52 Facts About Martyn Percy

Martyn William Percy was born on 31 July 1962 and is a British academic, educator, social scientist and theologian.

Martyn Percy had been Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, from 2014 to 2022 and principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxford, from 2004 to 2014.

Martyn Percy has served as Professor of Theological Education at King's College London and a professorial research fellow at Heythrop College, University of London.

Martyn Percy has served as a visiting professor of the Institute for the Study of Values at the University of Winchester, a founding fellow of the Center for Theologically Engaged Anthropology at the University of Georgia, and an adjunct professor at Hartford Seminary, Connecticut.

Martyn Percy is an emeritus canon of Salisbury Cathedral, having previously served as an honorary canon.

Martyn Percy holds the post of Provost of Ming Hua Theological College.

Martyn Percy's writings fall into three distinct-but-related groups: ecclesiology; contemporary Christianity, religious movements and sociological trends; and anthropological interpretations of denominations and congregations; and spiritual devotional writings.

Martyn Percy has written extensively about theological education, as well as contextual, pastoral and practical theology.

Martyn Percy was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1990 and as a priest in 1991.

Martyn Percy was the Dean of Christ Church in Oxford from 2014 to April 2022.

Martyn Percy was the first dean to be democratically elected by the governing body, and instituted to the deanery on 4 October 2014.

Martyn Percy's closing years in office as Dean were marked by protracted disputes on reformation in the governance of the college.

In November 2018, Martyn Percy was suspended from office and an independently chaired internal tribunal was established.

In January 2019, the acting chair of the governing body of Christ Church was obliged to send a clarifying letter to college alumni saying that Martyn Percy's suspension was in fact triggered by internal committee dispute, though this was disputed.

Angela Tilby, a canon emeritus of Christ Church, wrote in the Church Times that Martyn Percy faced hostility for desiring to make the institution "more inclusive, more open to the outside world, and, perhaps, more aware of its wealth and vested interests".

On 17 November 2020, it was announced that Martyn Percy had voluntarily withdrawn from his duties as Christ Church dean in response to the allegation.

Martyn Percy did not resign, but "stepped back from his duties in the College and Cathedral".

In 2022 Martyn Percy announced that he was leaving the Church of England, though he would remain Episcopalian-Anglican.

Martyn Percy is licensed to minister in Scotland, Europe, Hong Kong and Macao.

In December 2024, a professional auditor, member of General Synod and independent member of the Church of England's Archbishops' Council Audit Committee confirmed that Martyn Percy had likely been subjected to forged risk assessments, false indictments and counterfeit testimony, and recommended that there be an independent inquiry into the clergy and church lawyers who had sponsored the forged documents and other falsified evidence and accusations.

Martyn Percy has undertaken a number of roles in public life, specialising in media and consumer affairs.

Martyn Percy has served as a director and council member of the Advertising Standards Authority.

Martyn Percy was previously an advisor on the "Faith Zone" for the New Millennium Experience Company and the Millennium Dome in London.

Martyn Percy has served as a member of the Independent Complaints Panel for the Portman Group, the self-regulating body for the alcoholic drinks industry.

Martyn Percy has served as commissioner for the Direct Marketing Authority, and currently serves as an advisor to the British Board of Film Classification.

Martyn Percy was the elected chair of the Cuddesdon and Denton Parish Council from 2007 to 2014.

Martyn Percy is the patron of St Francis' Children's Society, and as part of his role as dean was a governor of Christ Church Cathedral School, Westminster School and St Edward's School, Oxford, a trustee of the Grubb Institute, Gladstone's Library and the Li Tim-Oi Foundation.

Martyn Percy's theology is generally considered to represent the liberal tradition in the Church of England.

Martyn Percy has adopted a progressive outlook on a number of social issues, such as LGBTQ rights and the ordination of women.

In 2002, Martyn Percy co-founded the Society for the Study of Anglicanism with Tom Hughson, which meets annually at the American Academy of Religion and is in a full partnership with Virginia Theological Seminary.

Martyn Percy is a vice-president of Modern Church and has been a member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford since 2004.

Martyn Percy has been a regular contributor to The Guardian, The Times, Prospect Magazine, BBC Radio Four, and the BBC World Service.

Martyn Percy is a social thinker, moralist and commentator, with his activism and writings addressing concerns for social justice and equality.

Martyn Percy has spoken and written about the threat of schism in the Anglican Communion, arguing that churches should embrace the diversity of belief that exists, rather than allowing such divisions to result in separation.

Martyn Percy made similar remarks following Jeffrey John's withdrawal as Bishop of Reading, in July 2003, suggesting debate on gay rights should instead be shifted towards reflecting on the "more central gospel themes".

Martyn Percy has been critical of Justin Welby's leadership as Archbishop of Canterbury, in particular his "managerial" style.

Martyn Percy described Welby's plans to send senior clergy on leadership courses, contained in the 2014 report of the Lord Green Steering Group, as showing a poor judgment of the church's priorities and lacking in theological understanding.

Martyn Percy went on to say that Welby's targets for efficiency, growth and success were not reflective of the Christian mission.

Martyn Percy raised further concerns about plans to divert funding away from traditional rural parishes and towards evangelical inner-city churches, warning that "it will take more to save the Church of England than a blend of the latest management theory".

Martyn Percy has commented on an emerging theological anaemia among bishops in the Church of England, and highlighted the weaknesses and risks this poses for Anglican polity.

Just days before the commencement of the January 2016 Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting, Martyn Percy joined with over 100 other senior Anglicans, including Alan Wilson and David Ison, in calling on archbishops Welby and Sentamu to acknowledge the failings of the Anglican Communion in its treatment of LGBTQ people.

Martyn Percy went on to say that the meeting's statement regarding this action, "had nothing to say about LGBT Christians, and that's a lost opportunity".

Martyn Percy has suggested the need for a more "broad church" approach to British party politics, potentially in the form of a new centre-left party that is "authentically rooted in modern, progressive socialism, and equally true to modern, progressive, democratic liberal values".

Martyn Percy is a member of the George Bell Group and has published a number of key articles questioning the competence of those who have presumed Bell to be a perpetrator of abuse.

In March 2018, Martyn Percy called for the church to develop an independent self-regulating authority to handle safeguarding issues, arguing that the churches can only be ultimately trusted as public bodies if they voluntarily relinquish some control over their own policies and practices.

Martyn Percy described the view of opponents to the motion as maintaining a "conceit of modern times" by their fundamentalist rejection of diversity.

Martyn Percy voiced the need for the church to be "transformed by the renewal of our minds" in its approach to the inclusion of women in the Anglican Communion, by moving towards a "new future".

Martyn Percy reasoned that resistance to discrimination is not equivalent to intolerance.

Martyn Percy is commended in Adam Sisman's The Professor and the Parson for his role in managing a serial fraudster who was working in both church and higher education.

Martyn Percy is married to Emma Martyn Percy, who is a senior lecturer in feminist theology and the study of ministry at Aberdeen University, and a former chaplain and fellow at Trinity College, Oxford.

Martyn Percy is a member of the Labour Party, a teetotaler and a lifelong supporter of Everton Football Club.

Martyn Percy's hobbies include running, playing squash, cinema, and listening to jazz.