A special service was held on Sunday 19th January to dedicate a new High Steward’s Panel in Selby Abbey, following the appointment of Revd Rachel Benson DL as High Steward.
The glass panel in the Choir, bearing the Benson Family Coat of Arms, was designed and created by Sarah Brown and her team at York Glaziers' Trust, the Trust having recently completed the East Window restoration project at York Minster.
The Revd Rachel Benson follows in a distinguished line of former High Stewards, including Brigadier Kenneth Hargreaves, Margaret Hargreaves, Lady Martin Fitzalan Howard, Dame Ingrid Roscoe and Charlie Forbes Adam, in this ancient role which was revived in the 1970s. A former High Sheriff of North Yorkshire and a Deputy Lieutenant, Rachel is an ordained minister who has served mainly in the Harton Group of Parishes near Malton and has served as a volunteer chaplain at York Minster.
The choral evensong service in the Abbey was attended by the Bishop of Beverley, the Rt Revd Glyn Webster, the Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire Mrs Jo Ropner and former High Steward Charlie Forbes Adam amongst the congregation of Selby Abbey and Rachel’s supporters from further afield.
Pictured in front of the stained glass panel are The Revd Rachel Benson with the former Bishop of Liverpool, The Right Revd James Jones KBE, who gave the address and dedicated the panel.