Colin Podmore

{{Short description|English ecclesiastical historian and official (born 1960)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Colin Podmore

| post-nominals = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE|FRHistS|size=100%}}

| image = Colin J. Podmore.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Colin John Podmore

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|02|22|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Redruth, Cornwall

| death_date =

| death_place =

| alma_mater = {{unbulleted list | Keble College, Oxford | Selwyn College, Cambridge}}

| occupation = Ecclesiastical historian, ecclesiastical official

| years_active =

| employer =

| known_for =

| notable_works =

| office = {{unbulleted list | Clerk to the General Synod of the Church of England (2011–2013) | Director of Forward in Faith (2013–2020) | President of Society for the Maintenance of the Faith (since 2021)}}

| spouse =

| partner =

| children =

| parents =

| awards =

}}

Colin John Podmore {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE|FRHistS}} (born 22 February 1960) is a Cornish{{Cite web |title=Colin Podmore |url=https://canterburypress.hymnsam.co.uk/authors/colin-podmore |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=Canterbury Press}} ecclesiastical historian and a senior layperson in the Church of England. Between April 2013 and February 2020 he was the director of Forward in Faith, a traditionalist Anglo-Catholic organization within the church. He was previously the secretary of the House of Clergy of the General Synod (2002–2011) and clerk to the General Synod (2011–2013)."Podmore, Dr Colin John", Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U254547 accessed 24 July 2017]{{cite web|title=The Director|url=http://www.forwardinfaith.com/Director.php|publisher=Forward in Faith|accessdate=24 July 2017}}

Early life and education

Podmore was born on 22 February 1960 in Redruth, Cornwall. He studied history at Keble College, Oxford, and trained as a teacher at Selwyn College, Cambridge. After a period of work as a schoolteacher, he came back to the University of Oxford as a researcher to undertake a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree on the Moravian Church in England. His doctoral thesis was titled "The role of the Moravian Church in England 1728-1760" and was submitted in 1994.{{cite web |title=The role of the Moravian Church in England 1728-1760. |url=https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.260152 |website=E-Thesis Online Service |publisher=The British Library Board |access-date=4 April 2023 |date=1994}} His thesis was subsequently published.

Personal life

Podmore was borough up as a Methodist and attended Methodist Sunday school. He converted to Anglicanism at the age of 19 while at university; "partly because of the appeal of Catholic Anglican worship, and partly because of the feeling that, in the Church of England, you're identifying with the Christian tradition in this country going back to the Dark Ages".{{cite news |last1=Handley MacMath |first1=Terence |title=Interview: Colin Podmore director, Forward in Faith |url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2013/3-may/features/interviews/interview-colin-podmore-director-forward-in-faith |access-date=21 January 2025 |work=Church Times |date=3 May 2013}}

Honours

In 2002, Podmore was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS). In June 2017, he was awarded the Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship by the Archbishop of Canterbury "for services to education and scholarship in support of the Church of England and the wider Church".{{cite web|title=The Archbishop of Canterbury's Awards: Citations in Alphabetical Order|url=http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/data/files/resources/5876/2017-Citations-Alphabetical.pdf|website=Archbishop of Canterbury|accessdate=14 July 2017|date=9 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619185947/http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/data/files/resources/5876/2017-Citations-Alphabetical.pdf|archive-date=19 June 2017|url-status=dead}} In the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the Church of England.{{London Gazette |issue= 63135 |date= 10 October 2020 |pages= B15-B21 |supp= y}} He is president of the Society for the Maintenance of the Faith, an Anglo-Catholic organization coordinating patronage in the Church of England.

Selected works

{{cite book |last1=Hüffmeier |first1=Wilhelm |last2=Podmore |first2=Colin |title=Leuenberg, Meissen and Porvoo: Consultation between the Churches of the Leuenberg Church Fellowship and the Churches Involved in the Meissen Agreement and the Porvoo Agreement |date=1996 |publisher=Lembeck |location=Frankfurt |isbn=978-3-87476-316-5}}
{{cite book |author=Colin Podmore |title=The Moravian Church in England, 1728–1760 |year=1998 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-820725-2}} (based on the author's D.Phil. thesis)
{{cite book |editor=Colin Podmore |title=Community, Unity, Communion: Essays in Honour of Mary Tanner |date=1998 |publisher=Church House Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-0-7151-5756-5}}
{{cite book |author=Colin Podmore |title=Aspects of Anglican Identity |year=2005 |publisher=Church House Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-0-7151-4074-1}}
{{cite book |editor=Colin Podmore |author=Roger Greenacre |title=Maiden, Mother and Queen: Mary in the Anglican Tradition |year=2013 |publisher=Hymns Ancient and Modern |location=Norwich, England |isbn=978-1-84825-278-3}}
{{cite book |editor=Colin Podmore |author=Roger Greenacre |title=Part of the One Church? The Ordination of Women and Anglican identity |year=2014 |publisher=Canterbury Press |location=Norwich, England |isbn=978-1-84825-627-9}}
{{cite book |editor=Colin Podmore |title=Fathers in God? Resources for Reflection on Women in the Episcopate |date=2015 |publisher=Canterbury Press |location=Norwich, England |isbn=978-1-84825-826-6}}