David Lawrence Edwards (20 January 1929 – 25 April 2018) was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest, scholar and church historian. He served as the

Dean of Norwich The Dean of Norwich is the head of the Chapter of Norwich Cathedral in Norwich, England. The role is vacant since Jane Hedges' retirement on 1 May 2022. List of deans Early modern *1538–1539 William Castleton (last prior) *1539–1554 Jo ...

, Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sub-Dean at Westminster Abbey and

Provost of Southwark The Dean of Southwark is the head (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the chapter of canons, the ruling body of Southwark Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral and Collegiate Church of Saint Saviour ...

, and was a prolific author.

Education

Edwards was born in Cairo, where his father was an inspector of schools. He was educated at The King's School, Canterbury, and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, where he took a BA in 1952 and MA in 1956.Biography of David L. Edwards
Retrieved 24 December 2010

Academic career and ministry

Edwards was elected a Fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

, for a seven-year period from 1952 to 1959. He spent the academic year of 1953–54 studying at Westcott House, Cambridge, and was ordained deacon in 1954. He served as a tutor at Westcott House (1954–55) and he was ordained priest in 1955. In 1955 Edwards began his ordained ministry as an assistant curate at St John's, Hampstead, and also began his work with the

Student Christian Movement Student Christian Movement may refer to one of the following national organizations: * Australian Student Christian Movement * Student Christian Movement of Canada * Student Christian Movement of Great Britain * Indonesian Student Christian Movem ...

as its secretary, remaining in both positions until 1958. Edwards was assistant curate of St Martin-in-the-Fields (1958–66), editor for the Student Christian Movement Press (1959–66) and General Secretary of the

(1965–66). From 1966 until 1970, Edwards was the Dean of King's College, Cambridge. He was also a Six Preacher of

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

(1969–76). Edwards was a canon of Westminster Abbey and the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of St Margaret's, Westminster (1970–78). He was additionally Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons (1972–78) and Sub-Dean of Westminster Abbey (1974–78). He was Chairman of the Churches' Council on Gambling (1970–78) and of Christian Aid (1971–78). He was the

from 1978 to 1983 and the

from 1983 to 1994. Edwards was for many years the principal reviewer and leader writer for the Church Times. Edwards retired to

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, becoming an honorary chaplain at Winchester Cathedral in 1995. He died on 25 April 2018.

Honours

In 1990 the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, Robert Runcie, conferred upon Edwards the Lambeth degree of

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

. He wore the academic dress of his former headmaster,

Fred Shirley Revd Canon Frederick Joseph John Shirley, Doctor of Divinity, D.D., Ph.D., LL.B. (1890–1967) was an Anglican priest as well as being the headmaster of The King's School, Canterbury, a fee paying school, from 1935 to 1962. He was educated St Edm ...

, (who had himself been a

) and of whom Edwards wrote a biography, ''F. J. Shirley: An Extraordinary Headmaster'' (1969). Also in 1990, he was appointed an honorary fellow of the South Bank Polytechnic (later South Bank University and now called London South Bank University). In the

1995 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1995 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those co ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

appointed him an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

"for services to the Church of England."

Writings

Edwards wrote more than 60 books, including: *''Christian England'' (London: Collins, 1981–84; Fount, 1982–85) **vol. 1: ''Its story to the Reformation'' **vol. 2: ''From the Reformation to the 18th century'' **vol. 3: ''From the 18th century to the First World War'' The most recent include: *Roger Bowen with David L. Edwards ''et al'', ''A guide to preaching'' (SPCK International Study Guide 38, London : SPCK, 2005) *''Poets and God: Chaucer, Shakespeare, Herbert, Milton, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake'' (London: Darton Longman & Todd, 2005) *''What Anglicans believe in the twenty-first century'' (London: Continuum, 2000, new expanded edn 2002, updated edn 2004) *''The Church that could be'' (London: SPCK, 2002) *''After death?: past beliefs and real possibilities'' (London: Continuum, 1999, new edn 2001) *''A concise history of English Christianity: from Roman Britain to the present day'' (London: Fount, 1998) *''The great Christian centuries to come'' (Durham: St Mary's College, University of Durham, 1998) *''Christianity: the first two thousand years'' (London: Cassell, 1997) *''What is Catholicism? An Anglican responds to the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church'' (London: Mowbray, 1994)

References

Edwards, Very Rev. David Lawrence
''Who's Who 2018'', December 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, David L 1929 births 2018 deaths Deans of Norwich Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at The King's School, Canterbury Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Canons of Westminster Provosts and Deans of Southwark Annihilationists Alumni of Westcott House, Cambridge