Archbishop Jonathan Blake

Jonathan Clive Blake (born 1956)^[1] is a British archbishop, activist and author most known for conducting the first gay wedding blessing on Richard and Judy's prime time TV programme This Morning and ordaining the first female priest.^[2] He has also attained 63,000 followers on TikTok^[3] as of July 2024.

Blake co-founded the Open Episcopal Church alongside Richard Palmer on the 10th November 2001. He could do this after severing his denominational ties to the Church of England via effecting a Deed of relinquishment.^[4]

Archbishop Jonathan Blake was born in 1956 and survived an air flight emergency during his childhood. He taught for one year before gaining his degree at Durham university in 1978. During his undergraduate days he established a shop selling goods from the poorer countries which became a successful aid project trading to this day.^[5]

Blake embarked on a hitchhiking journey that saw him tear-gassed in Teheran and seized by machine gun-toting guards in Kabul.^[6] He escaped an attempt on his life during his journey.^[7] Upon his return, he completed his training in Nottingham. In 1997, Blake wrote "For God's Sake Don't Go To Church", which highlights the dangers of getting involved in dogmatic religion. In the same year, he nailed 95 theses to the door of Canterbury Cathedral, for which he was arrested but not charged.^[8]

Blake smuggled Bibles and goods to Christians behind the 'Iron Curtain'.^[9] He worked with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India. Blake raised over £20,000, using a quarter for direct relief work and investing the remaining £15,500 through the Church of North India in a trust to fund a T.B. hospital for women in Howrah.^[10] In 1985, he highlighted the plight of the homeless by sleeping on the streets during 'One World Week'. He travelled to Kenya, Pakistan, and Switzerland to promote peace and justice.^[11] In 1987, Blake organized and led an international group of fifty young people from twelve different faiths on a journey of reconciliation from London to Auschwitz and then to Moscow.^[12]

Blake was ordained a priest for the Church of England in 1982. He served within the Church of England for over eleven years.^[13] For six years, he worked as a Curate in Bradford and Rochester. In 1985, he wrote the lyrics for and produced a musical on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, which was performed in Bradford.^[14]