David Farrer

Ralph David Farrer (born May 1944^[1]) is a retired Anglican bishop. He was formerly the Bishop of Wangaratta in the Anglican Church of Australia and more recently a vicar in the Church of England.^[2]

Early life and education

Farrer was born in Surrey, England, and moved to Melbourne, Australia, with his family at a young age.^[2] After secondary school at Mentone Grammar School he attended a horticultural college in Melbourne, completing his apprenticeship as a horticulturalist before beginning training for the ordained ministry in Adelaide in 1965.^[2]

Ministry

Farrer was ordained a priest in 1969 and served in several parishes, as a canon of St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, the Archdeacon of La Trobe and later as the Archdeacon of Melbourne and chaplain to the Parliament of Victoria.^[2]

Farrer's commitment to community work in Australia earned him the title of Citizen of the Year in Brunswick in 1983 "for work with the unemployed and homeless" and Commander of Merit with the Order of St Lazarus in 1994, for launching a street ministry initiative, the Lazarus Centre, in Melbourne.

Farrer was consecrated as bishop in 1998 at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne and then enthroned as Bishop of Wangaratta at Holy Trinity Cathedral^[3][4] in Wangaratta, a rural diocese in Victoria. During his time in Wangaratta he helped to establish four low-fee Anglican schools in the diocese.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008 Farrer was appointed vicar of the combined parishes of St Nicholas' Church, Arundel and St Leonard's Church, South Stoke, West Sussex and as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Chichester in England; he retired from both posts in 2015^[5] and returned to Australia. He is married to Helen Farrer.^[6]

References

1. Who's Who 2008: London, A & C Black, 2008 ISBN 978-0-7136-8555-8
2. "Biographical details". Archived from the original on 30 December 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
3. Diocese of Wangaratta Yearbook 2014 (PDF), Bishop’s Registry, archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2015, retrieved 19 September 2014
4. Order of Service at the Consecration of the Venerable Ralph David Farrer, Scholar in Theology, Priest, Chaplain to the Parliament of Victoria, Vicar of St Peter's Church, Eastern Hill, Melbourne, Canon of St Paul's Cathedral to the Office of a Bishop in the Church of God on the Eve of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Sunday, 1 February 1998 at 5 Pm. Christ Church Press. 1998.
5. Crockford's Clerical Directory 2008/2009 (100th edition), Church House Publishing (ISBN 978-0-7151-1030-0).
6. Anglican Communion Directory, March 2000