Robin Ward (born 22 January 1966) is a British Anglican priest. From 2006 to 2025 he was the principal of

St Stephen's House, Oxford St Stephen's House is an external theological college with observer status at the University of Oxford, affiliated with the Church of England. From 2003 to 2023 it was a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford. The college typicall ...

, an

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

theological college in England.

Early life and education

Ward studied at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, graduating 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 1987; as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(MA Oxon) degree in 1991. From 1988 to 1991, he trained for

holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

. He obtained a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) degree from

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 ...

, completing it in 2003 with a

doctoral thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

titled "The Schism at Antioch in the Fourth Century".

Ordained ministry

Ward was ordained

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 1991 and

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 1992. He served as

assistant 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 ass ...

of St Andrew's

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

from 1991 to 1994 and of St Andrew's and St Francis of Assisi's Willesden Green from 1994 to 1996. He was the

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 St John the Baptist's

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 ...

from 1996 until 2006 and the chaplain of the Invicta Community Care NHS Trust from 1997 until 2006. He was made an honorary canon of

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in Rochester, Kent, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester and seat (''cathedra'') of the Bishop of Rocheste ...

in 2004. On 1 September 2006, he became the principal of St Stephen's House, Oxford. He stepped down as principal in April 2025. Ward represented the

Diocese of Rochester The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bishop's Latin episcopal si ...

in the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

. He was a member of the Revision Committee on Ordination Services and a representative of the Catholic Group. He is a member of the

Society of the Holy Cross The Society of the Holy Cross (SSC; ) is an international Anglo-Catholicism, Anglo-Catholic society of male priests with members in the Anglican Communion and the Continuing Anglican movement, who live under a common rule of life that informs t ...

(SSC).

Personal life

Ward married Ruth in 1996. Together they have two sons.'WARD, Rev. Robin', ''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 16 Aug 2017
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Arms

Selected works

*Ward, R. ''On Christian Priesthood'' (London 2011), *Ward, R

*Ward, R

*Ward, R. ttp://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=11227 'God is Gone Up', ''Church Times'' Issue 7416 (29 April 2005)

References

Sources and further information

Appointments, ''Church Times'' Issue 7400 (7 January 2005)University of Oxford Annual Review 2005/06New appointments: Principal of St Stephen's House, ''Oxford Blueprint: The newsletter of the University of Oxford'' 6:12 (29 June 2006)St Stephen's House welcomes new PrincipalOrdination of women in the Anglican Communion and other Churches (as at February 2004)General Synod: Ordination Services: Revision Committee'Schooling in faith: Oxford’s theological colleges look to the future', ''the Door'' (1 September 2006)
*''Crockford's Clerical Directory'' (97th edn, London: Church House Publishing, 2001), p. 788 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Robin 1966 births Living people Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Alumni of St Stephen's House, Oxford Alumni of King's College London British theologians British religion academics 21st-century English Anglican priests Principals of St Stephen's House, Oxford