Richard Ian "Rico" Tice (born 3 June 1966) is a Christian minister and evangelist, who was, until 2024, 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 ...

clergyman. He is also a writer, co-author of '' Christianity Explored.'' He was associate minister at

All Souls Church, Langham Place All Souls Church is a conservative evangelical Anglican church in central London, situated in Langham Place in Marylebone, at the north end of Regent Street. It was designed in Regency style by John Nash and consecrated in 1824. As the church ...

, London, and is well known in the UK as a speaker at

conservative evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian go ...

Christian conferences.

Early life

Born in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in 1966, the son of a businessman and a nurse, Tice grew up in

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 ...

and

Zaire Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...

. He was educated at

Sherborne School Sherborne School is a full-boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 located beside Sherborne Abbey in the Dorset town of Sherborne. The school has been in continuous operation on the same site for over 1,300 years. It was founded in 705 AD by Ald ...

, Dorset and spent a

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is a period of time when students take a break from their studies, usually after completing high school or before beginning graduate school. During this time, students engage in a variety of educatio ...

working as a youth worker in inner-city

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He then studied History at

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...

, where he also captained the rugby team. His progress towards full-time Christian ministry began with a period as a lay assistant at Christ Church Clifton in Bristol. After working briefly for

Hewlett Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, Californi ...

, he trained for

ordination 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 ...

Wycliffe Hall, Oxford 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 mas ...

Christian ministry

Tice 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 ...

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, ...

as 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 ...

in 1994 and as a

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 ...

in 1995. In 1994, he joined the ministry staff of All Souls, Langham Place in the

Diocese of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames, covering and all or part of 17 London boroughs. This corresponds almost exactly to the historic county of ...

, serving his

curacy 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 ...

and then as an associate minister. His main role is to help the hundreds of enquirers about the

Christian faith Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

who come through the doors of the church each year. In an interview in 2000 he confirmed his desire to focus on

evangelism Evangelism, or witnessing, is the act of sharing the Christian gospel, the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is typically done with the intention of converting others to Christianity. Evangelism can take several forms, such as persona ...

. He co-wrote '' Christianity Explored'' with Barry Cooper; this is a widely used range of resources for people enquiring about the Christian faith. He also presents the associated videos. In 2003, 2009 and 2013, Tice led the OICCU mission at Oxford University. He is a non-executive director of Christians in Sport. Tice has written a number of books in collaboration with co-authors, many of them published by The Good Book Company. His First book, "Honest Evangelism: How to talk about Jesus even when it's tough", was published in 2015. His book ''Faithful Leaders and the things that matter most'' was published in 2021 is a response to a series of scandals about leadership failure in the evangelical church. In 2023, Tice left All Souls and was granted

permission to officiate A permission to officiate (PTO), also known as a licence to officiate, is a concessionary ministry licence granted by an Anglican bishop. It is most commonly issued to a retired deacon, priest, or lay reader over the age of 70 years. It allows the ...

in the Diocese of London. In 2024, he left the Church of England over same-sex services of blessing and started worshipping at an

International Presbyterian Church The International Presbyterian Church (IPC) is a Reformed church in the United Kingdom, the European Union and South Korea, that holds to the Presbyterian confession of faith, with common commitments, purpose, accountability and governance. ...

congregation.

Personal life

Tice was married at All Souls, Langham Place, London on 20 December 2008. He lists his hobbies as rugby, golf and films.

Bibliography

In addition to his work on '' Christianity Explored'' Tice has published a number of books on evangelism, and other books aimed at explaining the Christian faith for those investigating it. Books include: * "Honest Evangelism: how to talk about Jesus even when it's tough", co-written with Carl Laferton
A Very Different Christmas
co-written with Nate-Morgan Locke
Capturing God
a book that explores the Easter message
Faithful Leaders and the things that matter most
The Good Book Company (2021)

References

External links

Photo of Rico Tice
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tice, Rico 1966 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford 21st-century English Anglican priests Anglican writers Evangelical Anglican clergy People educated at Sherborne School