Alex Hughes (priest)

Early life and education

Hughes was born on 3 October 1975 in Honiara, the Solomon Islands, to John and Jill Hughes. He was brought up in England; in Southampton and in Seaford, East Sussex. He was educated at the Priory School, a state school in Lewes, East Sussex, and at Eton College, an all-boys public school in Eton, Berkshire. He studied theology at Greyfriars, Oxford, then a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1997. He spend the year following graduation working with the Parker Pen Company as a factory labourer.

It was during his undergraduate degree that Hughes felt a call to ordination. In 1998, he entered Westcott House, Cambridge, an Anglican theological college, to train for ordained ministry. During this time, he also undertook post-graduate study at St Edmund's College, Cambridge, and graduated with a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree in 1999. He later undertook further study at St Edmund's College and completed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 2011. His doctoral thesis was titled "The gospel of divine action: Oliver Chase Quick and the quest for a Christocentric metaphysic".

Ordained ministry

Hughes was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 2000 and as a priest in 2001. From 2000 to 2003, he served his curacy at Holy Trinity Church, Headington Quarry, Oxford. In 2003, he moved to the Diocese of Portsmouth. From 2003 to 2008, he was Domestic Chaplain to Kenneth Stevenson, the then Bishop of Portsmouth.

He then returned to parish ministry and was licensed as priest in charge of both St Luke's Church and St Peter's Church in Portsea, Portsmouth on 2 October 2008. He then served as vicar of the newly created parish of St Luke's with St Peter's between 2013 and 2014. The parish is in one of the poorest parts of Portsmouth, Somerstown. He was notable for reaching out to his inner city community through holding services in tower blocks as well as the more traditional church services.

In 2014, he moved from Portsmouth to the Diocese of Ely. He had been appointed Archdeacon of Cambridge, and this was made official on 14 September 2014 during a service at the Church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge. He succeeded John Beer who had been archdeacon from 2004 to 2014. On 25 November 2014, he was made an honorary canon of Ely Cathedral.

Personal life

In 1998, Hughes married Sarah. She is a psychodynamic counsellor. Together, they have two children; Thomas and Joseph.