Memorial stone dedicated to Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith

The life and legacy of Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith was celebrated at a special Choral Evensong at Norwich Cathedral on Sunday 22 March.

Bishop Timothy served as Archdeacon of Norwich from 1973 to 1981, and then as Bishop of Thetford until his retirement in 1991, and during his lifetime he wrote more than 450 hymns. He became one of the Anglophone church’s best-known hymn writers of recent years.

During Sunday’s Evensong, Norwich Cathedral Choir sang one of Bishop Timothy’s most famous hymns - Tell out, my soul – as the Bishop of Norwich dedicated a memorial stone to Bishop Timothy in the Cathedral’s North Transept.

In his sermon, the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, said: “From his childhood in Buxton God carved Timothy out from the Derbyshire stone in which he was set and gave him life, with the name Jesus etched on Timothy’s heart and proclaimed with his lips. Now, as we dedicate a plaque to his memory, Timothy’s name is chiselled again into Derbyshire limestone, but God’s Holy Word echoes through his hymns to be written in our hearts. Those words go on challenging us to make God the “Lord of our lives” and “to live for Christ alone.”

The service was attended by Bishop Timothy’s family, including his son, The Revd James Dudley Smith, who read the first lesson (Jeremiah 31.27-37).

The second lesson (John 12.20-33) was read by Songs of Praise presenter Pam Rhodes who also introduced the hymn Name of all majesty which had been written by Bishop Timothy. Another of Bishop Timothy’s hymns, Lord, for the years, was also included in the service.

Bishop Timothy held a lifelong commitment to the church’s mission, serving latterly as president of the Evangelical Alliance. He died in Cambridge in August 2024.

Choral Evensong pictures by Bill Smith.

Picture of Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith supplied by the Dudley-Smith family.