William Jonathan Adam (born 28 October 1969) 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. He was appointed

Archdeacon of Canterbury The Archdeacon of Canterbury is a senior office-holder in the Diocese of Canterbury (a division of the Church of England Province of Canterbury). Like other archdeacons, they are an administrator in the diocese at large (having oversight of parish ...

in 2022 and had previously been the deputy secretary general of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

and

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

advisor to the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

Education and family

Will Adam was born in October 1969 and has two younger sisters. He was educated at

Aylesbury Grammar School Aylesbury Grammar School is an 11–18 boys grammar school in Aylesbury, in the England, English county of Buckinghamshire, which educates approximately 1300 boys. Founded in 1598 by Sir Henry Lee, Champion of Queen Elizabeth I, Aylesbury Gramm ...

and studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and English church history at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. He then attended

Westcott House, Cambridge Westcott House is an Anglican theological college based on Jesus Lane in the centre of the University of Cambridge, university city of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.Westcott House website, Home pag Retrieved on August 27, 2006. Its main activit ...

, from where he was sent to the

Bossey Ecumenical Institute The Bossey Ecumenical Institute (Ecumenical Institute Bossey) is the ecumenical institute of the World Council of Churches. It was founded in 1946. The dean of the Institute is the Rev. Dr Simone Sinn. Degrees and other academic awards are accredit ...

in Switzerland for six months in 1993. Adam later went on to earn a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

and a doctorate in

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

Cardiff Law School Cardiff School of Law and Politics (), also known as Cardiff Law School () is part of Cardiff University in Cardiff, Wales. It confers LLB and LLM degrees for British and international students. Background In 1963, the Law Building (previously ...

. He was elected as a

Fellow of the Royal Historical Society A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

(FRHistS) in 2011 and as a

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

(FSA) in 2024. His wife, Lindsay Yates, is also an Anglican priest and they have three daughters.

Career

Adam 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 1994 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 1995 and served in parishes in the dioceses of

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 ...

(1994–2002), Ely (2002–2010), and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(2010–2017). While still 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 ...

in 1996, he appeared in a

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

for Ford Escort cars, in which the caption stated, "Will Adam has married 14 women since he got his. What do you do in yours?", showing him adjusting his

clerical collar A clerical collar, Roman collar, clergy collar, or, informally, dog collar, is an item of Christian clerical clothing. Overview The clerical collar is almost always white and was originally made of cotton or linen but is now frequently made of pl ...

. In 1998, he was a youth delegate to the World Council of Churches Assembly in

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

, Zimbabwe. In 2017, Adam was appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury's Ecumenical Adviser at

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament of the United King ...

, while also holding the role of honorary assistant priest in his wife's parish at

Compton, West Sussex Compton is a village and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex. The village lies on the B2146 road, southeast of Petersfield, Hampshire and northwest of Chichester. The parish also includes the villages of West Marden and ...

. In 2019, he was also made director of the Department for Unity, Faith and Order in the Anglican Communion. In this role he was responsible for and co-secretary of dialogues between the Anglican Communion and other churches and Christian world communions, including those with the Catholic Church ( Anglican - Roman Catholic International Commission and IARCCUM), the Orthodox Church (ICAOTD) and a new dialogue with the

Pentecostal World Fellowship The Pentecostal World Fellowship is an international fellowship of Evangelical Pentecostal churches and denominations from across the world. The headquarters is in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Its leader is William Wilson ( Tulsa, OK). History The Penteco ...

. In February 2021 he was appointed deputy secretary general of the Anglican Communion, based at the Anglican Communion Office (ACO) adjacent to

Portobello Road Market is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from South to North, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is home to Portobell ...

. In March 2022, it was announced that Adam would be the next Archdeacon of Canterbury and a residentiary canon of

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

, following the departure of the previous incumbent, the Very Reverend

Jo Kelly-Moore Joanne Kelly-Moore (born 1968) is a New Zealand Anglican priest who has been the Dean of St Albans since 2021. She was previously the Dean of Auckland in the Anglican Church of New Zealand from 2010 to 2017, and then Archdeacon of Canterb ...

, who was made

Dean of St Albans The Dean of St Albans is the head of the Chapter of St Albans Cathedral in the city of St Albans, England, in the Diocese of St Albans. As the Dean of St Albans is also the Rector of St Albans, with parochial responsibilities for the largest p ...

. He was installed at Canterbury during

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which ...

on 18 July 2022, but seconded back to the ACO for the Fifteenth Lambeth Conference between 27 July and 7 August 2022.

Bibliography

* Will Adam
Legal flexibility and the mission of the Church: dispensation and economy in ecclesiastical law
Farnham, Surrey, 2011. ISBN 978-1-4094-2055-2 * Lindsay Yates and Will Adam, ''Canon law and the newly ordained'', (third edition, 2011), Ministry Division of the Church of England, Church House Publishing, London.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adam, Will 1969 births Archdeacons of Canterbury Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of Westcott House, Cambridge Living people