John Richard Packer (born 10 October 1946) is a retired

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 was the only

Bishop of Ripon and Leeds The Bishop of Ripon was a diocesan bishop's title which took its name after the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. History Though one ancient Bishop of Ripon is known - Eadhæd, who served in the late 7th century - the modern see ...

, serving from the renaming of the diocese from Ripon in 2000 to his 2014 retirement (prior to his former diocese's merge into the Diocese of Leeds at Easter that year).Bishop of Ripon and Leeds announces retirement

Early life and education

Born in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, firstly educated in

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is a highly Selective school, selective Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom, private day school for boys aged 7-18 in Manchester, England, which was founded in 1515 by Hugh Oldham (then Bishop of Exeter). ...

, Packer graduated from

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University Museum a ...

, with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) in modern history in 1967 and from Ripon Hall, Oxford, with a Bachelor and an Oxford Master of Arts (MA Oxon) in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

in 1975.

Ordained ministry

Packer became a deacon in 1970 and was Curate of

St Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; ) is the Capital city, capital of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. It is the most populous of the twelve parishes of Jersey, with a population of 35,822, over one-third of the island' ...

, in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, until 1973. Ordained as priest in 1971, he worked in Abingdon in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

(and then

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

) from 1973 to 1977. Between 1973 and 1975, he was Tutor at Ripon Hall, and between 1975 and 1977 at

Ripon College Cuddesdon Ripon College Cuddesdon (RCC) is a Church of England seminary, theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local orda ...

. In the following, Packer was Vicar of

Wath-upon-Dearne Wath upon Dearne (shortened to Wath or often hyphenated) is a town south of the River Dearne in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, north of Rotherham and almost midway between Barnsley and Doncaster. It had a po ...

with Adwick-upon-Dearne until 1986, and from 1986 to 1991 team rector at

Sheffield Manor Sheffield Manor Lodge, also known as Sheffield Manor or locally as Manor Castle, is a lodge built about 1516 in what then was a large deer park southeast of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, to provide a country retreat and further accommoda ...

. He was twice

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 ...

, firstly of Wath from 1983 to 1986, and secondly of

Attercliffe Attercliffe is an industrial suburb of northeast Sheffield, England on the south bank of the River Don. The suburb falls in the Darnall ward of Sheffield City Council. History The name Attercliffe can be traced back as far as an entry in ...

in 1990 and 1991. Until 1996, he was

Archdeacon of West Cumberland The Archdeacon of West Cumberland is responsible for the archdeaconry of West Cumberland, one of three administrative divisions of the Church of England (Anglican) Diocese of Carlisle. The archdeaconry was created (mostly from the Archdeaconry of ...

, having been also priest-in-charge in

Bridekirk Bridekirk is a village and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district in the county of Cumbria, England. It is around north of the Derwent river and about the same distance from the nearest large town of Cockermout ...

in 1995 and 1996.

Episcopal ministry

Packer was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

a bishop (alongside Peter Forster,

Bishop of Chester The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York. The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the ...

) during a service at

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

, by David Hope,

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...

, on 13 November 1996. He was suffragan

Bishop of Warrington __NOTOC__ The Bishop of Warrington is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Liverpool, in the Province of York, England. The title takes its name after the town of Warrington in Cheshire; the current b ...

until 2000, when he was appointed Bishop of Ripon and Leeds – he was the first (and as it turned out, only) bishop with that title, which had been changed from "Bishop of Ripon" only upon his predecessor's resignation. He was installed at

Ripon Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, ...

on 16 July 2000. In 2006, he was called to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as a

Lord Spiritual The Lords Spiritual are the bishops of the Church of England who sit in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. Up to 26 of the 42 diocesan bishops and archbishops of the Church of England serve as Lords Spiritual (not including retired bish ...

. He was the Bishops' Parliamentary Spokesperson for immigration & asylum; urban affairs; and welfare reform. Packer used his maiden speech in the House of Lords on 14 December 2006 to criticise the government's policy on

asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A pers ...

, claiming that under the current policy refugees are being "made destitute, terrorised and imprisoned". His interest in the asylum issue materialised again in February 2007 when he appealed to the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

to halt the deportation of a woman, Aseng Nasoba, and her six children back to the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, saying that he feared for the family's safety if they were returned to their home country. In 2012 he was instrumental in defeating the coalition government's plan to put a cap on benefits given to families, when his amendment to exclude child benefit from the plan was passed in the

."What is the role of bishops in UK politics?"
''BBC News'', 25 January 2012 He retired as Bishop of Ripon and Leeds on 31 January 2014.

Personal life

Since 1971, he has been married to Barbara Jack. They have one daughter -

Catherine Pickford Catherine Ruth Pickford ( Packer; born 5 July 1976) is an English Anglican priest. Since September 2020, she has served as Archdeacon of Northolt in the Diocese of London, Church of England. She had previously been in parish ministry in the Dioc ...

, Archdeacon of Northolt - and two sons.

Styles

* ''

The Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

'' John Packer (1970–1991) * ''

The Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

'' John Packer (1991–1996) * ''The

Right Reverend The Right Reverend (abbreviated as The Rt Revd or The Rt Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian ministers and members of clergy. It is a variant of the more common st ...

'' John Packer (1996–present)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Packer, John Richard 1946 births Bishops of Ripon and Leeds Archdeacons of West Cumberland Living people Alumni of Keble College, Oxford People educated at Manchester Grammar School Diocese of Ripon and Leeds 20th-century Church of England bishops 21st-century Church of England bishops