Penwortham's Sue Taylor retires from her job with Diocesan Bishop

The secretary of a Lancashire Bishop has retired after 15 years in the hot seat.
Sue Taylor in the grounds of Bishops HouseSue Taylor in the grounds of Bishops House
Sue Taylor in the grounds of Bishops House

Sue Taylor, who lives in Penwortham, arrived at the Diocesan Bishop’s House in Salesbury in August 2002 and since then has enjoyed a job full of variety.

In her role, Sue was responsible for everything from looking after the Bishop’s diary to making sure he was properly briefed on conferences and interviews.

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Looking back at some of the highlights of the job she said: “We had Aled Jones fronting an ecumenical service in a circus tent for Preston Guild in 2012 in the presence of the Archbishop of York.

Sue Taylor at work in the Bishops House officeSue Taylor at work in the Bishops House office
Sue Taylor at work in the Bishops House office

“Sadly, he was less happy with the reception he got when he mispronounced Avenham and was corrected loudly by 3,000 people!”

As a lifelong Preston North End fan, Sue also treasures meeting the legendary Sir Tom Finney on more than one occasion and was privileged to be churchwarden at his funeral in 2014. She said: “Sir Tom was an absolute gentleman, I only saw him play once, in the 1960s.”

Sue is a long-standing member of the congregation and a churchwarden at St George the Martyr in Preston city centre, having worked for the last 12 years with Rev. Canon Timothy Lipscomb.

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Her role is supporting the Diocesan Bishop, also known as the Bishop of Blackburn. Her first boss was Bishop Alan Chesters and since then she has successively worked for Bishop Nicholas Reade and now the current Bishop, Rt Rev. Julian Henderson.

Sue Taylor at work in the Bishops House officeSue Taylor at work in the Bishops House office
Sue Taylor at work in the Bishops House office

In addition, Sue has also worked with two Deans, five Archdeacons, four Suffragan Bishops, four Honorary Assistant Bishops and four Bishop’s Chaplains.

The mum-of-two and grandmother of five, who originally hails from Bamber Bridge, said: “It is a job of endless variety and satisfaction, with many moments of humour, and the chance to meet so many interesting people.

“It’s the sheer variety of the work – you never know what is going to come up from one day to the next.”

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Sue left a job at Marconi in Chorley behind to take on her secretarial role at the Diocese of Blackburn. She said: “I saw the job advertised and decided to apply. I didn’t think I would get it but I applied and was really delighted to get the job.”

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