On 1st May 2006 Bishop Clive appointed two new Archdeacons to relieve Ian Young the chaplain in Doha as he raises the money for the church building project in Qatar. Ian remains as Archdeacon Emeritus.

The two new Archdeacons are Steve Collis the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral Nicosia who becomes the Archdeacon in Cyprus, and our own Dean Alan who becomes the Archdeacon in the Gulf.

In the Anglican Church Archdeacons have sometimes been described as the ‘eyes and ears of the Bishop.’ Another description is ‘the Bishop’s fist.’ Whichever is correct the role of the Archdeacon is to officially represent the Bishop in and around the diocese with particular reference to the care of the clergy and their families and to ensure that parishes are functioning efficiently and in good order.

This will inevitably mean more work for the Dean with the occasional visits to other chaplaincies in the Gulf and to the Diocesan Office in Nicosia. But the Dean has given an undertaking that St Christopher’s Cathedral and Bahrain is his first priority. The other question that arose is ‘What do we call you now? How should we address the Archdeacon?’ The official title for an Archdeacon in ‘the Venerable’. The Dean has instructed that in Bahrain he continues as before. So it’s as you were – ‘anything as long as it is polite!‘