Martin Dudley

Martin Raymond Dudley (born 31 May 1953) is a former clergyman and author. A former Anglican priest, he served as a City of London common councilman and authored books about the Christian Church.

Until 31 December 2016, he was incumbent of the combined benefices of St Bartholomew in the City of London, known as the Parish of Great St Bartholomew, having been rector of St Bartholomew the Great since 1995 and priest in charge of St Bartholomew the Less since 2012.

Early life and education

Dudley was born in Birmingham where he attended King Edward’s School. After a year training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he returned to the Midlands to work for a travel company.

In 1974, Dudley studied theology at King's College London, graduating with Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees. He studied for the priesthood at St Michael's College, Llandaff.

Dudley received a PhD from the University of London (King's College, London) in 1994 and an MSc in voluntary sector management at the Cass Business School in 2006.

Ordained ministry Dudley was ordained as a deacon in 1979 and a priest in 1980 at Llandaff Cathedral. After a curacy in Whitchurch, Cardiff, he became vicar of Weston, Hertfordshire in 1983 before being appointed vicar of Owlsmoor, Berkshire (1988–95), where he oversaw the building of a new parish church.

On 9 September 1995, he became Rector of St Bartholomew the Great in the Diocese of London. and in 2012, he also became priest in charge of St Bartholomew the Less. On 1 June 2015, the two parishes became a united benefice and Dudley became Rector of the new parish.

On 31 December 2016, Dudley retired as Rector of Great St Bartholomew, with plans to become an "active priest who is also an independent scholar and writer". During his Anglican ministry, he tended to the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England.

Civil partnership blessing controversy In 2008 Dudley blessed the statutory civil partnership of two Anglican priests, for which he received a public rebuke from Richard Chartres, Bishop of London. In Riazat Butt’s Guardian profile, the late Colin Slee, Dean of Southwark, said that "he [Dudley] is very bright. He is a very consistent person in that he knows his own mind and doesn't mind if everyone else disagrees with him. He is very intelligent and prepared to take a stand for something he believes in, even if it's not going with the mainstream." Dudley justified his actions in an article in the New Statesman magazine.

Orthodoxy In March 2018, Dudley was received into the Russian Orthodox Church as a layman.

Other work In 1996, Dudley was admitted to the Freedom of the City of London He is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS). He is a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Farriers, an honorary liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers and an honorary freeman of the Worshipful Company of Farmers. He is a past master of the Guild of Public Relations Practitioners. He received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from City University in 2014.

Publications (qv: Geoffrey Rowell, formerly Bishop of Europe)