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

. Jeffery was educated at

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

, trained for the priesthood at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

and

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 1960. His first posts were curacies at St Aidan's, Grangetown''

Crockford's Clerical Directory ''Crockford's Clerical Directory'' (''Crockford'') is the authoritative directory of Anglican clergy and churches in Great Britain and Ireland, containing details of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish benefices and churches, and biographies of aro ...

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. 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 p ...

of St Andrew's

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, in the county of Oxfordshire, 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 ...

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. He was appointed as the Archdeacon of Salop, in 1980 and seven years later became the Dean of Worcester. In 1996 he became Sub- Dean of Christ Church, 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 in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, and in 2007 he was made an Honorary Fellow of Ripon College, Cuddesdon. 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 Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts {{ChurchofEngland-dean-stub