he exemplifies the servant leadership he expounds.
Archbishop Sarah said:
“The Lambeth Awards are an uplifting testament to the inspiring work being done across the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, by theologians and scholars, and by peacemakers and community advocates beyond the church. “It is such a privilege to meet some of these individuals who have gone above and beyond in their fields, responding to the call to show compassion to our neighbours in the pursuit of a more just world. Each recipient of an award demonstrates love in action, bringing healing and hope to communities. I thank all of them for their tireless work.”
Archbishop Sarah and Ian Parkinson (Photo credit: Neil Turner)