| Colin Slee | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 November 1945[1] West London |
| Died | 25 November 2010 Southwark, London |
| Education | King's College London; St Augustine's College, Canterbury |
| Church | Church of England |
| Ordained | 1970[2] |
| Congregations served | St Francis, Heartsease, Norwich; Church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge; St Albans Abbey; Southwark Cathedral |
| Offices held | Sub-Dean and Canon Residentiary, St Albans Abbey; Provost / Dean,[3] Southwark Cathedral |
The Very Rev Colin Slee (10 November 1945[1] - 25 November 2010) was a clergyman in the Church of England, most notable for his final post as Dean of Southwark Cathedral, a post he held from 1994 until his death. A friend of Desmond Tutu[1] and Rowan Williams, his churchmanship was liberal (he was influenced by the book Honest to God during his youth[1]) and Anglo-Catholic, with his backing of Jeffrey John's nomination as a bishop in 2003[1] and opposition to the use of Jerusalem in church.[2]
Slee was born in West London, as the son of a policeman.[2] Educated at Ealing Grammar School for Boys, he then spent nearly two years in Papua New Guinea on VSO[1] before reading theology at King's College London (where he won a university Purple in rowing). Trained for the priesthood at St Augustine's College, he was ordained in 1970[2] and served his first post as curate of St Francis church, Heartsease, Norwich.[1] In 1971 he married Edith Tryon, born in New Zealand, and they had three children, along with two foster children.[2] His next posts were as curate of Great St Mary's in Cambridge and chaplain of Girton College (1973–76), chaplain of King's College London (1976–1982) as well as Chief Coach of KCL Boat Club, a role he continued after becoming Canon Residentiary and Sub-Dean at St Albans Cathedral (1982–94).[2]
He became dean of Southwark in 1994, where he oversaw the building of a new library, conference centre and refectory, built links with the chapel of Harvard University (becoming an honorary lecturer at its Divinity School[1]) and became a trustee of the Millennium Bridge and chaplain to Shakespeare's Globe.[1] In 1995 he was elected to General Synod,[2] serving until his death, and in 2001 was awarded the OBE[4] and made a Fellow of King's College London.[1] He was also a member of the Crown Nominations Committee from 2006 onwards, chairman of the Tutu Foundation and involved in the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship, the British School of Osteopathy and the International Network Focus on New Religious Movements.[1] In 2007 conservatives successfully opposed his appointment as bishop of Christchurch in New Zealand.[2] In June 2010 he invited Katherine Jefferts Schori to preach at Southwark Cathedral.[1] He died in November 2010 of pancreatic cancer.[5]
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