Michael Charles Lawson (born 23 May 1952) is an

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 ...

priest (formerly the

Archdeacon of Hampstead The Archdeacon of Hampstead is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of London, named after, and based in and around, the Hampstead area of London. They are the priest responsible for the Archdeaconry of Hampstead. Hist ...

), and also a composer, film maker, and author. Lawson was educated at Hove Grammar School,

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...

, Ecoles d’Art Américaines,

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, Bristol (BCTS). 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 1978, and Priest in 1979. He was a

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 as ...

at St Mary the Virgin,

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

from 1978 to 1981; curate and director of

pastoral care ''The Book of Pastoral Rule'' (Latin: ''Liber Regulae Pastoralis'', ''Regula Pastoralis'' or ''Cura Pastoralis'' — sometimes translated into English ''Pastoral Care'') is a treatise on the responsibilities of the clergy written by Pope Greg ...

at All Souls, Langham Place from 1981 to 1986;

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of Christ Church,

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

from 1987 to 1999;

archdeacon of Hampstead The Archdeacon of Hampstead is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of London, named after, and based in and around, the Hampstead area of London. They are the priest responsible for the Archdeaconry of Hampstead. Hist ...

from 1999 to 2010; and rector of St Saviour,

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

from 2010 to 2012. From 2009 to 2014 he was national chair of the Church of England Evangelical Council. Having retired from parochial ministry in 2012, from 2013 to 2020 Lawson served part-time as a chaplain at HMP Littlehey where he worked in counselling offenders. Since 2022, his musical works have been distributed by Universal Edition in Vienna.

Notes

1952 births People from Hove Living people Archdeacons of Hampstead Alumni of the University of Sussex Alumni of Trinity College, Bristol People educated at Hove Grammar School Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama English film directors English composers {{Canterbury-archdeacon-20C-stub