John Bernard Taylor (6 May 19291 June 2016) was a British bishop and theologian who served as

Bishop of St Albans The Bishop of St Albans is the Ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of St Albans in the Province of Canterbury. The bishop is supported in his work by two suffragan bishops, the Bishop of Hertford and the Bishop of Bedford, and three arc ...

Education

Taylor was educated at

Watford Grammar School for Boys Go Forward with Preparation , established = 1884 ( Single-sex) , type = partially selective academy , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Ian A. Cooksey , r_head_label = , ...

and

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

(graduating

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 ...

with

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

), and trained for the ministry at

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 ...

and

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

(as Lady Kay scholar); he proceeded

Cambridge Master of Arts In the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts are promoted to the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts (MA) on application after six or seven years' seniority as members of the university (including years as an u ...

(MA Cantab).

Priestly ministry

He was made

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

(presumably at Southwark), and ordained

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September, a ...

1957 (22 September), by Bertram Simpson, Bishop of Southwark, at

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. ...

. 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 ...

St Lawrence Church, Morden St Lawrence Church is the Church of England parish church for Morden in the London Borough of Merton. The building is Grade I listed, and located on London Road, at the highest point of Morden, overlooking Morden Park. Morden Parish consists of f ...

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 ...

Issue no 50,086 (dated Saturday 4 June 2016) p25 "Scholarly Bishop of St Albans who preferred cocoa to claret" he served as

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 ...

Henham __NOTOC__ Henham, or Henham-on-the-Hill is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The village is situated north from London Stansted Airport. The parish includes the hamlets of Little Henham and Pledgdon Green. ...

and

Elsenham Elsenham is a village and civil parish in north-west Essex in eastern England. Its neighbouring towns include Bishop's Stortford, Saffron Walden and Stansted Mountfitchet. History Elsenham is recorded in the ''Domesday Book'' of 1086 as ''Alsenh ...

from 1959 to 1964. During that time he was appointed an

examining chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

John Tiarks John Gerhard Tiarks (5 April 19032 January 1974) was an Anglican bishop whose ecclesiastical career spanned forty five years in the mid twentieth century. Educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge and ordained in 1927 — h ...

(and later

John Trillo Albert John Trillo (London, 4 July 1915 – 2 August 1992, Wenhaston, Suffolk) was a Church of England bishop. John Trillo (as he was generally known) grew up in Cricklewood, North London, and was educated at the Quintin School and King's Colleg ...

Bishop of Chelmsford The Bishop of Chelmsford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chelmsford in the Province of Canterbury.'' Crockford's Clerical Directory 2008/2009 (100th edition)'', Church House Publishing (). The current bishop is Guli Francis ...

in 1962, continuing until 1980. He was Vice- Principal of Oak Hill Theological College from 1964 to 1972. He was appointed

of All Saints',

Woodford Wells Woodford Wells is a small settlement on the edge of Epping Forest, in Woodford, East London. The area lies about north-east of Charing Cross. The name is shown in the Chapman and Andre 1777 map of Essex, and shortly after on an Ordnance Surv ...

and

Diocesan Director of Ordinands 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 vario ...

in 1972; he departed Woodford (but remained DDO) in 1975 to become Archdeacon of West Ham.

Episcopal ministry

In 1980, Taylor was chosen to succeed

Robert Runcie Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie, (2 October 1921 – 11 July 2000) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991, having previously been Bishop of St Albans. He travelled the world widely t ...

(the new

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

) as

; he was consecrated a bishop on 1 May, by Runcie, at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

). He was enthroned at St Albans Abbey on 14 June 1980, took his seat (as a Lord Spiritual) in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

in 1985 and retired in August 1995; his successor was

Christopher Herbert Christopher William Herbert (born 7 January 1944) is a British Anglican bishop. From 1996 to 2009, he was the Bishop of St Albans. Early life Herbert was born on 7 January 1944, in Lydney in the Forest of Dean. His father helped run the family ...

. Taylor succeeded

David Say Bishop Richard David Say KCVO (4 October 1914 – 14 September 2006) was the Bishop of Rochester in the Church of England from 1961 to 1988. He was often noted for his height (6 ft 4in). Early life and education Say was the son of Command ...

Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was foun ...

Lord High Almoner The Royal Almonry is a small office within the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, headed by the Lord High Almoner, an office dating from 1103. The almoner is responsible for distributing alms to the poor. The Lord High Almoner is usually a ...

in 1988 and stepped down in 1997: his successor in that post was

Nigel McCulloch Nigel Simeon McCulloch, (born 17 January 1942) is an Anglican bishop. He is a retired Bishop of Manchester in the Church of England. He was appointed in August 2002, taking up duties later that year and was installed in February 2003. He reti ...

Bishop of Wakefield The Bishop of Wakefield is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. The title was first created for a diocesan bishop in 1888, but it was dissolved in 2014. The Bishop of Wakefield is now ...

. He retired to Cambridge, where he served as an

honorary assistant bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case they ...

in the

Diocese of Ely The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely. There is one suffragan (subordinate) bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon. The diocese now co ...

until his death; he was also licensed to the same role in the

Diocese in Europe The Diocese in Europe (short form for the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe) is a diocese of the Church of England. It was originally formed in 1842 as the Diocese of Gibraltar. It is geographically the largest diocese of the Church of England and th ...

from 1997 onwards.

Other work

Taylor authored a number of religious books.Books by John Bernard Taylor

Alibris Alibris is an online store that sells new books, used books, out-of-print books, rare books, and other media through an online network of independent booksellers. History Martin Manley founded Alibris in 1997 with the team behind early o ...

. He became a

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(KCVO) in 1997.

Books

* * * * * — republishing of ''The Minor Prophets'' * * * * * — recent edition of ''Ezekiel: An introduction and commentary''

Articles

* * *

References

1929 births 2016 deaths Bishops of St Albans English Christian theologians Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge English male non-fiction writers Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order People educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys {{ChurchofEngland-bishop-stub