Gordon John Steele (born 1955) is a retired Anglican

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

who served as

Archdeacon of Oakham The Archdeacon of Oakham is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Anglican Diocese of Peterborough. As such he or she is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within its six rural deaneries: Corby, Higham, Kettering, Oun ...

, 2012–2021. Born in 1955 he was educated at the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

, Worcester College, Oxford and the

College of the Resurrection The College of the Resurrection, popularly known as Mirfield, is an Anglo-Catholic theological college of the Church of England in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, England. The college was founded in 1902 and describes itself as "A Theological Coll ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

in 1985 and after a

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at Greenhill (Harrow) he 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 pre ...

of St Andrew's

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...

(1988–1994). In 1994 he was appointed an

Honorary Canon A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

Peterborough Cathedral Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Pau ...

and Vicar of St Alban's, Northampton. He was Vicar of St John the Baptist Church, Peterborough from 2001–2012 where he oversaw a £280,000 development project and collaborated with the regeneration of the city centre. He was

Rural Dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...

of Peterborough from 2004 to 2010. Steele retired effective 30 November 2021 and was awarded the honorific title of archdeacon emeritus.

References

1955 births Alumni of the University of Kent Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Alumni of the College of the Resurrection Archdeacons of Oakham Living people {{Canterbury-archdeacon-stub