David John Ison, (born 15 September 1954) is a retired

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, ...

priest. From 2012 until he retired in 2022, he was the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in the

Diocese of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames, covering and all or part of 17 London boroughs. This corresponds almost exactly to the historic county of ...

Early life and education

David Ison, son of Richard Lea Ison, was educated at the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

( BA 1976), the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

( BA 1978) and St John's College, Nottingham ( Diploma of Biblical Studies 1979). He undertook further studies in

church history Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of t ...

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 ...

where his 1984

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

was entitled "The Constantinian Oration to the saints : authorship and background".

Ordained ministry

Ison 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 ...

as a priest in 1980. He began his ordained ministry as a

curate 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 as ...

at St Nicholas and St Luke's

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

. From 1985 to 1988 he was a

tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

at the Church Army Training College before being appointed

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 Philip's Potters Green in the West Midlands until 1993. Later, he was the officer for Continuing Ministerial Education in the

Diocese of Exeter The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan Bishop of Exeter. It is part of the Provinc ...

. Ison became Dean of Bradford in September 2005. On 6 March 2012, it was announced that he was to become the next Dean of St Paul's Cathedral from 25 May 2012, succeeding Graeme Knowles, which he did by Letters Patent dated 11 May 2012 granting him "the Deanery of Her Majesty’s Cathedral Church of St Paul in London". On 5 June 2012, Ison led the prayers at the service of thanksgiving marking the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The next year, he gave the bidding at the funeral of Margaret Thatcher. On 28 July 2021, it was announced that Ison was to retire in September 2022. On 30 May 2023 he was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(KCVO) by

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

Views

Ison is an

open evangelical An open evangelical attempts to uphold Evangelicalism, evangelical doctrines, morality, and spirituality, while also being Inclusive theology, inclusive of others. It is a term which is commonly used in the United Kingdom in reference to both indivi ...

and supports same-sex partnerships.

Personal life

In 1977, Ison married Hilary Margaret Powell who is also ordained in the Church of England. They have two sons and two daughters. Ison has an identical twin brother, Keith Ison, who was the Head of Medical Physics at

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust of the English National Health Service, one of the prestigious Shelford Group. It runs Guy's Hospital in London Bridge, St Thomas' Hospital in Waterloo, Evelina London Child ...

and is a past president of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.

Styles

* Mr David Ison (1954–1980) * The Revd David Ison (1980–1984) * The Revd Dr David Ison (1984–2005) * The Very Revd Dr David Ison (2005–2022) * The Very Revd Dr David Ison, KCVO (2023–present)

References

External links

www.guild-freemen-london.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ison, David 1954 births Living people British identical twins People from Brentwood, Essex Clergy from Essex Alumni of the University of Leicester Alumni of the University of Nottingham Alumni of King's College London Fellows of King's College London English Anglicans Provosts and Deans of Bradford Deans of St Paul's Church Army people Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order