Robert William "Bob" Jackson (born 21 June 1949, Sheffield, England), is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest who has extensively researched, written and consulted on the subject of church growth. After reading

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, Jackson worked as an Economic Advisor to the Departments of Transport and Environment in Westminster. After training at

St John's College, Nottingham St John's College, Nottingham, founded as the London College of Divinity, was an Anglican and interdenominational theological college situated in Bramcote, Nottingham, England. The college stood in the open evangelical tradition and stated that i ...

he was ordained in 1981. He worked as a curate in Fulwood before becoming the Vicar of St Mark,

Grenoside Grenoside is a suburb of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The suburb falls within the West Ecclesfield ward of the city. History The name Grenoside is derived from the language of the Anglo-Saxons. The name Grenoside, which was first ...

in 1984. In 1992 Jackson became

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of St Mary,

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

at church, a role which he held until 2001. From 2001 until 2004 Jackson was a member of Springboard,

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

George Carey's initiative to encourage, renew and mobilize the Church for evangelism. Jackson became

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

and Bishop's Growth Officer for the

Diocese of Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...

in 2004, a role in which he put the ideas and research from his time at Springboard into practice. In 2009 he retired from his role as

to concentrate on church growth consultancy.

Selected works

*''Matthew: The Story of a Faith Stronger than Death''. Highland Books, 1987. *''Godspeed: 50 Primary Assemblies''. R & S Educational Services, 1994. (with Alan Combes) *''till The Fat Lady Sings''. Highland Books, 1996. *''Higher Than The Hills''. Highland Books, 1999. *''Hope for the Church''. Church House Publishing, 2002. *''Reveil danns l'Himalaya''. Editions Emmaus, 2003 (French translation of Higher than the Hills) *''The Road to Growth: towards a thriving Church''. Church House Publishing, 2005. *''Going for Growth: what works at local church level''. Church House Publishing, 2006. *''Everybody Welcome''. Church House Publishing, 2009.Everybody Welcome
– Church House Publishing. Accessed 25 August 2009 (with The Reverend George Fisher)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Bob 1949 births Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Anglican writers 20th-century English Anglican priests 21st-century English Anglican priests Living people Clergy from Sheffield Archdeacons of Walsall