The Most Reverend Richard Arthur Palmer
ARCHBISHOP PRIMUS
The Most Rev’d Dr. Richard Arthur Palmer, PhD, MA, BA, BEd.
ARCHBISHOP PRIMUS
THE ANGLICAN FREE COMMUNION
"The Episcopal Free Church"
(Old name: The Free Protestant Episcopal Church- FPEC)
b.
d.
02 Nov 1897
30 Dec 1900
Leon Chechemian, DD, LL.D
1848
1920
30 Dec 1900
02 Feb 1917
Charles Isaac Stevens, DD, LL.D
1835
1917
02 Feb 1917
29 Oct 1919
James Martin, DD, LL.D
1848
1919
29 Oct 1919
16 Oct 1928
Andrew Charles Albert McLaglen, DD, LL.D
1851
1928
16 Oct 1928
18 May 1939
Herbert James Monzani Heard, DD, LL.D
1866
1947
18 May 1939
09 Oct 1959
William Hall, DD, LL.D
1890
1959
09 Oct 1959
17 Oct 1978
Charles Dennis Boltwood, DD, DSL, LL.D Emeritus : 30 Apr 1982 - 07 July 1982
1889
1985
17 Oct 1978
30 Apr 1982
Albert John Fuge, Sr, PhD, LL.D
1911
1982
07 July 1982
07 Nov 1989
Charles Kennedy Stewart Moffatt, ThD, DD, LL.D
1907
1989
07 Nov 1989
05 Feb 2015
Edwin Duane Follick, DC, DTh, PhD Emeritus : 04 Feb 2015
1935
05 Feb 2015
Richard Arthur Palmer, PhD, MA, BA, B.Ed
1946
BIOGRAPHY OF ARCHBISHOP RICHARD ARTHUR PALMER
Date of birth : 29th January 1946 (29.01.46). Made deacon in 1974, priested in 1975, consecrated in London in 1997. Educated at The House of the Sacred Mission Mission, Kelham, Nottinghamshire, King Alfred's College, Winchester, Universities of Southampton and Winchester. Taught and lectured in Hampshire, England. Chaplain in the Royal British Legion, President in St.John Ambulance, Member of the Royal Overseas League in London, Conducted worship in the Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, The United Reformed Church. A member of the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education in Hampshire, UK.
Bishop Richard Palmer's spiritual formation began in The Salvation Army. He gave his life to Christ as a boy of seven at a Junior Corps Meeting, and has never been the same since! He ran a Youth Centre for the S.A. and participated fully in their work. Although baptised as a child in the Church of England any involvement in Anglicanism only began after Confirmation. His call to the priesthood followed as a student at the House of the Sacred Mission (Kelham Theological College). Only after an interest in mystical spirituality did he embrace Old Catholicism in the guise of The Liberal Catholic Church. He joined former Anglican priests in a resolve to embrace a greater sense of authenticity in sacramentalism. His ministry spanned many decades culminating in his episcopal Consecration in 1997. He furthered co-founded a number of Christian organisations including The Open Episcopal Church and The Society for Independent Christian Ministry, being passionate about the need for complete inclusivity in Christian service. He discovered that The Anglican Free Communion epitomises all that is wholesome in a free, inclusive and sacramental understanding of what it is to be part of the universal church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Pastoral Letter Easter 2017