Raymond Jackson Pentland, (born 14 July 1957) is a British

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

priest. He is a retired

military chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term ''cha ...

, having served as

Chaplain-in-Chief The Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch provides military chaplains for the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom. Mission The Mission of the Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch is to serve the RAF Community through: Prayer, Presence and Proclamation. ...

of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

and head of its Chaplains Branch from 2009 to 2014.

Early life

Pentland was born on 14 July 1957 in Greenock, Scotland, to Adam Jackson Pentland and Edith Henderson Pentland. He was educated at Cowdenknowes High School.

Career

Civilian ministry

Pentland attended the

William Booth Memorial Training College William Booth College on Champion Park, Denmark Hill in the London Borough of Southwark, is the headquarters of The Salvation Army leadership and officer training which delivers education and training programmes for the United Kingdom. Designed ...

from 1977. Upon graduation in 1979, he became an

Officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...

. He served in number of

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

locations throughout the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1986. In 1986, Pentland left The Salvation Army to enter

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 ...

and train for ordination into the

. He was ordained a

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 Chur ...

in 1988, in

Southwell Minster Southwell Minster () is a minster and cathedral in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated miles from Newark-on-Trent and from Mansfield. It is the seat of the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham and the Diocese of Southwell and N ...

, Nottinghamshire. He then became

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 ...

St. Jude's Church, Mapperley St Jude's Church is a parish church of the Church of England in Mapperley, Nottinghamshire. History The land for St. Jude's Church was given by the banking branch of the Wright family – Charles Ichabod Wright, Henry Smith Wright, Frederick an ...

, Nottingham. He was ordained a

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 partic ...

in 1989.

Military career

In 1990, Pentland attended the Specialist Entrant and Re-entrant Course at

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which tra ...

. On 26 August 1990, he was commissioned into the Chaplains Branch of the

as a chaplain with the relative rank of flight lieutenant. He was given the

service number A service number is an identification code used to identify a person within a large group. Service numbers are most often associated with the military; however, they may be used in civilian organizations as well. National identification numbers may ...

5207651M. On 26 August 1991, he was promoted to the relative rank of

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

. He transferred from a short service commission to a permanent commission on 1 November 1993. As part of the half-yearly promotions, he was promoted to the relative rank of

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

on 1 January 2003. Pentland was member of the

House of Clergy The House of Clergy is the middle house in the tricameral Church of England General Synod legislature. It consists of representatives of the ordained clergy of the Church of England. Composition The House of Clergy comprises ordained members o ...

in the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

from 2005 to 2014. On 27 March 2006, he was appointed Principal Anglican Chaplain,

Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force The most senior Anglican chaplain in each branch of the British Armed Forces (Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force) is made an archdeacon in the Church of England. Respectively they are titled the Archdeacon for the Royal Navy, the Archdea ...

and

Honorary Chaplain to the Queen An Honorary Chaplain to the King (KHC) is a member of the clergy within the United Kingdom who, through long and distinguished service, is appointed to minister to the monarch of the United Kingdom. When the reigning monarch is female, Honorary Ch ...

(QHC). He was also made an

Honorary Canon A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

of Lincoln Cathedral. On 1 April 2009, he was selected to succeed Peter Mills as

of the Royal Air Force: he took up the appointment on 1 October in addition to his role as Archdeacon, becoming the 21st Chaplain in Chief. In the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrat ...

, he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). Pentland retired in 2014, and was succeeded as Chaplain-in-Chief by

Jonathan Chaffey Jonathan Paul Michael Chaffey, (born 1962) is a British Church of England priest and former military chaplain, who served with the Royal Air Force. He serves as Archdeacon of Oxford in the same diocese; from 2014 to 2018 he served as the Chaplai ...

Later life

Having retired from full-time ministry when he retired from the Royal Air Force in 2014, Pentland held

permission to officiate A permission to officiate (PTO), also known as a licence to officiate, is a concessionary ministry licence granted by an Anglican bishop. It is most commonly issued to a retired deacon, priest, or lay reader over the age of 70 years. It allows th ...

in the Dioceses of Oxford and of London from 2014 to 2019. He continues his link with the military, having transferred his commission from the RAF to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) on 24 November 2014 in the rank of air commodore. From 2015 to 2018, he also served as an honorary

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 ...

at St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe and St James Garlickhythe. From 2019 to 2021, he was a

non-stipendiary minister Self-supporting ministers (SSMs), previously called non-stipendiary ministers or non-stipendiary priests (NSMs), are religious ministers who do not receive a stipend (i.e. payment) for their services and therefore financially support their own mi ...

at Holy Trinity Church, Aylesbury in the Diocese of Oxford. Since 2021, he has held permission to officiate in the

Diocese of Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...

Personal life

In 1979, Pentland married Christine Ann Lyth. Together they have one son, Jackson, (born Adam) and one daughter, Elizabeth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pentland, Ray 1957 births Living people People from Greenock Companions of the Order of the Bath Honorary Chaplains to the Queen Salvation Army officers 20th-century Scottish Episcopalian priests 21st-century English Anglican priests Scottish military personnel Royal Air Force Chaplains-in-Chief Church of England archdeacons (military) Royal Air Force air marshals