The Rt Revd Dr John Saxbee writes:
JANE SINCLAIR died on 14 January, aged 64, having recently retired as Canon Steward of Westminster Abbey and Rector of St Margaret’s, Westminster. In the exercise of her considerable gifts, she made many positive contributions to the ministry and mission of the Church of England as theological educator, parish priest, archdeacon, and residentiary canon.
Born in London, Jane attended schools in Roehampton, New York, and Westonbirt School in Gloucester, before admission to St Hugh’s College, Oxford. She read for a theology degree, and represented the university at lacrosse. Graduating in 1978, she trained for ministry at St John’s, Nottingham, and served as deaconess at St Paul’s, Herne Hill, in Southwark diocese, from 1983.
Three years later, returning to St John’s College as Chaplain, she taught liturgy, contributing to the formation of a new generation of ordinands, including an increasing number of women. She herself was ordained deacon in 1987.
In 1993, she was appointed Precentor of Sheffield Cathedral, where she was ordained priest in 1994. Her creative approach to liturgy and worship had an influence in the parishes as well as the cathedral; she is fondly remembered as a positive role model for women clergy across the diocese.
Elected to General Synod in 1995, she chaired sessions with characteristic competence, calm, and courtesy. As a member of the Liturgical Commission, she played a particularly valuable part in revising the psalter for Common Worship alongside Professor John Barton, her erstwhile tutor. She sat on the Cathedral Fabric Commission for England from 2001.
Returning to parish ministry, Jane was Vicar of Rotherham Minster from 2003 to 2007 where her liturgical gifts, preaching, and civic profile left an indelible mark on church and community.
In 2007, I was fortunate enough to entice her to Lincolnshire as Archdeacon of Stow and Lindsey, based in Market Rasen. Together with the Rt Revd David Rossdale, Bishop of Grimsby, she had oversight of a remarkably diverse area with nigh on 300 churches, most of them Grade One listed. Pastoral reorganisation was afoot and a good deal of tact and diplomacy was required — qualities Jane had in abundance.
Ever sensitive to the pressures of rural ministry on clergy and lay leaders alike, she combined wisdom and insight with generosity of spirit — and an infectious sense of humour. At an induction service, a John Rutter piece was rendered by a somewhat under-rehearsed ad hoc choir. Seated in the chancel beside Bishop David, she whispered “I can’t believe it’s not Rutter!” He struggled to stifle his laughter with the congregation looking on.
In 2014, she was installed as Canon Steward of Westminster Abbey and, later, also Rector of St Margaret’s, close by. Both positions entailed a prominent public profile, and sometimes required rare tact to meet the demands of Abbey, Church and Parliament. The Dean of Westminster testifies to Jane’s “wonderful capacity for moving between very different encounters, with very different people, and treating everyone with the same attention and respect”.
Jane had many strings to her bow, including a passion for classical and choral music, the poems of George Mackay Brown, bird watching, and the Orkney Islands to which she returned year after year.
Her later years were blighted by severe illness, through all of which she showed remarkable resilience and courage, strengthened and sustained by Gillian, her partner, who, among so many mourners, misses her most.
It can be said of Jane, resourced by her robust faith and spirituality, that, however challenging, fractious, or complex a situation might be, she would always leave it better than she found it — a rare gift of grace, for which those privileged to count her as a colleague and friend will remain ever grateful.
