Yale University awards an honorary doctorate to the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
The Bishop of the St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocese, has been awarded an honorary doctorate in recognition of his leadership within the Church of England - and for strengthening ties between churches in the UK and and United States of America
The Rt Rev Martin Seeley, was presented with the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from a United States university.
Bishop Martin, who lives in Ipswich and leads the Church of England in Suffolk, received the honorary doctorate from the Episcopal Church’s Seminary at the prestigious American Yale University.
Bishop Martin said: “The ceremony was very moving, and I had to pinch myself to realise it was to me that they were giving this honour.
“I am so grateful to Berkeley, to all my colleagues in theological education, and across the Churches through the years, both here and in the US.”
The citation, read at the awarding of the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on October 20, stated that this was: “in recognition of your leadership in the Church of England, in theological education and in the strengthening of ties between your Church and that in the United States.
Bishop Martin, 64, first gave a lecture in the university’s Yale Divinity School, and was then presented with the doctorate.
The university, founded in 1701, is an Ivy League research university in Connecticut. It is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded by a group of clergy, and was chartered before the American Revolution.
Berkeley Divinity School, the Episcopal (Anglican) seminary at Yale, wanted to honour Bishop Martin, Suffolk’s senior Church of England bishop since 2015, because of his work in theological education and training clergy during several decades.
Bishop Martin, who currently holds a national brief for ministry and training within the Church of England, added: ‘‘I was profoundly honoured to have been asked not only to deliver a lecture but also to receive an honorary doctorate.
“I have spent time at the Divinity School before, and have huge regard for their work in preparing men and women for the Church’s ministry.
‘‘I have strong links with the US, having studied there at a seminary in New York, and later serving in the Episcopal Church for ten years.”
The Rt Rev Dr Mike Harrison, Bishop of Dunwich, said: “This is a great honour for Bishop Martin, the diocese, and the wider Church of England for him to receive this doctorate from America.”Bishop Martin studied theology at Cambridge and then started training for ordained ministry at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, in 1976. He then attended Union Theological Seminary, New York City, from which he graduated with a Master of Sacred Theology degree in 1978.
He returned to England and took up a curate’s position in Scunthorpe before returning to the United States in 1980.
There he was a curate for five years at the Church of the Epiphany and Assistant Director of Trinity Institute at Trinity Wall Street, Manhattan, New York City and then Executive Director of the Thompson Center, an ecumenical lay and clergy education programme in St Louis, Missouri, from 1985 to 1990.
