Overview
I am a doctoral student in canon law and I have been a fellow of the Cardiff Centre for Law and Religion since 2018. My PhD research explores subsidiarity in Anglican canon law.
Other positions I currently hold include:
* Editorial board member and Book Reviews Editor of the Ecclesiastical Law Journal
* Communications Officer for the Ecclesiastical Law Society
* Research Fellow at St Augustine's College of Theology (West Malling, UK)
* Assistant Priest of St Mary's, West Chiltington, in the Diocese of Chichester
* Member of the Colloquium of Anglican and Roman Catholic Canon Lawyers and the Church Law History Consortium
I studied physics at Magdalen College, Oxford, theology at Westcott House and Selwyn College, Cambridge, before graduating from the LLM in canon law at Cardiff in 2010. I returned to Cardiff to begin my PhD studies in 2021.
Publication
2023
- Dewhurst, R. 2023. The King and the Law of the Church of England. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 25(2), pp. 139-155. (10.1017/S0956618X23000029)
- Dewhurst, R. 2023. Canon B5 and the Prayers of Love and Faith. [Online]. Law & Religion UK. Available at: https://lawandreligionuk.com/2023/02/10/canon-b5-and-the-prayers-of-love-and-faith/
- Dewhurst, R. 2023. The 2022 Revision of The Principles of Canon Law Common to the Churches of the Anglican Communion. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 25(1), pp. 60-65. (10.1017/S0956618X22000643)
2022
- Dewhurst, R. and Hill, M. 2022. Droit canonique anglican. In: Messner, F. ed. Dictionnaire du droit des religions. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Dewhurst, R. 2022. The Development of the Canons: A Historical Study and Summary of the Church of England's Canons 1969 to 2020 [Book review]. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 24, pp. 398-399. (10.1017/S0956618X2200045X)
- Adam, W., Dewhurst, R. and Oliver, D. 2022. Preface. In: Anglican Consultative Council, . ed. The Principles of Canon Law Common to the Churches of the Anglican Communion - Second Edition 2022. London, UK: Anglican Consultative Council, pp. 5-14.
- Dewhurst, R. 2022. A Still More Excellent Way: Authority and Polity in the Anglican Communion Alexander Ross SCM Press, London, 2020, 256 pp (hardback £65), ISBN: 978-0-334-05932-5. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 24(2), pp. 252-254. (10.1017/S0956618X22000151)
- Dewhurst, R. 2022. ‘Seven whole days’: The obligation of the clergy of the Church of England to ‘say daily the Morning and Evening Prayer’. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 24(1), pp. 14-24. (10.1017/S0956618X21000673)
- Dewhurst, R. 2022. Priest of the Church or Priest of a Church? The ecclesiology of ordained local Ministry, Noel Cox [Book Review]. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 24(1), pp. 103-105. (10.1017/S0956618X21000715)
2021
- Dewhurst, R. 2021. Law without coercion: exhortation and doctrine in the canon law of the Church of England. Crucible: The Journal of Christian Social Ethics Octobe, pp. 51-54.
- Dewhurst, R. 2021. Canons of the Church of England reading groups. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 23(1), pp. 105-106. (10.1017/S0956618X20000617)
2018
- Dewhurst, R. 2018. Ecclesiastical Law Society day conference: gospel and law in theological education. Presented at: Ecclesiastical Law Society Day Conference 2018, London, England, 17 March 2018, Vol. 20. Vol. 3. Cambridge University Press pp. 336-346., (10.1017/S0956618X18000509)
- Dewhurst, R. 2018. Episcopal functions in Anglican canon law. Presented at: 18th Colloquium of Anglican and Roman Catholic Canon Lawyers 2018, Oxford, England, 27-28 May 2018, Vol. 17. pp. 19-27.
2014
- Carr, L., Dewhurst, R. and Henig, M. eds. 2014. Binsey: Oxford's Holy Place - Its saint, village, and people. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Articles
- Dewhurst, R. 2023. The King and the Law of the Church of England. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 25(2), pp. 139-155. (10.1017/S0956618X23000029)
- Dewhurst, R. 2023. The 2022 Revision of The Principles of Canon Law Common to the Churches of the Anglican Communion. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 25(1), pp. 60-65. (10.1017/S0956618X22000643)
- Dewhurst, R. 2022. The Development of the Canons: A Historical Study and Summary of the Church of England's Canons 1969 to 2020 [Book review]. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 24, pp. 398-399. (10.1017/S0956618X2200045X)
- Dewhurst, R. 2022. A Still More Excellent Way: Authority and Polity in the Anglican Communion Alexander Ross SCM Press, London, 2020, 256 pp (hardback £65), ISBN: 978-0-334-05932-5. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 24(2), pp. 252-254. (10.1017/S0956618X22000151)
- Dewhurst, R. 2022. ‘Seven whole days’: The obligation of the clergy of the Church of England to ‘say daily the Morning and Evening Prayer’. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 24(1), pp. 14-24. (10.1017/S0956618X21000673)
- Dewhurst, R. 2022. Priest of the Church or Priest of a Church? The ecclesiology of ordained local Ministry, Noel Cox [Book Review]. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 24(1), pp. 103-105. (10.1017/S0956618X21000715)
- Dewhurst, R. 2021. Law without coercion: exhortation and doctrine in the canon law of the Church of England. Crucible: The Journal of Christian Social Ethics Octobe, pp. 51-54.
- Dewhurst, R. 2021. Canons of the Church of England reading groups. Ecclesiastical Law Journal 23(1), pp. 105-106. (10.1017/S0956618X20000617)
Book sections
- Dewhurst, R. and Hill, M. 2022. Droit canonique anglican. In: Messner, F. ed. Dictionnaire du droit des religions. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Adam, W., Dewhurst, R. and Oliver, D. 2022. Preface. In: Anglican Consultative Council, . ed. The Principles of Canon Law Common to the Churches of the Anglican Communion - Second Edition 2022. London, UK: Anglican Consultative Council, pp. 5-14.
Books
- Carr, L., Dewhurst, R. and Henig, M. eds. 2014. Binsey: Oxford's Holy Place - Its saint, village, and people. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Conferences
- Dewhurst, R. 2018. Ecclesiastical Law Society day conference: gospel and law in theological education. Presented at: Ecclesiastical Law Society Day Conference 2018, London, England, 17 March 2018, Vol. 20. Vol. 3. Cambridge University Press pp. 336-346., (10.1017/S0956618X18000509)
- Dewhurst, R. 2018. Episcopal functions in Anglican canon law. Presented at: 18th Colloquium of Anglican and Roman Catholic Canon Lawyers 2018, Oxford, England, 27-28 May 2018, Vol. 17. pp. 19-27.
Websites
- Dewhurst, R. 2023. Canon B5 and the Prayers of Love and Faith. [Online]. Law & Religion UK. Available at: https://lawandreligionuk.com/2023/02/10/canon-b5-and-the-prayers-of-love-and-faith/
Research
My principle research activity at present is directed towards my PhD thesis on subsidiariy in Anglican canon law.
In 2021-2, working with Norman Doe, Mark Hill, and Stephen Coleman, I convened a joint project of the Ecclesiastical Law Society and the Cardiff Centre for Law and Religion, directed towards study and revision of the Principles of Canon Law Common to the Churches of the Anglican Communion. I co-ordinated ten online reading groups from around the world which studied the Principles during 2021. In 2021-2 I convened the revision committee which has updated the Principles, and the revised edition was launched at the 2022 Lambeth Conference of bishops from across the Anglican Communion. I have presented papers on this work at conferences in Cardiff and in Rome.
I pursue my interest in ecumenism through canon law by my membership of the Colloquium of Anglican and Roman Catholic Canon Lawyers, a network of the Cardiff Centre for Law and Religion. I have given papers at the meetings of the Colloquium, in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022. In January 2023, I gave a paper on the Anglican canonical approaches to synodality at the 'Listening to the West' conference at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome.
I am also a member of the Church Law History Consortium, another network of the Cardiff Centre for Law and Religion. I gave a paper at the inaugural meeting in 2022 at Magdalene College, Cambridge, on the development of the law of the Church of England 1901-1947.
In 2020, with the Ecclesiastical Law Society, I co-ordinated and ran reading groups studying the Canons of the Church of England. Over fifty people were involved reading and discussing the canons over a period of six months. Stephen Coleman and I gave a lecture to the ELS on the canons of the Church of England in 2021, which can be seen here.
As Communications Officer of the ELS, I oversee the Society's Youtube channel, where I host a series of accessible discussions on topical aspects of ecclesiastical law and the online repository of the Society's recorded lectures.
I am Book Reviews Editor of the Ecclesiastical Law Journal, published by Cambridge University Press.
Teaching
I teach on Cardiff's LLM Canon Law, including:
* Liturgical Law in the Church of England
* The Laity in Anglican Canon Law
* The Faculty Jurisdiction in England
* English Ecclesiastical Law 1900-1948
* The Principles of Canon Law Common to the Churches of the Anglican Communion
* The Law of Baptism and Confirmation in the Church of England
In 2022, with the Ecclesiastical Law Society, I teach 'canon law for the newly ordained' at several TEIs (theological education institutions) in the Church of England.
I am module tutor for the 'Law and the Public Minister' module in the Diocese of Chichester through St Augustine's, West Malling, where I am a research fellow. The module is part of the Common Awards Diploma and BA in Theology, Ministry, and Mission, validated by Durham University.