Vaughan Edward Roberts (born 17 March 1965) 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, ...

clergyman. Since 1998, he has been the rector of St Ebbe's, Oxford. In 2009, he became Director of the Proclamation Trust.

Early life

Roberts was born on 17 March 1965 in

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, Hampshire. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

which is an all-boys public school in Winchester. He studied law at

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Selwyn (bishop of Lichfield), Georg ...

, and graduated from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1988; 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 (Cantab)) degree in 1991. In 1987, he was President of the

Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union The Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, usually known as CICCU, is the University of Cambridge's most prominent student Christian organisation, and was the first university Christian Union to have been founded. It was formed in 1877, bu ...

. After graduation, he spent a short time in student ministry in South Africa. Roberts then moved to

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 in 1989 entered

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 ...

, an Anglican

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and Christian theology, theology, generally to prepare them for ordinatio ...

. There, he studied theology and undertook training for ordained ministry.

Ordained ministry

Roberts 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

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 1991 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 1992. In 1991, he joined St Ebbe's Church, Oxford, a

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 ...

church, as 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 ...

under David Fletcher. From 1995 to 1998, he was the Student Pastor with special responsibilities for students and student ministry. In 1998, when Fletcher retired, Roberts was appointed Rector of St Ebbe's. In October 2021, he was elected a member of 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 ...

. From 2009, Roberts also served as Director of the Proclamation Trust, an

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

association dedicated to training preachers in

expository preaching Expository preaching, also known as expositional preaching, is a form of preaching that details the meaning of a particular text or passage of Scripture. It explains what the Bible means by what it says. Exegesis is technical and grammatical ex ...

. He has written a number of Christian books, including ''Turning Points'', ''Distinctives'', ''Battles Christians Face'', ''True Worship'', ''Life's Big Questions'' and ''God's Big Picture'' (an introduction to

Biblical theology Because scholars have tended to use the term in different ways, Biblical theology has been notoriously difficult to define. The academic field of biblical theology is sub-divided into Old Testament theology and New Testament theology. Academic ...

). In July 2024, he was commissioned by the Church of England Evangelical Council as an "overseer" to provide alternative spiritual oversight (not to be confused with the Church of England's official

alternative episcopal oversight A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction "are unable to receive the ministry of w ...

) to evangelical clergy and parishes in the Church of England who maintain traditional teaching on the doctrine of marriage and sexual ethics, following the General Synod's support for the introduction of a service of blessing for same sex couples.

Views

In 2017, he was among the initial signatories of the Nashville Statement. He believes that marriage is between one man and one woman: "marriage of a man and a woman is the Bible's greatest unchanging picture of Christ and his love for the church and is not something we are at liberty to redefine".

Personal life

In the fifth anniversary edition of ''Battles Christians Face'' a new preface was added in which Roberts acknowledged struggles with unwanted same-sex attraction. He later publicly confirmed this in an interview, adding that he does not define himself as homosexual. He has chosen to remain celibate.

Works

*''Turning Points'' (1999: Authentic) *''True Worship'' (2002: Authentic) *''God's Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible'' (2002: Inter-Varsity Press) *''Life's Big Questions: Six Major Themes Traced Through the Bible'' (2004: Inter-Varsity Press) *''God's Big Design: Life as He Intends It To Be'' (2005: Inter-Varsity Press) *''Distinctives'' (2006: Authentic) *''Battles Christians Face'' (2007: Authentic) *''Christmas in Three Words'' (2007: Inter-Varsity Press) *''Missing the Point? Finding Our Place in the Turning Points of History'' (2007: Authentic) *''True Spirituality: The Challenge of 1 Corinthians for the Twenty-First-Century Church'' (2011: IVP) *''Transgender'' (2016: The Good Book Company)

Co-authored

*''Workers for the Harvest Field'', with Tim Thornborough (2006: The Good Book Company)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Vaughan Edward Living people British religious writers British evangelicals 21st-century English Anglican priests Evangelical Anglican clergy 1965 births Clergy from Winchester People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge Alumni of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford 20th-century English Anglican priests LGBTQ Anglican clergy Members of the General Synod of the Church of England