Bill Williams (priest)

Harold Claude Noel Williams, also H.C.N. Williams, usually known as Bill Williams ( born December 6, 1914 in Grahamstown, South Africa; † 5 April 1990 ) was an Anglican clergyman and 1958-1981 Provost ( Provost ) of Coventry Cathedral.

Life

Williams studied at Graeme College in South Africa and at Durham University. In 1938 he was ordained a priest in the Church of England. His first job was at St. Mary with St. Paul, Weeke near Winchester ( England). From 1941 to 1949 he served as Principal, St Matthew 's College in South Africa. He then returned to England and was pastor at Holy Ascension in Hyde ( Hampshire ) and St. Mary's in Southampton (England). In 1958 he was appointed Provost of Coventry Cathedral, whose construction was still under construction at this time. The new cathedral was consecrated in 1962 and developed under his charismatic leadership to a modern pilgrimage. Williams remained here for 23 years until his retirement in 1981.

Williams was responsible for the focus of the reconciliation work of the cathedral. He traveled widely and built the network of the Cross of Nails Community. At the suggestion of Richard Crossman, he initiated the Coventry -Dresden project from 1965, in which a group of British volunteers helped build a wing of the Deaconess Hospital in Dresden again.

In 1966 he was honored for his work with understanding the Great Federal Cross of Merit.

Writings

• African Folk Songs, 1948
• Vision of Duty, 1963
• Twentieth Century Cathedral: An Examination of the Role of Cathedrals in the Strategy of the Church in the Changing Pattern of a Twentieth Century community, 1964
• Coventry Cathedral and its Ministry, 1965
• Coventry Cathedral in Action, 1968
• Basics and Variables: The Future of the Church in the Modern World, 1970
• The Latter Glory: The Story of Coventry Cathedral, 1978
• Order My Steps in Thy Way, 1982