John Alexander Ellison (24 December 1940 – 5 August 2019) was a British

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 ...

bishop. He was the Bishop of Paraguay from 1988 to 2007.

Early life and education

Ellison was born on 24 December 1940 to Alexander and Catherine Ellison. He was educated at the London College of Divinity, an

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and Christian theology, theology, generally to prepare them for ordinatio ...

, and at the

Borough Road College The West London Institute of Higher Education (WLIHE), a two-campus academic establishment, was located in Isleworth and East Twickenham, West London, UK from 1976 until 1995 when it became Brunel University College. In 1997 it was fully integra ...

, a teacher training college.

Ordained ministry

Ellison was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in 1967 and as a

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1968.) From 1967 to 1970, he served his

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () 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 who are ass ...

at St Paul's Church,

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

in the

Diocese of Guildford __NOTOC__ The Diocese of Guildford is a Church of England diocese covering eight and half of the eleven districts in Surrey, much of north-east Hampshire and a parish in Greater London. The cathedral is Guildford Cathedral and the bishop is the ...

. In 1971, he joined the

South American Mission Society The society was founded at Brighton in 1844 as the Patagonian Missionary Society, sometime referred to as the Patagonian Mission. Captain Allen Gardiner, R.N., was the first secretary. The name was retained for twenty years, when South American ...

(SAMS). From 1971 to 1979, he worked as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

, church planter,

evangelist Evangelist(s) may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a ...

and

Bible school A Bible college, sometimes referred to as a Bible institute or theological institute or theological seminary, is an evangelical Christian or Restoration Movement Christian institution of higher education which prepares students for Christian minis ...

instructor in South America. From 1980 to 1983, he was a curate of St Saviours' Church,

Belgrano, Buenos Aires Belgrano is a northern ''Barrios of Buenos Aires, barrio'' or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is made up of Middle class, middle and upper class people. Belgrano has three distinct areas: the main one that is made up of apartment buil ...

, Argentina, and an assistant to the

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 ...

. From 1983 to 1988, having returned to England, he was Rector of the Church of St Mary the Virgin,

Aldridge Aldridge is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands, England. It is historically, a village that was part of Staffordshire until 1974. The town is from Brownhills, from Walsall, from Sutton Coldfield and from ...

(also known as Aldridge Parish Church) in 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 ...

. Ellison was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

a bishop in 1988. From 1988 to 2007, he served as the Bishop of Paraguay in the Province of the Southern Cone of America. Having retired, he was an

honorary assistant bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case they ...

in the

Diocese of Winchester The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. Founded in 660 AD, it is one of the older dioceses in England. It once covered the Kingdom of Wessex, many times its present size. Today it is most of th ...

Controversy

Ellison was Chair of Panel of Bishops of the

Anglican Mission in England The Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) is an Anglican convocation affiliated to the Anglican Network in Europe that seeks to establish Anglican churches in England outside the Church of England. It was created with the support of the Global Anglic ...

(AMiE). Members of the executive of AMiE are required to hold

complementarian Complementarianism is a theological view in some denominations of Christianity, Rabbinic Judaism, and Islam, that men and women have different but complementary roles and responsibilities in marriage, family, and religious life. Some Christians ...

views. AMiE has links with

GAFCON The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (branded as GAFCON or Gafcon) is a communion of conservative Anglicanism, Anglican churches, aligned with the Confessing Movement, that formed in 2008 in response to ongoing theological disputes in th ...

and is missionary organisation that supports

conservative evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian go ...

Anglican churches within and outside of the Church of England. In February 2015, it was announced that Ellison was being investigated by the

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The Episcopal see, see is in the Salisbur ...

for his involvement in an AMiE church plant in the

Diocese of Salisbury The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England, within the ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the historic county of Dorset (which excludes the deaneries of Bournemouth and Christchurch, ...

. The diocese stated: "No one involved in planting the church has contacted the Bishop, nor is the Diocese aware of any consultation with Churches Together in Salisbury about the need for a church plan. ... The Bishop of Salisbury is seeking clarification about the involvement of Bishop John Ellison in the December service."

Personal life

In 1964, Ellison married Judith Mary Cox. Together they had three children: one son and two daughters. Ellison died at his home near

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

on 5 August 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, John 1940 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Anglican bishops in South America 21st-century Anglican bishops in South America Place of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the London College of Divinity Anglican bishops of Paraguay British expatriates in Paraguay Anglican realignment people