Paul F. Bradshaw


Paul Frederick Bradshaw, FRHistS is a British Anglican priest, theologian, historian of liturgy, and academic. In addition to parish ministry, he taught at Chichester Theological College and Ripon College Cuddesdon. From 1985 to 2013, he was Professor of Liturgy at the University of Notre Dame in the United States.

Early life and education

Bradshaw was born on 9 August 1945 in Preston, Lancashire, England. He studied theology at Clare College, Cambridge. He achieved first-class honours in Part I of the Tripos, and upper second-class honours in Part II. He graduated from the University of Cambridge with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1966; as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a Master of Arts degree in 1970. From 1966 to 1967, he taught at Wandsworth School in London; the school closed in 1989.
In 1967, Bradshaw entered Westcott House, Cambridge, an Anglican theological college in the Liberal Anglo-Catholic tradition. While training for ordination at Westcott House, he also undertook postgraduate research at King's College London. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1971. His doctoral thesis was titled "The Anglican Ordinal: its history and development from the Reformation to the present day".
In 1983, Bradshaw was awarded by incorporation a Master of Arts degree by the University of Oxford; this was to match his MA status at Cambridge and is not a standalone degree. In 1994, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree by the University of Oxford. The DD is Oxford's highest degree and is awarded in recognition of a substantial body of original research.

Ordained ministry

Bradshaw was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1969 and as a priest in 1970 by Michael Ramsey, the then Archbishop of Canterbury. From 1969 to 1971, he served his curacy at St John the Baptist, West Wickham, then in the Diocese of Canterbury. From 1971 to 1973, he served a further curacy in the Parish of St Martin and St Paul in the City of Canterbury.
In 1978, Bradshaw moved to the Diocese of St Albans. He was Vicar of St Leonards Church, Flamstead, Hertfordshire, between 1978 and 1982. During this time, he was also Director of the Ministerial Training Scheme for the diocese.
In 1990, Bradshaw was made an honorary canon of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana. In 1995, he was appointed a Priest-Vicar of Westminster Abbey in London, England. He is a member of the Church of England Liturgical Commission from 1981 to 1985, and from 2001 to 2010.

Academic career

Bradshaw is a specialist in the early history of Christian liturgy. He has written or edited over twenty books and has contributed more than ninety articles or essays. He has collaborated with Lawrence A. Hoffman on several essay collections about the evolution of worship in Christian and Jewish communities in North America.
Bradshaw began his academic career at a theological college, rather than at a university. From 1973 to 1978, he was a tutor at Chichester Theological College. Having returned to parish ministry, he was also Director in the St Albans Diocese Ministerial Training Scheme between 1978 and 1982. From 1983 to 1985, he was Vice-Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon, an Anglican theological college near Oxford.
In 1985, Bradshaw moved to the United States. From 1985 to 2013, he taught in the Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame, a Roman Catholic university in Indiana. Between 1985 and 1990, he was an Associate Professor of Liturgy. From 1990 to retirement, he was Professor of Liturgy. He was a Visiting Research Fellow at Merton College, Oxford in 2011. He retired in 2013 and was appointed Emeritus Professor.
From 1987 to 2005, Bradshaw was editor-in-chief of Studia Liturgica, an international journal. He was President of the Societas Liturgica from 1993 to 1995, and of the North American Academy of Liturgy.

Honours

In 1991, Bradshaw was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. On 18 May 2005, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by the General Theological Seminary, New York City. In 2008, he was awarded the Berakah Award by the North American Academy of Liturgy. It is awarded yearly to a distinguished liturgist "in recognition of distinguished contribution to the professional work of liturgy".

Works

Bradshaw' book, The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship, has had two editions, and has become a popular textbook for those studying early Christian worship. It has been translated into French, Italian, Japanese and Russian.
; Works authored
; Works edited