Vincent Gerard (bishop)
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George Vincent Gerard, (24 November 1898 – 14 January 1984) was the seventh
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 of Waiapu, serving from 1938 to 1944; and
Assistant Bishop of Sheffield The Bishop of Sheffield is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Sheffield in the Province of York. A similar title was first created as a suffragan see in the Diocese of York in 1901. John Quirk, the only Bishop suffragan of Shef ...
, 1947–1971. He served with distinction in both World Wars.


Early life and education

Gerard was educated at
Christ's College, Christchurch Christ's College, Canterbury is an independent Anglican secondary day and boarding school for boys, located in the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand. Founded in 1850 by Reverend Henry Jacobs in Lyttelton as a school for early settlers, ...
. He came to England in 1917 and joined the Inns of Court Regiment and was soon offered a commission with the East Kents (the Buffs). He served in France and earned a Military Cross. Gerard then obtained a degree at Brasenose College, Oxford and was ordained in 1923.


Ministry

He returned to New Zealand and embarked on his ecclesiastical career with a curacy in Timaru. He was made deacon on 21 December 1922 and ordained priest on 23 December 1923, by Churchill Julius, Bishop of Christchurch and Primate of New Zealand, at ChristChurch Cathedral."Gerard, George Vincent" in Blain, Michael. ''Blain Biographical Directory of Anglican clergy in the South Pacific — ordained before 1932'' (2023 edition) p. 787 (Accessed a
Project Canterbury
4 February 2023
archived
4 February 2023)
Later he was Vicar of Pahiatua, then Petone, and finally (before his appointment to the episcopate) of St Matthew, Auckland. Gerard was elected Bishop of Waiapu and consecrated a bishop on 28 October 1938, by Alfred Averill, Primate of New Zealand and Bishop of Auckland, at Napier Cathedral. He served as Senior Chaplain to the New Zealand forces when the Second World War broke out but was taken prisoner in 1941 and repatriated in 1943. He was appointed CBE in 1944 and resigned his See on 30 April that year. He was then Senior NZ Chaplain in the South Pacific until the War ended. By 1945 Gerard had renewed his acquaintance with Leslie Hunter, by then Bishop of Sheffield, with whom he had worked in Barking in the 1920s. Gerard was appointed vicar and rural dean of Rotherham that year and, in 1947,
Assistant Bishop of Sheffield The Bishop of Sheffield is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Sheffield in the Province of York. A similar title was first created as a suffragan see in the Diocese of York in 1901. John Quirk, the only Bishop suffragan of Shef ...
. He became 'a loved and honoured figure throughout the diocese'. Gerard resigned the vicarage and deanery in 1960, but remained Assistant Bishop until 30 September 1971 and was Chairman of the Church Assembly's House of Clergy, from 1965 to 1970. He died in 1984.


References

*''Playing with Strife'', The Autobiography of a Soldier, Lt-Gen. Sir Philip Neame, V.C., K.B.E., C.B., D.S.O., George G Harrap & Co. Ltd, 1947. 1898 births People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) officers New Zealand recipients of the Military Cross Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War I Anglican bishops of Waiapu 20th-century Anglican bishops in New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1984 deaths {{Anglican-bishop-stub