John Taylor (Bishop of Winchester)
John Vernon Taylor ( born September 11, 1914 in Cambridge, † January 30, 2001 in Oxford, England ) was a British Anglican theologian. He was from 1975 to 1985 Bishop of Winchester in the Church of England.
Life
Taylor came from a family of clergymen. Taylor's father, John Ralph Strickland Taylor was initially Deputy Rector ( Vice - Principal ) of Ridley Hall College, an evangelical theological college in Cambridge. Later, he became rector of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. From 1943 to 1954 he was Bishop of Sodor and Man.
John Vernon Taylor visited the St Lawrence College, Ramsgate. He studied history at Trinity College, University of Cambridge and at the St Catherine 's Society. In preparation for the priesthood, he studied theology at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. His educational training was carried out at the Institute of Educational Sciences ( Institute of Education ), University of London.
1938 Taylor was ordained at St Paul 's Cathedral priest of the Church of England. He was after his ordination, first from 1938 to 1940 parochial vicar ( Curate ) on the All Souls Church in the West End in London. From 1940 to 1943 he was pastor ( Curate - in-Charge ) at St Andrew 's Church in St. Helens in the County of Lancashire. In 1945 he became the head ( Warden ) of Bishop Tucker College in Mukono, Uganda, and was appointed as a missionary to Africa. He argued that missionaries of Christian churches should support the efforts of the African countries by political and religious independence.
In 1954 he returned to Britain and worked as a research assistant (Research Worker ) for the International Missionary Council. In 1959 he was Secretary Africa ( Africa Secretary ) of the Church Missionary Society. In 1963 he became the successor of Max Warren 's General Secretary (General Secretary ); he held until 1973 this office. From 1975 to 1985 he was Bishop of Winchester, as the successor of Sherard Falkner Allison. He was the first clergyman since William Day in 1595, who was ordained directly to the Bishop of Winchester. From 1978 to 1985 he was Chairman ( Chairman ) of the Doctrine Commission of the Church of England. In 1985 Taylor as Bishop of Winchester in retirement. He was succeeded by Colin Clement Walter James.
Taylor enjoyed in the diocese and in the UK a great reputation, both in the liberal, as well as modernist tendencies within the Church of England. However, the confidence of the representatives of the Anglo Catholicism he could not win. Within the Church of England Taylor represented a liberal evangelical course. He advocated for greater use of gospel music in worship. Conservatism and traditionalism, he was skeptical. Taylor advocated, based on the novels of the writer George Eliot, the view that experiences of God outside the church were possible. In a speech to the General Synod of the Church of England, he called on them that the Church must go unknown ways to make new experiences. It is necessary, as Taylor, citing a poem by Wilfred Owen, " to go into no man's land ".
Taylor has written several books and also wrote religious plays and passion plays. His African Passion Play was filmed in the 1950s; his passion play Winchester Cathedral Passion and Resurrection ( 1981) showed his skills as a writer and actor.
He wrote several books on Africa and Religion in Africa. His book, The Primal Vision ( 1963 ) is considered the foundational work for the African understanding of religion. His other books on Africa, including Growth Of The Church in Buganda (1958) and Christianity And Politics In Africa ( 1957), showed the faith understanding of Africans and their expression of faith in the gospel singing. When his most important books The Go -Between God ( 1972) and Enough is Enough (1975 ) are considered, the foundations laid for a modern understanding of the Church towards the demands of society and the challenges of the developing world.
Membership in the House of Lords
Taylor from 1975 to 1985 as minister Lord Member of the House of Lords. As Bishop of Winchester Taylor was one of the Lords Spiritual, the constitutionally automatically hold a seat in the House of Lords.
Private and death
Taylor was married to Margaret Wright since 1940; from the marriage were born three children, one son and two daughters. Taylor died, almost completely blind at the age of 86 years at Oxford.