Gregory James Venables (born 6 December 1949) is an English

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 ...

bishop. He served as the

Primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

of the Southern Cone in South America (now called the Anglican Church of South America) from 2001 until 2010, and again from 2016 until 2020. He was also Bishop of Argentina from 2002 to 2020.

Early life

Venables was educated at Chatham House Grammar School,

Kingston University Kingston University London is a Public university, public research university located within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in South London, South West London, England. Its roots go back to the Kingston Technical Institute, founded ...

and Christ Church University College Canterbury, after which he was successively a computer systems officer and a school teacher.

Ecclesiastical career

Venables was ordained as a deacon in 1984 and eight months later as priest. He started his ordained ministry, serving with the Anglican Church in

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. He was headmaster of St Andrew's College, Asuncion,

, from 1978 until 1989. He was ordained to the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

in 1993 and returned to South America as Assistant Bishop of Peru and Bolivia, being consecrated the first Bishop of Bolivia in 1995. Venables was elected Archbishop of South America for the first time in 2001, serving until 2010. He became a significant leader of the

Anglican realignment The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church (United States), Episco ...

during his tenure. He was once again elected at the provincial synod held in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

on 7–10 November 2016 Venables is an honorary

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

Canterbury Christ Church University Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) is a Public university, public research university located in Canterbury, Kent, England. Founded as a Church of England college for teacher training in 1962, it was granted university status in 2005. ...

.CCCU citation
/ref> He is also the Patron of the Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas. Venables has been married to Sylvia Margaret (née Norton) since 1970 and they have one son, two daughters and eight grandchildren.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Venables, Gregory 1949 births Alumni of Kingston University 21st-century Anglican archbishops English expatriates in Argentina English Anglicans Fellows of Canterbury Christ Church University Living people Alumni of Canterbury Christ Church University Anglican bishops of Bolivia Anglican bishops of Argentina Anglican realignment people