Frances Elizabeth Fearn Ward (born 16 September 1959) is 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 and theologian. She served as Dean of St Edmundsbury from 2010 to 2017.

Early life and education

Ward was born on 16 September 1959 in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

, Victoria, Australia. She was educated at

King's Ely King's Ely The School's Terms and Conditions and the Companies House registration would suggest that the School's legal name remains "The King's School, Ely" is an All-through school, all through Public school (United Kingdom), public school ...

. She later studied at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

and the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

.'WARD, Very Rev. Frances Elizabeth Fearn', ''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 4 July 2017
/ref> From 1987 to 1989, she trained for

holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

Westcott House, Cambridge Westcott House is an Anglican theological college based on Jesus Lane in the centre of the University of Cambridge, university city of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.Westcott House website, Home pag Retrieved on August 27, 2006. Its main activit ...

, 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 ...

in the Liberal Catholic tradition.

Ordained ministry

She 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 ...

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 1989 and priest in 1994. She was then a tutor at Northern College until 1998 and then

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 Peter's Bury until 2005. She was a residentiary canon at

Bradford Cathedral Bradford Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter, is an Anglican cathedral in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, one of three co-equal cathedrals in the Diocese of Leeds alongside Ripon and Wakefield. Its site has been used for Christ ...

from 2006 until her appointment as Dean in 2010. On 30 May 2010, it was announced that Ward would be the next Dean of St Edmundsbury in succession to Neil Collings. In October 2010, she was installed as dean at

St Edmundsbury Cathedral St Edmundsbury Cathedral (formally entitled the Cathedral Church of St James and St Edmund) is the cathedral for the Church of England's Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. It is the seat of the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich and is in ...

. In July 2017, it was announced that she would be stepping down as Dean later in the year and would be returning to academia to complete a second doctorate; her final service at the cathedral was on 15 October 2017. Since 2018, Ward has held a Licence to Officiate in the

Diocese of Carlisle In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. On 2 February 2020 she was licensed as

Priest-in-Charge A priest in charge or priest-in-charge (previously also curate-in-charge) in the Church of England is a priest in charge of a parish who is not its incumbent; they will normally work on a short-term contract and have less freedom to act within the ...

of St John's Church, Workington and

St Michael's Church, Workington St Michael's Church, Workington is the parish church of the town of Workington, Cumbria, England. It is part of the deanery of Solway, in the archdeaconry of West Cumberland. History The oldest part of the church dates from around 1150, as evid ...

Views

Ward belongs to the Catholic Anglican

tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

of the Church of England. She is a supporter of the

ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...

as priests and bishops.

Selected works

Among other books she has written: Sacristy Press website. Retrieved 7 January 2021.; also Preaching for the Planet Like There’s No Tomorrow (Frances Ward and Jenny Wilson

/ref> * ''Lifelong Learning'' (2005) * ''Studying Local Churches'' (2005) * ''Theological Reflection Methods'' (2005) * ''Theological Reflection Sources'' (2007) * ''Why Rousseau Was Wrong: Christianity and the Secular Soul'' (2013) * ''Holy Attention: Preaching in Today’s Church'' (2019) * ''Full of Character: A Christian Approach to Education for the Digital Age'' (2019) * ''Like There’s No Tomorrow: Climate Crisis, Eco-Anxiety and God'' (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Frances Elizabeth Fearn 1959 births People from Geelong People educated at King's Ely Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the University of Manchester Provosts and Deans of St Edmundsbury Living people Alumni of Westcott House, Cambridge British Anglo-Catholics Australian Anglo-Catholics