Leslie Griffiths
Leslie John Griffiths, Baron Griffiths of Burry Port (born 15 February 1942) is a British Methodist minister and life peer in the House of Lords where he sits with the Labour Party from 2004.[1] He served as President of the Methodist Conference from 1994 to 1995.
The Lord Griffiths of Burry Port | |
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Member of the House of Lords | |
Assumed office July 2004 | |
Superintendent of Wesley's Chapel and Leysian Mission | |
In office September 1996 – September 2017 | |
President of the Methodist Conference | |
In office July 1994 – July 1995 | |
Preceded by | Brian Edgar Beck |
Succeeded by | Brian Richard Hoare |
Personal details | |
Born | Burry Port, Carmarthenshire | 15 February 1942
Nationality | British |
Spouse(s) | Margaret |
Children | 3 |
Alma mater | Cardiff University |
Early life
Griffiths was born in Burry Port in Carmarthenshire, Wales, on 15 February 1942. He attended Llanelli Grammar School before studying at Cardiff University.[2]
Early ministry and career
Griffiths became a local preacher in the Methodist Church of Great Britain in 1963.[2] He completed a Master of Arts in Theology at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge in 1969, while training for the ministry at Wesley House.[3] He spent most of the 1970s serving the Methodist Church of Haiti, where he was ordained, before returning to Britain to serve in ministries in Caversham, Loughton, and Golders Green. In 1987 Griffiths completed a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.[2]
President and superintendent
In 1994, Griffiths became one of the few people to be elected President of the Methodist Conference whilst still a circuit minister.[2] In this role he was the spiritual and administrative leader of the Methodists in Britain.
In 1996 he became superintendent minister at Wesley's Chapel, London. He retired in 2017 and preached his last sermon on 6 August. However, he returned to take services at Loughton monthly during 2018, when the church there was between ministers. He was created Baron Griffiths of Burry Port, of Pembrey and Burry Port in the County of Dyfed in 2004.[4]
On 20 August 2009, Griffiths published an article in the Methodist Recorder outlining a prospective plan for his "conditional ordination" by Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, in the Church of England. The plan was the subject of detailed discussion at the Methodist Conference (sitting in closed session) in 2008 and 2009 and the conference withheld consent for this move.
On 1 September 2011, Griffiths was appointed as the thirteenth president of the Boys' Brigade.[1]
Arms
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References
- "Lord Griffiths of Burry Port". UK Parliament. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- Griffiths, Leslie (2011). A view from the edge : an autobiography (Kindle) (Abingdon Press ed.). Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press. ISBN 978-1426716690.
- Oxford Brookes University site: Retrieved 1 February 2012.
- "No. 57344". The London Gazette. 5 July 2004. p. 8323.
External links
- House of Lords biography
- Wesley's Chapel
- "Peerage for Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths" from The Methodist Church News Service
- "What Can We Learn from the Methodist Church of Haiti"
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
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Preceded by The Lord Cameron of Dillington |
Gentlemen Baron Griffiths of Burry Port |
Followed by The Lord Kerr of Kinlochard |