Rector of St Bride's - Canon David Meara

I was born in Oxford , in 1947, educated at Merchant Taylor's School and Oriel College, Oxford, where I read Classics and then Theology. I was ordained in 1973, the same year that I married Rosemary. After a curacy at Christchurch, Reading, I became University Chaplain at the University of Reading. I moved in 1982 to become Vicar of three rural parishes in Berkshire, and served as Rural Dean of Bradfield. In 1994 I was appointed Rector of Buckingham, and in 1995 became Area Dean of the Buckingham Deanery. I was for ten years Chairman of the Oxford Diocesan Advisory Group on Mission, and from 1998 a member of the Oxford Diocesan Advisory Committee. I was made an Honorary Canon of Christchurch Cathedral, Oxford in 1997 and elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1994. In 2000 I was appointed Rector of St Bride's, Fleet Street.

I have four children, and my wife Rosemary is an art teacher. We share interests in art, music, opera and dance, and I have written extensively on nineteenth century church monuments and brasses, and the architect A W N Pugin. I have a firm belief in the importance of a sense of history for the life of faith, and the way in which music, liturgy and church buildings can help people find the presence of God in their everyday lives. I welcome you to this wonderfully rich, historical and exciting church of St Bride and to all that we have to offer to those whom we seek to serve.