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Honorary Doctor of the University, 2001
Bio | Citation

John Perry was Anglican Bishop of Chelmsford from 1996 to 2003. Educated at Mill Hill School, he completed his National Service in the Royal Corps of Signals before entering the London College of Divinity to study for a Licentiate in Theology. He was ordained as Deacon in Guildford Cathedral in 1959, and Priest one year later. He served as Curate at Christ Church in Woking, then as Vicar of St Andrew's Chorleywood. John remained at Chorleywood for 15 years, a period that saw a certain 'renewal' within the church as attendances increased enormously. He then served as Warden of the Lee Abbey Community in N. Devon, a conference, retreat and holiday centre, during which time he published his book Effective Christian Leadership (1981). In 1989 he was consecrated Suffragan Bishop of Southampton and Canon of Winchester Cathedral. In 1996 he was translated to the Diocese of Chelmsford where he served until his retirement in 2003. During this period he was a member of the House of Lords (2000-2003). He is currently Executive Chairman of the Lee Abbey Movement, Deputy Chairman of the Human Rights Organisation Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), and a Vice-President of the University of Gloucester and of Mildmay Mission Hospital, London. He and his wife Gay have five married children and 15 grandchildren.

In 2001 Bishop John Freeman Perry was made an Honorary Doctor of the University.

Areas Of Interest: Clergy
Faculty: Arts, Law & Social Sciences
Citation:

"The Senate of Anglia Polytechnic University has great pleasure in recommending the award of a degree of Honorary Doctor of The University to The Right Reverend John Perry, Anglican Bishop of Chelmsford, Member of the House of Lords, enthusiastic supporter of ecumenism, pastor, evangelist, teacher and people person extraordinaire.

Bishop John attended Mill Hill School, from where he went to complete his National Service obligation in the Royal Corps of Signals. It was during this time that "his faith came alive" and on demobilization he entered the London College of Divinity where he studied to be a Licentiate in Theology. On finishing his theological studies, he was ordained Deacon in Guildford Cathedral in 1959 and Priest one year later. It was in later life, during sabbatical leave, that he undertook an M Phil degree at Westminster College, Oxford.

Bishop John married Gay in 1959 and they have five children (two of whom are Anglican priests, as is one son-in-law) and fifteen grand children... at the last count! In Bishop John's subsequent professional life it is possible to discern, to date, three clear periods which may be summarized under: parish, community and diocese. His parish period started with a three year curacy, served at Christ Church in Woking, Surrey. This was followed by his moving to take up the post of Vicar of St Andrew's Chorleywood, which church had been designated as a "temporary" daughter church of the parish church for the previous sixty years. However this changed for reasons of a growing population combined with the activities of its new Vicar with his prayer-based and God-centred ministry and a very thrilling time ensued in the sixties and seventies. This coincided with what was designated "renewal" among churches of various Christian denominations across the UK, at that time. At St Andrew's, church attendance increased exponentially, there were healings, visions and prophecy, what the Bible calls signs and wonders. "Chorleywood" as it became widely known, although it drew seeking people from far and wide, remained rooted in and focussed on caring for its local community as well as sending out faith-sharing teams in response to invitations from churches and church groups across the UK and beyond. Importantly, what Bishop John started, has continued to prosper under his successors and led to the annual Christian conferences of New Wine and Soul Survivor.

It could be presumed that after fifteen years of such dynamic apostleship, that Bishop John's community period as Warden of Lee Abbey, a Christian holiday, conference and retreat centre near Lynton on the North Devon coast, was not the best use of his talents. However, this beautiful spot, set in the Exmoor National Park overlooking the sea presented a new and refreshing challenge, both in the context of the richness of the "community" who run the centre and in the visitors. The community of almost 100, comprised mainly youngish Christian men and women from various countries and cultures spending a "gap-year", taking time out for reflection on their career development or simply changing direction. The 7,000 visitors who came to stay each year were there, seeking answers, reassurance and peace. All of these were Bishop John's parishioners at Lee Abbey and he was their pastor.

It was during this time that Bishop John came to recognize the desperate need for local church leaders to be effective in their ministries, which led to his book of that name, Effective Christian Leadership, published by Hodder, in 1981. Then came the diocesan period, a further new challenge beginning in 1989 when Bishop John was consecrated bishop and served for seven years as Suffragan Bishop of Southampton and Canon of Winchester Cathedral.

In 1996 he was translated to the Diocese of Chelmsford. This diocese covers Essex and East London and is co-extensive with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brentwood under its Bishop Thomas McMahon. During the last five years, the opportunities for joint prayer (especially at regular monthly breakfast meetings) have been well used and the resulting friendship and close working relationship which has developed between these two bishops is a wonderful model of ecumenical endeavour for us all and a great support to the churches in Essex and East London and to the common good in society at large.

Within his diocesan infrastructure, Bishop John has worked hard on renewing lines of communication and management between parish clergy, the rural deans, the suffragan bishops and himself to generate and encourage team spirit across the levels of management and to facilitate an appreciation of being valued and of valuing one another.

In the wider church, he chaired the Working Party set up by the House of Bishops which produced a report in 1999 entitled A Time to Heal, to look at the role of the church in healing. Bishop John has strengthened links with several dioceses overseas, including Kenya and Sweden, with whom visits and fellowship are exchanged. He is an active supporter of the chaplaincy in Essex, which is important to the University and he is a public advocate of the work of the University in his diocese.

It is for these reasons, therefore, that I invite you, Vice-Chancellor, to confer on The Right Reverend John Freeman Perry, M Phil, a degree of Honorary Doctor of the University."

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The 2013 Graduation Ceremony dates can be found here

2013 ceremony dates