News: Reverend Jo Winn-Smith to be commissioned as Priest-Vicar

✨ Introducing Reverend Jo Winn-Smith 

We are delighted to be welcoming Reverend Jo Winn-Smith, who will be commissioned as Priest-Vicar and Minor Canon of the Cathedral at Choral Evensong on Sunday 25 January at 6pm.

Jo brings with her a rich and varied experience of ministry and church life. She spent the first 14 years of her career working for the National Church Institutions, serving in a number of roles including Private Secretary to the Chief Executive of the Church Commissioners, Deputy Secretary to the Dioceses Commission, and (Acting) Policy Adviser on Family and Married Life (a role she describes as “a bit like Bernard in Yes, Minister!”).

After the birth of her children, Jo returned to Surrey, where she grew up, and retrained as a psychotherapeutic counsellor. While teaching part-time on the Guildford Local Ministry Programme, she felt a growing call to ordained ministry herself and was ordained in 2019. Following her curacy, Jo was appointed Chaplain to Bishop Andrew, drawing on both her deep knowledge of the Church and her pastoral gifts. For the past three years, she has supported parishes in vacancy or during clergy absences, offering stability and care across the diocese.

Now, following an invitation from Dean Bob, Jo is delighted to make the Cathedral her main base for worship and ministry on Sundays and during the week. Jo says: “I was delighted to be invited by Dean Bob to serve the cathedral in a ministry capacity. I have hugely enjoyed the privilege of visiting different parishes on my Sundays in the last few years, and it has been a joy to discover how welcomed I have felt in joining in with the extended family of Christ in the diocese. However, I am looking forward to having a permanent base for a new season, and to getting to know and love the community of the cathedral and serving the wide range of people who pass through its doors.”

Please join us this evening at 6pm as we welcome Jo.

Added Friday 23rd January 2026