Jeffrey William Driver (born 6 October 1951) is a retired Australian Anglican bishop. He is the former Archbishop of Adelaide and

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

in the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the R ...

Early life

Driver grew up in the New South Wales country town of

Cowra Cowra is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 9,863. Cowra is located approximately above sea level, on the ...

. His theological education was undertaken through the

Australian College of Theology The Australian College of Theology (ACT) is an Australian higher education provider based in Sydney, New South Wales. The college delivers awards in ministry and theology and was one of the first Australian non-university providers to offer an a ...

. After a short career as a newspaper journalist 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 ...

in 1977 and began his career as an assistant

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 ...

in Bathurst. He held incumbencies at Mid-Richmond and Jamison and was later

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 ...

Young, New South Wales Young is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and the largest town in the Hilltops Region. The "Lambing Flat" Post Office opened on 1 March 1861 and was renamed "Young" in 1863. Young is marketed as the Cherry Ca ...

and also Rector of the parish of St Paul's Manuka in Canberra. Driver was Executive Director of

St Mark's National Theological Centre St Mark's National Theological Centre is a theological college in Australia. It is owned and operated by the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn. History Ernest Burgmann, Bishop of Goulburn from 1934 and then the renamed Canberra & Goulbu ...

in Canberra from 1995 to 1997, and founding Head of Charles Sturt University's School of Theology. In 2001, Driver was consecrated and appointed

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...

in eastern Victoria, a position he held until his

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in 2005. Driver holds a PhD from

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explorer w ...

, MTh. from the

Sydney College of Divinity The Sydney College of Divinity (SCD) is a consortium of Christian theological educational institutions and Bible colleges based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The college is structured as a federation of member institutions, each of which ...

, as well as Scholar and Licentiate in Theology from the

. Driver continues to lecture and write on biblical studies and Anglican ecclesiology, and has been closely involved with the work of the Anglican Church's caring body,

Anglicare Anglicare Australia is the national umbrella community services body of agencies associated with each diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia. Anglicare is also a brand name under which many Australian Anglican community services agencies ope ...

, in a number of dioceses. He attended the

Global South The concept of Global North and Global South (or North–South divide in a global context) is used to describe a grouping of countries along socio-economic and political characteristics. The Global South is a term often used to identify region ...

Fourth Encounter that took place in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, on 19–23 April 2010. On 10 April 2016, Driver announced that he would retire in August 2016. It was announced in December 2016 that his successor would be Geoffrey Smith, the assistant bishop, general manager and registrar of the Diocese of Brisbane. In retirement, Driver has been acting principal of

Newton Theological College Newton Theological College is a Papua New Guinean educational institution in Popondetta, Papua New Guinea. It trains candidates for ordination in the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea. History Anglican mission activity commenced in the Territ ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Driver, Jeffrey William 1951 births Anglican archdeacons in Australia Anglican bishops of Gippsland 21st-century Anglican bishops in Australia 21st-century Anglican archbishops Anglican archbishops of Adelaide Living people Academic staff of Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University alumni