George Thomas William Davison (born April 1965) is a priest of the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

. Since 2020, he has served as the

Bishop of Connor The Bishop of Connor is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Connor in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The title is currently used by the Church of Ireland, but in the Roman Catholic Church it has been united with anoth ...

Early life and education

Davison was born in April 1965, and grew up in south

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Northern Ireland. He was studied theology at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

(BD) degree in 1988. He then attended

Oak Hill College Oak Hill College is a conservative evangelical theological college located on Chase Side in Southgate, London, England. Its aim is to prepare men and women from the Church of England and Independent churches for ministry in the real world. Ove ...

, a

conservative evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...

theological college in London, and the Church of Ireland Theological College in Dublin. He graduated from the latter with a

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organization. ...

(BTh) degree in 1992.

Ordained ministry

He 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 deacon in 1992 and priest in 1993. After a

curacy 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 ...

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

he was the

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

Kinawley Kinawley or Kinawly () is a small village, townland (of 187 acres) and civil parish straddling County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland and County Cavan, Republic of Ireland. The village and townland are both in the civil parish of Kinawley (founded b ...

from 1995 to 2009; and

Archdeacon of Kilmore The Archdeacon of Kilmore is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh. The archdeaconry can trace its history from Maelisa Mac Gillco Erain, the first known incumbent, who died in 1199 to the current in ...

from 2003 to 2009. Since 2009 he has been at St. Nicholas,

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...

; and from 2013

Archdeacon of Belfast The Archdeacon of Belfast is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Church of Ireland Diocese of Connor. The archdeacon is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy. within the diocese. List of Archdeacons * Ven. Barry ...

. On 17 February 2020, Davison was elected as the next

. He was consecrated a bishop on 3 September 2020 at St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, during a service conducted under Covid-19 restrictions: the congregation numbered less than thirty. He was consecrated

John McDowell John Henry McDowell, FBA (born 7 March 1942) is a South African philosopher, formerly a fellow of University College, Oxford, and now university professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Although he has written on metaphysics, epistemology, ...

, Archbishop of Armagh, and the

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

were

Pat Storey Patricia Storey (née Shaw; born 30 March 1960) is an Irish Anglican bishop. Since 2013, she has been the Bishop of Meath and Kildare in the Church of Ireland. She was the first woman to become a bishop in the Church of Ireland and the first ...

and

Andrew Forster Andrew James Forster is an Irish Anglican Bishop. He is currently Serving as Bishop of Derry and Raphoe since 8 December 2019. Forster was educated at Queen's University, Belfast and the Church of Ireland Theological College. He was ordained ...

References

1965 births Living people Archdeacons of Kilmore Archdeacons of Belfast Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the Church of Ireland Theological Institute Evangelical Anglican bishops Christian clergy from Belfast Alumni of Oak Hill College {{Ireland-reli-bio-stub