Peter Selby

Peter Stephen Maurice Selby (born December 7, 1941 ) is a British Anglican theologian . He was Bishop of Worcester in the Church of England from 1997 to 2007 .

Life

Family and education

Selby's parents came from Germany and Austria . They had come to Great Britain as emigrants in their respective homeland in the 1930s, fleeing from National Socialism . They met in London , where they got married. Selby's parents were formally Church of England members but not regular churchgoers. Selby dealt with questions of faith and religion for the first time on the occasion of his confirmation .

Selby grew up in West London. He attended the Merchant Taylors' School . He studied philosophy and psychology at St John's College of Oxford University . In 1964 he obtained his bachelor's degree there and in 1967 his master's degree (MA Oxon; Master of Arts, Oxbridge and Dublin) in philosophy and psychology. At the beginning of his studies at Oxford , Selby had already been accepted by the Church of England for priestly formation. He completed his priestly training from 1964 to 1966 at the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge , Massachusetts ; there he graduated in 1966 as a Bachelor of Divinity (BD). As part of the clinical pastoral training in 1965, he served three months as a prison chaplain in the San Quentin State Prison ; an experience that became one of the most important in his life and left a lasting mark on him.

In 1975 he obtained his Ph.D. specialist theology at King's College of London University .

Church career

After completing his priestly training, he returned to Great Britain. In 1966 he was ordained a deacon at St Paul's Cathedral in London ; In 1967 he was ordained a priest . At the beginning of a priestly career stood from 1966 to 1968 a position as Vicar ( Assistant Curate ) at the All Saints Church in the London borough of Queensbury in Edgware . From 1969 to 1977 another vicariate followed in Limpsfield (with responsibility for the parish in Titsey) in the county of Surrey .

At the same time, he held various positions in the Diocese of Southwark : as Associate Director of Training (1969–1973), as Vice-Principal of the Southwark Ordination Course (1970–1972) and as Assistant Missioner to the Diocese of Southwark (1973–1973). 1977). His tasks included in particular the religious training, instruction and religious education of lay people in cooperation with congregations and religious groups and associations.

From 1977 to 1984 he was a Diocesan Missioner for the Diocese of Newcastle . As a Diocesan missioner, Selby was the diocese's contact person for church members on questions of faith, especially in the area of ​​tension between faith and everyday life. At the same time he was from 1977 to 1984 Residenzkanoniker ( Canon residentiary ) and a member of the Chapter of the Newcastle Cathedral .

He was ordained a bishop in 1984 when he returned to the Diocese of Southwark . He was suffragan bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames from 1984 to 1992 . His jurisdiction ranged from Lambeth , Brixton and Wandsworth to Kingston upon Thames and Richmond . His challenges as a pastor and church representative included the social hot spots in South London, especially within the "Black Community".

From 1992 to 1997 he worked as "Honorary Assistant Bishop" ( Honorary Assistant Bishop ) in the Diocese of Newcastle and in the diocese of Durham .

In late January 1997, Selby was named Bishop of Worcester in the Church of England . He took office on September 7, 1997 with a service in Long Lartin State Prison; on the same day Selby was inducted into his episcopate at Worcester Cathedral . In September 2007, Selby retired; he was succeeded as Bishop of Worcester by John Inge .

Activity as a university professor and theologian

From 1992 to 1997 Selby was a professor at the University of Durham . He taught and researched there in the subject "Applied Christian Theology". His university position was called "William Leech Professorial Fellow in Applied Christian Theology".

Selby wrote several theological works during this time, including: Look for the Living - The Corporate Nature of Resurrection Faith (1976), Liberating God - Private Care and Public Struggle (1983), BeLonging - Challenge to a Tribal Church (1991), Rescue: Jesus and Salvation Today (1995) and Grace and Mortgage - The Language of Faith and the Debt of the World (1997).

Theological and political positions

Selby's theological focus has always included the tension between faith and everyday life. He dealt in particular with structures of self-administration within the church in order to support Christians in their everyday life and to accompany them with pastoral care.

He was an advocate of the legal institution of same-sex marriage within the Church of England .

Selby stood up for the fight against unemployment . He was a member of the Church of England working group that prepared the Churches' Report on Unemployment and the Future of Work . Selby wrote: “Unemployment is a major problem facing Christians and society at large. Unemployment is unacceptable. However, the fact that unemployment is now accepted as a fact is even less acceptable. "

Selby's particular interest was in prison chaplaincy . During his entire career as a cleric, Selby always stood up for the religious concerns of prisoners and their pastoral care; his aim was that prison inmates should also regularly participate in religious life. He condemned the abolition and reduction of jobs for prison chaplains. He served as Chairman of the Penal Affairs Group in the Diocese of Southwark . His relationship with the legal institution of life imprisonment was ambivalent.

He was a vehement opponent of the Iraq war . Due to his own biography, his other topics included the right of asylum and the rights of refugees and immigrants . He was temporarily Chairman ( Chair ) of the Asylum Committee ( Asylum Committee ) of the British Refugee Council.

Other offices

Selby held numerous other ecclesiastical and non-church offices. He was Visitor ( Visitor General ) of the Community of Sisters of the Church (1991-2001), member of the Doctrine Commission of the Church o England (1991-2003), Chairman ( President ) of the Modern Church People's Union (1990-1996) and the Society for Study of Theology (2003-2004).

In September 2001, Selby was named prison chaplain; his office as "Bishop of Her Majesty's Prisons " ( Bishop to HM Prisons ) he exercised until his retirement in September 2007. From January 2008 to 2013 he was president ( President ) of the National Council for Independent Monitoring Prison Board.

In July 2011, he was together with John Saxbee , emeritus bishop of Lincoln , the patron ( Episcopal patron appointed) of the International Covenant No Anglican Coalition.

Membership in the House of Lords

Selby was an official member of the House of Lords as Ecclesiastical Lord from September 2002 to September 2007 in his capacity as Bishop of Worcester . He gave his inaugural address on November 21, 2002 on the subject of prison chaplaincy. In Hansard , Selby's contributions from 2002 to 2005 are documented. In March 2005, he last spoke in the House of Lords. His membership in the House of Lords ended when he retired as Bishop of Worcester in September 2007.

Private

Selby is married to his wife Jan Selby. He met her while serving as vicar at All Saints Church in London; she sang in the church choir there . Jan Selby worked as a state-approved "Psychological Consultant" ( Professional Counselor ); she also gave courses in religious education and religious teaching . The marriage resulted in three, now grown-up children: Ben, Suzanne and Naomi. He counts music as one of his private interests . He lives on the Isle of Wight .

Web links

• Peter Selby at Hansard (English)
• Suzanne Black: The outspoken man of God. In: Worcester News. October 31, 2006 (English). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Suzanne Black: The outspoken man of God. In: Worcester News. October 31, 2006, accessed January 25, 2020 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p} Appointment of the Bishop to Prisons in: Anglican News of May 16, 2001
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Cut from a different cloth in: The Guardian of March 12, 2008
4. ^ Crockford's Clerical Directory 1995/96 , 49th Edition, Church House Publishing , London, England 1995, ISBN 0-7151-8087-8 , p. 623 (accessed January 26, 2012).
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Rt Revd Peter Selby ( memento of June 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Biography (official website of the St Paul's Institute); Retrieved September 13, 2013
6. ↑ Episcopal Patrons for No Anglican Covenant Coalition in: Thinking Anglicans of July 6, 2011
7. ↑ No Anglican Covenant Coalition Members and Patrons of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition
8. ↑ Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech Text of the speech from November 21, 2002

predecessor	Office	successor
Philip Goodrich	Bishop of Worcester 1997-2007	John Inge