Michael Parker (bishop)

Clement George St Michael Parker (29 September 1900 – March 1980), usually known as Michael Parker, was a bishop in the Church of England.

Family

Parker was born in Edgbaston in 1900^[1] the son of the Revd W.H. Parker. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. He died in 1980.^[2]

Ministry

Parker was ordained deacon in 1923 and priest in 1924. He was an assistant curate at St Bartholomew & St Jude's Birmingham. He was vicar of All Saints' King's Heath, Birmingham (1939–57), rural dean of King's Norton (1943–57), honorary canon of Birmingham (1944–61) and Archdeacon of Aston (1946-54).^[3]

During his curacy at St Jude's he and his vicar, the Reverend Denis Tyndall, compiled Adoremus: A Book of Eucharistic Worship for the Young.^[4] The book was described as "primarily for use at what is known as the Children's Eucharist", but was also "to meet the need of the increasing number of parishes in which there is the 'Parish Eucharist'".^[5] It was regularly used for the children's Eucharist at All Saints' King's Heath and also for the Parish Eucharist instituted by Michael Parker to replace Matins as the main Sunday morning service.

Parker was consecrated as the suffragan Bishop of Aston in 1954;^[6] and translated as diocesan Bishop of Bradford in 1961.^[7] On retirement in 1971 he was appointed an assistant bishop in the dioceses of Coventry and Worcester.

References

1. Who was Who, 1897-2007, London, A & C Black, 2007 ISBN 978-0-19-954087-7
2. "Rt Rev Michael Parker Former Bishop of Bradford" (obituaries), The Times, 10 March 1980, p. 14.
3. Who's Who 1975
4. Adoremus, Denis Tyndall & Michael Parker, SPCK, 1936
5. Adoremus, Denis Tyndall & Michael Parker, SPCK, 1936
6. Bishop of Aston (Official Appointments and Notices), The Times, 16 August 1954, p. 6.
7. Two New Bishops Nominated (News), The Times, 15 August 1961; p. 8.