Giles Fraser
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Giles Anthony Fraser (born 27 November 1964)Fraser, Rev. Canon Dr Giles Anthony
, ''Who's Who''
is an English
Anglican 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 ...
, journalist and broadcaster who has served as Vicar of
St Anne's Church, Kew St Anne's Church, Kew, is a parish church in Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The building, which dates from 1714, and is Grade II* listed, forms the central focus of Kew Green. The raised churchyard, which is on three sides of ...
, since 2022. He is a regular contributor to ''
Thought for the Day ''Thought for the Day'' is a daily scripted slot on the ''Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4 offering "reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news", broadcast at around 7:45 each Monday to Saturday morning. Nowadays lastin ...
'' and ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' and a panellist on ''
The Moral Maze ''Moral Maze'' is a live discussion programme on BBC Radio 4, broadcast since 1990. Since November 2011, it has also been available as a podcast. Structure Four regular panellists discuss moral and ethical issues raised by a recent news story. ...
'', as well as an assistant editor of ''
UnHerd ''UnHerd'' is a British news and opinion website founded in July 2017. Content ''UnHerd'' was founded in 2017 by conservative British political activist Tim Montgomerie, who also acted as editor. Following Montgomerie's departure in September ...
''.


Early life and education

Fraser was born to a Jewish father and a Christian mother and was
circumcised Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. Topic ...
according to Jewish tradition. He was educated at Hollingbury Court preparatory school in Sussex, where he was beaten several times a week by the headmaster for minor misdemeanours, and at
Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson (rector), Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oa ...
, a fee-paying Christian school, where he became a Christian. He studied at
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...
before training for ordained ministry at
Ripon College Cuddesdon 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 ...
, near
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. He continued his studies at the
University of Lancaster , mottoeng = Truth lies open to all , established = , endowment = £13.9 million , budget = £317.9 million , type = Public , city = Bailrigg, City of Lancaster , country = England , coor = , campus = Bailrigg , faculty = 1 ...
, where he was awarded a PhD in 1999 with a thesis entitled ''Holy Nietzsche experiments in redemption''.


Career

Fraser was ordained as 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 Churc ...
in 1993 and as 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 particu ...
in 1994, serving 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 ...
of All Saints' Church in
Streetly Streetly is an area in the county of West Midlands, England which lies around to the north of Birmingham City Centre. It is uniquely located within the borders of Birmingham, Lichfield and Walsall district authorities, and is part of the West M ...
,
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 ...
, from 1993 to 1997. From 1997 to 2006 he was a chaplain and then a lecturer in philosophy at
Wadham College Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...
,
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. In 2000 he became
Team Rector A rector is, in an ecclesiastical sense, a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations. In contrast, a vicar is also a cleric but functions as an assistant and representative of an administrative leader. A ...
of St. Mary's Church, Putney, where he campaigned to raise the profile of the
Putney Debates The Putney Debates, which took place from 28 October to 8 November 1647, were a series of discussions over the political settlement that should follow Parliament's victory over Charles I in the First English Civil War. The main participants were ...
of 1647 and founded Inclusive Church, which campaigns for lesbian and gay inclusion within the church. From 2009 to 2011 he was
canon chancellor According to both canon law (Catholic Church), Catholic and canon law (Anglican Communion), Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a College (canon law), college of clerics (chapter (religion), chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the cas ...
of
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
in London,Thinking Anglicans – Giles Fraser becomes a canon of St Paul's
/ref> with special responsibility for contemporary ethics and engagement with the
City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
as a
financial centre A financial centre ( BE), financial center ( AE), or financial hub, is a location with a concentration of participants in banking, asset management, insurance or financial markets with venues and supporting services for these activities to ta ...
. In October 2011
Occupy London Occupy London was a political movement in London, England, and part of the international Occupy movement. While some media described it as an "anti-capitalist" movement, in the statement written and endorsed by consensus by the Occupy assembly i ...
based its protest outside the cathedral, where Fraser said that he was happy for people to "exercise their right to protest peacefully". However, he resigned as he could not sanction any policy of the cathedral chapter that involved using force to remove the protesters. He has said that it was "a huge matter of regret to leave" St Paul's, "but not for one moment have I thought that I did the wrong thing". He was also a visiting professor in the anthropology department at the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...
and Director of the St Paul's Institute from 2009 to 2011. In 2012 Fraser was appointed Priest-in-charge of St Mary's, Newington, in south London, and in the spring of 2022 he became Vicar of
St Anne's Church, Kew St Anne's Church, Kew, is a parish church in Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The building, which dates from 1714, and is Grade II* listed, forms the central focus of Kew Green. The raised churchyard, which is on three sides of ...
, in south-west London. Since 2009 he has been an honorary canon of the Diocese of Sefwi-Wiawso in
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
.


Views and writing

Fraser has been involved in social and political advocacy and, according to ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'', "would be the first to admit that he is fond of the sound of his own voice". In 2019 he claimed that "all my political energy has been a reaction to
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
. I hated and continue to hate
Thatcherism Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character and general style of manag ...
with a passion that remains undimmed". In the 2016 referendum Fraser supported leaving the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, commenting that he found it "amazing that progressives are so keen to offer support to a remote and undemocratic bureaucracy that locks in a commitment to
neoliberal economics Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
". In 2019 he said he was "longing for a full-on Brexit – No Deal, please". In the 2019 general election he voted for the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
, even though he had just joined the
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...
. From 2004 to 2013 Fraser had a weekly column in the ''
Church Times The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays. History The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for the ...
'' and is also a regular contributor to ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. Fraser is the author or co-author of several books and is a specialist on the writings of the German philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
. He has lectured on moral leadership for the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
at the
Defence Academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...
at
Shrivenham Shrivenham is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Faringdon. The village is close to the county boundary with Wiltshire and about east-northeast of Swindon. The 2011 Census recorde ...
.


Personal life

Fraser has been married twice. With his first wife, Sally Aagaard, whom he married in 1993, he had two daughters and a son. On 16 January 2016, Fraser announced his engagement to Lynn Tandler, an Israeli Jew, who is a weaver and academic researcher. They were married on 13 February 2016 and their son was born in November of the same year. In June 2017 Fraser suffered a heart attack and successfully underwent surgery.


Awards and recognition

Fraser was awarded an honorary doctorate by
Edge Hill University Edge Hill University is a campus-based public university in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, which opened in 1885 as Edge Hill College, the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England, before admitting its first male st ...
, Lancashire, in 2013 and by the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
in 2015. He was voted Stonewall Hero of the Year in 2012.


References


External links


Giles Fraser
on ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
Giles Fraser
on ''
UnHerd ''UnHerd'' is a British news and opinion website founded in July 2017. Content ''UnHerd'' was founded in 2017 by conservative British political activist Tim Montgomerie, who also acted as editor. Following Montgomerie's departure in September ...
''
Daily Telegraph: Pro-gay Vicar of Putney made an African Canon Putney Debates: Permanent exhibition sited inside St Mary’s Church, PutneyExtended interview on Nietzsche, Kundera, the Church and Occupy London
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Giles 1964 births Living people 21st-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Lancaster University Alumni of Newcastle University Alumni of Ripon College Cuddesdon Anglo-Catholic socialists Chancellors of St Paul's Cathedral English Christian socialists English people of Jewish descent LGBT rights activists from England People associated with Edge Hill University People associated with the Open University People educated at Uppingham School The Guardian people