The Rev. Dr. Harriet Harris, university chaplain and head of chaplaincy services at the University of Edinburgh, will become the next principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon in January.
She will succeed Bishop Humphrey Southern, who has served as principal since 2015. He will retire at the end of 2025.
A statement announcing her appointment said that Harris has increased Edinburgh’s chaplaincy staff from three and a half to nine staff and over 40 honorary chaplains and volunteer listeners. She has been named a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
“She has made pioneering appointments of Daoist, humanist, pagan, LGBT+, and mindfulness chaplains. She integrates a university mindfulness program into chaplaincy because, beyond calming stress, she sees the potential of mindfulness to enhance academic life and sharpen cultural inquiry,” says her biography page at the University of Edinburgh.
“She is a priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church and convenor of the Doctrine Committee of the Scottish Episcopal Church. She produced the paper on marriage for General Synod 2015, which underpinned the vote in 2017 for SEC ministers to conduct same-sex marriage.”
The top of her biography page describes her work as a “multi-faith and belief chaplaincy, for all faiths and none.”
Harris was ordained in the Diocese of Oxford, where she served as assistant curate at the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Oxford, and for ten years as chaplain of Wadham College.
“Harriet Harris brings to the role of principal enormous gifts of leadership, a deep spirituality that undergirds everything she does, and a strong vision for sustainability and innovation in theological education,” said Bishop Michael Ipgrave, chairman of Cuddesdon’s board of governors. “I am very much looking forward to welcoming her to Cuddesdon and to working with her as we build on the sure foundations left to the college through the work of Bishop Humphrey.”
“We were impressed by Dr. Harris’s deep and wide vision of Ripon College Cuddesdon as a place serving the whole Church, rooted in a theological imagining of the Christian faith as witness against the competitiveness and excessive emphasis on productivity that dominate our society,” said Professor Jane Shaw, governor and chairwoman of Cuddesdon’s appointment panel.
“Her nimble and creative response to questions raised through the appointment process demonstrated that she is a priest and theologian well equipped to tackle the complex challenges of leading in theological education.”
“I am honored to be appointed as the new principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon, and to be following in Bishop Humphrey’s footsteps,” Harris said in the announcement. “With its rich history and nurturing environment, Cuddesdon is a place of holistic formation, a love for learning, and a deep desire for God. I’ve already experienced the warmth of its diverse ‘community of communities,’ and eagerly look forward to collaborating with everyone to discern and pursue Cuddesdon’s ongoing mission to serve the Church and the world today.”
“There has been a theological college in the village of Cuddesdon for over 160 years,” Cuddesdon’s website says. “Cuddesdon College was established in 1854 by Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, whose vision was for a college independent of any specific Church faction, and with a focus on the discipline of daily prayer and spiritual formation. A merger with Ripon Hall in the 1970s, forming Ripon College Cuddesdon, brought in new resources and fresh thinking, and helped develop a new and open approach to theological study.”
Douglas LeBlanc is an Associate Editor and writes about Christianity and culture. He and his wife, Monica, attend St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Henrico, Virginia.
