Geoffrey Stanley Johnston (called Geoff; born 7 November 1944) is a retired

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

priest serving as Archdeacon of Gibraltar, in the

Diocese in Europe The Diocese in Europe (short form for the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe) is a diocese of the Church of England. It was originally formed in 1842 as the Diocese of Gibraltar. It is geographically the largest diocese of the Church of England and th ...

Education and training

Born in 1944, Johnston entered Kelham Theological College in 1964, beginning to train for the priesthood at age 20. He has since gained a

Certificate in Education The Certificate in Education (Cert Ed) is a professional qualification for teachers in the United Kingdom. There have been two incarnations of the Cert Ed over the years. New Cert Ed The current Cert Ed is a non-compulsory qualification offering ...

(CertEd) from

Birmingham University 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 ...

in 1978 and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accou ...

(MBA) from

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public university, public Research university, research university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School ...

in 1981.

Ministry

He was ordained in the

: made a

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 churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''. In ...

1968 (22 December) by

Richard Clitherow Richard Clitherow (18 January 1902 – 3 June 1947) was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. Born in Liverpool, Clitherow was educated at the University of Liverpool, qualifying as a doctor and pharmacist. From 1919 until 1922, he ...

Bishop of Stafford The Bishop of Stafford is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Stafford, the county town of Staffordshire. The Bishop ...

, at

St Luke's Church, Blakenhall St Luke's Church, Blakenhall is a Grade II* listed former parish church in the Church of England in Blakenhall, Wolverhampton. History The foundation stone was laid on 26 June 1860 by Revd. W. Dalton, vicar of St Philip's Church, Penn. It wa ...

and ordained a

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 ...

the following Advent (19 December 1969), by William Parker, Bishop of Shrewsbury, at

St Matthew's Church, Walsall St Matthew's Church (formerly All Saints' Church) is a Church of England parish church in Walsall, West Midlands, England. It was rebuilt in 1820-1821 by Francis Goodwin, but includes remains of the earlier church built around 1220 and dedica ...

. He served his first

curacy 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 ...

Blakenall Heath Blakenall Heath is a suburban village in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands County, England. It straddles the border of Walsall and Bloxwich. Historically the village was a part of Staffordshire. It was originally a rural ...

(in

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is t ...

, Staffordshire) until 1972, when he went for a year to serve

St Buryan St Buryan ( kw, Pluwveryan) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of St Buryan, Lamorna and Paul in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village of St Buryan is situated approximately west of Penzance along the B3283 tow ...

with

St Levan St Levan ( kw, Selevan) is a civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish is rural with a number of hamlets of varying size with Porthcurno probably being the best known. Hewn out of the cliff at Minack Point and overlooking t ...

and Sennan (at

Land's End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it i ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

), before returning to Blakenall Heath. Remaining in the West Midlands, Johnston next served 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. Such priests are not legally responsible for the churches and glebe, but simply hold a ...

of St Stephen's Church,

Willenhall Willenhall is a market town situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England, with a population taken at the 2011 census of 28,480. It is situated between Wolverhampton and Walsall, historically in the county of ...

, from 1975, until the next year, when he moved to

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography ...

: he served All Saints and St Mary Magdalene until 1977, and became a lecturer at West Bromwich College of Commerce and Technology in 1978. From 1982, he served in Dudley borough for 26 years: first as an industrial chaplain and

Team Vicar Vicar is a title given to certain parish priests in the Church of England and other Anglican churches. It has played a significant role in Anglican church organisation in ways that are different from other Christian denominations. The title is v ...

of St John the Baptist,

Halesowen Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of West Midlands, England. Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, the town is around from Birmingham city centre, and fro ...

until 1994. He became a

self-supporting minister Self-supporting ministers (SSMs), previously called non-stipendiary ministers or non-stipendiary priests (NSMs), are religious ministers who do not receive a stipend (i.e. payment) for their services and therefore financially support their own mi ...

at St Francis,

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

, where he became

in 1999; he additionally served as priest-in-charge of the Church of St Edmund, Dudley from 2004, until his retirement in 2008.

Retirement

On first retiring, Johnston became Chaplain (i.e. parish priest) of

Nerja Nerja () is a municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is part of the comarca of La Axarquía. It is on the country's southern Mediterranean coast, about 50 ...

and

Almuñécar Almuñécar () is a Spanish city and municipality located in the southwestern part of the comarca of the Costa Granadina, in the province of Granada. It is located on the shores of the Mediterranean sea and borders the Granadin municipalities of ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, for the Church of England

. He became one of the

Area Dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective. ...

s of Gibraltar Archdeaconry in January 2013, and was (additionally) commissioned Acting Archdeacon of Gibraltar and collated a Canon at Gibraltar Cathedral that November. On 17 October 2014, around the time he resigned the chaplaincy, he was re-licensed to the Archdeaconry, this time on a more long-term basis. In February 2019, he took on the extra role of Acting Archdeacon of Italy and Malta. On 6 November 2019, the eve of his 75th birthday, Johnston retired again.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Geoffrey Stanley 1944 births Archdeacons of Gibraltar Living people 21st-century Anglican priests