The next President of the Association for Promoting Retreats (APR), will be the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev’d Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani.
Commenting on her appointment, Bishop Guli said: ‘I am delighted to accept this invitation to become the next President of the Association for Promoting Retreats. Retreat houses play an important role in the life of the Church and for many of us, in our own faith journeys. A variety of retreat houses across the country provide beautiful spaces for stepping aside from every day pressures, to rest, to pray and to be refreshed. I have witnessed first-hand how people in the Diocese of Chelmsford appreciate these opportunities at our House of Retreat at Pleshey, which is a gift within the life of our diocese and to those who visit from further afield. I look forward to working with colleagues at the APR as we continue to make known the opportunity for retreats in one of the 80 or so houses we work with. I also want to say how grateful I am to Bishop John Stroyan for his faithful service as President and Acting President of the APR over many years.’
APR Chair, Revd Cameron Butland said, ‘We are delighted that Bishop Guli has accepted our invitation to become our next President. We look forward to working closely with her in supporting retreat houses, retreat leaders and all those looking for space and peace in their lives’. Bishop Guli succeeds the Rt Rev’d John Stroyan, the former Bishop of Warwick (2005 – 2023) who has served as President and Acting President of the APR since 2017.
The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani has served as Bishop of Chelmsford since April 2021. Chelmsford is the second largest diocese in the Church of England in terms of population and serves the communities of Essex and East London. In January 2021, Bishop Guli was also appointed as the lead Bishop for Housing for the Church of England and she has served as a member of the Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords since November 2021.
Between 2017 and 2021, Bishop Guli served as the first Bishop of Loughborough in the Diocese of Leicester. As well as assisting the Bishop of Leicester across the Diocese, her specific responsibilities included overseeing and supporting the vocations of those called to lay and ordained ministries. Before she became Bishop of Loughborough, Bishop Guli led Curate training in the Diocese of Peterborough. Bishop Guli is currently Chair of the Board of the Church Army. She has written extensively, including three recent books, Cries for a Lost Homeland: Reflections on Jesus’ sayings from the cross, Stations of the Resurrection: Encounters with the risen Christ and Listening to the Music of the Soul.
Born in Iran, Guli’s family left the country in the wake of the Iranian Revolution in 1980, when she was 13 years old, and to date she has been unable to return. She is married to Lee, also a priest and they have three adult children.
