The Reverend Canon Mary Gregory, Canon for Arts and Reconciliation
Mary is Canon for Arts and Reconciliation at Coventry Cathedral. In this new role, Mary is building on the Cathedral and diocese’s rich heritage of working for reconciliation, focusing especially on weaving this strand of ministry more closely with the Cathedral’s arts offering to develop creative mission opportunities.
Mary grew up in rural Leicestershire and Lincolnshire, before studying English at Birmingham University. After graduation, she worked in the Prison Service for ten years as a Prison Officer and, latterly, as a Prison Governor with responsibility for prisoners’ regimes. She was a member of a high-profile enquiry into incidents at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland, which was foundational in developing her interest in reconciliation.
Mary studied theology at Cranmer Hall in Durham. Her MA in Theological Research included an exploration of the Gospel and the arts, whilst her dissertation focused on the cultural appropriation of the holocaust at Auschwitz in post-war Poland.
She served her curacy and first incumbency in the Diocese of Sheffield, where she was also Assistant Diocesan Director of Ordinands and Dean of Women’s Ministry.
Mary then moved to become Team Rector for the Flagstaff Family of Churches, a group of six parishes in North-West Leicestershire, and Rural Mission Enabler for the Diocese of Leicester.
Mary is a serial-adopted of retired greyhounds, and a self-taught quilter. She loves walking holidays and has completed the Cleveland Way and Wainwright’s Coast-to-Coast. She has a particular passion for the rich potential of words, and for the role of beauty and the imagination in drawing us deeper into our encounters with God.