The Reverend Dr Jeffrey Philip Hywel John, MA DPhil (born 1953) is a Church of England cleric, and the current Dean of St Albans. He made headlines in 2003 when he was the first openly gay person to be nominated to be a Church of England Bishop. Owing to the consequent controversy, he was forced to stand down before he took up the bishopric. 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... St Albans Cathedral from the west. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ...

He was born in Tonyrefail in South Wales, in 1953, and studied at Hertford College, Oxford, where he gained a first in classics and modern languages in 1975. He subsequently studied theology at St Stephen's House, Oxford. 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Hertford College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...

After a curacy in Penarth, Llandaff, he returned to Oxford in 1980 to read for a doctorate in Pauline theology. He became chaplain at Brasenose College, before in 1984 being appointed dean of divinity at Magdalen College, Oxford. 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

He is a founder member and a trustee of Affirming Catholicism, a group formed in 1990 promoting catholicism within the Anglican church, and which supported the campaign for the ordination of women. Affirming Catholicism is a movement operating in several provinces of the Anglican Communion. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article considers Catholicism in the broadest ecclesiastical sense. ...

He was Vicar of Holy Trinity, Eltham, (in the Southwark Diocese) in south London from 1991, and in 1997 he became canon chancellor and theologian of Southwark Cathedral. 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral or St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. ...

On May 20, 2003, his appointment as the new Bishop of Reading, a suffragan bishop in the diocese of Oxford, was announced. May 20 is the 140th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (141st in leap years). ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A bishop is an ordained person who holds a specific position of authority in any of a number of Christian churches. ... The Diocese of Oxford forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. ...

His nomination led to controversy both in the Church of England and in the wider Anglican Communion, due to his involvement in a long-term celibate homosexual relationship. He has for many years been a campaigner for gay rights. The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... The Anglican Communion uses the compass rose as its symbol, signifying its worldwide reach and decentralized nature. ...

Some conservative, evangelical and traditionalist churches in the United States and Africa were prominent in their threats to split from the Anglican Communion should Jeffrey John's consecration proceed.

Concerns over the potential for division within the church led the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, to request Dr John to step down. On July 6, 2003, he withdrew from his appointment to the bishopric. Arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior clergyman of the established Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ... Dr Rowan Williams Lord Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Douglas Williams, FBA (born 14 June 1950) is the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, a theologian, poet and lecturer. ... July 6 is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 178 days remaining. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In spite of the withdrawal of Jeffrey John, the differences in views of homosexuality within the Anglican church continued to cause controversy in 2003 following the appointment of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in the Episcopal church in the USA. The issue of homosexuality remains a controversy in the Anglican Communion. ... Bishop Robinson The Right Reverend Vicki Gene Robinson (born May 29, 1947) is the ninth bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. ...

On April 19, 2004, 10 Downing Street announced Dr John's appointment to the Deanery of St Albans. He was invested at a ceremony at the cathedral on July 2, 2004. April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 10 Downing Street, commonly known as Number 10, is the most famous street address in London. ... St Albans Cathedral from the west. ... July 2 is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 182 days remaining. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Although many conservatives were outraged at the thought of any preferment for John, and although many liberal advocates were equally outraged at the way he had been treated, less interested observers viewed the eventual solution as a master-stroke: by appointing him to the deanery of a famous cathedral, the prime minister (who, in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury had the final say in the matter) was able to give him a position of equal or even greater prominence and prestige, but without the hierarchical authority over others which gave Oxford-diocese conservatives grounds for complaint. A prime minister may be either: the chief or leading member of the cabinet of the top-level government in a country having a parliamentary system of government; or the official, in countries with a semi-presidential system of government, appointed to manage the civil service and execute the directives... Arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior clergyman of the established Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ...