Colin Buchanan (bishop)

Buchanan was born on 8 August 1934 to Prof. Robert Ogilvie Buchanan and Kathleen Mary Buchanan (née Parnell).[1] He was educated at Whitgift School, then an all-boys direct grant grammar school.[1] He studied Literae Humaniores at Lincoln College, Oxford, graduating with a second class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree; as per tradition, his BA was later promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Oxon) degree.[1][2] In 1959, he entered Tyndale Hall, Bristol, an Evangelical Anglican theological college, to train for ordained ministry.[1]

In 1993, Buchanan was awarded a Lambeth Doctor of Divinity (DD) degree.[2][3]

Buchanan was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1961 and as a priest in 1962.[2] From 1961 to 1964, he served his curacy in the benefice of Cheadle (St Cuthbert and St Mary) in the Diocese of Chester.[1][2]

In 1964, Buchanan joined the London College of Divinity (later known as St John's College, Nottingham), where he would spend the next 21 years working.[1][4] He was the librarian from 1964 to 1969, the registrar from 1969 to 1974, director of studies from 1974 to 1975, vice-principal from 1975 to 1978, and finally principal from 1979 to 1985.[2] During this time, he was also a tutor in liturgy at the college, and he was a member of the Church of England's Liturgical Commission from 1964 to 1986.[4][3] From 1981 to 1985, he was an honorary canon of Southwell Minster.[2]

In 1985, Buchanan was consecrated as a bishop.[2] From 1985 to 1989, he served as the Bishop of Aston, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Birmingham.[1] He was an assistant bishop of the Diocese of Rochester from 1989 to 1996, and of the Diocese of Southwark from 1990 to 1991.[2] He served as a member of the House of Bishops of the General Synod from 1990 to 2004.[4] He was also Vicar of St Mark's Church, Gillingham between 1991 and 1996.[1] He then returned to the episcopate on a full-time basis and served as the Bishop of Woolwich, an area bishop of the Diocese of Southwark, from 1996 to 2004.[2]

In July 2004, Buchanan retired from full-time ministry.[2][3] He was an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Bradford from 2004 to 2014, and of the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds from 2005 to 2014.[2] Since 2015, he has been an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Leeds,[1] and he is based in the Bradford Episcopal Area.[5]

In 1963, Buchanan married.[1] Together they have two children.[6]

• Buchanan, Colin O., ed. (1968). Modern Anglican liturgies, 1958–1968. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0192134165.
• Buchanan, C. O. (1970). Growing into union: proposals for forming a united Church in England. London: S.P.C.K. ISBN 978-0281024872.
• Buchanan, Colin O., ed. (1975). Further Anglican liturgies, 1968-1975. Bramcote: Grove Books. ISBN 978-0901710666.
• Buchanan, Colin, ed. (1980). Anglican worship today: Collins illustrated guide to the Alternative Service Book 1980. London: Collins. ISBN 978-0005996614.
• Buchanan, Colin O., ed. (1985). Latest Anglican liturgies 1975-1984. London: S.P.C.K. ISBN 978-0281041404.
• Buchanan, Colin (1998). Is the Church of England Biblical?: An Anglican Ecclesiology. London, UK: Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. ISBN 978-0232521344.
• Buchanan, Colin (2006). Historical Dictionary of Anglicanism. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810853270.
• Buchanan, Colin, ed. (2011). Anglican eucharistic liturgies, 1985-2010. London: Canterbury Press. ISBN 978-1848250871.