David John Ison (born 15 September 1954) is a retired

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

priest. From 2012 until his 2022 retirement, he served as the Dean of St Paul's 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. For centuries the diocese covered a vast tract and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north ...

Early life and education

David Ison, son of Richard Lea Ison, was educated at the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

( BA 1976), the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

( BA 1978) and

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 ...

(

Diploma of Biblical Studies The Diploma of Biblical Studies (DipBS) is a one-year course in biblical, theological, historical and pastoral studies offered by a variety of Christian Bible Colleges. Colleges offering a DipBS The following colleges offer a Diploma of Biblical ...

1979). He undertook further studies in

church history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

where his 1984 PhD was entitled "The Constantinian Oration to the saints : authorship and background".

Ordained ministry

Ison was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

as a priest in 1980. He began his ordained ministry as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''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 w ...

at St Nicholas and St Luke's

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

. From 1985 to 1988 he was a

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in co ...

at the

Church Army Training College The Church Army Chapel at Vanbrugh Park, Blackheath, Greater London, designed by project architect E.T. Spashett for Austin Vernon & Partners, opened in 1965 by Princess Alexandra and consecrated by Michael Ramsey, is a locally listed building ...

before being appointed

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 pref ...

of St Philip's

Potters Green Potters Green is a mainly residential suburb situated in the northeast of the city of Coventry, West Midlands, England. The longest road is Woodway Lane, while the road used by through traffic is Ringwood Highway, which provides a link between ...

in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

until 1993. Later, he was the officer for Continuing Ministerial Education in the

Diocese of Exeter The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Exeter Cathedral, Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan Bishop of Exeter. It is pa ...

. Ison became Dean of Bradford in September 2005. On 6 March 2012, it was announced that he was to become the next Dean of St Paul's Cathedral from 25 May 2012, succeeding

Graeme Knowles Graeme Paul Knowles (born 25 September 1951) is a retired Anglican bishop. He served latterly as the Acting Dean of St Edmundsbury, having previously served as Bishop of Sodor and Man and as Dean of St Paul's. Biography Knowles was educated a ...

, which he did by Letters Patent dated 11 May 2012 granting him "the Deanery of Her Majesty’s Cathedral Church of St Paul in London". On 5 June 2012, Ison led the prayers at the service of thanksgiving marking the

Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II The year 2012 marked the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II being the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. The only diamond jubilee celebration for any of Elizabeth's predecessors was in 1897, for the 60th an ...

. The next year, he gave the bidding at the funeral of Margaret Thatcher. On 28 July 2021, it was announced that Ison was to retire in September 2022.

Views

Ison is an

open evangelical An open evangelical attempts to uphold evangelical doctrines, morality, and spirituality, while also being inclusive of others. It is a term which is commonly used in the United Kingdom in reference to both individuals and institutions. Uses Open ...

and supports same-sex partnerships.

Personal life

In 1977, Ison married Hilary Margaret Powell who is also ordained in the Church of England. They have two sons and two daughters. Ison has an identical twin brother, Keith Ison, who was the Head of Medical Physics at

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust of the English National Health Service, one of the prestigious Shelford Group. It runs Guy's Hospital in London Bridge, St Thomas' Hospital in Waterloo, Evelina London Childr ...

and is a past president of the

Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine The Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) is the United Kingdom's professional body and learned society for physicists, engineers and technologists within the field of medicine, founded in 1995, changing its name from the Insti ...

Styles

* Mr David Ison (1954–1980) * The Revd David Ison (1980–1984) * The Revd Dr David Ison (1984–2005 & 2022–present) * The Very Revd Dr David Ison (2005–2022)

References

External links

www.guild-freemen-london.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ison, David 1954 births Living people British identical twins People from Brentwood, Essex People from Essex Alumni of the University of Leicester Alumni of the University of Nottingham Alumni of King's College London Fellows of King's College London English Anglicans Provosts and Deans of Bradford Deans of St Paul's Church Army people