John Vernon Taylor (11 September 191430 January 2001) was an English

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

and theologian who was the

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

from 1974 to 1985.

Education and family

Taylor was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

– while his father (

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

) was Vice Principal at Ridley Hall – and educated at St Lawrence College (where his father was headteacher). He read English at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, then read theology and trained for the ministry at St Catherine's Society and

Wycliffe Hall Wycliffe Hall () is a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford affiliated with the Church of England, specialising in philosophy, theology, and religion. It is named after the Bible translator and reformer John Wycliffe, who was mast ...

(where his father was principal) at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, and the

Institute of Education The UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is the faculty of education and society of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior t ...

. His father was later

Bishop of Sodor and Man The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man (Manx Gaelic: ''Sodor as Mannin'') in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese only covers the Isle of Man. The Cathedral Church of St German where ...

; his mother was Margaret Irene née Garrett. Taylor married Margaret (Peggy) Wright on 5 October 1940, and they had three children.

Priestly ministry

He was ordained in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

: 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 denominations, such as the Cathol ...

Arthur Winnington-Ingram Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram (26 January 1858 – 26 May 1946) was Bishop of London from 1901 to 1939. Early life and career He was born in the rectory at Stanford-on-Teme, Worcestershire, the fourth son of Edward Winnington-Ingram (a Ch ...

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

, at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

on 18 December 1938, and ordained

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 ...

by Guy Smith,

Bishop of Willesden The Bishop of Willesden is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Willesden, an area of the London Borough of Brent; the See ...

, at St Paul's on

Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in many Western Christian liturgical calendars on 29 Se ...

(29 September) the following year.''Who Was Who'' erroneously records that he was ordained deacon in 1956 and priest in 1957, whereas both ''Crockford's'' and the ''Church Times'' record 1938 and 1939, and these are consistent with his first curacy: 1938–1940. He spent five years engaged in Christian ministry in England, (from 1938 to 1940 as a curate at All Souls, Langham Place, and then from 1940 to 1943 as curate in St Helen's the Diocese of Liverpool). He then felt drawn to overseas missionary work; unable to do so immediately because of wartime travel restrictions, he obtained a teaching qualification at London University. In 1945, with the ending of World War II, he moved to Mukono,

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

working in theological education. He returned to England in 1954 and worked for the

International Missionary Council The International Missionary Council (IMC) was an ecumenical Protestant Christian missionary organization established in 1921, which in 1961, merged with the World Council of Churches (WCC), becoming the WCC's Division of World Mission and Evangeli ...

. In 1959 he became Africa Secretary of the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...

, and in 1963 he succeeded Max Warren as its General Secretary, remaining in post until 1974.

Episcopal ministry

His nomination to the See of Winchester was announced 14 August 1974, he was elected and

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on of hands. Catholicis ...

that winter, consecrated a bishop by

Donald Coggan Frederick Donald Coggan, Baron Coggan, (9 October 1909 – 17 May 2000) was the 101st Archbishop of Canterbury from 1974 to 1980.

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

, at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

on 31 January, and installed at

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

on 8 February 1975. He then served as

until his retirement on 28 February 1985, succeeding Falkner Allison, an old-fashioned Evangelical much-loved by all parties within the diocese. He was the first priest to be consecrated directly to the See of Winchester since William Day in 1595, and was respected throughout the diocese and beyond mainly by liberals and modernists, but failed to gain the trust of Anglo-Catholics. A product of Wycliffe Hall, with connections with All Souls, Langham Place, he was nevertheless a liberal evangelical rather than a conservative one. When first consecrated, he initially caused some amusement by refusing to wear a mitre and ordering that it be carried in front of him on a cushion in processions. After that one occasion he reverted to custom and wore it.

Bibliography

The most notable of his books were ''The Go-Between God'' (1972) and ''The Christlike God'' (1992), both of which remain in print. ''Enough is enough'' (1975) was an early book of the

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

movement, making the theological case for resisting

consumerism Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...

and looking after our planet. *''The Primal Vision: Christian Presence amid African Religion'' (London: SCM 1963; New Edition, SCM Classics 2001) *''The Go-Between God: The Holy Spirit and the Christian Mission'' (London: SCM 1972; New Edition, SCM Classics 2002). *''For All the World'' (1966) *''Enough is enough'' (London: SCM: 1975) *''The Growth of the Church in Buganda: An Attempt at Understanding'' (1980) *''Weep Not for Me: Meditations on the Cross and the Resurrection'' (1986) *''The Christlike God'' (London: SCM 1992). *''Bishops on the Bible: Eight Bishops on the Role and Relevance of the Bible Today'' (1994) *''A matter of life and death'' (London: SCM 1986) *''Kingdom Come'' (1989) *''A Christmas Sequence and Other Poems'' (1989) Posthumous collections: *''The Easter God and his Easter People'' (2003) *''The Incarnate God'' (2006) Biographical: * ''Poet, Priest and Prophet'' by David Wood.

Notes

References

External links

Obituaries: *https://www.theguardian.com/obituaries/story/0,3604,434565,00.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20071011083605/http://archive.thisisdorset.net/2001/02/08/104848.html Christian Mission with John V. Taylor: *https://web.archive.org/web/20041118014037/http://www.geocities.com/ccom_ctbi/CCOM_documents/waterloo_seminar_dwood_mission_with_jvt.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, John English Anglican theologians Anglican writers Bishops of Winchester 20th-century Church of England bishops Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Alumni of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate 1914 births 2001 deaths English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English male writers