Michael Parker | |
|---|---|
 Parker in 2023 | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | British Army |
| Years of service | 2000–present |
| Rank | Major-General |
| Commands | Royal Army Chaplains' Department |
| Battles/wars | Iraq War War in Afghanistan |
Michael David Parker KHC is a British Methodist minister and military chaplain. He is the current Chaplain-General to His Majesty's Land Forces.
Parker was born in Cornwall, England. He studied theology at the University of Birmingham and trained for ordination at The Queen's Foundation, an ecumenical theological college. Having been ordained as a Methodist minister, he worked in the Colchester Circuit for four years. [1]
On 8 May 2000, Parker was commissioned into the Royal Army Chaplains' Department, British Army, as a Chaplain to the Forces 4th Class (equivalent in rank to captain). [2] He was promoted to Chaplain to the Forces 3rd Class (equivalent to major) on 8 May 2006, [3] and to Chaplain to the Forces 2nd Class (equivalent to lieutenant colonel) on 23 April 2012. [4] He served as chaplain to 4th Regiment Royal Artillery; 2nd Battalion, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment; 1st Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers; 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers; and 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment. [5] He undertook operational tours to Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. [6]
He attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course in 2013. [5] He was promoted to Chaplain to the Forces 1st Class (equivalent to Colonel) on 30 June 2017 with seniority in that rank from the same date. [7] He then served as assistant chaplain general of the 3rd (United Kingdom) Division. [8]
Parker was appointed Deputy Chaplain-General to the Army in September 2020 and Chaplain-General to Her Majesty's Land Forces on 8 May 2022. [9] [10] On 4 May 2023, he was made a Sarum Canon (i.e. honorary canon) of Salisbury Cathedral. [8] [11]
The Royal Welch Fusiliers (Welsh: Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and became the Welch Regiment of Fusiliers; the prefix "Royal" was added in 1713, then confirmed in 1714 when George I named it the Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers. In 1751, after reforms that standardised the naming and numbering of regiments, it became the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fuzileers). In 1881, the final title of the regiment was adopted.
The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881.
The Royal Army Chaplains' Department (RAChD) is an all-officer department that provides ordained clergy to minister to the British Army.
The 102nd Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army raised by the Honourable East India Company in 1742. It transferred to the command of the British Army in 1862. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 103rd Regiment of Foot in 1881 to form the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution and became part of the English establishment in 1689.
The Queen's Division is a British Army training and administrative apparatus for infantry regiments from the East & South of England, and Gibraltar.
British Forces Cyprus (BFC) is the name given to the British Armed Forces stationed in the UK Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on the island of Cyprus and at a number of related 'retained sites' in the Republic of Cyprus. The United Kingdom retains a military presence on the island in order to keep a strategic location at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, for use as a staging point for forces sent to locations in the Middle East and Asia. BFC is a tri-service command, with all three services based on the island reporting to it.
Richard Morgan Llewellyn, is a retired senior British Army officer. He was general officer commanding, Wales District from 1987 to 1990, and chief of staff at HQ Land Forces from 1990 to 1991. Upon retirement the army, he was ordained in the Church of England and is currently Welsh Vice-Patron of the War Memorials Trust.
The Ven Peter Mallett, CB, OStJ, QHC was a Church of England priest and British Army padre, who served as Chaplain-General to the Forces between 1974 and 1980.
Jonathan Woodhouse, is a British Baptist minister and retired senior British Army officer. He was Chaplain General and head of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department from 2011 to 2014. He is the first Baptist and the second member of the Free Churches to become Chaplain General.
David George Coulter, is a Church of Scotland minister and former military chaplain. From 2014 to 2018, he served as Chaplain General and head of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department, British Army. He was previously Principal of the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre and Deputy Chaplain General.
John Ross Youens, was a Church of England priest and senior British Army officer. He served as Chaplain-General to the Forces from 1966 to 1974.
Archibald Main, was a Scottish ecclesiastical historian, Church of Scotland minister, military chaplain, and academic. From 1915 to 1922, he was Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of St Andrews. From 1922 to 1942, he was Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Glasgow. He served as Chaplain to the King from 1925 and as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 1939 to 1940.
The 1915 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were published in The London Gazette and in The Times on 3 June 1915.
Peter Andrew Eagles, is a British retired Anglican bishop. From 2017 to 2023, he was the Bishop of Sodor and Man; he was consecrated a bishop in the Church of England in June 2017, and he was installed in September 2017. He is a former chaplain of the British Army, serving as Archdeacon for the Army (2011–2017) and the Deputy Chaplain-General of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department (2014–2017).
John Blackburn, was a British Anglican priest and chaplain. He served as Archdeacon for the Army from 1999 to 2004 and Chaplain General of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department from 2000 to 2004. Before and after his service in the British Army, he was a parish priest in the Diocese of Monmouth of the Church in Wales.
David Edward Wilkes, is a British Methodist minister and military chaplain. From 2004 to 2008, he served as Chaplain-General to the Land Forces and was therefore head of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department.
Clinton Matthew Langston, is a British Anglican priest and military chaplain. He served as Chaplain General of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department, British Army between 2018 and 2022, and as Archdeacon for the Army in the Church of England between 2017 and 2022. He was previously Deputy Chaplain General from 2017 to 2018.
Jonathan Robin Blanning Gough is a British Anglican priest and former military chaplain. Since March 2019, he has served as the Archdeacon of Richmond and Craven in the Diocese of Leeds. He had previously served in the Royal Army Chaplains' Department of the British Army.
Major General Jonathan Swift, is a senior British Army officer. He served as General Officer Commanding, Regional Command from July 2022 to August 2023.