Archibald Ronald McDonald Gordon (19 March 1927 – 8 August 2015) was a 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 Portsmouth from 1975 to 1984. He was the

Bishop at Lambeth The Bishop to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York is a position within the hierarchy of the Church of England. It is a non-diocesan appointment in which a bishop acts as head of staff or general assistant to the Archbishop of Canterbury and to ...

from 1984 and, additionally, the

Bishop to the Forces The Anglican church in the British Armed Forces falls under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury; however, for all practical purposes the function is performed by the Bishop to the Forces. His full title is "The Archbishop of Canterbur ...

from 1985. He ended his career as

sub-dean {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019 A sub-dean is a person who acts as an assistant to a dean either in church circuit as a priest or minister or an academic institution. They are, however, not a vice-dean. A vice-dean is a person who can deputize a de ...

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, from 1991 to 1996.

Early years

Gordon was the son of the diplomat Sir Archibald Gordon CMG and his wife Dorothy, the daughter of

Charles Silvester Horne Charles Silvester Horne (1865–1914) was a Congregational minister, who additionally served as Liberal MP for Ipswich, and was a noted orator. He was the father of the humorous broadcaster, Kenneth Horne. Childhood He was born in Cuckfield, ...

, MP: his great-grandfather,

Herbert Cozens-Hardy, 1st Baron Cozens-Hardy Herbert Hardy Cozens-Hardy, 1st Baron Cozens-Hardy, (1838–1920) was a British politician and judge who served as Master of the Rolls from 1907 until 1918. Early life and career Cozens-Hardy was born in Letheringsett, Norfolk in 1838, ...

, was

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Court of Appeal (England and Wales)#Civil Division, Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales a ...

from 1907 until 1918. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

(organ scholar) BA 1950, MA 1952''Crockford's Clerical Directory'' (2002/03), p. 289 before studying for ordination at

Cuddesdon College Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay min ...

Ordained ministry

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 ...

in the East End of London, Gordon returned to Ripon College Cuddesdon as chaplain in 1955. After four years he moved to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, firstly as a

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

and then as a

canon residentiary 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 ...

at the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

. After 12 years in Birmingham he returned to Oxford as vicar of the

University Church of St Mary the Virgin The University Church of St Mary the Virgin (St Mary's or SMV for short) is an Oxford church situated on the north side of the High Street. It is the centre from which the University of Oxford grew and its parish consists almost exclusively of un ...

. Gordon was consecrated as a bishop on 23 September 1975 by

Donald Coggan Frederick Donald Coggan, Baron Coggan, (9 October 1909 – 17 May 2000) was the 101st Archbishop of Canterbury from 1974 to 1980.

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 ...

, 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 ...

. In 1975 he was appointed to be Bishop of Portsmouth, a role he was to hold for nine years with appointment to the House of Lords coming in 1981; he resigned on 31 May 1984. He was head of the

’s staff as

from 1984 until 1991 and additionally,

from 1985 to 1990. From 1991 until 1996 he was Sub-Dean of

Later life

After retiring in 1991 he returned to Oxford where he continued to minister and served on a variety of

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 Britain ...

committees: namely the Advisory Board for Redundant Churches and the Oxford Mission. He was also formerly a member of the

Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved The Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved is an appellate court within the hierarchy of ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England. Hearing cases involving church doctrine, ceremony, or ritual, the court has jurisdiction over both the Provin ...

. Gordon died on 8 August 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Ronald 1927 births 2015 deaths People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Bishops of Portsmouth (Anglican) Bishops at Lambeth Bishops to the Forces Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford 20th-century Church of England bishops