Installed 2004 Role Bishop of Stafford Diocese Diocese of Guildford Name Christopher Hill Consecration March 7, 1996 | Alma mater King's College London Predecessor John Gladwin Denomination Anglican Education King's College London | |
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Other posts President, Conference of European Churches
2013–present
Clerk of the Closet
2005–2014
Bishop of Stafford
1996–2004 Ordination 1969 (deacon)
May 1970 (priest) Born 10 October 1945 (age 78) ( 1945-10-10 ) Residence Willow Grange, Guildford | ||
Christopher John Hill (born 10 October 1945) is a retired British Anglican bishop. From 1996 to 2004, he was the Bishop of Stafford, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Lichfield. From 2004 to 2013, he was the Bishop of Guildford, the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Guildford. In addition, he served as the Clerk of the Closet in the Ecclesiastical Household of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom from 2005 to 2014.
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Education and early career
Hill was educated at Sebright School and at King's College London (studying for his Bachelor of Divinity {BD} and Associate of King's College {AKC} then training for the ministry, gaining a Master of Theology {MTh}). He served his first curacy at Tividale in the Diocese of Lichfield from 1969 to 1973; he was then curate of Codsall from 1973 to 1974. From 1974 to 1981 he was the Archbishop of Canterbury's Assistant Chaplain for Foreign Relations and from 1982 to 1989 his Secretary for Ecumenical Affairs. From 1982 to 1989 he was also an honorary canon of Canterbury Cathedral. From 1987 to 1996 he was a chaplain to Elizabeth II. In 1989 he became a canon residentiary and the Precentor of St Paul's Cathedral, London. Prior to his current appointment, he had been the area Bishop of Stafford in the Diocese of Lichfield from 1996.
Hill has been continuously involved in ecumenical affairs throughout his ministry. From 1974 to 1981 he was Co-Secretary of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission. In 2013 he was elected president of the Council of European Churches.
Controversies
In July 2009, Hill courted controversy over interference in another church's affairs by admonishing the Church of Sweden on their decision to approve same-sex marriage, sending a strongly worded letter to the head of the Church of Sweden, Archbishop Anders Wejryd, warning of "immediate and negative ecumenical consequences" owing to the decision.
Retirement
On 28 March 2013, during his sermon at the Maundy Thursday Chrism Eucharist in Guildford Cathedral, Hill announced his intention to retire as Bishop of Guildford saying: "At the end of September, though I have not yet written the necessary formal letters to Queen and Archbishop, I shall hope to see many of you here for a farewell celebration for my retirement."
As of 10 February 2014, Ian Brackley, the suffragan Bishop of Dorking, is acting as bishop commissary during the vacancy-in-see.
On 17 November 2014, it was announced that Hill had been succeeded as Clerk of the Closet.
Clubs
He is a member of the Athenaeum Club.