Philip Giddings

Who is Philip Giddings?

Philip Giddings is a lecturer in politics at the University of Reading and a lay leader in the Church of England, heading the conservative evangelical Anglican movement called Anglican Mainstream. He earned his DPhil degree at Oxford University and in 1972 joined the staff at Reading University where he was formerly Warden of Mansfield Hall and is director of the university's Centre for Ombudsman and Governance Studies.

In his position as leader of the House of Laity in the Church of England, Giddings was instrumental in the defeat of a motion for the ordination of women bishops in late 2012. Giddings' speech against that motion led a priest from Leicester to propose a motion of no-confidence in Giddings on the grounds that it was "a significant contributor to the reputational damage the Church of England is already suffering at the hands of the press". The no-confidence motion was defeated in January 2013, though Giddings said that the vote of a sizeable minority against him would lead him to consider "how to proceed from here".

Giddings also took a stand against the proposed appointment of Jeffrey John as Bishop of Reading, saying that that "practising homosexuals cannot hold a position of leadership" in the Church of England. John, however, has affirmed that he is celibate.