The Very Reverend Dr Robert Andrew Willis KStJ DL (born 17 May 1947) is an Anglican priest, theologian,

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

and hymn writer. He was Dean of Canterbury from 2001 to 2022, having previously served as Dean of Hereford between 1992 and 2000. During the COVID-19 pandemic, after public worship was suspended, Willis received media attention for his popular daily video broadcasts of

Morning Prayer Morning Prayer may refer to: Religion *Prayers in various traditions said during the morning * Morning Prayer (Anglican), one of the two main Daily Offices in the churches of the Anglican Communion * In Roman Catholicism: ** Morning offering of C ...

from the

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

garden at

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

Family and education

Willis was born in 1947 to Thomas Willis, who worked at an aircraft company, and Vera Britton. His elder sister Pauline (1939–2020) was a journalist who wrote for '' The Guardian''. Willis was educated at

Kingswood Grammar School Kingswood may refer to: Places Australia *Kingswood, New South Wales *Kingswood (Tamworth), New South Wales *Kingswood Park, New South Wales *Kingswood, South Australia Canada *Kingswood Music Theatre *Kingswood Drive Public School, an elementary ...

in Kingswood, near Bristol. After graduating from Warwick University with a BA degree, he studied for ordination at Ripon College Cuddesdon and completed a

Diploma in Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organizatio ...

(DipTh) at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

Early ordained ministry

Willis was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1972 and a priest in 1973. He served as

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 Chad's ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

from 1972 to 1975 and was a vicar choral of

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...

and

Salisbury Cathedral School Salisbury Cathedral School is a co-educational independent school in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, which was founded in 1091 by Saint Osmund. The choristers of Salisbury Cathedral are educated at the school. History The school was founded in ...

from 1975 to 1978. From 1978 to 1987 he was team rector of Tisbury, Wiltshire, and served as chaplain of Cranborne Chase School and RAF Chilmark. In 1987 Willis became vicar of Sherborne Abbey, a former cathedral and abbey in Dorset. In addition, he was chaplain to Sherborne School for Girls. He was appointed canon and prebendary of

in 1988 and served as rural dean of Sherborne from 1991 to 1992. In November 1992 Willis was instituted as Dean of Hereford, ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals) of the governing body of

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford in Hereford, England. A place of worship has existed on the site of the present building since the 8th century or earlier. The present building was begun in 1079. S ...

. In addition, he was

priest-in-charge A priest in charge or priest-in-charge (previously also curate-in-charge) in the Church of England is a priest in charge of a parish who is not its incumbent. Such priests are not legally responsible for the churches and glebe, but simply hold a ...

of St John's Church,

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

. In 1995 he became a member of the General Synod of the Church of England, and in 1999 he was elected chair of the Deans' and Provosts' Conference. He continued to chair its successor, the Deans' Conference, when it was created in 2002.

Dean of Canterbury

In 2001 Willis was appointed Dean of Canterbury, becoming the 39th person to hold the position since the Reformation. His installation took place on 1 July 2001.

COVID-19 pandemic broadcasts

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Church of England suspended public worship. In response, Willis, filmed by his civil partner Fletcher, began to broadcast religious services from the

garden at

. His video recordings of the daily service of

were watched by thousands of people around the world who dubbed themselves the "Garden Congregation".Sarah Meyrick, "Dean of Canterbury retires at 75, but his garden ministry will go on"
''The Church Times'', 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022. By the time the Dean's retired in May 2022, he had produced well over 900 broadcasts and had cumulatively accrued millions of views on Youtube and other platforms around the world, reaching many who needed a point of contact, spiritual or otherwise, in the dark days of the lockdowns. The broadcasts were also downloaded and shared between Christian communities in parts of the world where it is dangerous for them to gather together or worship openly.The broadcasts followed the traditional pattern of daily morning prayer in the Anglican Church, built around the daily reading of Scripture and saying the pasalms. The interweaving of all aspects of human history and creativity in arts, music, philosophy, literature into these services which were filmed all over the house and gardens from the pigsty to the roof, gained global appeal. The broadcasts celebrated noteworthy days such as Thanksgiving, Jewish New Year and Chinese New Year, making them truly global and ecumenical, and the content drew heavily on the Dean's fifty years of ministry experience and keen concern for nature and the environment to draw attention to issues around the world. Sarah Meyrick, "Dean of Canterbury retires at 75, but his garden ministry will go on"
''The Church Times'', 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022. In May 2020 he received international media attention when his

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

, Leo, walked between his legs and into his

cassock The cassock or soutane is a Christian clerical clothing coat used by the clergy and male religious of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, in addition to some clergy in certain Protestant denomi ...

. A similar incident occurred in July 2020, when another one of his cats, Tiger, began to drink from a jug of milk that had been positioned next to Willis. A third incident occurred during Willis's broadcast on Shrove Tuesday 2021, when Tiger stole a pancake that was next to Willis.

Retirement and legacy

On 16 February 2022 it was announced that Willis would retire as Dean of Canterbury on 16 May.

Hymn writing

Willis has written a number of hymns, some of which have been published in the latest edition of '' Hymns Ancient and Modern''. His hymns include "Let Us Light a Candle", "Earth's Fragile Beauties We Possess" and "The Kingdom is Upon You". He also wrote the Christmas carol "Heaven Responds at Bethlehem", set to a tune by George Butterworth, which was sung for the first time by the Canterbury Cathedral girls' choir at the cathedral's carol services in 2016. Willis is also an accomplished pianist and opera enthusiast.

Honours

Willis was appointed a

Commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of c ...

(CStJ) in 2001 and a Knight in 2009 (although the Order does not grant the use of the prefix " Sir"). In 2011 he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of the county of Kent. He was awarded the Cross of St Augustine by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, in 2012. He was awarded an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

(DD) degree by the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University in 2009 and an honorary Doctor of Civil Law (DCL) degree by the University of Kent in 2011.

References

External links

Profile in ''Debrett's People of Today''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Robert 1947 births Living people Alumni of the University of Warwick Alumni of Ripon College Cuddesdon Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford English Anglican theologians Church of England deans Deans of Hereford Deans of Canterbury Deputy Lieutenants of Kent Fellows of Canterbury Christ Church University Knights of the Order of St John Recipients of the Cross of St Augustine Members of the General Synod of the Church of England People educated at King's Oak Academy English hymnwriters