Richard Alan Burridge (born 11 June 1955) is a

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, ...

priest,

biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

and a former Dean of

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

Early life and education

Burridge was born on 11 June 1955 to Alan Burridge and Iris Joyce Burridge (''née'' Coates). Burridge played guitar in the band Exousia in the 1970s, and continues to record as a solo artist. He was educated at

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

where he received an MA and 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 ...

where he read for a PhD. His doctoral thesis on the genre of the gospels was published in 1992 as ''What are the Gospels? A Comparison with Graeco-Roman Biography''. It played a part in establishing that the Gospels were read as biographies in the first centuries after Christ, and that they belonged to a recognised literary genre of biographies rather than being unprecedented writings which reflected the faith and life of the post-Easter church.

Career

Early career

Burridge's early career was as a

school 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 ...

. From 1978 to 1982, he was a

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

teaching

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and a house tutor at

Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school. It is co-educational, a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, located in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. Established in 1432, it ...

, a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

, Kent.

Ordained ministry

Burridge trained for the Anglican priesthood at

St John's College, Nottingham St John's College, Nottingham, founded as the London College of Divinity, was an Anglican and interdenominational theological college situated in Bramcote, Nottingham, England. The college stood in the open evangelical tradition and stated that i ...

. He was ordained deacon in 1985 and priest in 1986 and was curate at

St Peter and St Paul, Bromley St Peter and St Paul is a church in the town of Bromley, Borough of Bromley, in south east London. Known familiarly as Bromley Parish Church, it is not far from Bromley High Street and approximately halfway between Bromley North and Bromley ...

, Kent (1985–1987).

Academic career

Burridge was Dean of King's College London 1994–2019, and he was elected as a Fellow of King's College ( FKC) in 2002. From 2007 to 2012, he was Director of

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

Studies, and in 2008 he was appointed to a Personal Chair in Biblical Interpretation. He was a member of the

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...

, and chaired their validation panel for ordination training and

theological education In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to tea ...

(1996–2004); he is currently serving as a representative of the

Church Commissioners The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Eccle ...

and as deputy chair on the Church of England's Ethical Investment Advisory Group. He was a trustee of

Cumberland Lodge Cumberland Lodge is a 17th-century Grade II listed country house in Windsor Great Park 3.5 miles south of Windsor Castle. Since 1947 it has been occupied by the charitable foundation known as Cumberland Lodge, an educational charity and social ...

between 1998 and 2008.

Role at King's College London

The Dean of King's College London is an ordained person responsible for overseeing the spiritual development and welfare of all students and staff as well as fostering vocations among the worshipping community. When King's was founded in 1829 it was with the express purpose of ensuring that its students received an education that took seriously the religious dimension to life. Throughout the history of King's its deans have been key people in ensuring this continues. The college motto, ''sancte et sapienter'' ("with holiness and with wisdom"), reflects both the college's Anglican foundation and its continuing commitment to religious life and theological education. The modern-day King's includes members from a wide array of backgrounds, cultures and faiths. Today the dean is responsible for the university's provision for its diverse religious community. Richard Burridge retired as Dean of King's College London in 2019.

Personal life

In 1979, Burridge married Susan Morgan; they divorced in 2009. Together they had two daughters. In 2014, he married Megan Warner.

Selected publications

Books

* - revision of his doctoral thesis. * * * * * *

Articles and chapters

* * * *

References

External links

King's College London Staff Profile

"The King's Values: Consumer Culture and Higher Education"
Dean's first inaugural lecture pdf transcript ("''cogito ergo sum''" being replaced by "''tesco ergo sum''")
"(Re-) tell me the old, old Story: Narrative, Genre and the Bible"
second Professorship inaugural lecture podcast (moralism of "''the Bible says''" as genre-mistake, scripture's library of diverse texts properly seen as "The Books" rich in diversity) {{DEFAULTSORT:Burridge, Richard Alan Living people 1955 births Alumni of University College, Oxford Deans of King's College London Academics of King's College London 21st-century English theologians British biblical scholars 20th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of St John's College, Nottingham Anglican biblical scholars 21st-century Christian biblical scholars Fellows of King's College London Ratzinger Prize laureates