Ian Robert Bentley (28 April 1955 – 31 May 2022) was an English Anglican priest. He was Archdeacon of Lynn from 2018 to 2022. Bentley was born on 28 April 1955. He was educated at

Westcliff High School for Boys Westcliff High School for Boys (WHSB) is an 11–18 selective boys Academy (English school), academy grammar school in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England. In September 2001 the school was awarded ‘Beacon’ status for its breadth of achievements ...

; the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

; and

Cranmer Hall, Durham Cranmer Hall is a Church of England theological college based at Durham, England. Cranmer Hall forms part of St John's College, Durham which is a recognised college of Durham University. It stands in the Open Evangelical Churchmanship, tradition. ...

. After an earlier career as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

he 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 1995, and

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1996. After a

curacy 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 ass ...

in Mattishall he was Vicar of the Earsham group of parishes for 7 years and vicar of St.Mark’s Oulton Broad for a further 12. He was briefly

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 ...

at St Faith,

Plumstead, Cape Town Plumstead is a residential suburb situated in the Southern Suburbs region of Cape Town, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. History Plumstead was first mentioned when, in 1762, a large portion of the land beyond the Constantia Valley ...

during a sabbatical. He held incumbencies at

Earsham Earsham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Earsham is located west of Bungay and south-east of Norwich. The village is located close to the border between Norfolk and Suffolk, and the River Waveney. History Ear ...

Oulton Broad Oulton Broad refers to both the lake and the suburb of Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. The suburb is located west of the centre of Lowestoft. It became a civil parish in 2017. It had an estimated population of 10,338 at the 2011 United Kingdom cen ...

and

St Peter Mancroft St Peter Mancroft is a parish church in the Church of England in the centre of Norwich, Norfolk. After the two cathedrals, it is the largest church in Norwich. It was originally established by Ralph de Gael, Earl of East Anglia, between 1066 and ...

. Bentley died on 31 May 2022, shortly after being diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer and having resigned his archdeaconry about a month earlier.

References

1955 births 2022 deaths 20th-century English Anglican priests 21st-century English Anglican priests Schoolteachers from Essex People from Southend-on-Sea People educated at Westcliff High School for Boys Alumni of the University of Sheffield Alumni of Cranmer Hall, Durham Archdeacons of Lynn {{Canterbury-archdeacon-20C-stub