Martyn Percy

Martyn William Percy (born 31 July 1962) is a British academic, educator, social scientist and theologian. Ordained as a priest in the Church of England, he served as principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxford, from 2004 to 2014, and as Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, from 2014 to 2022. He has subsequently held academic posts in the USA, China and Switzerland.

Percy was born on 31 July 1962. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, the University of Bristol (BA), the University of Durham (Cert. Counselling), King's College London (PhD, 1993) and the University of Sheffield (MEd). His doctoral thesis was titled "Signs, Wonders and Church Growth": The Theme of Power in Contemporary Christian Fundamentalism with Special Reference to the Works of John Wimber. After a short career in publishing (1984–1988), he trained for ordination at Cranmer Hall, Durham, from 1988 to 1990.

Percy taught in the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford, as well as in Sociology, and was a fellow of the Said Business School at the university. He has also served as Professor of Theological Education at King's College London and a professorial research fellow at Heythrop College, University of London. He has also served as a visiting professor of the Institute for the Study of Values at the University of Winchester, a founding fellow of the Center for Theologically Engaged Anthropology at the University of Georgia, and an adjunct professor at Hartford Seminary, Connecticut. He is an emeritus canon of Salisbury Cathedral, having previously served as an honorary canon. In 2018 he became a fellow of King's College London, and a fellow of Harris Manchester College, Oxford. From 2022-24 he served by invitation as Dean’s Distinguished Scholar at Virginia Theological Seminary.

With effect from 1 September 2024, Percy has been appointed as Professor of Religion and Culture in the Faculty of Religious Studies and Philosophy at University of Saint Joseph in Macao. And for the Xavier Centre for Memory and Identity. He also holds the post of Provost of Ming Hua Theological College (part of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui - Hong Kong Anglican Church) . In 2025 he was also appointed to serve as Honorary Canon Theologian for the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe (the American Episcopal congregations in Europe).

Percy's theological outlook is rooted in his long-standing commitment to middle-way Anglicanism. His writings fall into three distinct-but-related groups: ecclesiology; contemporary Christianity, religious movements and sociological trends; and anthropological interpretations of denominations and congregations; and spiritual devotional writings. He has also written extensively about theological education, as well as contextual, pastoral and practical theology.

In 2013, The Times Literary Supplement praised Percy for his work towards unity within the Anglican Communion and the Church of England, describing him as displaying a "peaceable, polite and restrained" approach whilst "making peace between competing communities of conviction".

Percy was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1990 and as a priest in 1991. From 1990 to 1994, he served his curacy at St Andrew's Church, Bedford in the Diocese of St Albans. He was then chaplain of Christ's College, Cambridge from 1994, and director of studies for theology and religion at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge from 1995. From 1997 to 2004, he the founding director of the Lincoln Theological Institute; initially independent, it became part of the University of Manchester in 2003. In addition, he was an honorary curate of Holy Trinity Millhouses in the Diocese of Sheffield, and an honorary canon of Sheffield Cathedral.

From 2004 to 2014, Percy was Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon, an Anglican theological college near Oxford. During his tenure, the college expanded significantly by incorporating the Oxford Ministry Course and the West of England Ministerial Training Course, becoming the largest centre for Anglican ordination training in the United Kingdom. Percy also oversaw the construction of the Bishop Edward King Chapel and a new education centre, Harriet Monsell House. Under his leadership, the college moved from a liberal catholic ethos to a more theologically broad and centrist position within the Church of England.