The Right Reverend

John Richards
Bishop of Ebbsfleet (PEV)
ProvinceProvince of Canterbury
In office1994 to 1998
SuccessorMichael Houghton
Orders
Ordination1959 (deacon)
1960 (priest)
Consecration29 April 1994
Personal details
Born(1933-10-04)4 October 1933
Reading, Berkshire, England
Died9 November 2003(2003-11-09) (aged 70)
Lewdown, Devon, England
NationalityBritish
DenominationAnglicanism
EducationReading School
Alma materSidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Ely Theological College

John Richards (4 October 1933 – 9 November 2003) was a British Anglican bishop. He was the first Bishop of Ebbsfleet from 1994 to 1998.

Early life and education

Richards was born on 4 October 1933. He was educated a two all-boys grammar schools: the Reading School and Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys in Leicester.[1] He read history and theology at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.[2] He did his National Service in the Royal Artillery, and was preparing for deployment to the Egypt until the Suez Crisis ended in between the time his kitbag was dispatched and his personnel flight was due to take off for Egypt.[1] He then trained for ordination at Ely Theological College, an Anglo-Catholic theological college, between 1957 and 1959.[3]

Ordained ministry

Richards was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1959 and as a priest in 1960.[3] His first post was a curacy at St Thomas' Exeter.[4] Following this he was the Rector of Cookbury then the Rural Dean of Holsworthy.[5] From 1974 until 1981, he was the Rector of Heavitree. He served as Archdeacon of Exeter from 1981 to 1994.[3]

Richards was consecrated bishop on 29 April 1994 at St Paul's Cathedral, by George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury.[6] From 1994 to 1998, he served as the first Bishop of Ebbsfleet.[7] Ebbsfleet is a provincial episcopal visitor in the Province of Canterbury for those who feel unable to accept the ordination of women. Richards himself was a classical Anglican, rather than a traditional Anglo-Catholic or a conservative evangelical.[1]

He died on 9 November 2003.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c "The Right Rev John Richards: Flying bishop who gave valuable pastoral care during the Church's crisis over the ordination of women". The Times. 14 November 2003. Retrieved 16 March 2022. Richards's personal tradition was that of classical Anglicanism and the best of the Tractarians. The Book of Common Prayer meant a great deal to him. Yet he very quickly became at home with the variety of worship he found in the parishes in his care. Many drew heavily on the Roman liturgy. A parish's style and needs in inner-city Birmingham, say, were not likely to be the same as those in rural Cornwall. A few of the parishes which looked to him came from the conservative Evangelical tradition. They were cared for equally.
  2. ^ “Who was Who” 1897-2007 London, A & C Black, 2007 ISBN 978-0-19-954087-7
  3. ^ a b c "John Richards". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  4. ^ Genuki
  5. ^ Crockfords(London, Church House 1995) ISBN 0-7151-8088-6
  6. ^ "picture caption". Church Times. No. 6847. 6 May 1994. p. 3. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 3 September 2020 – via UK Press Online archives.
  7. ^ "The Bishops of Ebbsfleet". See of Ebbsfleet. 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  8. ^ Thurmer, John (6 December 2003). "The Right Rev John Richards - Bishop of Ebbsfleet and the first of the 'flying bishops'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
Church of England titles Preceded byInaugural appointment Bishop of Ebbsfleet 1994 –1998 Succeeded byMichael Houghton


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