Alan Smith (bishop)
| The Right Reverend Alan Smith |
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|---|---|
| Bishop of St Albans | |
Smith in August 2011
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| Diocese | Diocese of St Albans |
| Installed | 2009 |
| Predecessor | Christopher Herbert |
| Other posts | area Bishop of Shrewsbury (2001–2009) Archdeacon of Stoke (1997–2001) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1981 |
| Consecration | 2001 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 February 1957 |
| Nationality | British |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Residence | Abbey Gate House, St Albans |
| Alma mater | University of Birmingham |
Alan Gregory Clayton Smith (born 14 February 1957) is the current Bishop of St Albans,[1] and formerly the area Bishop of Shrewsbury.[2] His family is originally from Trowbridge and Westbury, Wiltshire
Contents
Early life
Smith was born on 14 February 1957 to Frank Eric Smith and Rosemary Clayton Smith. He was educated at Trowbridge Grammar School for Boys and the University of Birmingham where he obtained a degree in Theology. He was also awarded a MA for his thesis 'The Poetic Art of the Hebrew Prophets' in 1979.[3] He trained for the priesthood at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford.
Career
After ordination in 1981 in Bradford Cathedral he began his career as assistant curate at St Lawrence and St Paul Pudsey.[4] In 1982 he was ordained a priest at Christ Church, Skipton. In 1984 he took up the post as chaplain of the Lee Abbey Community near Lynton in North Devon where had particular responsibility for mission and the creative arts. In 1989 he was appointed as the Diocesan Missioner and Executive Secretary of the Board for Mission and Unity for the Lichfield[5] and finally in 1997 (before his ordination as a bishop]])[6] Archdeacon of Stoke.[7] While archdeacon he chaired the North Staffordshire Faiths in Friendship. He was a member of the General Synod of the Church of England from 1999.
In 2001 he was consecrated the Bishop of Shrewsbury (one of the suffragan sees in the Diocese of Lichfield). He was chair of the Shropshire Strategic Partnership from 2006–2009. and was a member of the Rural Bishops' Panel from 2006–2009. In 2002 he completed his PhD as an external student of the University of Wales (Bangor).[7] For Lent 2006 Smith committed himself to living on the minimum wage.[8]
His election as Bishop of St Albans by the College of Canons of the Cathedral took place on 13 February, and the confirmation of his election (a legal ceremony with Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury) followed on 31 March.[9] Smith's inauguration took place on 19 September 2009.[10] In 2010 he was made an Honorary Doctor of Divinity by the University of Birmingham.
He has contributed chapters to Changing Rural Life (2004) and Celebrating Community: God's Gift for Today's World (2006). He has written Growing up in Multi-faith Britain: Explorations in Youth, Ethnicity and Religion (2007), God-Shaped Mission: A Perspective from the Rural Church (2008), and co-authored The Reflective Leader (2011). He was joint editor of Faith and the Future of the Countryside (2012).
From 2009 to 2011 he was joint chairman of the Anglican Methodist Working Party on the Ecclesiology of Emerging Expressions of Church which produced the report Fresh Expression in the Mission of the Church (2012). For the centenary of the newly reconfigured Diocese of St Albans in 2014 he wrote Saints and Pilgrims in the Diocese of St Albans (2013).
On 4 November 2013 he took his seat in the House of Lords as one of the Lords Spiritual.
Styles
- The Reverend Alan Smith (1981–1997)
- The Venerable Alan Smith (1997–2001)
- The Right Reverend Alan Smith (2001–2002)
- The Right Reverend Doctor Alan Smith (2002–present)
References
- ↑ Number 10 – Diocese of St Albans (archived)
- ↑ Anglican Communion
- ↑ http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2010/07/5july-honorary.aspx
- ↑ Details of Parish
- ↑ Debrett's People of Today London, Debrett's, 2008 ISBN 978-1-870520-95-9
- ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory 2008/2009 (100th edition), Church House Publishing (ISBN 978-0-7151-1030-0)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Who's Who 2008: London, A & C Black, 2008 ISBN 978-0-7136-8555-8
- ↑ 2006 Lenten challenge
- ↑ Diocese of St Albans – New Bishop a step closer (Archived 9 June 2009) (Accessed 11 April 2014)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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| Church of England titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Bishop of Shrewsbury 2001–2009 |
Succeeded by Mark Rylands |
| Preceded by | Bishop of St Albans 2009–present |
Incumbent |
- Pages with broken file links
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- 1957 births
- Alumni of the University of Birmingham
- Alumni of Bangor University
- 20th-century English Anglican priests
- 21st-century English Anglican priests
- Archdeacons of Stoke
- 21st-century Anglican bishops
- Living people
- Anglican Bishops of Shrewsbury
- Bishops of St Albans
- Lords Spiritual
