‘A comma, not a full stop’

It’s a job he nearly didn’t apply for, but as he prepares to retire after more than a decade leading Brecon Cathedral, Dr Paul Shackerley is clear about what he is leaving behind – and what lies ahead for both of them.

“This isn’t a full stop on a page,” he said, “it’s a comma. There’s something else going to happen.”

For the cathedral, that something else is a major restoration project combining repair of the historic fabric with new ways for people to use and experience the building. Work has already started on a new west entrance, which will make the building fully accessible for the first time in its 1,000-year history – an ambition that dates back to his first days in the job.

“When I first came here, I said it’s great that we are the only walled cathedral in Wales, but walls keep people out, and they can keep Christians in, and that’s not healthy. So I said I would like to see the cathedral walls a bit more porous, making it easy for the outside world to come in and just experience the building.”

That was 2014, when he returned to Wales after decades away, first in the Royal Army Medical Corps and later as canon residentiary and vice-dean of Sheffield Cathedral and vicar of Doncaster Minster.

“I nearly didn’t apply,” he said, “because I thought Brecon was sleepy, rural Wales. I’ve always lived and worked in cities and large market towns and tough council estates. But I remember the first night I arrived from Doncaster, walking into the garden. I was just so amazed when I saw the sky. I hadn’t seen stars for years. And I slept like I’d never slept before.”

That belief in equal access runs deeper than architecture – Paul’s own path to ordination was anything but straightforward.

Paul grew up in poverty in Tredegar, left school without qualifications, and when he first approached the Church of England about ordination training, the answer was no. He did a theology diploma and went back. The answer was still no – now he was too shy – but his bishop saw his potential and put him forward.

“I grew up in poverty in the Valleys and I knew its impact on my life,” he said. “I think the motivation is coming from that place of poverty and vulnerability.” It drove everything that followed – including a PhD examining poverty, homelessness and drug addiction.

He also spent six years chairing the provincial discernment panel, where his own experience of the process shaped how he approached the role. “I always looked for the potential in people. Could they be shaped by the Church?”

His faith, he said, had changed over the decades. Where it had once been personal, it had become something shared. “My faith is only faith if I’m in community, in worship with other Christians. It is our faith and not my faith anymore.”

When he was ill with cancer 18 months ago, he still went to church each Sunday. “I wanted to receive the sacrament and pray and to worship. And it gave the people of God the opportunity to look after me. Priests have to show something of their vulnerability and weakness, to give others the opportunity to share their gift. By allowing that, it gave them a sense of their vocation for compassion and kindness. Faith is reciprocal.”

The heritage project is in good hands, he said, with a skilled team already driving it forward. Whoever comes next will need to embrace it – but the greater challenge, as always, will be mission.

He will miss the worship and he will miss the team – the laughter, the culture built around shared values, the people who, he said, work beyond what is asked of them. The cathedral, meanwhile, has a busy year ahead with a growing programme of events and the new west entrance which is due to be completed later this year.

“It’s a thin place – where the divine and the human meet. If people just come into the building, the building will speak for itself. It’s not a building for taxidermists. Taxidermists are not welcome.”

His final service will be Choral Evensong on Sunday 26 April at 3.30pm, with a reception after the service.