Richard Cheetham

I am a co-director of Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science (ECLAS) and a member of the Anglican Communion Science Commission (ACSC).

Since my teenage years I have had a deep interest in the relationship between science and religion. At university in the mid 1970s, I studied physics and philosophy graduating in 1977 from Corpus Christi, Oxford. I then taught physics at a comprehensive school in Yorkshire and then at Eton College before working as an Investment Analyst at Legal and General.

I then trained for ministry in the Church of England at Ripon College, Cuddeson and was ordained in 1987. I became curate at Holy Cross, Fenham, Newcastle Upon Tyne and was vicar at St Augustine of Canterbury, Luton prior to becoming Archdeacon in St Albans. During this time I completed my PhD on a part-time basis at King’s College London looking at the understanding of religious belief in contemporary Britain as reflected in the practice of collective worship in a sample of Luton schools.

In 2002 I was appointed as Bishop of Kingston (Diocese of Southwark) responsible for Church of England’s work in the London boroughs of Lambeth, Wandsworth, Merton, Kingston and Richmond (south of the River Thames) where I served a very vibrant and diverse area for 20 year until October 2022. During this time I also led on the environment and inter-faith matters and chaired the Diocesan Board of Education for many years. I served on the Council of the University of Roehampton from 2006-12, and was a professorial fellow there.

I have served as co-chair of the Christian Muslim Forum, President of St Paul’s Group YMCA, Patron of the Fircroft Trust, and chair of the British Regional Committee of St George’s College Jerusalem. I have been a member of the C of E’s national environment working group.

My main focus is now on the growing work on the relationship between science and religion which I mainly do via ECLAS and the ACSC.

For an overview of articles, talks and sermons, please see my personal website.