Presiding Bishop Curry maintains a national preaching and teaching
ministry, having been featured on TV and as a frequent speaker at churches,
cathedrals, and conferences around the country and internationally.
He has written three books: Following the Way of Jesus: Church's Teachings
in a Changing World (2017); Songs My Grandma Sang (2015); and Crazy
Christians: A Call to Follow Jesus (2013).
His prominent role in a recent royal wedding met with a mixed reception. His
obvious enthusiasm and sincerity being lauded by many, though his less
than conventional manner appeared to discomfit the establishment.
In July 2018 Bishop Curry announced that he had been diagnosed with
aggressive prostate cancer and is now recovering following major surgery.
John Davies was born at Newport (Mon) and
educated at Bassaleg Grammar School. He
graduated in law from the University of
Southampton from where he moved to the
College of Law at Chester. He was admitted
as a solicitor in 1977, specialising in criminal
law and, after ordination, completed a
master’s degree in Canon Law. Prior to
ordination he was heavily involved in the life
of the church at parochial, diocesan and provincial level.
Archbishop John left the law to enter the ministry and was ordained in 1984.
He served in the Diocese of Monmouth in a variety of rural, post-industrial
and urban parishes, and he also served as Diocesan Schools’ Officer and
Officer for Ecumenical Affairs. He was appointed Dean of Brecon in 2000,
and during eight years in that role oversaw significant improvements to the
fabric and liturgy of the Cathedral. He was elected as the ninth Bishop of
Swansea and Brecon in 2008.
Having been the ‘lead Bishop’ for Church and Society issues, Archbishop
John is profoundly interested in matters of social justice and has spoken out
on a range of issues, including homelessness and housing, rural problems,
organ donation, assisted dying and poverty. He has retained a keen interest
in issues of crime and punishment, with a particular concern about the
treatment and rehabilitation of offenders, the nature of criminality and the
effects of poor social and educational standards. Having served as the
chairman of the trustees of a large hospice in Newport, he also has a deep
concern for the just provision of healthcare, not least for those in the final
stages of life. He currently chairs the Ethical Investment Group of the Church
in Wales, its International Group and the Wales National Committee of
Christian Aid and is a national trustee of Christian Aid.
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