Shy But Not Retiring

Eric Kemp successively Oxford don, cathedral Dean, and diocesan Bishop, was born in 1915 and served the Church of England in full-time ministry until 2001. His influence on the life and work of the Church of his baptism since the end of the Second World War has been immense. Historian, canon lawyer, architect of synodical government, pastor and administrator, he has been a leading light in the Catholic movement in the Church of England and a doughty fighter for all the causes at the heart of that historic witness to this essential component of Anglican identity. One of the greatest minds in the Church of his generation, he was, as Bishop of Chichester for 28 years, also one of its wisest and entlest pastors. As a member of Convocation and the Church Assembly since 1949 and then of General Synod, there are few key people in the life of the Church in the twentieth century that Bishop Kemp has not known personally. In the pages of this book are charming and perceptive reminiscences of a huge variety of people including Geoffrey Fisher, Michael Ramsey, Robert Runcie and his celebrated predecessor in Chichester, George Bell. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the recent history of the Church of England and for those who have a care and concern for its future.