John Henry Moses KCVO (12 January 1938 – 14 July 2024) was the

Dean of St Paul's The dean of St Paul's is a member of, and chair of the Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral in London in the Church of England. The dean of St Paul's is also '' ex officio'' dean of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of th ...

from November 1996 until his retirement on 31 August 2006. Moses' last service as dean was a Sung Eucharist on 12 July 2006. It was attended by over 2,000 friends, family, colleagues and invited guests including the

Duchess of Gloucester Duchess of Gloucester is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Gloucester. There have been five titles referring to Gloucester since the 14th century. The current duchess is Birgitt ...

, Baroness Thatcher and the

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

Early life

Moses was born in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

, London on 12 January 1938. He was educated at Ealing County Grammar School for Boys, a state grammar school (now Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College) in West London, followed by 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 ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

. He then studied at Lincoln Theological College, where he was ordained in 1964.

Career

Moses became an

assistant 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 ass ...

of St Andrew's Bedford, then the rector of the Coventry East Team Ministry and the

rural 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 ...

of Coventry East. In 1977 he was appointed the

Archdeacon of Southend The Archdeacons in the Diocese of Chelmsford are senior ecclesiastical officers in the Church of England in Essex and East London. They currently include: the Archdeacon of West Ham, the Archdeacon of Colchester and the archdeacons of Chelmsford, ...

, also serving as the

Bishop of Chelmsford The Bishop of Chelmsford is the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chelmsford in the Province of Canterbury.''Crockford's Clerical Directory 2008/2009 (100th edition)'', Church House Publishing (). The current bisho ...

's officer for industry and commerce, chairman of the diocesan retreat house and chairman of the diocesan advisory committee. In 1982 he became the Provost of

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

before becoming Dean of St Paul's in 1996. He has published a number of books, including ''The Sacrifice of God'' (1992) and ''A Broad and Living Way'' (1995). In 1992, he was appointed the first rector of

Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public research university in the region of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins date back to the Cambridge School of Art (CSA), founded by William John Beamont, a Fellow of Trinity College at the Unive ...

. In 2013, Moses was appointed the

John Macquarrie John Macquarrie (1919–2007) was a Scottish-born theology, theologian, philosophy, philosopher and Anglican priest. He was the author of ''Principles of Christian Theology'' (1966) and ''Jesus Christ in Modern Thought'' (1991). Timothy Bradshaw ...

Professor of Anglican Theology at the Graduate Theological Foundation in

Mishawaka Mishawaka () is a city on the St. Joseph River, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States. The population was 51,063 as of the 2020 census. Its nickname is "the Princess City". Mishawaka is a principal city of the South Bend-Mishawaka, Indi ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Personal life

In 1964, Moses married Susan. Together they had three children. Moses died on 14 July 2024, at the age of 86.

Honours

In 1997 he was made an Honorary Doctor of the University by

. In 2006, he was created a

Knight Commander Knight Commander (or Dame Commander) is the second most senior grade of seven British orders of chivalry, three of which are dormant (and one of them continues as a German house order). The rank entails admission into knighthood, allowing the rec ...

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); as a clergyman, Moses did not receive the

accolade The accolade (also known as dubbing, adoubement, or knighting) () was the central act in the rite of passage Ceremony, ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. Etymology The term ''accolade'' entered English by 1591, when Thomas ...

and so only used the post-nominals and not the title of ''

sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

''. Other honorable titles held by Moses include Brother of the Order of St. John and Officer of the Order of Istiqlal of the

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Styles

* Mr John Moses (1938–1964) * The Revd John Moses (1964–1977) * The Ven John Moses (1977–1982) * The Very Revd John Moses (1982–1997) * The Very Revd Dr John Moses (1997–2006) * The Very Revd Dr John Moses KCVO (2006–2024)

Writings

* ''The Sacrifice of God: A Holistic Theory of Atonement'', Norwich: Canterbury Press, 1994 (, ) * ''A Broad and Living Way: Church and State -- A Continuing Establishment'', Norwich: Canterbury Press, 1995 () * ''The Desert: An Anthology for Lent'', Morehouse Publishing, 1997 () * ''One Equall Light: An Anthology of the Writings of

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

'' (ed) Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2003 () * ''The Language of Love: Exploring Prayer: An Anthology,'' Canterbury Press, 2013 ()

References

External links

BBC article: "Top dean attacks gay 'witch-hunt'"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moses, John 1938 births 2024 deaths Deans of St Paul's Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Archdeacons of Southend People educated at Ealing County Grammar School for Boys Provosts and Deans of Chelmsford Alumni of Lincoln Theological College 20th-century English Anglican priests 21st-century English Anglican priests Graduate Theological Foundation faculty Alumni of the University of Nottingham