Graham Alan Cray (born 21 April 1947) is a retired British

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

bishop. He was the

Bishop of Maidstone The Bishop of Maidstone is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Canterbury, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the county town of Maidstone in Kent. Canterbury suff ...

in the

Diocese of Canterbury The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering eastern Kent which was founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The diocese is centred on Canterbury Cathedral and is the oldest see of the Church of England. The ''Report ...

from 2001 to 2009, and was the Archbishops' Missioner and Team Leader of

Fresh Expressions Fresh Expressions is an international, cross-denominational, creative movement of Christians working alongside existing congregations to cultivate new forms of church for those who have never been involved in church or who have left the church. T ...

from 2009 to 2014.

Early life and education

Cray grew up without his mother Doris, who killed herself when he was 8 years old. Cray was educated (gaining a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

), at

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

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 ...

Ordained ministry

He began his ministry as a curate at St Mark's Church, Gillingham. Cray later spent 14 years at St Michael-le-Belfry in York (at first working with, and later succeeding, David Watson before becoming Principal of

Ridley Hall Ridley Hall is a theological college located on the corner of Sidgwick Avenue and Ridley Hall Road in Cambridge (United Kingdom), which trains men and women intending to take Holy Orders as deacon or priest of the Church of England, and membe ...

theological college in Cambridge. Cray was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

a bishop in March 2001. He served as the

, a

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

in the

, between 2001 and 2009. In 2009, he was appointed to lead the Archbishops' (of Canterbury and of York)

team.''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'', p. 30, 17 November 2008. He retired from full-time ministry in 2014.'CRAY, Rt Rev. Graham Alan', ''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 26 July 2017
/ref> He is the Chairman of Soul Survivor.

References

1947 births Alumni of the University of Leeds Living people Bishops of Maidstone Staff of Ridley Hall, Cambridge {{ChurchofEngland-bishop-stub