Revd Canon Dr Peter Sedgwick
The Archbishop of Wales has paid tribute to the Principal of a Welsh theological college who will retire later this year.
Revd Canon Dr Peter Sedgwick will leave St Michael’s College, Cardiff, at the end of June after 10 years at the helm.
The Archbishop, Dr Barry Morgan, thanked Dr Sedgwick for his tremendous contribution to the college and the life of the Church in Wales and praised his scholarly and incisive mind.
He also congratulated Dr Sedgwick on his appointment as visiting professor at Durham University (Alan Richardson fellow) for this autumn term.
Dr Sedgwick will not be leaving the Church in Wales completely – he will continue to chair the Church’s Doctrine Commission and when he returns from Durham plans to assist with parishes in the Diocese of Llandaff. He will also remain a member of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III).
The Archbishop said:
“I want to thank Peter for the tremendous contribution he has made to St Michael’s and to the life of the Church in Wales in general. I am grateful to him for all he has done.
“I am very glad that he has agreed to continue as chairman of the Doctrinal Commission and to serve ARCIC since his scholarly and incisive mind has much to contribute to both bodies. I am delighted that Durham has honoured him in this way and I look forward to his ministry in a different capacity in the diocese of Llandaff.”
Dr Sedgwick said:
“St Michael’s College has changed a great deal in the last decade and it has been a great privilege to be Principal. I would like to thank the Archbishop, the Representative Body and the college committee for all their support during this time. I am also extremely grateful to the staff and students of the college for sharing at a deep level with me in this partnership of change and transformation. I wish the college well in the years to come.
Revd Canon Dr Peter Sedgwick became Principal and Warden of St Michael’s College Cardiff in Easter 2004. He was ordained deacon in the Church of England, in 1974, after training at Westcott House, Cambridge, and became a priest in 1975. He was a curate in East London from wpriest in Birmingham from 1979-1982. From 1982- 88 he was Theological Consultant to the North East churches, covering all denominations from Middlesborough to the Scottish border.
His academic life began in 1967 when he studied history at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, followed by a year at Keble College, Oxford. He then returned to Cambridge where he took a second degree in theology while training for ordination. In 1977 he began studying at Durham University for a PhD in theology and moral philosophy, which was awarded in 1983. He lectured in modern theology and ethics at the University of Birmingham from 1979-82, and was Course Director at the University of Hull for the MA in Theology and Society from 1988-94. In 1994-5 he was Vice Principal of Westcott House, Cambridge.
Peter Sedgwick served on many boards and committees of the Church of England dealing with ecumenism, theological training and social policy, and from 1996-2004 he worked full time for the central offices of the Church of England as their policy officer for home affairs.
He edited the journal of Christian social ethics called Crucible from 1998- 2009 and has written or edited about a dozen books, including studies of mission, the church in the city, and social ethics.
