Welcome from the Vicar
It’s good to welcome you to Tewkesbury Abbey. The Abbey is situated at the heart of Tewkesbury and we are proud of its Anglo Catholic heritage which equips our people for their daily life through worship, community life and nurture. We invite you to visit us on a Sunday or at one of our weekday services.
Here are a few things which might be helpful for you to know about us:
- We’re a diverse congregation of all ages and from all backgrounds. As Jesus welcomed all people, so we too welcome all people regardless of their background.
- We’re a place where all your senses will be fully engaged in the worship of God. You may smell incense, hear beautiful music, experience silence and stillness and see people using gestures as a way to express the inexpressible during our services.
- We’re a place where ancient ritual interprets our contemporary life. You will, we hope, be struck by the beauty and holiness of the Abbey, the grace of our liturgy, the relevance of the preaching and the warm welcome.
- We’re a place exploring how to serve our parish and neighbourhood with acts of compassion along with expressing justice locally and globally.
- We’re friendly, we will make every effort to welcome you, but we will try to respect your space.
Thank you for choosing to explore our website, and we hope to see you in Tewkesbury Abbey very soon.
In Christ’s service,
Father Paul Williams
Vicar of Tewkesbury Abbey
Father Paul’s Biography
Paul was born in Chatham, Kent: he is one of four sons. At the death of his father, Paul
went to boarding school where he found the gift of music making and the glories of the English Choral tradition to be formative. He grew up in the Evangelical tradition and it is from this background he rejoices in his love of the scriptures and a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.
Paul studied theology at St Andrews University and, between playing a round of golf in the home of golf, he picked up a decent degree at St. Mary’s College. During his undergraduate years in St Andrews, Paul experienced, for the first time, Anglo Catholic worship. The importance of a sacramental universe and liturgical worship formed his spirituality.
He trained for the priesthood at Westcott House, Cambridge and continued his post-graduate studies at Selwyn College, Cambridge where he served his title as Assistant Chaplain. It was at Selwyn that he met and later married Catherine who is also a priest. They have two teenage daughters Alice and Hannah.
After leaving Cambridge, Paul served a curacy and an incumbency in the Medway Towns before becoming Personal Chaplain to the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt. Revd Michael Nazir-Ali where he was made an Honorary Canon of Rochester Cathedral. He came to Tewkesbury in 2003.
He was, until very recently, Chair of the Bishop’s Worship, Prayer and Spirituality Group. Fr. Paul is a member of the College of Canons of Gloucester Cathedral, Sub-Dean of the Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem, and is Area Dean for Tewkesbury and Winchcombe.
He has recently been on a three month sabbatical and is currently finishing a book on the place of the Virgin Mary in early English liturgy. He relaxes by watching films, playing golf and rummaging around in libraries.