The Dean of Guernsey is the leader of the Church of England in

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

Alderney Alderney (; french: Aurigny ; Auregnais: ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest ...

, and Sark. The dean fulfils the role of

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

, rural Dean, and

Bishop's commissary A bishop is a person of authority in a Christian church. Bishop, Bishops or Bishop's may also refer to: Religious roles * Bishop (Catholic Church) * Bishop (Eastern Orthodox Church) * Bishop (Latter Day Saints) * Bishop (Methodism) Places A ...

for the Deanery of Guernsey. In Guernsey, the Church of England is the

Established Church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...

, although the Dean is not a member of the

States of Guernsey The States of Guernsey (french: États de Guernesey), sometimes referred to as the Government of Guernsey, is the parliament and government of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the States of Guern ...

. The Deanery of Guernsey was officially part of the Diocese of Winchester since 1568. This meant that the British Channel Island of Guernsey was under the legal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester and was responsible for its episcopal oversight up until March of the 2014. Due to a breakdown in the relationship between the Dean of Jersey and the Bishop of Winchester, the Bishop of Dover of the Diocese of Canterbury provided temporary episcopal oversight and legal responsibility of administrative affairs until 2018. The Archbishop of Canterbury's Commission reported later in 2019, in response to the future management of the Channel Islands' Deaneries, made a number of recommendations that aimed to strengthen the relationship between Bishop and Dean and Diocese and Deanery. One of these recommendations were that the Deaneries of Guernsey and Jersey should now be attached to the

Diocese of Salisbury The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England, within the ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of Dorset (excepting the deaneries of Bournemouth and Christchurch, which fall within t ...

List of deans

* 1566: John After * 1662 to 1697:

John Saumares John Saumares D.D. (d. 1 September 1697) was a Canon of Windsor from 1671 - 1697 and Dean of Guernsey from 1662 - 1697. Career He was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford and graduated DD 1671 He was appointed: *Rector of St Martin’s Guernsey ...

* 1892 to 1918: Thomas Bell * 1918 to 1922:

John Penfold John Wornham Penfold (3 December 1828 – 5 July 1909) was a surveyor and architect born in Haslemere, Surrey where he is also buried. The house in which he once lived, "Penfolds", is still to be found near the centre of the town. Penfol ...

* 1922 to 1931:

Douglas Carey Douglas Falkland Carey Distinguished Service Order, DSO was an Anglican priest. A former British Armed Forces, Army Chaplain who was ordained in 1900, he was Dean (religion), Dean of Guernsey from 1922''Ecclesiastical News. New Dean of Guernsey.' ...

* 1931 to 1947:

Agnew Giffard Agnew Walter Giles Giffard was an Anglican priest in the first half of the 20th century. Born in Guernsey on 28 April 1869, he was educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey and The Queen's College, Oxford and ordained in 1895. After a cur ...

* 1947 to 1967: Edward Frossard * 1967 to 1978: Frederick Cogman * 1978 to 1988: John Foster * 1989 to 1995: Jeffrey Fenwick * 1995 to 2003: Marc Trickey * 2003 to 2014:

Paul Mellor Paul Mellor (born 21 August 1974 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for four different Sydney NRL clubs and in Britain before retiring at the en ...

* 2015 to present: Tim Barker

References

{{Diocese of Winchester

Christianity in Guernsey

List of deans

See also

References