Robert Martin Colquhoun Jeffery , commonly known as Bob Jeffery (30 April 193521 December 2016), was an 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 particu ...

. Jeffery was educated at

St Paul's School, London St Paul's School is a Selective school, selective Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by River Thames, the Thames i ...

, trained for the priesthood at King's College London and

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 var ...

in 1960. His first posts were

curacies 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 St Aidan's, Grangetown'' Crockford's Clerical Directory 1975-76'' London: Oxford University Press, 1976 and St Mary's Church, Barnes. After this he was the assistant secretary of the Missionary and Ecumenical Council of the Church Assembly then secretary of the Department of Mission and Unity for the

British Council of Churches Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) is an ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relati ...

. From 1971 to 1978 he was

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 pr ...

of St Andrew's

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston, Oxford, Marston to the north-west, Cowley, Oxfordshire, Cowley to the south, and Bar ...

and Rural Dean of Cowley, then in 1978 he was appointed Lichfield diocesan missioner, where he was also Priest-in-Charge of St Bartholomew's,

Tong Tong may refer to: Chinese *Tang Dynasty, a dynasty in Chinese history when transliterated from Cantonese *Tong (organization), a type of social organization found in Chinese immigrant communities *''tong'', pronunciation of several Chinese char ...

. He was appointed as the

Archdeacon of Salop The Archdeacon of Salop is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield. The incumbent is Paul Thomas. History Shropshire was historically split between the diocese of Hereford (under the Archdeacon of Shropshir ...

, in 1980 and seven years later became the

Dean of Worcester The Dean of Worcester is the head of the Chapter of Worcester Cathedral in Worcester, England. The current dean is Peter Atkinson, who lives at The Deanery, College Green, Worcester. Crockford's on-line accessed by subscription Tuesday 11 Jun ...

. In 1996 he became Sub-

Dean of Christ Church The Dean of Christ Church is the dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and head of the governing body of Christ Church, a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of ...

, a post he held until his retirement in 2002. In 1999, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity by the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

, and in 2007 he was made an Honorary Fellow of

Ripon College, Cuddesdon Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay mi ...

. He married Ruth Tinling in 1968 and had four children, Graham (b. 1969), Hilary (b. 1971), Philippa (b. 1973) and Charles (b.1975). He died on 21 December 2016 at the age of 81. Following a funeral service at Christ Church, Oxford on 16 January 2017, he was buried in the churchyard of St Bartholomew's, Tong, Shropshire on 17 January 2017. A collection of his writings compiled by his children, entitled ''The Kingdom of God is like a Yoghurt Plant'', was published in June 2017.

Publications

Author

*1968: ''Areas of Ecumenical Experiment: a survey and report to the British Council of Churches'' (London: British Council of Churches) *1971: ''Ecumenical Experiments: a handbook'' (London: British Council of Churches. ) *1972: ''Case Studies in Unity'' (London: SCM. ) *1994: ''Anima Christi: Reflections on Praying with Christ'' (London: Darton, Longman & Todd. ) *2007: ''Discovering Tong: Its History, Myths and Curiosities'' (Tong: Tong Parochial Church Council. ) *2017: ''The Kingdom of God is like a Yoghurt Plant: Selected Writings by Bob Jeffery'' (Paisley: Jeffery Archive. )

Translator

*2013: Thomas à Kempis, ''The Imitation of Christ'' (London: Penguin Classics. )

References

1935 births 2016 deaths People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of the Theological Department of King's College London Associates of King's College London Archdeacons of Salop Deans of Worcester Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford {{ChurchofEngland-dean-stub