|
|
Recently retired as Anglican bishop of Chelmsford, John Perry served as chair of the House of Bishops’ Working Party that produced A Time to Heal (2000), the first report from the Church of England in more than forty years on its healing ministry. The report provides an overview of current practice, including pastoral contacts, personal ministries, and special services, as well as a framework for further development, which looks to cooperation with the National Health Service. Bishop Perry presents healing in the broadest context as central to the mission of the Church he has served since his ordination in 1959. Educated at the Mill Hill School, he received his licentiate in theology from the London College of Divinity and earned an M.Phil. at Westminster College, Oxford. He was the curate at Christ Church in Woking for three years, then vicar of St. Andrews in Chorleywood from 1962 to 1977 when he was appointed warden of Lee Abby in North Devon, an international and ecumenical community. Consecrated a bishop in 1989, he served for seven years as the Bishop of Southampton in the diocese of Winchester until named the Diocesan Bishop of Chelmsford, covering Essex and much of East London, in 1996. As well as being a member of the General Synod of the Church of England, he served for three years in the House of Lords. For many years, Bishop Perry chaired the Burrswood Christian Centre for Health Care and Ministry, the ecumenical Churches’ Council for Health and Healing, and the Church of England Committee for Ministry of and among the Deaf and Disabled. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Anglia Polytechnic University in conjunction with the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brentwood in recognition of their ecumenical partnership. In addition to publishing articles in various journals, he is the author of Effective Christian Leadership, which was published in 1983 by Hodder & Stoughton.
|
|
