Stephen Taylor (priest)

Stephen Ronald Taylor (born 2 May 1955) is a senior priest in the Church of England and a former Archdeacon of Maidstone in the Diocese of Canterbury.

Family and education[]

Taylor was born to Ronald and Joyce Taylor in Bradford, West Yorkshire, and was a Community Recreation Officer there in 1978. He attended Sunday School at and was confirmed at the Open Evangelical St Peter's Shipley. He then attended theological college at Cranmer Hall, Durham, during which time he married, Julie Anderson, a Senior Educational Psychologist (in 1981 at St Peter's Shipley). They have three adult daughters, two grandsons and one late son. Taylor was ordained a deacon in 1983 then a priest in 1984, while serving his title post as assistant curate at St Mary and St Cuthbert, Chester-le-Street.

Priestly career[]

His first incumbency was as vicar of St Matthew's, Newbottle (from 1988) and honorary Chaplain at Frankland Prison (from 1989) until his 1993 move to All Saints Stranton, Hartlepool, where he was a training incumbent. While there, Taylor was awarded his Master of Arts (MA) by Durham University in 1999; in the same year he became an Honorary Canon of the diocese of Rift Valley, Tanzania. In 2000, he became at Sunderland Minster, where he led a team of ministers in various sector ministries at the newly established "Urban Minster". During his time in that post, he also became an honorary canon at Durham Cathedral. He remained in Sunderland until his archidiaconal appointment in 2011.

Taylor was installed and collated as Archdeacon of Maidstone by Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, in Canterbury Cathedral on 18 September 2011,^[1] and welcomed in a civic ceremony at All Saints Church, Maidstone on 25 September. As Archdeacon, he has responsibility for his archdeaconry and for "help[ing] churches better support their local communities" across the diocese,^[1] as part of the diocesan Communities and Partnership framework. From 6 December 2015 until 22 January 2017, Taylor was also Joint Acting Archdeacon of Canterbury, alongside Philip Down, Archdeacon of Ashford.^[2] Taylor took up a new appointment (ceasing to be Archdeacon of Maidstone) on 27 September 2020, as Senior Chaplain to Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover, and an archdeacon (albeit without a territorial archdeaconry).^[3] Since 1 January 2021, he has also been seconded as Acting .^[4]

Charities and committees[]

Outside of his clerical posts, Taylor also: founded the , Tanzania in 1997; sat on the Church of England's General Synod (2000–2005); Chaired the 'Church and Society' working group for Durham and Newcastle dioceses (2005–2006); was Chairman of the (2006–2011); and became an Honorary Fellow of the University of Sunderland in 2009. He was invested a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2009.^[5]

References[]

Sources[]

• "Taylor, Stephen Ronald". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• ‘New Archdeacon of Maidstone’, Canterbury Diocese moves forward with two new appointments, The Diocese of Canterbury, 2011; Accessed 22 March 2012