One of the Church of England's most important men has been given a knighthood in the Queen's New Year's Honours List.
Former Secretary General of the Archbishops' Council and General Synod, William Fittall, will become a Sir for his services to the Church.
He stood down in November after 13 years in the post.
Mr. Fittall, 61, pictured above with the Second Church Estates Commissioner Caroline Spelman, took up the role of Secretary General in 2002 having previously worked in a number of senior posts in Whitehall.
Synod member Canon Jonathan Ford told Premier he had a busy time: "I am not surprised and I think it's richly deserved.
"He handled the transition from George Carey, through Rowan Williams and then out the other side, and those were dificult times really.
"He picked up a legacy of us being half way through the process of modernising some of the internal structures.
"Having seen the woman bishops programme getting completely derailed, he then got the whole process restarted and got it through the legislative process by the time the new archbishop was in place, so that's quite an achievement.
"He's done a fantastic job but this also raises the profile of the Church of England in terms of, we do recruit for his post from senior figures in the national Civil Service.
"Hopefully it will encourage Christians in the national Civil Service to aspire to this post."
At the time Mr Fittall announced his standing down the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said: "William has made a substantial and prodigious contribution to the work and life of the Church of England.
"For over a decade he has been unstinting in his efforts to ably lead the staff of the Council and professionally support the work of the Synod.
"He has been indefatigable in his service and I will personally miss him greatly."
Elsewhere Veteran actress Barbara Windsor has said she is "so very honoured, proud and extremely humbled" to be awarded a damehood in the New Year's Honours.
She is one of a host of stars of stage and screen to be recognised in the list, including fellow east Londoner turned Hollywood star Idris Elba, who said receiving an OBE made him "beyond proud".
Celebrated thespian Sian Phillips is also made a dame, while Imelda Staunton receives a CBE, and actors David Oyelowo and James Nesbitt get OBEs.
Sporting stars are also well represented, with a knighthood for champion jockey Tony McCoy, former motorsports star John Surtees and footballers Denis Law and Francis Lee receiving CBEs, and two-times Tour de France winner cyclist Chris Froome and snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan handed OBEs.
Sports commentator Sue Barker receives an OBE, while sports broadcaster Jacqui Oatley, who became the first female commentator on Match Of The Day, is awarded an MBE.
The New Year's Honour list 2016 sees a total of 1,196 people receive an award, more than three quarters of whom are recognised for outstanding work in their communities, either in a voluntary or paid capacity.
